And as a more general point about groundstrokes footwork, for me, being quite tall (6’1″, or 185cm), having a wide and well-balanced base is important to me, which I guess is part of footwork.

And for the forehand groundstroke set-up, I used to have the left (front) foot too side-on (i’m right handed), which inhibited rotation into the shot, so I go a lot more open-stance now.

Great work teaching ACTUAL footwork moves and when to use them. They are doing a great job and I’m sure they will keep it going. Thanks.

Thank you so much for your thoughts! I really appreciate the time you put into that post, great stuff.

-Ian

Thanks for a good site and some pretty incisive tennis tips.

There is also pressure on coaches (at most levels of teaching) to churn out competitive players at younger ages, and as many (including Sampras in his book) have noted, it’s easier and quicker to get a baseline strategy in place than a s/v one. (For whatever my teaching was worth, I noticed this myself when I gave lessons. Too many students were happier just going with the serve-and-big-groundstroke tactics and didn’t want to get into net-play.)

Apart from Henry’s fairly intriguing numerical exercise, I also believe (and hope) that style goes through cycles (as opposed to only fads)

Tilden, Budge — big serves, strong baseline game (bet you heard the one of Tilden holding 5 balls in his hand, serving 4 aces in a row and tossing the fifth to a ball-boy)

Kramer — the big “California game” of serve and volley, which he popularized of course

Gonzales, Laver, Hoad and possibly, Vines — all-court

Rosewell, Connors, Borg — baseline tough… make that baseline super-tough for the Swede!

McEnroe, Cash, Becker, Edberg, Sampras, Rafter, Henman — s/v

Federer — all-court, and then some! (though he has termed himself as an “aggressive baseliner” in some interviews)

Nadal, Djokovic — baseline tough + heavy ball (with hybrid strings, and Popeye arms!)

what next???

Raonic — huge serve, and more importantly, a liking for the “big game” … Bodo explains it best:

“But here’s something else: what do these three men under discussion have in common? The obvious answer is size, the not so obvious answer is identical size. Delpo and Cilic are 6’6″, Raonic is a shade under at an official 6’5″. What Raonic does, though, more than either Cilic or even del Potro, is play big—that’s the by-product of embracing Pete Sampras as your childhood idol and role model. Efficient, bold, always ready to give it the gas, Raonic is four inches taller than Sampras. The very idea of what those extra five inches can do for a player who harbors a Sampras-like vision of the game is scary. Like Sampras, Raonic eschews frills and flourishes. He’s all business, always looking to end a point.”

[Berdych and Soderling are two other examples who combine a big serve and groundies with a 'small game'... that sounds contradictory, I know, but Bodo does have a point]

Others?

Tomic (a bit of Santoro in him, and he can turn on the power when he wants… and they’re saying he’s getting the attitude thing right)

Dogolpolov (about as funky as hard-hitting tennis can get, and fun to watch!)

Dimitrov (yeah, that Fed-cloned game, but he does have it to a greater degree than anyone else… it’s a matter of when he can shed all the comparo talk and start using the all-court game to potentially devastating effect)

Del Potro has returned strong

One guy whose game is cookie-cutter, of the Djokovic mold, is the American Harrison. But from all accounts he is genial, realistic and eager to learn so he could surprise us. Nothing like flying under the radar while the above named newcomers face all the pressure…

Fed claims he’ll play beyond 2012 (most of us will want to watch him even when he’s playing at half-speed!) . Nadal keeps beating back predictions of his body breaking down.

Good times therefore for the pro game for the next few years, I’d say, and while we might not see a pure s/v player, I think we’ll see some volleying. And many variation of the ground-game.

Cheers!

Brad

Thanks a lot for your comments, I appreciate it! I’ll be thinking about topics like these for the near future when I start doing videos again.

You’re right, you won’t find anything about the “modern swing technique” that Willy describes. At my core as a teacher I’m definitely a fundamentalist, I spend the majority of my time teaching and talking about the core basics of the sport. Why? Because the vast majority of tennis players out there need to hear that, not anything more complicated or advanced. Currently my passion is for working with the “common” player, 3.0-4.0 players who can benefit most from my approach (in my opinion).

If what I put out here at ET doesn’t fit your needs then I truthfully hope that you find it elsewhere! (Honestly, not being coy here what so ever). Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, I find it interesting to see the perspective of those learning the game from different approaches.