A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

Why Millions of Tennis Players Denied Whip-Crack

I genuinely wondered, always remembering Malivai Washington's serve. Not for nothing did people call him "The Muleteer." Everything was relaxed and flowing, like a wet towel. And everything came down to a crack of Mal's wrist in Rock Creek Park.

Tom Stow's student Jim McLennan always emphasized wrist snap with his own tennis students-- so much that his family gave him a bullwhip either for his birthday or for Christmas-- can't remember which.

And then the tennis voices began to appear. I can't remember in whose ear, other than Joan of Arc. The tennis players in Arc lost faith in the crack in Rock Creek Park.

But the voices resonating around the world from France no longer contained the snark of those in Arc. These new voices said, "I don't think this whip-crack is the genuine article. I think it's an illusion, a phantasm, a romantic notion."

I always wondered if Jim McLennan's faith was shattered by this Arc attack. So I noted with interest twenty years later surfing around the web the other day that, he has a newsletter which anyone can receive if they will overcome a few computer glitches such as overactive spam filter. And I noted that McLennan was still preaching wrist crack, in fact demonstrated how the wrist moved right there on the web video advertising the newsletter.

But I still had questions, so I conducted a rigorous pilot study of my own in which I interviewed six thousand bullwhips, six hundred wet towels, and six black snakes.

I'll spare you the towels and the snakes, dear reader, but here's what the bullwhips undulated in perfect unison speaking as one: "Look, Bot, at how I'm built. A short black handle and a long braided tail, right? I coil, I snap. Simple, no? Can't understand tennis talk anyway."

I didn't press my luck. I thought it perfectly all right to put the pronation after the whip-crack, or before it, or during it, depending on the serve, so long as you only used the word "pronation" among tennis players.

And for years there have been millions of tennis players who thought you only
pronated at service contact-- poor souls. Perhaps one can reason with them.

As for the bullwhip, the wet towel and the black snake, don't even try. They don't understand. You can use them. Other than that, for your own good, just leave them alone.

[bottle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8v_qQ3FHys&feature=player_embedded

Using right leg to stop straightening body: good. Better than trying to do it with your feeble left arm for sure. All the tennis palaver about stopping the whirling shoulders with left hand has always seemed a bit superstitious and fishy to me. I'll take a good punt any time. Once that thigh has risen enough, you have the makings of an actual brake, not some fantasy brake. And the already closing wrist, conceding this point, really will pop for you. Yes, cracking a whip is indeed possible in a tennis serve. (But thanks to lukman41985 for challenging that idea, so long ago. Progress comes as much from challenge-- well, partly as much-- as support.)

Chopper seems enough grip for now. And if upper arm is slightly higher than parallel to court, the immediately straightening wrist brings racket around from left. Upper arm movement seems to come later with less of it than I thought. So, one out of three rainy day ideas worked when I finally got to court, a ratio that seems about right.

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Well, it's still raining, and I haven't tried this, and Bob Ray certainly doesn't show any up and down of the elbow in the chop performed in front of him. There is plenty of upper arm movement however in the actual serve which is fast enough to be difficult to figure out. The only question is when. Is it later, assisting the over-pronation? In the middle? Spread throughout? You decide, dear reader. Me, I'm just grateful to have this new thought to fan my consciousness and hopes for progress in this promising and very different serve.

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Chopping Down to Chop Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8v_qQ3FHys&feature=player_embedded

To chop as Bob Ray demonstrates means that elbow must start in a high position and then come down, even when the action is behind him with everything seeming to rise up. He demonstrates, doesn't explain-- good since explanation always requires too many words. I am the one who is using words here. And I'm telling you: The elbow comes down, the forearm goes up, the triceps extends, the wrist bends closed to take the racket head up. And Bob Ray demonstrates it as the single move it actually is down in front of him. And you can practice it by using a full length ax in one arm to split slab wood like an inland Mainer against a chopping block.

So what's the takeaway? It's all in what comes immediately before: A service motion in which elbow is pointed up at the sky and close to your head in a position inherently weak, sickly and self-injurious in one of your other serves involving spinning wheels stacked one upon the other in the slat-marked kinetic segments of Vic Braden's stegosaurus.

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Bob and Hiroko Ray Family Business Kick, Continued

The following, like most ideas is worth a try. I haven't tried this try yet because of rain but will.

Bend body as you go down.

Straighten body as you go up (the opposite of servers who thrust more bend into their total body as they drive up). Use top of extreme American football punt to abruptly stop straightening body just as hand slows down. Most of wrist has straightened by then. A bit of wrist curl remains to combine with over-pronation (caused by extreme grip at one-quarter turn past normal continental grip). This over-pronation manifests itself not only in forearm twist but whole arm twist, which one purposefully saves for this occasion.

[bottle]

It's a punt, that's wot.

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Re: Bob Ray Kick

I see a big supporting movement from upper body clocking straight (wisely) from left to right. The right leg kicking vigorously toward right fence gives, taken together with upper body going the same way, the total impression of a jackknife.

Work on these two moves as one: a jackknife. This is the move that then very naturally returns back leg to its starting place behind front leg without disturbing it.

This is a fun realization, easy from then on to do.

[bottle]

How to Hard-boil an Egg, Parallel Park, Hit a Kick Serve

Mr. Laconic is Bob of Bob and Hiroko Ray at Rayco Tennis in San Diego, California. Now that I've seen a bunch of his videos on everything from George Soros to replacing grommets, I modify my first assessment: This man is droll, knowledgeable, a great entertainer and entrepreneur and probably a crackerjack businessman. In addition, his cat is a movie star.

I remain blown away by the clarity and economy of the above video, post 254. It's amazing how much power one can generate through the simple decision to straighten wrist in time with extending arm and both legs, and of course I'm already letting the wrist go sooner in one of my slice serves (but not the other).

To me it's interesting that when Bob Ray hits this nifty kick serve his left foot stays still but mine doesn't. Mine pivots. Want to work on that and on toss
of course. Best toss place is personal, not what some other person thinks.

As for your question, Ochi, I'd say put the three words "pure slice serves" in a search engine; you'll probably start off with the 10-frame photo essay by Jeff Cooper. It's not bad.

When Vic Braden came to Winchester, VA, he splattered his short, wide target on his first attempt at pure slice from the deuce court.

To others obsessed like me with mastering a good kick serve despite physical limitation, I'd say Bob Ray's video is evidence that you should always put something like "How do you hit a good kick serve?" in your search engine-- periodically.

Because there's always something new and different coming up, and all you need is to find the one special lesson that will work for you.

[ochi]

Good, interesting post, Bot. And it gave your frenzied tennis mind a deserved rest.

I'm tempted to work on attempting to develop a kick serve, but if I hit the couch for a little while, the urge will pass over. I'm still trying to get back the severe, low-bouncing freak swerve-serve I once had for a while. Man, I miss that.

I have told several instructors that if they can hit a 90% pure slice, I will gladly pay the present exhorbitant fee for a lesson. Not one could do it. Maybe there is something on You-Tube?

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Today I'm Trying to be like Mr. Laconic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8v_qQ3FHys&feature=player_embedded

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Bulwer-Lytton, Onward and Upward

It's all true and I've been there and explored (!) and bookmarked the site. My only fear is too much affected clarity at the wrong time, perhaps in the sentence after this one, which shall be about wrist motion in the Angie reverse helicopter serve, post # 251 .

Remember, exceptionally intelligent dear readers open to anything tennis, you're whirling your elbows (forget that you're also firing your triceps. You are doing that but forget it!).

The WHIRL of elbow provides a force girdle of support for a second WHIRL, this time of the forearm once rest of arm has straightened and stopped.

So it was back to unfolding wrist for me rather than the closing wrist I mistakenly brought to this particular serve.

The next development then was initial, way-around stance. The splayed feet typical of this formation lead to natural, spiraling rotation mid-air.

But Chris Lewit suggested retarding this rotation for a kick serve. The best way of doing that I've been able to figure out is keeping the two feet parallel to each other. Your opponents may notice the subtle distinction but mine are legally blind.

The back foot is WAY ROUND but parallel now. This gets you firing your gut more than ever-- very good.

You just have to figure out how far.

The parallel knees permit more thrusting, lowering knee travel toward the right fence, which means you get farther under the ball with more leftward lean at which time after some big body stuff you whirl your elbow and then your wrist, either unfolding it or keeping it where it is-- whichever works best.

[ochi]

Overwriting for fun and sanity

Ho, Bot! If you want true inspiration for fun overwriting, go to www.bulwer-lytton.com. There's a lot of great wacky stuff there. Poor Bulwer-Lytton. That one wonderful paragraph is perenially used as an example of awful writing, but I love it. I am tired of the boring AP Stylebook (so was Jimmy Breslin), and have always thought Hemingway's ultra-simplicity an affectation. So, keep breaking the envelope of acceptable tennis writing, until it becomes Finnegan's Wake. Then throw us a change-up of clarity.

[bottle]

Sunday Service Ceremony

Excellent! I'm going to feel very underwritten here, after that.

The best serve-- the only possible addition to repertoire-- was, this Sunday, Angie reverse helicopter (see earlier post on Angie's trampoline-driven blindfolded experience at the hands of Vic Braden).

The serve's intrinsic set of discoveries includes this knowledge: Wind-up is passive reaction to body movement, but once the twisting reverses, everything is pro-active. There is no choice between triceptic extension and passive assist from twisting elbow; in fact, you do them both simultaneously, and if you abruptly stop the elbow on purpose the twisting forearm can almost bounce against its physical limit without harm as wrist finally accelerates hand somewhat from left to right up and down.

[ochi]

Bottle, I think you might have a winner for the next annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest there. You have outdone yourself.

Here is my entry: "Howling gusts of wind and torrents of cold rain left the courts of Chubb Park littered with wet, slippery leaves reminiscent of the back alleys of Jersey City and Hoboken after thousands of Shop-Rite bags broke loose from the boxes that spilled out of a tractor-trailer driven by a bipolar highjacker with a sick sense of humor."

Lucky we had a big leaf-blower in the morning!

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First Strike Capability

Today I thought I'd like the forward rotorded phylum serve where once elbow is knifed toward ball, you combine triceptic extension with straightening of wrist to raise the snakehead, I mean the rackethead, higher than the ball, and then sink your fangs in the ball's skull through combined pronation of elbow and forearm.

That serve, however, proved mediocre. The serve that sizzled had arm turning one way and then the other-- if one remembered to maintain double closing wrist action once the arm was straight and pronated: up before down. With this latter serve one wouldn't be impotent and therefore wouldn't need to occupy Afghanistan.