ETI 003 Corkscrewing – using your legs for topspin and powerDownload this podcast – You may need to right-click and select Save Link As to download the file to your computer
[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]Push on the ground and the ground pushes back[/headline_tahoma_small_left]
This is somewhat a common phrase from mechanics and physics, but it dos take some explaining. Meaning if you were on thin ice and pushed on the ground, it would not push back but rather you would break through the ice.
Said another way, if you are on a bathroom scale and you drop and suddenly land you will be lighter when dropping but heavier when you land. And this down and up action adds to the power of the upward drive.
So when using the ground to create more topspin and more power, the key is how you push on the ground, and whether you can create an upward rotational movement.
This means for topspin (as well as the serve) one prepares by turning away from the ball as the knees bend (corkscrewing down) and then pushing and turning into the ball for the hit (corkscrewing up).
This will feel and be entirely different than the other method of simply stepping in with your weight against the ball without any down and up from the ground.
So much of our game is about the legs.
How to move them to the ball, how to take extra small and quick positioning steps for just the right spacing …… and then how to corkscrew down and then up and out for powerful topspin hits.
40 Comments
Perla Castillo
November 7, 2013I have a tennis project im suppose to make a powerpoint in How to use to legs in tennis and i need help
Jim McLennan
November 7, 2013Perla – go to my podcasts – I have quite a few on how to use th elegs on my home page
Jim
Michael
May 17, 2013Jim… always good stuff…. !!!!!
Dumb question….What GRIP size do you use? Bigger, to an extent, is better????
Jim McLennan
May 17, 2013Michael – I experiment between 4 1/4, 4 3/8 up to 4 1/2 – but will say that in the old days when I felt stronger (and younger) we all used much bigger grips – do not know what advice to give – presently using a smallish 4 1/2
Jim
Franco
May 13, 2013Wow. It can’t get much simpler than this, can it? Coach, I wish you were there when all the bad tennis teachers I’ve had in my youth were blabbering about foot positions, and “staying down”, and pushing forward, and back-scratching, and turning sideways… what a waste. The only thing that makes me happy is the idea of young players being taught tennis like this, simply and effectively, as one of the easiest and most natural sports in the world, and being given the kind of tennis foundation you can actually build on, instead of the quagmire of subjective opinionated bulls*** we were given as dogma in the 70s. I remember asking one of those teachers about the hitting style of the pros, as opposed to what he was teaching us. The answer was: “Borg and McEnroe are Borg and McEnroe, they play they way they should play with their timing and their athleticism. You should play like I’m telling you, or you’ll never learn.”
Jim McLennan
May 14, 2013Franco – thanks for the note – and besides being athletes – Borg and McEnroe played “simply” in spite of their different styles –
we should all strive to play simply
Jim
Jagdish
December 19, 2012Great tip excellently stated and explained. The ‘Rising Spiral’, like the action of a Shot-Putter, was said to be perhaps the strongest movement known to the human body and was often mentioned in connection with the service-action in tennis. ‘Corkscrewing’ and ‘Rising Spiral’ are very similar in concept. And Jim has now rightly extended it to ground shots.
Jagdish
December 19, 2012Great tip excellently stated and explained.
eric carlson
December 19, 2012Jim, just revisited this vid…
this corkscrewing movement is a fantastic visual analogy
so easy to understand and apply
thanks
ec
John in Irvine
February 12, 2012Another great KISS tip. Of course it takes good ‘timing’ to ‘corkscrew’ out and up into a very deep and hard hit shot, but when you get it right, taking the ball on the rise and using your explosive force to redirect the other guy’s shot back at him … well those are the ‘oh my’ shots. Saw Azarenka in the OZ finals against Sharapova …. just ‘stay low’ when returning some of Sharapova’s really hard and deep shots and she was still able to produce some pretty good pace on those return shots (using Sharapova’s pace), but on the balls that land slightly shorter in the court that you can move into and time — well that’s when you feel the ball ‘explode’ off your racquet. Obviously, the serve is the one shot where we are in total control so we should be able to corkscrew into every serve …. but most of us don’t practice our serve as much as we should.
Again .. great tip and visual.
Jon Flint
January 28, 2012Jim, I am right handed and have had multiple surgeries in my left knee. When serving, is there a way to land on my right foot, kicking back with my left, to avoid the continued pounding on my left knee? Have any pro’s ever served like that? Thanks!
Jim McLennan
January 28, 2012Jon – why not serve without jumping – but if needed many of the players in the 70’s who served and volleyed turned into the hit quickly so as to land on the right foot – let me see you in Youtube – I suspect if you turned “in” more quickly this would change your landing
Jim
Sue
September 12, 2011Hi,
This idea of the corkscrew with a rhythm looks good. I’m going out to practice it this afternoon. I am a assistant coach at a high school and work with a group of beginning girls aged 12-16. What do you think is the best way or best drill to help them learn to turn their hips and shoulders?
Thanks,
Sue
Jim McLennan
September 12, 2011Sue – if possible you must go backward with these girls to help them acquire a fluid overhand throwing motion, so may of the kids (boys and or girls) throw poorly (this is the truth) and in those instances it is next to impossible to get a good flowing serve
Jim
I will send you the mechanics of pitching checklist which is wonderful for teaching an overhand (not overhead) throw
Sally
August 3, 2011This is an amazing tip by an amazing coach,thanks
Frank Sachire
July 2, 2011Hi Jim!
Just got back from taking a group to Italy and now catching up on my emails. Great article in reference to pushing on the ground.
Frank
Jim McLennan
July 2, 2011Frank – thanks for the note, tell me about your groups to Italy, are these tennis tours, if so how can I get involved?
Jim
sujit
June 30, 2011Nice demo. Particularly the emphasis on too much of bend can do the damage.. haha..
Rodger Schuester
June 19, 2011Just wanted you to know I’m here. This idea is still in my little black book and it’s time to focus on this now that I’m experimenting on getting down deeper on my return of serve when I split step.
In the July/Aug 2011 issue of “Tennis,” there is an article by a player who decided to deal with his previous failure to develop a solid serve – he apparently was using a pancake grip. It was a pretty good article, but IMHO stopped short of an honest and serious discussion of the hard work the student really needs to do to improve and maintain his serve – I’m talking about going out and hitting lots of buckets of balls and never quite stopping the process.
Despite his early reluctance to lose matches to improve his skill, he eventually did commit to adopting his new service grip when he served in matches – but the article ended prior to his having actually achieved meaningful success with his new service grip and did not mention his ongoing improvement/maintenance plan, if any.
I think the time I spent developing and improving my serve with you was the best time spent – I can’t tell you how many times my serve has pulled us (or me in singles) out of a loss and without your help I would not have moved from 3.0 to playing at the 4.0 level in such a short time – just a few years.
kamran Nikoo
June 19, 2011Thank you indeed for your informations. It was pretty helpful. I like to ask you how high do we have to toss the ball when we are serving and is there a video to show how to serve fast?. Thank you.
Warm Regards,
K. Nikoo
Jim McLennan
June 19, 2011Kamran – coaches do not necessarily agree, but I favor the method used by Federer and Nadal, where the toss is only slightly highter than contact, so that the motion is more about rhythm than about tossing high and waiting for the ball to drop – check out the free report and or the product – Building the Serve from the Ground UP
best
Jim
Jim McLennan
June 27, 2011Kamran – I favor a toss just a little higher than impact so it only drops just a little – much like Nadal and Federer do – and yes I do have a product called Building the Serve from the Ground Up – check out the top nav bar on the site under “dramatically improve your game” – also consider a stroke review where you upload your serve and I give you ideas for improvement
Jim
prince
June 18, 2011very nice Jim, you’re really a genius!. more power…
Jim McLennan
June 27, 2011Prince – thanks, but a genius no, perhaps just one with a lot of experience
Jim
darius
June 17, 2011Jim,
I tried shadowing your tip using both the open stance and the close stance for the forehand and it works both ways.
Thanks for the tip.
Regards,
Darius Mindanao, Philippines
david Bateman
June 15, 2011great tip well explained and very useful as always! Going to try it tomorrow weather permitting! Thanks
David
Eric
June 15, 2011Jim,
You actually have several tips in this video. The one that was a new slant on things for me was the 1, 2, 2.5, 3. That is fantastic. I’m always working with my students to get the hips to open and straighten just before the forward swing to create both a lag/stretch and a ‘snap’ effect when the torso halts right before contact (As opposed to the shoulder swing or ‘more legs’ approach for power). But…this is a lot to digest. The 2.5 facilitates it very well. This morning, I used it with a student to help him with what I have described, and it worked very well. After he left, I worked on my own serve and found the easy ‘pop’ on my motion. Great tip! I’m excited that this tip will help me explain things more simply to my students and help me with my remaining tennis goals.
Cheers, Eric
Sarasota, FL
PS. I’m pretty skeptical about American coaches when it comes to understanding world-class strokes, so I don’t spend much time looking into other people’s materials. This tip got me thinking, though, that I ought to be a little more open-minded and…look at more of your materials. Hats off to you for all the materials you’ve put out to help people.
martin groppo
June 15, 2011Excellent!! Very simple and well explained.
Cheers
Martin
Dave Landeau
June 15, 2011Great!! I have always wondered how to hit w/ more power.
DAVID.BAKER
June 15, 2011REMEMBERING SO MANEY THINKS IS HARD.CORKSCREW IDEA IS VERY GOOD
David
June 14, 2011Great video, Jim. You’ve put it in a very simplistic, and easy to understand,manner.
Well done. Thanks
david
Martin Hassner
June 14, 2011The point about needing to memorize a lot of stuff is well made. It can be overwhelming. But the key is to make those phrases which can”t help but stick and you’ve done so twice here with references to corkscrew and music/rhythm: bending the knees and using the hips (the corkscrew) and keeping everything flowing (the melody) and ‘counting the beats’ (the rhythm). Its ‘in there’ already and I haven’t been on the court yet.
CT
June 14, 2011Great info and spot on.. if you use this technique with a compact backswing and concentrate on leading with the raquet tip and hitting the outside of the ball (5 o’clock) magical things happen… Think of Federers extension and hitting the ball out front… with this you can do almost anything with the ball.
Rolando M. Lagarto
June 14, 2011Nice, I’ve been doing that for a long time but didn’t know how to explain it. Now I know the correct term to use & apply, thanks again Jim, More Power & God bless, Shalom…
Grant
June 14, 2011Yes tennis is a rhythm sport, you don’t want to bend to soon or to late on ground strokes. To soon and you’ll be exhausted by the end of the set, to late and you can’t direct the ball with your lower body.
So when do you bend, when you drop the racket from you loop swing. The knees and the drop happen together. The corkscrew visual is excellent…
Great video, Im a strong believer in stroke tempo and you nailed it!
Robin
June 14, 2011You are right on target. Less is more. Bending the knees for too long or a deep bend inhibits the smooth flow and even rhythm of my serve.
This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing, R
yusuf
June 14, 2011good good n very good thanks banget…
Noushin kananian
June 14, 2011Thanks a lot. I really enjoyed. You are very generous to transferring your
Knowledge.
Kind regards
Noushin
Mike
June 14, 2011Great information. I would love to see this demonstrated in conjunction with the kick serve.
Thank you,
Mike
Jim McLennan
June 14, 2011Mike
thanks for the note – much of this is presented in conjunction within our product stream – including Mastering the Kick Serve and Building the Serve from the Ground Up
best
Jim
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