learner's diet...

In our last three of learner's diet we have seen three important strokes of tennis of five famous personalities.Today we shall see 'Backhand' of Mikhail Youzhny.lets have a look at him

Mikhail Youzhny's Slice Backhand

1. love the way Youzhny digs in with his feet. He has a lot of flex in his left knee and is pushing off on his toes (notice the space between the clay and his left heel). Many club players stand straight up when they run; Youzhny lowers himself like a soccer player and is determined to arrive in the best position possible. He has started to turn his upper body and take the racquet back, using his left hand to stabilize the frame at the throat. Youzhny holds the racquet with a Continental grip, which will allow him to create backspin. His racquet head is up, but not back all the way—he’s tracking the ball. Many players take the racquet back too far too soon, which results in an awkward, Zorro-like swing.

2. You can see that Youzhny is light on his feet as he continues to bend his knees and push forward with his toes. He’s not fl at-footed. Now that he has sized up the shot, he begins to cock the racquet and coil his shoulders more.

3. Youzhny brings his racquet behind his ear, not something I recommend for a club player. The technique is great, but diffi cult to execute. He needs more racquet-head speed here because he’s in a defensive position, so he’s increasing his range of motion to accelerate his swing. There’s the right amount of space between his hitting arm and head, as well as between his right elbow and chest. Club players tend to keep their hitting elbows too close to their bodies, which causes the racquet to drop and the wrist to collapse on impact. Youzhny’s stroke is built from the ground up, as you can see by his knee bend and straight back. If you bend at the waist, your legs will straighten and you won’t rotate your hips properly.

4. In the previous pictures, Youzhny’s eyes were locked on the ball. Now that he has made contact, his head and eyes don’t jerk away. I get good results when I tell my students, “Look at the back of your strings after you hit the ball.” Youzhny’s right leg points diagonally away from the baseline, but he’s still hitting a forceful crosscourt shot. The racquet face is slightly open and the head remains above his wrist after contact. He swings his left arm back to balance the force of his right arm going forward. Too many club players allow their off arms to follow their hitting arms, which opens the shoulders and robs strokes of power.

5. This photo is a perfect teaching tool. The ball is gone, but Youzhny remains sideways and his left arm has moved farther back to keep him balanced. Notice that the slice is not a wristy shot. When Youzhny made contact, the racquet head was above his wrist. Only now, as he carves through the rest of his motion, is the racquet head pointing down. Still, his wrist remains fi rm.

6. Youzhny has knifed the ball from high to low while driving through it. Now his racquet is on the upswing. A good slice should trace the shape of an archer’s bow: down, through, and up. Emphasize “through,” or you’ll end up with a fl oater. Youzhny’s left arm moves back, a mirror image of his hitting arm. Soon his left foot will come around as he prepares for another stretch of running. Dig in again, Mikhail.

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learner's diet

hey guys,
I our last two versions of learner's diet we have seen two important strokes of tennis of three famous personalities.Today we shall see 'the forehand' of two different personalities.It is so interesting to learn the their different techniques for a similar shot.lets have a look at them.

When Maria Sharapova stunned tennis fans by winning Wimbledon in 2004, her serve and backhand were her biggest assets. But in the last year, she has molded her forehand into a weapon as well. She’s more aggressive off that wing than ever before, and it’s the shot she relies on most to open up the court and construct points.

1. Sharapova uses her left hand to help take her racquet back and assist in her shoulder turn. See how her left shoulder comes up to her chin? I like that, because it indicates a full turn. Her balance is very good. She’s ready to move forward and take this shot just inside the baseline—clearly Sharapova is looking to attack. Her grip is almost a full Western.

2. Sharapova continues with her excellent shoulder turn. As she takes her racquet back, she’s making small adjustment steps that help put her in an ideal position. Sharapova’s racquet is back a little higher than I was taught to take mine—my backswing was more compact—but it helps her produce greater racquet-head speed, which means more power.

3. Sharapova’s left hand is starting to move out in front of her to track the ball. Doing this helps ensure that her point of contact is out in front of her body. Her head is down and her eyes are right on the ball. At this point, it appears she might be preparing to hit an open-stance forehand, but she’s not; she’s putting her left foot directly in front of her right as she moves to the ball.

4. This photo screams balance and power. Sharapova is getting ready to unleash into the shot. Her head has barely moved since the fi rst frame, and her racquet is looping down out of her high backswing. The only criticism I have at this point is that her right elbow is too far away from her body. I prefer it to be in closer, which gives you more control. It appears she’s decided to take a backswing that’s bigger than usual so she can really attack the ball.

5. Sharapova has pulled her elbow closer to her body. She’s dropped her racquet almost to its lowest point and she’ll bring it forward and up, hitting the ball from below and swinging up and through it. The racquet face is a bit closed, so she’ll generate some topspin. Sharapova’s upper body is already uncoiling, helping to move the racquet toward the contact point. Her weight is now on her front foot.

6. The point of contact is just where it should be—in front of the body. Sharapova has taken the ball early, hitting low to high, and her balance is excellent. Her eyes are locked on the ball and her weight is moving forward to the point where she’s come up on her right toe. It appears from her stance and the position of her shoulders that she’s going down the line with this attacking forehand.

7. I like that Sharapova is hitting through the ball and finishing by taking her racquet across her body. She could have extended the frame even more through the path of the ball, but I think the fact that she didn’t is probably because she’s added topspin to this shot. Her forward and upward momentum have brought both of her feet off the ground. Notice how her head remains down. Even though she’s hit the ball, she’s not yet looking to see where it’s going.

8. his is a wraparound follow-through. Sharapova has a tendency to follow through on her forehand over her right shoulder instead of her left, particularly when she’s hitting off her back foot. But on this one she’s done it in the traditional way. She didn’t pop up too fast, so she’s balanced and ready to get back to the middle for the next shot.

At the age of 20, Rafael Nadal, a two-time champion at Roland Garros, has already etched his name near the top of the list of the best clay-court players the game has ever seen. But thanks to his monster forehand, he’s a contender on all other surfaces as well. Here’s how he generates so much power and spin with it.



1. Nadal’s preparation for his forehand is outstanding. Here you can see that he’s loaded and ready to go. His racquet is back, his shoulders are fully turned, his back is pretty straight— which I really like—and his legs are low and spaced well, giving him a wide base from which to hit. He’s using a full Western grip, which is great for generating topspin.

2. Nadal’s racquet is in virtually the same place as in the first frame, but he’s still adjusting his feet, leading me to think he may have gotten a bad bounce. Normally, I like to see continuous momentum with the racquet throughout the swing. Here it looks as if he might have checked his swing slightly. Even so, he’s doing a good job of getting his back leg almost behind the ball.

3. His base is set and his left leg is planted. The racquet head is starting to drop and you can see that the face is completely closed. This is common in today’s game. Nadal’s right shoulder is just now starting to come through the contact zone. His legs and back are in perfect position, and
he’s low to the ball. I prefer to see a player get down with his legs like Nadal does rather than bend at the waist.

4. Nadal is pulling the right side of his body around first, and his left side is dragging behind. This helps him load up more power until he’s ready to let his swing rip. He’s beginning to come up with his legs, but, contrary to what you might expect, his weight is shifting toward his back foot rather than to his front, the way tennis players are traditionally taught.



5. Here you clearly see one of the more unusual aspects of Nadal’s forehand. Typically, players who use a Western grip make contact close to their bodies and with a pronounced elbow bend. But Nadal strikes the ball with his left arm almost fully extended. Plus, he’s hitting the ball completely off his back foot, but his right side has come through and his upper body is open.

6. In this frame we can see how today’s forehand differs from the typical forehand of the 1970s and ’80s. Nadal and most pros these days have what I call a “windshield wiper” swing. This means that after he makes contact, Nadal swings his racquet across his body and flips it over, using the same motion as a windshield wiper. In the past, players typically extended through the hitting zone before following through to the other side of their bodies.



7. Another difference between today’s forehand and the one used in my era is that we were taught to follow through high and in the direction of our target and catch the racquet with our opposing hand. That’s not the case here; Nadal’s racquet has gone past his right hand and continues to wrap around his midsection. His weight has finally started to move to his right foot.

8. Amazingly, Nadal’s racquet has finished completely around his body. Look at the position of his right shoulder in the first photo and notice his left shoulder in this one. He was looking over his right shoulder at the beginning and ended looking over his left. This rotation is a great checkpoint for everyone, regardless of the forehand you use. If you can go shoulder to shoulder, you’ll ensure a full stroke.

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