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Junior Info Page

August Round Robin

June Round Robin

Demetria Nelson demonstrates a good standard backhand. Note the low backswing at left. At right, she finishes with her racket held high in front and both wrists fairly rigid, which will allow her to drive the ball even when it comes at her hard. A lot of youngsters get carried away with a wrap-around finish behind their backs, which typically results in a distortion of the swing to the ball. Next time the pros are playing on TV take a good look at their backhands and you will see that though they may end up with the racket wrapped behind them, that portion of the swing is more of a finishing reflex; the swing was primarily directed to the front and up. And when a hard hit ball is upon them, their arms finish more rigidly, high and in front, just like Demetria's.

Notice toe lift at left as Melinda Berry begins her serve. A toe lift is a good way to gain stability and rhythm as the motion begins. In fact, most pros use it or a variation of it. Just don't confuse a toe lift with a toe rise, which is something that happens later when the body reaches up into the hit.

At right, Melinda has just released the ball toss. Her arm is nicely straight, and her hand is high at the point of release. Many players release too low and it becomes difficult for them to control where the ball will end up. As a result their serves are plagued with problems.

Melinda does, however, need to toss less forward. In the photo at right, she should be looking more vertically upward to the spot she wants to toss to. Compare the angle of her head with the angle of Elizabeth's above.

At left, Alexandra Gorman's hands have just pulled apart from the service address position as she begins her delivery. Notice, her arms are nicely straight, which helps assure full extension for both the toss and the actual hit.

At right, Alexandra has hit the ball. It is obvious she got the full length of her arm into the hit, and also that she pronated her wrist outward, thereby insuring maximum wrist action (and consequently, maximum racket-head speed to the ball.)

At left, Ashley Ockey releases the ball toss after her racket-arm is well on its way through the lift. Her final bent-elbow lift position is shown at right.

Ashley has a dynamic hard-hit serve. At left, she is looking at the ball she has just tossed; and at right she is also looking at the ball, which is resting at its apex now, more over her head. However, if you watch the pros on TV, you will see they don't look at the ball at release, as Ashley is at left. They immediately turn their heads up to see the spot they want to toss to. Which only makes sense. After all, when you throw a baseball, or a spear, for that matter, you don't look at the point of release, you look where you want the spear to land!

At left, Erica Carlson assumes a typical service address at the start of her motion. Notice, the ball hand is harnessed to the racket frame. The ball is wedged conveniently against the open section of the racket throat. Although some players press the ball against the string bed, that tends to throw the weight too far forward early in the motion. A good place to harness the ball hand is next to the other hand (or any point toward the position Erica has taken.)

Erica has done a good job of gaining extension on her serve. At right, it is obvious she has connected full-force, but close examination shows she tends to spin too much to the left. Her pose should be similar, but she should be ready to run directly in the direction she hit the ball.

At left, Girls' Team captain, Elizabeth Gentile, bends her legs as she balances and coils before serving the ball. She appears to be committed to full power, which is obvious at right as her follow-through snaps into place. There is no doubt the ball was hit hard!

Even though Elizabeth has not been playing tennis long, she has a powerful 1st and 2nd serve. This is because she was serious about learning a real service grip, and she did not revert back to the old way during those many uncomfortable weeks of getting used to it. As a result, she can only hit the ball hard; and for the most part, the ball can only spin over the net and into the service box. Elizabeth couldn't hit a soft serve if you paid her. At least, not without using a beginner forehand grip.