THE MOST IMPORTANT LINE IN TENNIS: THE HEAD TO FOOT RELATIONSHIP


   "The most important line in tennis is the 
imaginary Line from your head to 
your contact foot."  

This line creates the smooth effortless power, timing and consistency that the pros possess and that we all envy. Let’s look at the Head & the Contact Foot separately…

YOUR HEAD

Your Head is a centre point for balance. If the head is inside your two feet, you are balanced. If your head is outside either the left or right foot you are off balance.  Therefore controlling the head position is important, especially in a dynamic sport like tennis where we are faced with a series of complex movements quickly. 


At the moment of contact the
head is positioned between
two feet



Disciplining the head
leads to consistency
of timing

THE CONTACT FOOT

The Contact Foot is the foot you use to interact with the ground and create inertia. Nature doesn’t care which foot you use, it can be the “back” foot or the “front” foot, nature just wants that link to be established so that the bio-mechanics can take place through the body and into the racquet.

The back foot being used
effectively on this deep ball


Head = Balance

Contact Foot = Timing and Power

If the Head is trained to be positioned directly above the Contact Foot at the moment of contact, you will experience perfect timing and easy power. 

The concept of "Line"
applies to all strokes 
including the Serve and 
Return of Serve

Most players today are far too dependent on creating power from the arms and this leads to control issues.  While the arms are important, don’t ask them to time the ball or provide the power for the shot.  Those jobs should be performed by the “Line”, which is the relationship between the Head and the Contact Foot.

The Contact Foot and the Head work together
to create consistency


The Foot and head relationship is one of
the most important things to focus
on during preparation for the stroke.

Comments

  1. mannyDMarch 13, 2012 at 8:51 PM

    Paul, nicely and clearly said. Right on point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul DaleMarch 14, 2012 at 6:05 AM

      Thanks Manny, and congrats on your win against Ole Miss. Your team is showing great character.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KEYS TO THE TWO-HANDED BACKHAND

Image
This article aims to provide you with 5 ingredients to help simplify the  two-hander and give you more control and versatility.       1. THE BOTTOM HAND The bottom hand on the grip controls the length of your contact zone.  The further on top the knuckles of the bottom hand are positioned, the longer your contact zone. The further around to the front of the grip the knuckles of the bottom hand are positioned, the shorter the contact zone will be. The Djokovic bottom hand is positioned almost on  top of the handle.  This would indicate that he intends  to hit down the line.   Positioning the knuckles of your bottom hand on top of the handle makes it a lot easier to hit your down-the-line shots, while placing the bottom hand in the front of the handle makes it easier to hit extreme cross-court angles. Y ou  need to play your backhand in various grip positions on the handle. The important thing is not the position of your hands on the...
Read more

CAN YOU PLAY YOUR BEST TENNIS AT 3AM?

Image
Several years ago I was on a practice court with Tamarine Tanasugarn. She was part of a team that had traveled with me overseas to compete. It was 7am and everyone was taking time to adjust to the unfamiliar conditions. Everyone except Tamarine that is! This was our first practice session after the long flight. Tamarine was striking the ball as cleanly as ever.   Her timing was perfect from the first ball until the last. What created her ability to adapt so well to the conditions and thrive? Later Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached a career high of #9 ATP had the same adaptability. I began to ask myself what this quality was and more importantly whether I could actually teach it to my students on-court. I began to formulate what I called 'The 3am Theory', the ability to play your best tennis at anytime, anywhere, on any surface, any, any… even at 3am in the morning.   Imagine you were woken from a sound sleep at 3am and asked to play a tie-break against a tough ...
Read more

WRITING A PROPOSAL FOR TENNIS SPONSORSHIP

Image
When tennis players begin to compete internationally the expenses involved in traveling overseas to events such as airfares, accommodation and food are quite high and put a significant strain on most family budgets. Players and their parents often try to off-set some of this financial burden by looking for sponsorship.  Here are some important points to consider when approaching companies or individuals for tennis sponsorship. It's important to put yourself in the shoes of the head marketing person of a big company. He/she are busy and any proposal you develop should be clear in what you want to happen . Don't presume that they know what you want. You need to tell them in a clear and precise way. A sponsorship proposal that is vague and lacks a clear description of what you want and how you will use the sponsorship will not send the right message to a busy Marketing Manager The head of marketing has the responsibility of planning a yearly marketing campaigne that f...
Read more