Hola
I have posted 3 vids on youtube of my drives. I would love it if anyone can give me some critical reviews of my tech. I have never had the luxury of meeting a pro or having any sort of advice, other that what i have seen or read online. As a result i am 100% confident that i can do much better, faster smoother etc. Im asking this as i have hit a flat spot recently, i just cant seem to throw any further on a regular basis.
Any help would really be very appreciated.
Hi Tim,
I'm at the same plateau as you with my backhand drives, and your throws are very similar to ones I recorded of myself not too long ago. The answer to my problem (and your's, I think) is the following:
Your timing is off, and you're strong-arming your throws. Not really bad, but I can see it in the rhythm of your motion. Here is how I can tell:
1) Your pull through begins a tad early, before your plant foot is securely planted and the hip rotation has had a chance to get your torso motion going so as to whip your shoulders around.
2) Because your arm is going forward too early, you're arm is doing too much of the work. As your arm pulls forward faster than your shoulders, it causes the rotation of your torso to slow down, and almost (but not quite) rock back in the opposite direction as the desired twisting motion. This looks unsmooth, and is somewhat easy to detect.
If you have the right timing, setting your plant foot begins the motion of your hips, your hips will lead the torso, which slightly lead the shoulders, and the arm will follow behind in a more passive way such that your will be doing much less pulling. The arm should be used more like a whip (recall that a whip doesn't have muscles, and need not pull forward). Reserve your arm strength for the final pull through and hit, where it really matters a great deal.
And just so you know, from my present experience, this is a one step backwards for two steps forward change to make. I've changed my rhythm and timing, and I'm getting more velocity, but initially I lost a lot of accuracy and control which is taking me a little while to build back up. So in the short run, you'll lose distance and accuracy, but keep up the work and it will pay off in the long run.