Saturday, October 29, 2005

I got a kick out of it

Today I accidentally discovered a kicker. I was trying unsuccessfully to apply the insights from the video analysis of serve. Towards the end of the session, I realized that if I keep my left arm to the right of my head, my body will be turned sideways more, and somehow I get much more spin on the ball. It goes high over the net and dips safely in, and then kicks up. It seems that I can put as much force into it as I want, and it doesn't change the trajectory, just goes into spin. In other news: as I'm watching myself, I can see that I'm still starting out too far in front, too much turned to the left, arms stretched too far out. His head is vertical and he's looking at the opponent, my head is tilted sideways. I'm pulling up my left shoulder, look scrunched. (Noticed another thing: when he bounces the ball, he catches it in his fingers, palm lifted up; I try to grab it with my palm horizontally. Last bounce, his arm is hanging down vertically before he catches the ball. Top part of the arm is vertical.) When he starts off, his upper arm is vertical, relaxed on the side of the body. I'm stretching the arms forward. His shoulders are at 45 degrees, right upper arm almost horizontal. When he brings the racquet forward, his right shoulder doesn't move, as if there were a vertical rod connecting his left foot and his right shoulder. I'm bringing my shoulder forward. When he moves back, there's a very pronounced weight transfer to right foot; I finish centered between the two feet. At the highest point, his elbow is low and in line with shoulders, my elbow is lifted up. Let's try again tomorrow.

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