Oscar Wegner's method

[bottle]

Cancer of the Forehand

My girlfriend says: "CLEAN DON'T BLOG." Since I blog in subjects other than tennis, too, this means a lot of housecleaning. I did hear Oscar say, however, and I believe him, that his method is the cure for cancer of the forehand.

[John Yandell]

Well, there you have it--a true believer! Hey I may not even understand Oscar (although I think I do a little bit). I don't connect with much that he has to say but if he is a positive force for other people then I say go for it.

[bottle]

Fooey. I'm in this site and I'll reply right here-- no reason to go elsewhere.
Your forum is the wild and wooley one that doesn't edit letters and filter the more provocative ones out. If somebody must go elsewhere, though, take a look at Oscar's current DVD starring Charlie Maher, the new MIT men's coach, for some of the easiest, most natural hitting one will ever see.

To address the above flash points: Forehand wrap finish as cause of racket head acceleration equates with a huge muscular burst from pec and biceps,
that's all. The racket frame knifes sideways and upwards.

That Oscar doesn't believe in shoulders turn in the forehand is simply untrue.
His minimalist theory of movement is all about turning and leaning in the
desired direction of travel, and his shoulders can be just as turned as anyone
hitting a Landsdorp forehand. The difference may be that UB rotational forces and arm forces are all in the same direction rather than countering
each other.

Three. Oscar's selling snake oil? He's trying for simplicity, that's all. Exclusive concentration on hand, eye, and ball, as Maher explains, does away with the labrynthine detail that spoils almost all tennis instruction.

Hand or head can lead one's movement; hand or head then tells the feet what to do. That's just one example of Oscar's simplicity. The proof is in the pudding, though-- he gets quick and lasting results. Too many thousands of people say so. I loved finishing second in an open senior's tournament in a big city after just being a crummy 4.0 the week before.

I also commend the outspokenness of Colin Klick, a sophomore star of the MIT men's team, who, appearing with a thousand frame per second research project in the same video, excoriates his fourteen years of expensive, conventional instruction, which he was happy to abandon in a single night.
The next day, he says, he found himself playing the best tennis in his life.

[John Yandell]

I can't say that I know Oscar's method well enough to answer that in detail. Some of the things I know he believes about watching and modeling the pros, I agree with. It may be, though, that we study the pros we see different things. Think he is mistaken in believing that the "wrap" finish is a cause of anything. Or that there is no turn in the forehand preparation, only "ball stalking." Also I don't believe in miracle cures--for cancer or the forehand--his master tennis in two days idea. I just don't think it really works that way. But many people are stimulated and inspired by his work. You might try searching around on the Tenniswarehouse message boards--he's gotten a ton of discussion pro and con there.

[jlkm2219]

What do you think about Oscar Wegner's method for teaching tennis? What are the similarities and differences between his method and yours?