Many coaches contend that if you start the swing correctly and finish it correctly that everything else will take care of itself. This, as I understand it, is based on the assumption that you have very little control of the actual hitting of the ball once it is started, or that you can’t really see the hit of the ball and therefore the best you can hope for is to start and finish correctly and the hit will be as good as it can get.
I would not necessarily contradict this argument, which is; once we begin the “hit” of the ball there is little we can do to change it. The question (and this is a huge question) is this; when do we actually start the hit? One could contend that the entire stroke, beginning with the split step and the turn, is the start of “hitting” the ball. But certainly we don’t commit to a resolute timing and intent of the hit this early in the stroke. This would be timing suicide. There is absolutely no way even the very best athletes could pull this off with any kind of consistency.
Doug King talks about slotting and the swing.
Somewhere in the stroking motion there is a moment when the player makes a definite action that is totally committed to the hitting of the ball. At that point the stroke is “released” in a sense. It is a “point of no return” in your swing motion. This is often referred to as the “trigger” of the stroke, or even just called “the hit”, and it is my belief (and it isn’t very difficult to surmise) that with better players this trigger occurs later in the swing (closer to the actual contact point) than with lesser players. With the development of proper stroking technique the essential delivery of power onto the ball (“the hit”) is produced later and with less stress on the body’s balance which directly relates to one’s ability to actually watch the ball. In addition, this same technique affords the player more flexibility to adjust to the ball for a longer period of time. This flexibility to adjust to the ball is critical in reproducing consistent contact.
In this article we will look at some key stroking concepts that will help us to improve our ability to watch the ball, help us to better adjust our swing to the ball, allow us to generate significant force in a shorter space, and in general, to clean up our contact on the ball. All of this will be based upon the concept that the more we can identify, isolate, and delay the critical “trigger” in the stroke, the more efficient our stroking becomes.
The Slot
We have traditionally broken down the swing into the turn, the step-in, and the finish. There are more current interpretations on this breakdown of stroke positions that are more technically developed that may include more relevant postures. And although we see definite patterns that we can identify there are still many great players who fall outside of the “norm” of these formulas. Lindsay Davenport, considered to be the purest ball striker on the women’s tour, takes the racquet back and opens her shoulders on her forehand very differently from her male counterpart, Roger Federer, or Andy Roddick. The follow through of Nadal hardly ever resembles Agassi’s follow through. But there is one part of the stroke where all good players are the same, and that is through the critical phases of the stroke leading up to contact which we call “the contact zone.”
Henin-Hardenne shows the drop and fold into the slot on the backhand side.
Now I don’t typically like to refer to contact as a “zone” because I think our ultimate goal is to focus our contact more on the ball itself (more later). Instead I like to think of this strike zone as a fluid blur or a pulse of opposing movements starting with a position I call “the slot” and then ending with the contact of the ball.
All strokes have a “slot,” serves, volleys, groundstrokes, and returns of serve. For our purposes we will look at the groundstrokes and in particular a basic topspin drive.
Dropping Into the Slot
I prefer to think of the forward swing (after the backswing) as involving two separate but continuous movements. The first is a dropping and folding (almost a collapsing) of the arm which occurs behind the hip and shoulder. The second is an application of force that occurs very near to the contact of the ball, somewhere in front of the body. Think of it as cocking and firing. Eventually it is this cocking and firing action which is the movement that we apply to the ball.
On the two hander Agassi shows a well timed layback and compaction (drop in the slot) and then acceleration (trigger) in the final moment prior to contact. The definition of good hands and a short swing.
Rather than trying to get the racquet prepared behind the ball as early as possible and then solidly drive through the ball and out to the target, try to get the hand to relax on the racquet as you approach contact. This lets the arm fall into a position where the elbow drops close to the hip and the racquet is low in the swing arc. It is important to let the arm fall into the slot with as little weight shifting as possible as this will allow more of the weight shift to be used on the actual hit of the ball.
In this dropping action I like to think of “weight and wait.” I try to get the racquet to feel as heavy as possible in my hand and try to keep a low center of gravity by keeping the knees flexed and staying on the balls of the feet (weight). I try to delay the racquet head and my weight shift as the ball approaches in the slot (wait). I also try to focus on watching the ball and not hitting the ball.
Basically I try to stay relaxed, focused, and moving fluidly even as the ball gets very close. This is why it is so important to get prepared early. Early preparation is important so that I can start my swing early and in a relaxed fashion. You can also get ready too soon so that you can increase tension in your swing, both by being too forceful and by creating so much time that you get anxious.
Triggering the Hit and Squaring to the Ball
At a certain moment in the stroke an increase of force should be applied. This increase in force or acceleration is the “trigger” of the stroke. The trigger can come from various parts of the body. Some players feel it as a hip or shoulder turn, others more in the hand, others in the feet. Agassi is very compact while Federer is relatively whippy. Grosjean is compact on his forehand but gets great use of his hands, while his hands aren’t as good on his backhand side, as is the case with Roddick. The best players can use all of these techniques in various combinations depending on the circumstances. In fact we all do this in learning the different strokes of the game – from serves to volleys.
McEnroe triggers out of his feet more than his hands. Hands are soft to adeptly adjust to ball but very little flex in the wrist to build up hand speed. Federer uses both his feet and hands (extreme wrist lay back), adding more speed in the stroke for potential power and spin.
Ideally the trigger is timed out of both the feet and the hands. The feet control the weight shift of the body while the hands control the finer adjustments and quicker accelerations in the racquet. Through the slotting and the triggering there is a subtle flow of opposing forces that create a certain “lagging” feel of the racquet and often appears as a slight whip action.
As you drop into the slot let your elbow go forward to the contact while the wrist folds back smoothly. Also, the weight shift will tend to lead into the contact while the arm is lagged slightly behind. This is typical of any throwing motion. It should be increased as you add more speed or power to your stroke as it will increase the final acceleration into the ball occurring in the arm. This, when timed properly and kept compact to the body, can actually enhance control and power in the stroke.
Racquet head is restrained into the back hip and knee while the handle drives out with the pull of the shoulder. Tension is built up in the forearm and released in a perfect sync between feet and hands.
Another thing to keep in mind is that being compact to the body does not necessarily inhibit power. In fact with the arm in closer to the body, the body can rotate more quickly. Some players actually pull the arm into the body and turn quickly much like a figure skater adds speed to his turn by pulling the arms in. Even with a player like Federer, the swing gets smaller as he extends away from the body by working itself out to a shorter section of the arm.
It requires confidence to stay relaxed and let go a little through the hit but if you stay compact and keep your focus on the ball you will be surprised at how much more consistently you will make solid contact with the ball. If the trigger can be timed properly, it will allow the body to stay more fluid, more relaxed, and more stable and, as a consequence, will allow the eyes to focus on the ball more clearly and for a longer period of time.
Regardless of how you produce the triggering action, it is imperative that you “square” up to the ball, that is, bring the racquet into alignment to the ball and to the target. This requires a great deal of focus, timing, and control but I recommend that instead of entertaining thoughts about your follow through, or thinking about the target, or about your opponent, or even hitting the ball, think about bringing the racquet to square on the ball. Let the hit take care of itself.
Try to actually focus on the ball itself. Understand that every point on the court can be represented by a point on the ball. Learn to see your target as a point on the ball and mold your racquet to that point on the ball rather than get distracted by something on the other side of the net. I am always amazed at how many players chastise themselves for not following through after a missed stroke as though that can save an off-center hit of the ball.
Doug King talks about the slotting and the relaxation of the
arm and wrist.
Exercises in Isolating the Trigger
1. Practice using as abbreviated a follow through as possible. On the forehand, catch the racquet in your free hand as soon after the contact as possible. On the backhand just straighten your arm to the front and stop. This will help you concentrate on the actual contact of the ball and help you to develop a more rhythmic flow in your hand and arm. This is critical to developing more racquet awareness.
2. Take a seat on a stool or a chair and practice hitting tossed balls from a seated position. This takes the body out of the shot and forces the arm to develop a more continuous and well timed stroking action (similar to the above drill). This will stabilize the body and allow the head to stay quieter. Develop a habit of actually watching the ball into contact.
3. After either or both of the above drills, add the weight shift into the hit trying to time both the feet and the hands into the hit so that the trigger occurs almost simultaneous to the contact. Eliminate any jarring, jerky movements that will cause a “blind spot” (loss of focus on the ball) and make sure the racquet feels smooth without any twisting or flicking in the wrist through contact. The racquet should feel “dead” (heavy in the hand) going into the hit and coming out of the hit.
