The Real Spin on Tennis: The Real Spin on Tennis:
This excerpt is from the beginning of the book where Broudy describes what could have been a fatal accident for a tennis pro--an almost complete severing of the tendons in his playing hand. Forced to learn to play with his left hand, his non-playing hand, Broudy rediscovers the game and how to teach it. He titles this chapter, "How I Came to Understand The New Tennis."
The book (250 pages) is recently released by JWB Tennis
Publications, Leucadia, CA and is priced at $14.00 in paperback. The book
can be found at several popular book stores, including Barnes and Noble.
To order the book call 1-619-753-4119. ISBN#: 0-9654872-0-2
About five years ago, I crushed the right thumb of my playing hand in a hydraulic lift accident, severing all of the nerves and tendons. I had to stop playing conventional tennis for six months, but I was on the court coaching the day after the accident with the help of my ball machine and my assistant pro and friend, Marc. Little did I know that this "break" would be the turning point for my own game and for my teaching.
A few days after the pain subsided a little and I was off the pain killers, I decided to play tennis with my left hand. I had missed hitting the ball, and I knew it would be a growing experience, at least for my teaching. I was curious to see how I did in a sport I had played well for two decades. Little did I know that it would change the way I feel about the dynamics of the game forever.
I started out against the ball machine--horribly, I might add. I had no control on either side, and I mishit over half the time. Frankly, I was surprised that I was this bad. My racket was "back," I "watched the ball," and I "followed through" nice and high like I was supposed to, and I stunk! I couldn't even run with the racket in my left hand. I could finally relate to some of my beginner, or less naturally talented students, when they would tell me that they were "trying" to do what I'd tell them. So, that's when I decided to experiment with some ideas that I had never seen put into practice or heard of before (and at that point in my life, I thought I'd heard it all). I began to think of the times when I was playing my best. "What did it feel like?" I asked myself. I had to start simple and keep it simple, because my left arm couldn't handle much more. I had virtually no coordination.
I started at the service line, where I could get the ball over the net with my left hand by just "bumping" it against my strings. I decided that the most important thing was to first make good contact--a solid hit. I took a very small backswing, leaving my left elbow close to my left hip, keeping my racket face perpendicular to the court, flat to the ball. From there I slowly brought my racket face directly toward the ball. I just "bumped" the first couple of balls. Once I felt comfortable making good contact with the ball in the middle of the strings, I slowly came to a perfect finish and froze in that position. "Touch and finish" is what I kept saying to myself. Amazing as it may sound, within half an hour, I was comfortable hitting forehands and backhands from the service line with my left hand!
Starting with "touch and finish," and continuing with additional techniques that are highlighted in the following chapters, I not only became a proficient player with my left hand, but I even looked like a pro. Imagine that--I could hit topspin off both sides, a one-handed backhand, a backhand chip, volleys, overheads, and even flat and slice serves-all with my left hand! Keep in mind that my left arm had been completely dormant for 30 years, developing absolutely no coordination or strength (my left forearm was one-and-a-half inches smaller than my right), and within a month I felt comfortable, had pretty strokes, and had fun playing left-handed, with a cast still on my right hand.
It's those principles that I've used to teach myself "lefty" tennis that I have recorded in the pages of this book. The funny thing about all this was that I was always well known in whatever section of the country I was teaching in as an exceptional tennis pro with many ranked players in my fold. I thought that I knew the game as well as anyone. And I probably did. But I was merely a better analyst and communicator than the average teaching pro. I hadn't created a better mousetrap; I had simply become proficient at expressing the same old fundamentals in an interesting way....
The following chapters teach the "new fundamentals" based on actual lessons and success stories at the pro and non-pro levels. The lessons are incorporated into chapters that will serve as your tennis program, helping you improve at the quickest rate possible. Following the steps will enable you to play better every time you step on the court. Not only that, you will find that you enjoy your tennis at a much higher level than you ever have before. Tennis will become more of a "full" experience. You'll feel exhilarated and rejuvenated, much the way one does after a rigorous ski session or aerobics class.
This program encompasses the entire sport, from the mind games--the mental and psychological aspects--to the technicalities of strokes. This program will help you learn how to become an integrated "all-court" player, controlling your emotions as well as the ball. And if you've been in a tennis "rut," these lessons will serve to pull you out of it. Just as important, you'll learn to perform at your very best under pressure.
This new information is about today's tennis, which is much different than when I was playing junior tournaments with a Wilson Jack Kramer wood racket strung with gut, costing about $40. Then, rackets had virtually half the sweet spot and less than half the power....
Today's game is about efficiency and power. Lighter and longer rackets can generate most of the velocity if used correctly. Today's new equipment makes it possible for anyone to play the game-and play it well. However, players are still battling the same problems with inconsistency, physical ailments, and an overall lack of control, strength, and confidence, especially when they play under pressure. Tennis enthusiasts, more than ever, find that they get to a certain level and then reach an impasse. So, if in your own game, you find that noticeable improvement is slow or nonexistent, it's not necessarily your fault. The fundamentals of the game have changed, and you just haven't been informed. I'm here to tell you that you're about to 'break through" to the next level.
I have been fortunate in my life to have coached many players, some from the first time they picked up a racket, through the college and professional ranks. I coached 10-year-old "junior pros" to men's 55-and-over champions. Through my coaching and my own personal experiences with junior, college, and professional tournament tennis, I've discovered what works best for all levels of players, especially through the new perception that I attained as a lefty....
The only players that I ever see improving through the old methods are those exceptionally proficient athletes who would play well regardless of what anyone told them. They can actually learn by watching. The old teaching style relies on the player developing timing, which takes years to acquire, and can be lost at a moment's notice, usually when the player is under match pressure. Actually, it was one of my students who pointed this out to me. She told me that even though she had only played tennis for four months, she was improving every time she stepped on the court. Her friends who had been playing for years, on the other hand, were standing still because, as she put it, "They never make any significant changes in their game and just seem to be waiting for 'time' to make them better players."
I hate to wait. Don't you?
- end of Part 1 -
Stay tuned for Part 2 of "The Real Spin on Tennis"
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