Notes after today's practice

• Ready position: while watching clips of Federer, I noticed that he keeps the racquet close to the body, so much so that his elbows stick out behind him. I tried this today and discovered I can turn more quickly when reacting to a shot with the racquet close to my body, the right hand almost touching the pelvic bone.
• Backhand slice: I noticed in photos and clips of pros that on a backhand slice, they start with the racquet high and almost parallel to the ground. I tried it and had much better success with hitting deep, low slices.
  

• Wrist: Notice on this photo how laid back the wrist is. I lay the wrist back as I wind up for the backhand (both topspin and slice), which results in more consistent shots. On the forehand, I also try to hit with a laid-back wrist. Even on the toss, I started to lay back the wrist of the arm holding the ball: that way it's in fixed position and doesn't move, which seems to result in a more consistent toss.
• Backhand: Today I emphasized the shoulder turn when preparing for the backhand, and tried to make sure my body stayed sideways and my head was down. I had a funny feeling of not seeing where the ball goes for a few moments after the stroke, but just knowing it was over the net and deep in the court. It sometimes helped when I kicked back with the left leg and straightened left arm while moving it down and behind me.
• Serve: I still tend to toss right above me. I can't find a balanced position when the ball is in front. The few times I did put it slightly in front, I hit aces wide into corners that felt great. I also tried imagining that as I'm starting to unwind into the serve, my knees are bent, and there is a slightly arching line from the knees all the way up to my head, with my body leaning back.