The Argentinean Oscar Wegner has a great tennis tip which he refers to as "find the ball."  Simply stated it means to be patient, determine first where the ball is going to land and with how much pace, spin, and bounce, and then prepare your swing accordingly.   We have adopted this concept in our VJTTA instruction, but to make it easier for our junior players to comprehend we call it "show-the-logo." (The logo being the unique symbol owned by each tennis racquet manufacturer and displayed on the strings of the racquet).

Another way to picture the "find the ball" concept is to move to the ball as if you were going to catch it with your racquet hand.

Watch the pros in the videos in our Videos section.  Whether it's Agassi, Federer,  or Sharapova, their first move to a ball, whether forehand or backhand, is a slight movement sideways with their shoulder as they lean in the direction of the ball. Their arms and hands are initially still, with the butt of the racquet pointing toward their navel (not much different than their ready position). The racquet face is more-or-less parallel to the net. Their non-racquet hand remains close to or on the racquet. They "stalk the ball" in this position until they get really close to it, then they begin preparing their swing. Often they wait until the very last instant before they take their backswing.

If their time is drastically reduced, they shorten their backswing so their stroke is almost a block. If they have more time to set up, then they will take a bigger, longer backswing. This is why the best of them hit so smoothly and never appear rushed. Their swing is always measured. They match their effort (their back swing) to the task (the ball's pace, spin, bounce).

Watch the video of Agassi's forehand. He hits many balls inside the baseline that look like half-volleys, his backswing is that compact. His backhand has even less backswing, accelerating almost directly from the "find the ball" position into the contact zone. This is also what makes his return of serve among the best: there is virtually no backswing once he has found the ball.

The opposite of this would be the big-hitting Fernando Gonzalez, who begins his backswing before the ball has barely left his opponent's racquet. Serena Williams is also guilty of not always finding the ball.

One important note: "finding the ball" at the pro level does have its idiosyncrasies. Roddick, Agassi, Federer, and Henin might look a little different in the way they find the ball (i.e., the position of their racquet face, their hands, arms) but all of them are "finding the ball" --stalking it-- before they take their full swing at the ball.

"Finding the ball" is probably different than what you have been taught (turn, take your racquet back, etc.), yet it is what the pros do and it is actually a more natural approach to striking a tennis ball.

Next time you are on the court, try to "find the ball" first, then prepare your swing. You'll discover that you have more time to execute your shot (because you'll never be rushed) and you'll be hitting more naturally.

 For those working with younger players, just have them make a unit turn (slight shoulder turn and pivot on the balls of their feet) and "show the logo" before moving to the ball and taking a swing. To read more about the "show the logo" concept and why VJTTA thinks it's important, click here.

Randy Cummings

VJTTA

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