Trickery of Watching Tennis on TV, Be Careful What You Emulate!

Written by: Staff on 19th August 2011

Trickery of Watching Tennis on TV, Be Careful What You Emulate!

Max Mirnyi of Belarus returns the ball Tommy Robredo of Spain during the first round of their tennis Davis Cup match between Belarus and Spain in Minsk, Friday 10 February 2006. EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV |

Most of us who watch tennis on tv are used to the far and high camera angles and a surreal “ping-pong” ability the pros have of pin pointing their shots around the court. As viewers, we really have no concept of the length of the court or the positioning/footwork needed to produce such incredible shots. We also see that all pros hit with a “Low-to-High” stroke, but most of us who try to emulate this simple mechanism end up over compensating and get lazy. We tend to let balls drop so that we can simply go low to high and contact the ball around our knees (creating topspin).

I’ve been hitting with many juniors out here in Hawaii the past few weeks and it is a common thing to find players letting the ball “drop” right before contact point, catching it around their knees, rather than moving up to the ball and contacting it above their waist. This relates to how we perceive how pros hit the ball on tv due to the high camera angle (Imagine watching tennis from the baseline/side view, I guarantee you’d see pros hitting almost every ball waist or above waist high). Why do I bring this issue up? Well, it’s clear from a physics perspective that hitting the ball around its peak (coming off a bounce) will produce more shots over the net with a higher success rate of going in and potential for more velocity. A ball that continually drops after its bounce loses its kinetic energy, thus making it harder for players to hit the ball (and generate their own pace instead of using their opponent’s), and creating the problem of having to “lift” the ball over the net then have it drop somehow inside the court (topspin). You essentially will not hit an effective shot if you’re having to loop everything from your knees.

Take my advice, when watching pros on tv, look at their footwork and how they position themselves around the baseline and move to take balls around their shoulders and torso areas.

Pros hit winners from shoulder and chest high balls, how many times do they hit winners from their shins and ankles? Be smart, move up to the ball, and don’t let it drop!