The French Open is the land of heavy topspinners with high bouncing balls up around your ears.  So it’s a good time to talk about dealing with those high bouncers.  If you have trouble with the high ones you’ll either end up with mistakes or hit short and allow your opponent an opportunity to attack.  One of the keys to remember is that even though the ball is up around your shoulders from the baseline area you must swing up into the ball.  A common mistake I see at the club level is that players tend to raise the hitting shoulder and swing too horizontally which will send the ball into the net or short setting up your opponent.  Usually players have this tendency if they prefer continental or eastern grips, (although eastern is workable if you keep the palm of the hitting hand down as you swing up into the shot), because with these grips swinging up on a high ball feels like you’re going to hit the ball over the fence.  This is the case with continental and eastern because the racquet face IS NOT NATURALLY CLOSED as you start your forward and up swing.  On the other hand, with semi-western the racquet face IS NATURALLY CLOSED as you start your forward and up swing and naturally becomes vertical at contact. If you do not have a semi-western grip in your tool box, you’ll want to add one to become effective returning those high ones.  When you first try a semi-western grip make sure you’re aiming a good 4 – 6 feet (sometimes even more, 8 -10 feet) over the net and swing as if you’re trying to hit the back fence with a line drive.  The reason I tell players to do this is because most times when players first implement a semi-western grip their shots typically land in the net or very short.  This is because they’ve never swung up so much on a high ball.  So get under the ball and swing up, (as in the Amelie Mauresmo Video) make sure the ball is ascending off your strings and you’ll start to get a feel for how much you need to swing up and aim high to hit a deep penetrating shot.

Notice here on this high bouncing ball that Amelie’s racquet is moving low to high into the contact point and that when the ball leaves her strings it’s going up, it’s ascending… probably clearing the net by a minimum of 6 feet to possibly 8 – 10 feet.

The Toss Is Essential For A Consistent Serve
You could have a fantastic, fluid serving motion with your hitting arm, but, if you cannot consistently place the toss in the right spot, it’s very difficult to develop a consistent serve.

Let me share a story.  One of the greatest servers of all time was Pancho Gonzalez.  A 1999 Sports Illustrated article about the magazine’s 20 “favorite athletes” of the 20th century said about Gonzales (their number 15 pick): “If earth was on the line in a tennis match, the man you want serving to save humankind would be Ricardo Alonso Gonzalez.” The noted tennis commentator Bud Collins echoed this in an August 2006 article for MSNBC.com: “If I had to choose someone to play for my life, it would be Pancho Gonzalez.  Tony Trabert had this to say about Pancho, Trabert told interviewer Joe McCauley “that Gonzalez’s serve was the telling factor on their tour – it was so good that it earned him many cheap points. Trabert felt that, while he had the better groundstrokes, he could not match Pancho’s big, fluent service.”

So the tour players got together with a Tournament promoter and decided they would get the ‘edge’ on Pancho.  They came up with a tournament where you only had one serve, no second serves, you miss the first , you lose the point.  They figured that Pancho would have to take something off his huge first serve and this would level the playing field for them.  Guess what happened?  It backfired, Pancho’s first serve was so reliable and consistent he didn’t take anything off his serve, he had the highest percentage of serves in and easily breezed through, winning the tournament.

Here’s my point, taken from Pancho’s book Tennis, he said, “The height of my toss will be that point where my right arm and racket, fully extended, can hit it.  I never toss the ball so high that I have to wait for it to drop.”

Pancho’s toss was most always in the right spot, not out of his reach, where he would have to wait for it to come down, and consequently be dropping fast through his hitting zone, making it more difficult to be consistent. It was also not too low, which would not allow him to fully unwind and extend up into the ball for optimum power.

There have been other great server’s who did the same, Roscoe Tanner (Wimbledon Finalist, Australian Open Winner), Goran Ivanisevic (Wimbledon Winner).

I know some may say wait a minute this is the modern game.  I say, ‘baloney’.  The type of serve Gonzalez, Tanner and Ivanisevic hit, with the toss, just to the peak of their reach… works, it’s been proven, Tanner was hitting 140 MPH with a wooden racket.

Another advantage of this type of ‘old school’ serve is that many times these players (remember Rod Laver, John Newcombe) step into the court first, with their dominant leg, which is a natural if you’re going to the net behind your serve, you’ll get there a little quicker.  There is no question this type of serve works at the club level, I’ve seen it in action, whether anyone will be willing to try at the pro level to test it out and see if it will work remains to be seen. Whoever is willing to try, is going to need the speed and athletic ability of a Michael Jordan, considering the speed of today’s game.

Many times I’ll see players working really hard on their topspin drive and not getting the power and depth they could be getting.  One of the reasons for this is because they have a misconception that they must, “Stay Down” with their body on their shots.  This phrase, “Stay Down” has been used to insure that players keep their eyes on the ball and is a good thing on a slice shot, but, if you are hitting a backhand or forehand topspin drive and you’re “Staying Down” with your body (legs), you’re really inhibiting your ability to hit with power and depth.  One of the greatest players of all time, Ivan Lendl, had a very good backhand.  However, I always felt it would’ve even been better had he lifted more with his legs.

It’s important to remember, tennis is a leg game, and when you’re hitting a topspin  drive, your legs play a huge part.  If the body and racquet are in sync, the legs will be lifting on a topspin shot because, with topspin the racquet is moving from low to high, therefore, you want the body moving low to high.  The eyes and head can still “Stay Down” fixed on the contact point, but the legs are coming up.  Conversely, when we hit slice, the racquet is moving high to low, therefore, the body will move high to low, coming down into the contact area.

When we take a look at how Roger Federer plays, it’s an art form.  He’s like a dancer who floats around the court, and the racquet is like an extension of his body, his body and racquet are totally in sync.  When the body and racquet are in sync you’re not exerting as much energy because everything is working together.  On the other hand, if your legs stay down when you’re hitting a topspin drive, you’re losing your most powerful ally, your legs, and relying solely on the upper body to do the job without the most important part, the legs.  In today’s game, you’ll see pros coming off the ground, they’re lifting so much with the legs.  Now, don’t go out and start jumping to hit a forehand, but, if you are really lifting as you hit and you naturally (not forced) come off the ground… Congratulations, way to use your legs!

Here are some key points to remember when practicing your topspin and slice.  When hitting topspin, as you make contact and finish the  stroke the legs should be coming up straightening out, not bent, because of the lifting action, if they are bent, you’re not using the legs enough, not lifting enough.  Conversely, when hitting slice, as you make contact, the legs should be bent, because, you’re coming down into the shot, swinging high to low.

Remember, when practicing Concentrate on 2 Key Points (Absolutely NEVER more than 2 Key Points) for optimum success in creating that NEW SIGNAL in the brain that activates the body to respond.  Once you feel you’ve BURNED the NEW SIGNAL on the hard drive (the brain) move on to something else you’re trying to improve, you can always go back to refresh.

There are 2 videos below (David Ferrer Topspin Forehand and Justine Henin Hardenne Slice Backhand) that highlight keeping the racquet and body in Sync.

Notice on this topspin forehand (low to high pattern) David’s legs are lifting, keeping the racquet and body in Sync, granted he’s contacting the ball chest high, yet even if the ball were waist high the legs are most times lifting.

Notice on this slice backhand (high to low pattern) Justine’s legs are coming down into the shot keeping her racquet and body in perfect Sync

This week I have some more tips on how to deal with those ’sitters’, you know what I mean, those slow serves, or weak returns, your opponent hits that are just begging you to hit the cover off the ball.  Truth is, those slow serves and weak returns, are not as easy as some think.

Picture this scenario:  You’re playing a match against an opponent who is solid from the baseline, however, his serve is weak and slow.  You’re trying to take advantage of his weakness but you’re making way too many errors on the return of serve.  You may resort to ‘just get it back’ and lose your opportunities to go on the offensive.  As you may know, it’s tougher to be consistent against a slow ball as compared to someone who hits hard.  When you’re playing against a hard hitter you can get into a rhythm,  there’s not a lot of thinking, you’re sticking the racquet out there and consistently keeping the ball in play. However, with a slow ball this is much tougher.  Why?  Because it takes better stroke mechanics to hit a slow ball, consistently in the court.  If you improve your stroke mechanics less can go wrong.

The four tips mentioned above should only be practiced TWO POINTS at a time.  I realize I gave you FOUR TIPS to consider, however, when you’re practicing never exceed TWO POINTS at a time. When we get too many points to think about, the brain gets confused and we cannot concentrate at all, and we don’t improve.  So, pick TWO and work on those for awhile.  Then pick another TWO and work on those.  Find the TWO that work best for you.  You can then use those TWO next time that slow serve sits up and you want to get offensive.   Remember, this will take some concerted effort on your part to implement these tips.  If you do, I guarantee, you’ll look forward to those sitters in the future.