ETI 029 | Tap Tap Tap

  • ETI 029 Tap, Tap, Tap
    ETI 029 Tap, Tap, Tap

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Balance, holding your finish, placing your weight precisely against the ball.

Yes there are many ways to hit the ball, and many ways to play this game, but with all the variety of styles and technique – our best professionals are balanced more often than perhaps we readily notice.

The following tapping drill will unlock your awareness – guaranteed – and on this one I do need your feedback!

21 Comments

  • J.P. Weber

    Reply Reply April 27, 2014

    Hi,
    I enjoyed this clip. You do great stuff. Keep it up! Jp

  • johnm

    Reply Reply April 26, 2014

    Great concept. I find I get the most balance and body weight against the ball when my forehand grip is as much to the western as I can handle.(had a continental grip origonally) Also as much racquet head speed as possible for control .
    regards.

  • monique ogilvie

    Reply Reply April 26, 2014

    I would of like to see a demonstration. The videp sjown was not helpful

    • Jim McLennan

      Reply Reply April 26, 2014

      Monique – go to my website as I have many more detailed examples – the theme of the podcasts is to share something basic, simple, and meaningful – but often those same things are the hardest to feel on court
      Jim

  • John

    Reply Reply April 26, 2014

    Does this work on the forehand also? I liked this simple explanation for balance and want to share with my wife as she has a tendency to hit a lot of balls off her back leg, like she’s falling backward on a high bouncing ball to her forehand.

    • Jim McLennan

      Reply Reply April 26, 2014

      John – yes it can work for all balls but balance on the high ones can be more difficult –
      Jim

  • Mike

    Reply Reply April 26, 2014

    That’s another great tip from you, Jim. I coach a similar one where the player ends the stroke by holding balance on one leg (hopefully the correct leg!) but this is a more subtle method that I will employ in my coaching because it demands good balance both before and after the ball is struck.
    Thanks for your excellent work.

  • Rose

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Thanks Jim…this is a great tip to know and one I haven’t seen until now!
    Your doing great work for us ‘recreational players’, that are trying to improve our game.
    You should be traveling around and showing up on our courts…would be great to meet you!
    Take care, and God Bless 🙂

  • Tom Bauman

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Balance is so crucial. The being able to check your Balance such a good Tip for any player. Thanks

  • Rod macgregor

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    I am of the same generation and work on the same principals with my students. Always look forward to your instructions, The old KISS saying always works.

  • Venetia.

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Easy to follow and it works! Thank you.

  • Donald McDonald

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    I do not think there are very many individuals who would disagree that balance is vital to just about any movement, but I suspect there would be a great deal of disagreement about what constitutes balance. Moishe Feldenkrais talked about reversibility, for example. He felt you should be able to perform any action slowly and balanced enough that you could stop it at any point and reverse the action. If you have ever seen Federer react to a ball hitting the net and redirecting his swing, you would see the value of this definition. So balance should include reversibility for as long as feasible. On the other hand, most instructors would agree with your definition that the ability to hold a balanced follow through shows excellent balance. In table tennis, however, balance was equated with instant recovery, not necessarily a full follow through. Bruce Lee had an excellent definition of balance which was performing the movement with the least possible variation from the neutral position. I will stick with a slight variation of the Supreme Court’s opinion on pornography, I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I feel it.

  • Bernard Mckey

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Jim this is excellent “Tap Tap Tap” As you tap your front foot it gives you balance on backfoot and weight and rythem-

    So if you are unbalance on front foot it shift the balance and rythem to the back foot because you wait for the ball.-I always said Jim “Footwork is 80% Tennis ”

    Thank you Jim

  • Everett Cox

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Good tip for those of us who have a tendency to use too much arm and forget to use our weight to give momentum to our shots. It ties in well with one of my favorite McLennan tips, which is to keep your head still and pretend you are balancing a ball on it. That forces you to keep your body upright and maintain your balance. It may be basic, but its not obvious. Otherwise we would all be doing it right.

  • Richard

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Very interesting video,I will try this exercise this evening…

  • Alan Soffer

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Jim, this is simple and excellent. I once took a tennis clinic called the ‘dance of tennis.’ Balance was stressed, but not detailed like you did so gracefully.

  • Bud Light

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    I thought I sent this but if not: I thought this was a very good lesson because, while it may be basic and old, it makes all kinds of sense because if you’re in any way off balance, it means you are moving your head and that’s one of my problems….so, I must be unbalanced (sic). Bud

  • Paul

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Jim,excellent drill and reminder.W/o good balance everything else becomes more difficult.An important part of the game that I tend to forget about.
    Thanks.

  • Bud Light

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    I found this very interesting because I realize that when I am out of balance I tend to move my head and thus take my eye off the ball. This may be basic stuff but it is so very important. Thanks for sharing! Bud Light

  • esdubya

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Jim,
    One often hears tennis commentators talk about the player’s weight being on the wrong foot or not having been properly transferred. This is the BEST, down to earth and right to the point explanation of what they’re talking about! Thanks for the tip and the exercise!

  • Don (Slice-n-Dice)

    Reply Reply April 25, 2014

    Jim,
    Thanks for this one! I agree with you wholeheartedly that balance — and more specifically, keeping one’s balance while still transferring one’s weight from back foot to front foot, and so forth — is crucial to playing a controlled form of tennis. It also helps with recovery! And, as you’ve pointed out, it is essentially to keeping one’s head still or steady throughout the stroke.
    Nicely done.
    Don (aka Slice-n-Dice)

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