ETI 019 | Fire the Extensors
Many elements are combined to produce the serve – and one of the secrets is to have all the elements firing in the appropriate sequence.
Timing – we have all felt the effortless hits and unfortunately we all have at one time or another, felt the effortful hits.
One of the most important sequence during the serve occurs with regard to the racquet drop and the knee bend.
In general, on the serve, one must fire in quick sequence large muscles first leading to smaller and then smaller muscles, culminating in a whip at the top of the swing.
As regards the racquet drop and knee bend, the best one I heard on this was from Vic Braden, who said, “Fire the extensors baby!”
ETI 003 | Corkscrewing – using your legs for topspin and power
Push on the ground and the ground pushes back. 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.
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