TennisOne

Venus Williams commanded all the shots of a champion during her run at the Bank of the West tournament at Stanford - she outplayed Monica Seles then came up just short in a dazzling three set loss to Lindsay Davenport. Venus displayed lunging angled volleys, sizzling serves as fast as 125mph, heavy topspin groundstrokes, underspin approaches, and much more. But from this seat, I was unable to discern any type of game plan. At this time in her career, she appears to be merely a hitter of the ball, not a player of the game.

Pancho Segura, the renowned coach best remembered for his efforts with Jimmy Connors had a brief coaching stint with Andre Agassi in 1993. They quickly parted ways, Andre was quoted saying Pancho made him "think too much". Andre the shotmaker, without any real substantive game plan (circa 1993) closely parallels Williams in 1998. Venus has absolutely incredible shotmaking ability, but rarely puts together the sequence of shots necessary to finish the point at the net as Connors (the baseliner) did with such frequency and skill.

Case in point. Williams routinely stands inside the baseline to return serve, ostensibly to deliver a punishing return. But far too often, she swings away then steps back to get into the rally, even when she drives the return down the line. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Williams should take a page from the maestro, Tom Stow. "Return crosscourt when you are staying back, return down the line when following your shot to the net." Never return down the line then retreat, the opponent is given the crosscourt counter. Venus will learn to move forward, I have no doubt, the question is when?

Williams generates extreme power from either side. Power is generated from the ground up with both legs contributing. Finally the arm finishes loose and whip like.

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Point two. Williams volleys with grace, athleticism, and remarkable touch. She serves 125 mph, and delivers a wicked sidespin serve in the deuce court that may one day be as good as the sidespinning can-opener John McEnroe swung to the ad court. Seles often returned Williams delivery with weak underspin floaters. Davenport was able to swing away at Williams serves, but only by standing well behind the baseline. Look at this situation in the eyes of Segura or Stow and the conclusion is inescapable, SERVE AND VOLLEY, come in behind that huge serve and knife the volley into the open court. Williams can learn to do this, again the question is when?

Finally, I have been reexamining the serve in relation to the height of the toss. Ivan Lendl and Steffi Graf toss quite high, pausing during their motion to wait for the ball then launching up to hit it. Their results speak for themselves, champions with a ton of titles. Andre Agassi and Michael Chang toss less high than Lendl or Graf but still pause during their swing. Pete Sampras tosses lower than Andre and Michael, pausing only perceptibly during the swing and appearing to serve with better rhythym than Agassi or Chang. Finally, Goran Ivanisivec and Richard Krajicek toss just high enough to hit the ball, the result is a continuous swinging motion that appears more rhythmic than those of the high tossers. In the old days Roscoe Tanner and Kevin Curren were renown for their incredible serves hit with this same "minimum height" toss. The low toss, continuous swing is an idea championed by Vic Braden and one, as a teacher, I am becoming more and more in favor of. So from my seat, I watch Williams great but unreliable serve and cannot help but notice her extremely high toss. The high toss makes her wait, and adds an additional timing impediment to her motion (imagine a pitcher pausing in the middle of his delivery). Then I imagine Williams employing a lower toss (Sampras height would be good, Currens height would be better). It might possibly become the best serve in all of tennis, for this woman can accelerate the racquet big time. Just an opinion mind you, but as you mull this over, watch the US Open or any professional venue, or even your own club or public park, I believe you will notice the most fluid and effortless servers use relatively low tosses with continuous serving motions.

Just a suggestion, Venus, spend a little time in Southern California with Vic and Pancho. If she does, I think the women’s tour will be history.

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Venus Williams - "Incredible Shotmaker

Venus Williams - "Incredible Shotmaker, But Not Quite the Next Great Champion"

Williams generates extreme power from either side. Power is generated from the ground up with both legs contributing. Finally the arm finishes loose and whip like.

Click here for animation.