On a forehand the wrist is locked into a laid-back position at the end of the backswing and remains in that locked position until the end of the followthrough, at which point the muscles of the arm and shoulder relax and the wrist returns to its natural position. This occurs long after the ball has crossed the net.
With groundstrokes, your spin options are topspin and slice.
With topspin, the ball dips to the ground quicker and bounces higher than you'd expect from a ball with no spin. It allows you to hit harder - and higher over the net - with less risk of hitting long. It also allows you to dip balls at the feet of an incoming volleyer. Use it as your stock rally ball, but flatten it out a bit to go for winners. Topspin is a player's insurance policy and you shouldn't be allowed to drive without it!
With slice (or backspin), the ball floats through the air longer and bounces lower than you'd expect from a ball with no spin. It allows you to hit deeper and lower, forcing your opponent to hit up on the ball - very desirable if your opponent has an extreme "closed" grip or you're approaching the net for a volley or an overhead. Use it as an approach shot and use it for defence when you've been stretched out of position, because the ball will travel slowly and buy you time to recover for your next shot.
The ATP Board has voted to end the experimentation with round robin formats on the ATP tour, it was announced today. The remaining events who had initially volunteered for the round robin format will now revert to the original knock out competition.
The ATP had begun testing several versions of the format at lower level events this year following initial research that indicated it could be a measure to provide significant growth to the game.
The research showed it was popular among casual fans because it gave them more opportunity to see their local and favorite players than in a traditional knockout format. The format also had the added benefit of allowing tournaments to showcase their marquee players deeper into the tournament week and made TV scheduling of matches easier and more promotable.
However, the carefully monitored testing at the five test case events this year raised a number of concerns and weaknesses that were not apparent from desk research. Firstly, the 32 hybrid format caused confusion; second, resolving who would progress from the round robin stage with 3 men groups was often complicated; and third, sections of the media had difficulty in reporting round robin and consequently fans not at the event had difficultly in following early results. Finally, and significantly, no format or rule could address the overwhelming player concern that their destiny was not in their own hands as a result of dead matches or withdrawals.
The ATP Board considered all the research and analysis gathered during the experiment both from outside research agencies and tournament volunteers and concluded while there was a considerable amount of encouraging data, in the end the negatives outweighed the positives.
“The ATP is determined to be fact based, and not opinion led. We’re committed to a philosophy of ‘do it, try it, fix it or lose it,’ with initiatives that could grow our sport,” said ATP Chairman and President Etienne de Villiers. “We take all stakeholders into account, especially our players and tournaments, when we make decisions but will always have a fan focus.”
“It was a good experiment and we learned a lot from it. Some experiments will work and others won’t, but we will keep trying to find new and better ways of growing the appeal of men’s professional tennis,” de Villiers said.
I have just uploaded some video clips of this year's event in Shanghai. Enjoy!!!
http://rapidshare.com/files/5190535/Shanghai06_feature_Photoshoot.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5190321/Shanghai06_feature_opening.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5188789/Shanghai06_Interview_Federer.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5187930/Shanghai06_Interview_Blake.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5187081/Shanghai06_Tournament_Summary.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5186078/Shanghai06_Highlights_FederervBlake.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5183722/Shanghai06_Ancic_lockerroom.rar
Shanghai 2006