|
TennisOne Lessons 
How to Eliminate Racquet Face Disturbances on Every Shot Key Adjustments for Players After 50 Kathy and Ron Woods A racquet face disturbance refers to an interruption of the accurate path of the racquet face to contacting the ball. At any age it is smart to eliminate disturbances, but for older players who need to rely on consistency and accuracy more than power, it becomes essential. Equally important is that avoiding disturbances will prevent strains to the shoulder, elbow, and wrist which are common overuse problems as we age.
Those of us who live in Florida are used to “weather disturbances” and we even label them by categories from 1-5. A major weather disturbance can quickly become an emergency situation. Likewise, a racquet face disturbance can quickly destroy your tennis game by causing repetitive mis-hits or loss of control of your shots. A serious racquet disturbance at level 4 or 5 puts you at risk for injury. It helps to understand what controls the direction, height, speed, and spin of a tennis ball. Side-to-side direction and height of the ball are both controlled by the angle of the racquet face at the point of contact. The speed of your shots is the result of the size and speed of the forward swing. Topspin or backspin is applied to the ball by the path of the racquet through the hitting area; upwards for topspin and slightly downward and leading with the lower edge of the racquet for backspin. Once you can control the height, direction, speed, and spin on your shots, the main objective is to move the racquet face through the hitting area to ball contact with no deviations, flips, turns, or twists on every shot. Being able to execute an identical forward path of the racquet will assure consistency and control. The causes of racquet face disturbances are more difficult to identify and correct. Just knowing you have a disturbance may or may not help you correct the cause. Let’s take a look at some common causes of disturbances and potential solutions. Causes of Racquet Face Disturbances
First, check the height of the ball when you actually make contact. Ideally, you’d prefer to contact the ball about waist height on ground strokes so it's important to position your body to do so. High and low balls tend to force you to adjust and thus often produce a disturbance. At the same time, be sure your contact point is a comfortable distance from your body, not to close or too far away causing you to lunge or lean. If you are forced to play a ball higher or lower than your optimal position or you choose to do so to take advantage of your court position, be sure you don’t try to compensate by changing your swing. On high balls, your natural tendency on ground strokes may be to try to bring the ball down which usually results in a ball that lands in the net. Instead, swing through the ball in the direction of the intended path of the ball. On a low balls, whether hitting a ground stroke or volley, you must open the racquet face throughout the forward swing to insure that the ball goes over the net. However, you will want to keep the plane of your forward swing the same, resisting the tendency to exaggerate the upward movement. Remember, it is the racquet face that raises the height over the net, not the upward swing. Second, make sure your upper body is erect with good posture and your head is still throughout the complete stroke. We like to think of a “quiet body” during the swing to resist the unnecessary jumps, twists and turns some players adopt. Lifting your head during the forward swing or bending from the waist rather than the knees will alter the path of your swing.
Third, adjust your swing speed. We suggest you adjust your forward swing to a speed that doesn’t compromise your stability, balance, or create racquet face disturbances. We’d liken it to adjusting your driving speed for a dangerous curve in the road. Similarly, if you receive an easy ball at a comfortable height, you may choose to accelerate your forward swing just like you would a car on the open road. Fourth, make sure you keep the racquet face the same through the hitting area; that is approximately two feet before and after ball contact. The palm of your hand controls the angle of your racquet face and you should squeeze your grip just before and during ball contact as you stroke through the ball. A shorter backswing makes it easier to keep the proper racquet alignment and happily, since most of us over the age of 50 play more doubles than singles, a shortened backswing works for most shots in doubles, particularly those inside the baseline and at the net. Fifth, reduce the amount of wrist flexion during your swing. It’s a good idea to set your wrist at the optimal angle in the waiting position and then keep it there during the backswing and forward swing to insure a stable, accurate contact with the ball. If you habitually use a lot of wrist action, you might benefit from moving your grip up just a bit on the handle so that heel of your hand is against the butt cap, but does not extend over it. To be sure, a longer grip may give you more power but you will sacrifice some control of the racquet face.
Some players become very “wristy” because they mistakenly believe topspin is applied by “rolling over” the top of the ball or backspin by “sliding under” the ball. Remember to rely on the path of your racquet during the forward swing either upward or downward to apply the spin. Sixth, on your followthrough extend your racquet along the same path of your forward swing for another foot or two after ball contact in the direction you want the ball to travel. That is the critical part of the follow through just after the ball has left your racquet. Many players find it helpful to think of hitting 6 or more tennis balls lined up in a row (one behind the other) on the same swing. After the initial two feet, the remainder of the followthrough should be a natural movement that allows your arm to gradually slow down and recover. How high and how far your followthrough extends is a function of how fast your arm is traveling, the sharpness of the upward angle of your swing and in some cases your grip. As a general rule, finishing your ground strokes over the opposite shoulder is a reasonable target providing you move completely through the hitting area first. On volleys, since the backswing is very short compared to ground strokes, the followthrough should also be relatively short but again the racquet face should continue in the direction of the hit after ball contact.
On serves, make sure your racquet is traveling upward to meet the ball and recognize that the flight of the ball off your racquet is actually upwards on the serve in order for it to travel from the baseline over the net. Racquet face disturbances often creep in when players try to hit down on their serve by snapping the wrist downwards. In fact, the wrist snap must be upwards to contact the ball. A quick analogy may help you picture your racquet moving cleanly through the hitting area on ground strokes before and after ball contact. If you have a pet dog or cat, think of how they like to be stroked. A consistent ground stroke is like stroking your pet rather than delivering a fatal punch or blow. A simple reminder to yourself not to “kill the cat” will help you smooth out your swing. You also might consider investing in a racquet with a larger head and sweet spot to reduce the number of off-center hits. We also find that the larger racquet head tends to make players more conscious of the position of the racquet head during the swing. Disturbances of any kind are unpleasant, unhealthy and may be dangerous. Racquet face disturbances are no different. If you can keep your racquet face moving smoothly and accurately through the hitting path, your consistency will improve quickly.
Kathy and Ron Woods have been a successful mixed doubles team for 30 years. Both were individually awarded the prestigious Tennis Education Merit Award by the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Kathy Woods, a former president of the United States Professional Tennis Association, is manager and director of tennis at the Racquet Club of St. Petersburg, Florida. Ron Woods, PhD, a college coach and professor of sport science, was a senior staff member of the United States Tennis Association for 20 years. Kathy and Ron recently co-authored the book, Playing Tennis After 50, published by Human Kinetics. It is available from the publisher at Humankinetics.com, Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. |
