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VOLUME 1: THE FOREHAND
Part 7: Backfooting:
These days Mats Wilander is the oracle of Eurosport's television tennis and one of the better tennis pundits for aspiring players to listen to. Not only could Mats play quality tennis but he could also think his way to victory, so he knows how to sum up a player's strengths and weaknesses.
In his day Mats was predominantly a baseline grinder, who danced opponents all over the court with precise topspin, rock-like consistency, considerable guile and very little power. He pulled off some superb tactical coups, not least his first French Open success against Vilas, in which his forays to the net behind wrong-footing ground strokes(and first volleys) continually put Vilas off balance.
Another tactical gem was Mats' U.S. Open final win against Ivan Lendl, in which he chipped Lendl's backhand to pieces with short, angled balls that found a chink in the armour of Lendl’s aggression.
Both of these matches were classics, especially for those who like their tennis served with intelligence. They also showed the power of thought, planning and steadfast tactical play.
Weight Suspension
We've had a brief look at frontfooting and backfooting, and in this 8 frame sequence of Mats I want to dig a little deeper.
Roll your mouse over the first 5 frames and watch, as Mats backs off a little behind this deep ball from his opponent. He then sits his body weight onto the back foot.
Note that Mats is neither leaning backwards or forwards. Rather he's adopted a neutrally balanced position. The important point is that his weight is going nowhere: neither forward nor backwards.
‘Why?’
Because Mats is directing the force almost exclusively upwards (for topspin). It is therefore of no benefit to him to get his weight moving forward, and this reflects in his contact point, which is not as far forward as that of, say, the ultra-aggressive Agassi.
While we're here, take note of a perfect contact that has been tailored to a player's particular requirements:
In 7 Mats fulfills the 3 constants, but he contacts the ball higher and not quite as far forward of the body as other players: this is particular to his hitting style and this particular shot.
Similarly, if Mats were to fall into a backward lean, with his weight falling away from the ball, it would also hinder his intentions.
So, Mats goes neutral.
His body weight goes nowhere and he is perfectly balanced to sink down onto the back foot.
Roll the buttons and see how this neutrality allows Mats to sink low, from where he rises to direct the force upwards, for a high, loopy, deep shot with lots of topspin.
I should point out that Mats, like every topspin merchant, is also hitting through to some degree, otherwise the shot would be nothing but a flimsy flappy flick. This shot is nevertheless a close relative of a topspin lob, which requires height and lots of topspin, but little ball speed (and follow through).
There's a long way to go yet, but we are already in the midst of some pretty advanced tecnical stuff and much of the task I've set myself is to take you into the deepest waters of technical tennis knowledge, with nothing more than the good old English language.
Youngsters should let no sentence pass without having fully understood it. If this means constantly pestering mum, dad or your sports teacher, then do so.
Backfooting in Motion
Remember the Connors sequence, in which he takes a full, sideways turn and delivers everything through and onto the front foot?
Well, unless the ball is short and central to the court, world class players don't do that as often as they used to.
Many years ago, when tennis was a game played largely on the manicured lawns of Simla and Viceregal Lodge, players were encouraged to 'step over' to the ball with the front foot.
‘But why not now?’
Three good reasons come to mind:
Firstly, by wrapping the front foot (the left foot for right handers) over and in front of the body, players kind of lock themselves into a full, sideways turn.
‘And how do they unlock this turn at the end of the stroke?’
Players need to take one extra step to get back into the neutral, face-on position.
However, by stepping over to the ball with the back foot (like Tim in the next animation), they are in the neutral position before, during and after hitting the ball:
No recovery step necessary.
Secondly, a sideways turn is less essential on a forehand because players generate power by other means.
Thirdly, because many topspin strokes are best played off the back foot, for all the reasons that I've just explained in Mats' forehand above.
Players still take a full body turn with the legs on some forehands, most often on balls hit down the middle of the court and on shorter balls, which encourage a full turn. The majority of players, however, will turn to cover wider baseline balls, and as they approach the ball, they will shift the back foot over towards the line of the ball.
Run the sequence and you'll see Tim Henman doing just this. Like Wilander, he's hitting off the back foot to generate some topspin. Here, however, we see a mobile weight suspension and Tim sinks down onto the back foot as he slides it over to the wider ball (it's a clay court, remember).
Run the sequence again and notice how precisely Tim sets himself up to hit a ball that's out to the side of his body. Give your full attention to the line the ball is travelling along and note Tim doesn't get too close to this line. Rather, Tim's eyes provide the data and his brain accurately gauges the distance he needs to be away from the line to hit his perfect contact; his feet then heed the brain's directives and take him precisely to where it wants him to be (there's a lot in that line, so read it until it clicks).
Like Rome, this routine of setting up for a perfect contact cannot be built in a day and Tim makes it look so darn easy because he’s had a lifetime of opportunity and practice.
At connect, we see Tim direct much of the racket head speed up the back of the ball, and his upwardly mobile efforts, off a sunken back leg, take him off the court surface.
In the final frame we see the end of the stroke, as Tim lands back in the court's atmosphere on his back foot. Having his right leg out to the side of the court is one of the plusses of hitting 'open'.
From here, Tim is perfectly set to push off his right foot and move sideways, back towards the middle of the court, from where he will be best placed to cover the next shot from his opponent.
Contact Particulars
Whilst we have these two players on one page, take a look how close each player gets to the line of ball at contact. I think you'll find that Mats is slightly closer to the line of the ball at contact, and his arm is therefore a touch more bent than Tim's. We'll look at the reasons why and the possible benefits in a future chapter.
But feel free to reach your own conclusions in the meantime.
Also available on Amazon
VOLUME 1: THE FOREHAND
Part 7: Backfooting:
These days Mats Wilander is the oracle of Eurosport's television tennis and one of the better tennis pundits for aspiring players to listen to. Not only could Mats play quality tennis but he could also think his way to victory, so he knows how to sum up a player's strengths and weaknesses.
In his day Mats was predominantly a baseline grinder, who danced opponents all over the court with precise topspin, rock-like consistency, considerable guile and very little power. He pulled off some superb tactical coups, not least his first French Open success against Vilas, in which his forays to the net behind wrong-footing ground strokes(and first volleys) continually put Vilas off balance.
Another tactical gem was Mats' U.S. Open final win against Ivan Lendl, in which he chipped Lendl's backhand to pieces with short, angled balls that found a chink in the armour of Lendl’s aggression.
Both of these matches were classics, especially for those who like their tennis served with intelligence. They also showed the power of thought, planning and steadfast tactical play.
Weight Suspension
We've had a brief look at frontfooting and backfooting, and in this 8 frame sequence of Mats I want to dig a little deeper.
Roll your mouse over the first 5 frames and watch, as Mats backs off a little behind this deep ball from his opponent. He then sits his body weight onto the back foot.
Note that Mats is neither leaning backwards or forwards. Rather he's adopted a neutrally balanced position. The important point is that his weight is going nowhere: neither forward nor backwards.
‘Why?’
Because Mats is directing the force almost exclusively upwards (for topspin). It is therefore of no benefit to him to get his weight moving forward, and this reflects in his contact point, which is not as far forward as that of, say, the ultra-aggressive Agassi.
While we're here, take note of a perfect contact that has been tailored to a player's particular requirements:
In 7 Mats fulfills the 3 constants, but he contacts the ball higher and not quite as far forward of the body as other players: this is particular to his hitting style and this particular shot.
Similarly, if Mats were to fall into a backward lean, with his weight falling away from the ball, it would also hinder his intentions.
So, Mats goes neutral.
His body weight goes nowhere and he is perfectly balanced to sink down onto the back foot.
Roll the buttons and see how this neutrality allows Mats to sink low, from where he rises to direct the force upwards, for a high, loopy, deep shot with lots of topspin.
I should point out that Mats, like every topspin merchant, is also hitting through to some degree, otherwise the shot would be nothing but a flimsy flappy flick. This shot is nevertheless a close relative of a topspin lob, which requires height and lots of topspin, but little ball speed (and follow through).
There's a long way to go yet, but we are already in the midst of some pretty advanced tecnical stuff and much of the task I've set myself is to take you into the deepest waters of technical tennis knowledge, with nothing more than the good old English language.
Youngsters should let no sentence pass without having fully understood it. If this means constantly pestering mum, dad or your sports teacher, then do so.
Backfooting in Motion
Remember the Connors sequence, in which he takes a full, sideways turn and delivers everything through and onto the front foot?
Well, unless the ball is short and central to the court, world class players don't do that as often as they used to.
Many years ago, when tennis was a game played largely on the manicured lawns of Simla and Viceregal Lodge, players were encouraged to 'step over' to the ball with the front foot.
‘But why not now?’
Three good reasons come to mind:
Firstly, by wrapping the front foot (the left foot for right handers) over and in front of the body, players kind of lock themselves into a full, sideways turn.
‘And how do they unlock this turn at the end of the stroke?’
Players need to take one extra step to get back into the neutral, face-on position.
However, by stepping over to the ball with the back foot (like Tim in the next animation), they are in the neutral position before, during and after hitting the ball:
No recovery step necessary.
Secondly, a sideways turn is less essential on a forehand because players generate power by other means.
Thirdly, because many topspin strokes are best played off the back foot, for all the reasons that I've just explained in Mats' forehand above.
Players still take a full body turn with the legs on some forehands, most often on balls hit down the middle of the court and on shorter balls, which encourage a full turn. The majority of players, however, will turn to cover wider baseline balls, and as they approach the ball, they will shift the back foot over towards the line of the ball.
Run the sequence and you'll see Tim Henman doing just this. Like Wilander, he's hitting off the back foot to generate some topspin. Here, however, we see a mobile weight suspension and Tim sinks down onto the back foot as he slides it over to the wider ball (it's a clay court, remember).
Run the sequence again and notice how precisely Tim sets himself up to hit a ball that's out to the side of his body. Give your full attention to the line the ball is travelling along and note Tim doesn't get too close to this line. Rather, Tim's eyes provide the data and his brain accurately gauges the distance he needs to be away from the line to hit his perfect contact; his feet then heed the brain's directives and take him precisely to where it wants him to be (there's a lot in that line, so read it until it clicks).
Like Rome, this routine of setting up for a perfect contact cannot be built in a day and Tim makes it look so darn easy because he’s had a lifetime of opportunity and practice.
At connect, we see Tim direct much of the racket head speed up the back of the ball, and his upwardly mobile efforts, off a sunken back leg, take him off the court surface.
In the final frame we see the end of the stroke, as Tim lands back in the court's atmosphere on his back foot. Having his right leg out to the side of the court is one of the plusses of hitting 'open'.
From here, Tim is perfectly set to push off his right foot and move sideways, back towards the middle of the court, from where he will be best placed to cover the next shot from his opponent.
Contact Particulars
Whilst we have these two players on one page, take a look how close each player gets to the line of ball at contact. I think you'll find that Mats is slightly closer to the line of the ball at contact, and his arm is therefore a touch more bent than Tim's. We'll look at the reasons why and the possible benefits in a future chapter.
But feel free to reach your own conclusions in the meantime.
