Last Days of Practice Before Laguna Niguel F25 – Shubert Blog
Sign in for the Laguna Niguel Futures event is fast approaching and I’m gearing up to make another attempt at gaining atp points. I’ve spent the last 2 days recovering from a little cough/congestion but it hasn’t stopped me from putting in my hours on the practice court. Attached at the bottom of this post are some videos displaying some of the “Spanish Drills” I’ve mentioned in prior blogs. These are similar if not the same drills done at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain. These drills build up my conditioning, footwork, and racket speed. I haven’t tested my shoulder yet with serving but I’m giving it ample time to rest up before sign in deadline at Laguna. The good news is that these drills have got me striking the ball well right now and I’m just remaining patient and non-judgmental about my shoulder. I also have to remain patient about my world ranking, apparently it takes 2 weeks for my ranking point to kick in and find out exactly where I’m ranked in the world right now!
Currently I’m using a Babolat Pure Storm GT racket with some lead tape around the head to solidify the string bed. I like the lighter weight frame because it allows me to really whip through my forehand better and the 98 sq inch head gives me a little more of a trampoline feeling to my shots. Since I use Solinco’s Revolution string, I tension my rackets at 55# by 53#. Polyesters are usually very stiff and offer little feel. I string it loose so that I can generate more power/pop on my shots as well as spin. If the string bed is too “board-like”, the ball won’t really catapult off my strings. From hanging around Westwood Sporting Goods in Westwood the past 10 years, owned and operated by Rick Hartman, I’ve learned quite a bit about strings. Main strings are longer than cross strings, so it doesn’t make sense to tension cross strings as much as main strings. You’ll end up with a disproportionate amount of tension on your crosses than your mains! Lots of top 100 professionals are loosening their cross strings to essentially create more spin/feel (Federer’s use of the hybrid of Poly/Natural Gut spawned this).
Anyway, here are some youtube videos of some of my drills I do during practice! Please Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHXSQSWVzX8