AboutJim Leupold Expertise I feel very confident answering any questions regarding technical aspects of the game -
from stroke production to strategy. My strengths, because of my extensive training, is
keeping the game very simple, energy-efficient and effective, eliminating injuries and
mistakes at the same time.
Experience I've been the director of tennis and teaching tennis fulltime for 21 years, 19 at one of the top tennis resorts in the US and the world, the Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA. I've traveled to 20 countries around the world, playing and teaching tennis and performing comedic and entertaining tennis shows. I work with Peter Burwash International (PBI), a company which trains professionals for 400 hours before the first lesson can be taught. That's compounded by continuing education, including a mandatory 60-hour annual meeting and 360 educational newsletters from PBI professionals received every year.
Organizations Peter Burwas International (PBI), the world's foremost tennis management company with 90 professionals in 20 countries worldwide
Education/Credentials I received a B.A. in Journalism in 1985.
Awards and Honors * Tennis Magazine's Ten Greatest Tennis Resorts - twice
* Tennis Magazine's 50 Greatest Tennis Resorts - every year since 1990
* TennisResortsonline.com - Always in the Top 75 Resorts in the world - always in top 25 and as high as #3.
* PBI Rookie of the Year runnerup
* PBI Most Improved Professional of the Year
* PBI Professional of the Year
* Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa's Customer Service Manager of the Year
Expert: Jim Leupold Date: 5/27/2008 Subject: Double-Bend Forehand (role of the wrist)
Question Hi Jim! I'm not sure if you remember me - but you were my coach during the summer of 1987 on the island of Guam! I must say it was the best 3 weeks of clinics I ever had. I learned so much. I think we all did. Just to let you know - I kept on playing tennis and competed for Guam in numerous off-island events like the Micronesian Games, the South Pacific Games, and even participated in the World University Games. 2 years ago, I won the Men's Open Singles, Doubles, and Mixed at the Governor's Cup, so I would say that I had come full circle and accomplished everything I ever wanted to in tennis. If you remember Violet, she is married with kids now in Florida, but she ended up playing Div. I tennis after competing and improving dramatically in a Junior college in Florida. She even played Amelia Island qualifying. Ryan Tsuda, played one year for U.Hawaii Manoa. Alot of the other guys like Butch, Gerald, Charlie, Peter, and Harlan, stopped playing after high school. Wendy Huynh went on to reach as high as #12 in the world juniors and got to the quarters of the Aussie Open juniors when she was 18. She is now married with kids and living in Vietnam with Qui and the rest of the family. Mark Watson was the last PBI pro here, and I talked to him about you and our '87 camp. I can't believe it was that long ago! But anyway, thank you for instilling in us the belief that we could be good players. I remember it made a huge impact on me because you said we had alot of natural talent, and coming from a small island, I didn't really believe I could ever compete at a high level. Plus, I learned alot about the mental aspect of the game.
So anyway, I actually DO have a question! I made a "come-back" recently to try to make one more Micronesian Games squad in 2010 and we have a new national team coach who has a "Spanish" way of training us. I must say it is very hard indeed. To make things short, he changed my forehand ( along with my racket ) to make it more of a modern/ windshield wiper forehand. I used to hit closed-stance- very linear- straight arm with almost a continenal/easter grip. It was a stroke somewhat like a hybrid of Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf. But now, ( at ag 37!) I'm trying to master a more open stance, semi-western grip, laid-back wrist, and this whole "double bend" forehand structure. I understand what to do, but it seems that I mis-hit the ball alot now and it's kind of frustrating! And I definitely can't go back to the straight take back straight through style I once had- it's totally gone. The thing is- I'm told to use more "wrist" and at the same time incorporate the "double-bend" arm position, but I read on the internet that you're not supposed to have wrist motion before and during contact-only after. I watch slow motion of the pros and they have a very still wrist during contact. And when I do it that way- it seems solid, but my coach says- i'm not using enough wrist to get more topspin. And when I try to use more wrist- I mis-hit the ball! So basically I'm kinda stuck in a forehand dillema. I do hit the ball long alot I notice. And also, I'm working on contacting the ball much closer to my body now that my elbow is alot more bent that it used to be ( by the way - the side benefit is that my tennis elbow disappeared) so I've been concentrating on pointing the butt cap at the ball on the take back. It seems to help. Pls. give me any tips for me to master this new forehand?
Sincerely,
Wendell M. Roden
Answer Great to hear from you, Wendell! I do remember you and the others. I too, cannot believe that it's been 21 years! Congratulations on all of your great tennis accomplishments, and thanks for the update on all the others. I remember Jamie Hosie and Haydn someone as well who were young juniors playing at the same time. I heard later that Jamie was playing for Wake Forest, but even that has been a long time.
I've pasted your question, and I'll take it a bit at a time as there are many parts to it. The first thing I must ask is did YOU want to change your forehand. In PBI we don't change someone's style or form unless they ask us to, they're going to injure themselves or they want to win Wimbledon and what they're doing just isn't going to get them there.
But look at it this way. How would McEnroe have done if someone had told him he had to use Borg's style? Or Lendl had to use Becker's? Or Edberg had to hit the ball like Chang? Sampras like Agassi? Federer like Nadal? There's no doubt that the Spaniards have had some incredibly successful players. Yet, I don't think anyone has quite the same "buggy-whip/lasso" follow-through that Nadal has. Should they all change to his form? And unless there's been a huge change in the court surfaces on Guam and in the South Pacific, I don't think there are a lot of red clay courts there... Anyway, let me get to the question.
You said, "So anyway, I actually DO have a question! I made a "come-back" recently to try to make one more Micronesian Games squad in 2010 and we have a new national team coach who has a "Spanish" way of training us. I must say it is very hard indeed."
To make things short, he changed my forehand ( along with my racket ) to make it more of a modern/ windshield wiper forehand."
Here are my thoughts. Tennis should not be hard. If this coach is trying to make everyone have the same forehand, he and all the players are going to experience a lot of frustration. If you remember, the fundamentals on groundstrokes are 1) Making great contact ( the backswing and follow-through are the least important parts of the swing), 2. Using the opposite hand to set the correct racquet angle for whatever type of shot you are hitting, leaving the arm completely comfortable and strong, and 3) creating the best possible balance for yourself for each shot, regardless of the actual footwork and stance.
I used to hit closed-stance- very linear- straight arm with almost a continenal/easter grip. It was a stroke somewhat like a hybrid of Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf. But now, ( at ag 37!) I'm trying to master a more open stance, semi-western grip, laid-back wrist, and this whole "double bend" forehand structure. I understand what to do, but it seems that I mis-hit the ball alot now and it's kind of frustrating! And I definitely can't go back to the straight take back straight through style I once had- it's totally gone.
It could very well be that the Continental/Eastern grip was not the best grip for you, but again, it's not about the grip. It's about leaving the arm comfortable and strong and letting the left hand control the racquet angle to get the desired result as you hit through the ball as well and as long as possible. Hitting the forehand with a straight arm is indeed dangerous to the elbow, just as hitting a serve with a tight arm can be.
If you are working on following-through over the opposite shoulder to get the "windshield wiper" stroke, you will get a lot of mis-hits. If you work on making really good contact as you hit through and up on the ball and then letting the racquet finish wherever it darn well pleases, you'll find that the mis-hits begin to disappear.
You said, "The thing is- I'm told to use more "wrist" and at the same time incorporate the "double-bend" arm position, but I read on the internet that you're not supposed to have wrist motion before and during contact-only after. I watch slow motion of the pros and they have a very still wrist during contact. And when I do it that way- it seems solid, but my coach says- i'm not using enough wrist to get more topspin. And when I try to use more wrist- I mis-hit the ball! So basically I'm kinda stuck in a forehand dillema."
Who wants more topspin? You or your coach? Topspin is certainly wonderful, but it's up to you just how much topspin you want to hit. The bread and butter topspin forehand (for singles) is the one that has 3 -5 feet of net clearance and lands nice and deep in the court. Even this can be done with various heights and speeds and amounts of spin. The more you can hit heavy spin and a ball that has some spin but is more penetrating, the more different types of players you can be effective against. The more you drive through the ball for penetration, the lower your follow through will probably be. The more spin you add, the higher your follow-through will probably be. Both are fine. Open-stance and closed stance are both fine as well. We should be able to do both, and balance is the real key. My opinion is the form you choose to do so should be nobody's concern but your own. The scoreboard lists only your score. Form is individual.
In slow motion, you wouldn't see a whole lot of wrist movement, would you? If you're hitting through the ball really well, your wrist will still fairly still during the contact area. It should. If the wrist is too floppy during contact, you'll have all kinds of mis-hits and mis-guided shots. Words to remember are "firm but flexible." Too tight with the bottom three fingers, and you'll be working too hard. Too loose with those three fingers, and you can definitely get too wristy.
You said, "I do hit the ball long alot I notice. And also, I'm working on contacting the ball much closer to my body now that my elbow is alot more bent that it used to be ( by the way - the side benefit is that my tennis elbow disappeared) so I've been concentrating on pointing the butt cap at the ball on the take back. It seems to help. Pls. give me any tips for me to master this new forehand?
If you're hitting the ball long a lot, that simply means that for the type of swing you're taking, your racquet face is too open at contact. It doesn't take much at all to make this happen. Let your left hand close the face a little bit more and see what happens.
Think about the butt of your racquet. What does this have to do with anything? It's just another way of repeating the old "take your racquet back." How will this help you against a really fast ball? Or any other really tough ball?
The German Tennis Federation ten years or so ago did an exhaustive study of all of the top 200 men and women in the world. One thing they found is that the pros begin the backswing ABOUT THE TIME THE BALL IS BOUNCING ON THEIR OWN SIDE OF THE COURT! If we prepare the hand and racquet first with the face pointing to the net, we're ready for anything. If we have almost no time at all, we can still make good contact. If we have all kinds of time, we can still take a nice, big swing.
If we try to start every shot with a full backswing, we'll be in trouble 25 - 35% of the time.
To sum up:
1. Hit the forehand you want to hit - the one you think will be best for your own game, now and in the future.
2. focus on true fundamentals; not form. The backswing is for power. The follow-through is simply something to prevent injury. It's simply a natural finish of your shot. These parts of your swing will vary a lot, depending on the situation.
3. Make sure you're hitting through the ball really well. Regardless of whether it's a "modern" forehand or not, for there to be great control, consistency and confidence, it's going to come down to your contact area.
4. Let the opposite hand on the throat of the racquet find the angle that works for your forehand.
Best of luck, Wendell. Write back if you have more questions.
Best Tennis Regards,
Jim Leupold
PBI Director of Tennis
Desert Springs, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa
