Good analysis, much needed but not often given. One qualm: how about examples from the women pros?

If body turned at the same rate as the arm you would not be able to control de shot.

Im a 4.5 watching!

You should look at non hitting hand instead of trying to visually see the body rotation slow down. If non hitting hand is being pulled close to the body it means that player is aware and trying to slow down body rotation to gain more stability and whip effect at the moment of contact

the arm must be faster than the trunk, and to do this it is necessary to stop the rotation of the shoulders to launch the arm. if done correctly, you can clearly perceive that it is the inertia of the racket that produces the final rotation of the trunk to the left after impact.

Imagine this, you can only hit with the acceleration you can control. The reason why you do not see it is because you are trying to explain it with what you know. I remember in the early '90s when we had an n1 junior player in my country beating everybody who did not run fast or jump high or had any muscles. While a lot of the "new" coaches were on "the hit hard and then harder" bandwagon. I brought up that after 6 months of training in the gym and open stand everything. Everybody was getting beaten easier by my friend. While throwing the kitchen sink at the ball feels great (as tae bo relates to MMA) we were thought to disregard balance and the physics of the ball. Put it this way, table tennis, baseball, golf, and cricket the hand moves free by the force of the core, except tennis. Now that does not make sense. My recommendation is to start with your core slowly first (since you never done it and stop) and once you find the right timing you won't go back to play out of balance.

Pros have a brief pause from the impact of the ball. But the whole body keeps going through. Just don’t hit late. Seems like the other coach’s are over complicating it. Foot work and contact point. The slowmo shots of the rec players contact point is way too late to compare.

Are ya still playing tennis these days? Let’s hit!!! Love the vids btw

Moronic! This is what i see all the time. Coaches missing the point entirely. Understand the basic physics of moments and fulcrums. Teach that to your most basic student first lesson. Please dont show examples of terrible technique. Fix it!! There is nothing mysterious or complicated about what federer is clearly doing. If you knew how to coach and the biomechanics it illustrates you would be teaching it. Shocking ignorance.

you disprove your argument

I completely agree with your video and have actually never heard the suggestion to stop rotating the body with a groundstroke. What is your opinion on stopping body rotation as part of a proper serve?

All I could spot is Sinner is right ear dominant

I'm surprised a little that this is even a thing. The relative distance travelled by the body and by the arm in a swing are wildly different, therefore to be in sync at all, the arm needs to travel at much higher speeds than the body. The effect being that it appears the body stops moving (more technically correct drastically slows down) but only in relation to an accelerating arm. It's like when you sit in a train approaching a busy station and another train comes along side. It looks like the train next to you isn't moving. But, I'm 100% positive that neither the driver of the train I'm in, or that which is next to me, has actively stopped their train from moving. This is a typical cause and effect error, noticing an effect and thinking it's a cause. Like you said Ian, advice must absolutely be tailored to an individual. Except for fundamental things like kinetic chain etc. So easy to go off on a tangent with such things. Hopefully your input helps keep people honest a bit especially in the KZbin realm.

Where is the video about the flaws in your game? Link, please. Would be very useful. Tennis is a game of self-examination.

As always, your videos are such very well-thought-out teaching. Underline teaching. Chest rotation? Minutia. Just hit the freaking ball. LOL. A much bigger issue is hip rotation, both on the backswing loading and forward swing into the ball. What is a drill to work on proper hip rotation? What should be going through the player's mind regarding hip rotation. How does doing it right feel? How does it vary between forehand and backhand? Isn't this one of the biggest keys to hitting tennis shots properly? What's the key to training to do it right in matches? Practice makes better. Is using video a key to getting this right?

Everything you say is true!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This is a bit off topic, I apologize. But, my friends and I had a conversation about a ruling. We all know that it is perfectly legal to reach over the net and attempt a shot on a ball that has hit your side of the court and spun back over the net (provided you, your equipment or attire do not touch the net). But, my question is, are you allowed to sprint around the net post to hit a ball that has spun back over the net? My guess is no. What say you, Ian?

I think this is no forceful break .. but instead, it is pulling part of the forehand ends, and then for some time this is nothing that would make hips rotate.. this is the exact time when the hitting arm comes through the hitting zone.. then a few moments later the hitting arm start to pull you upper and slightly later lower body into the follow through rotation.. so it looks like a small pause in rotation and yes it plays the role of reactive break.

I remember a video highlighting Rublev that had pretty convincing visual evidence of this whip effect as part of the reason his shots are so powerful. But all the more evidence for your argument! Strikes me as a possible super high level optimization. And not clear whether it's a symptom of an earlier move in the chain, or from elsewhere in the body, or a driver they consciously learned at some point.

.....but Ian half the fun of being a student of the game is watching bad instructional tennis videos on KZbin! of course you have to know which ones are bad 😉🙄 haha 😅

This seems to be a case of "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" for most amature players.

If I guess Alcaraz, Djokovic, Sinner in your examples are hitting I/O, how right I am? What if we watch shots hit CC from FH corner, particularly ones when they move laterally to the ball? But generally I totally see how they may lack the uncoiling in the first plays, and how this idea of stopping may be detrimental. Need to learn to turn enough first, then look when to slow down.

In my early years I learnt a lot from a guy called Vic Braden. He was very big on the idea of the "Reactive Break". But I do see what you're saying. Now, having learnt how to hit modern forehands (Thanks to your great Essential Tennis Academy website) my upper stops a little bit, but I do continue at times as well, especially for aiming towards particular angles of the court or if the swing is big and meant to kill the ball. Cheers! M

Ok we need to overlay our power curve with the opponents so that we find the sweet spot. Put in a second y axis with consistency and you’re onto something!

Wow I've been struggling to reconcile why I intuitively face slightly right of the target at contact on a flat serve. On the surface it seems like I should face the target head on so I can swing head on and get as flat as possible. But this explains that my total energy would peak a bit sooner than that, despite creating a bit of spin. I can finally sleep at night!

Damn Ian looks middle aged as hell. Ian ages reverse Benjamin Button.

Thanks Ian 🙏

Great video. Perfectly explained. I guess habit is habit, weather you have to retract a little or add on. Cheers! M

Would Novak have trouble against MEP

Well man this is somewhere off... First - check Casper Ruud and make a video on where his chest faces on most FHs when he hits straight ahead? Inside in, for example. Second - the guy you worked with has very strong issue with not releasing his arm/racquet over, he always makes contact with racquet dangling/pulled up. Not gonna work, and obviously not working for high contacts. The way he uncoils farther than flat towards the net, on the other hand, can work, and particularly for high balls. Check Ruud, again, check Thiem and many others. Pros mostly have this as an option, not as ultimate way of hitting, but using more of fade action on the ball, playing high balls, going for hard shots, taking them on the rise and aiming I/O, they will frequently rotate past "neutral", just like your student. But your guy needs to fix that dangling racquet head and learn to deliver it level with hand or above - by using all-arm long-axis rotation, aka ISR 👍

Hats off for breaking from tradition and noticing what the best players are actually doing rather than just reciting something from the coaching pool. I've had lessons from old school "firm wrist" coaches that have absolutely ruined my serve only for me to relearn how to do it (largely watching online tennis lessons) the way I used to. Very keen to try this volleying method. Thanks Ian!

Identity, the ego is surface effect. It has no reality. It is the nominalization for a series of complex processes.

my identity is being an Ian Westermann fanboy

The all rounder 😤

We need some more creative identities than just big hitter, grinder, and net rusher! I would like to be a tennis sniper, always hitting the perfect spot whether it's for offense or defense reasons.

I would think changing identities would be effective. Maybe you dont have all the tools yet, but being able to change should be an effective tactic. Either depending 😅n the opponent, or even midmatch. I tried being a baseliner first set and lost. Switched to net rusher and won second and third set.

My identity is way too lay back, because I don’t really care about winning or losing! I just want to get better and enjoy the game of tennis. I want to join a gym so I learn more stretches and get my legs stronger. I have two replaced hips, so I am trying to get faster and quicker. This was a great question my friend. I identify as Agassi, but for some reason my identity isn’t listening to me on the tennis court! Hahe😊

Identity?? Why do you need identity? Tennis is just about beating the other player, every opponent is different, you simply can’t beat every opponent on day 1. It is more important to identify common fallacy among those players and exploit them instead of thinking you have a choice

Wow, just wow! The insight and honesty of this video is amazing. I believe many of us who subscribe to your site and watch many tennis videos on KZbin have adequate skills but too many of us have missed “the other side of the coin”. I feel I happened upon this mindset and it has helped my game as well help me to be a better team player. I wish I had access to a video like this years ago. Please keep up the good work 💪🏾🎾

I identify as Roger Federer, so I just need to work on everything, that’s all 😂

While I agree that having an identity and focusing on improving skills that contribute to that identity is good, I don't think that's the whole story. Particularly as a beginner, but even a more experienced player, people may not really know what identity actually is most effective for them. Just because a person may feel comfortable playing the way they currently play doesn't mean that a different style wouldn't work better for them. It's similar to how a person hits the ball may feel natural to them but most likely they also have multiple flaws that, once corrected, reveal their natural ability... It seems to me that learning and testing out the different permutations of styles prior to locking yourself into any particular style makes the most sense. Many people might find that a style they wouldn't necessarily have chosen may actually reveal talents they never knew they had!! I think a good coach would be invaluable in helping a player find the best style for them. So, it seems to me that starting out with the intention of learning an all-court type of game would be best and then start focusing on what they do best later in the process. I would assume it will take longer to teach the broad range of skills to play an all-court game, but getting the identity right is probably worth it long term. It may also benefit them to have the ability to play a different style in a pinch when their primary style isn't working against a particular player... Just my thoughts...

Thank you Ian 🙏 words of wisdom indeed! Excellent!

The studio does look promising, and what you're saying totally makes sense. But you know, I think players gotta have tools that don't exactly match their main style, you get me? Nowadays, on tour, almost every player is a complete one and knows how to do everything. Like, a good pusher should also know how to pull off a flat serve and play at the net. And even the aggressive players, they gotta be capable of being sometimes consistent or defensive. Because sometimes, against certain opponents or in tight moments during a game, having some extra skills can be a game-changer, right? So I think the identity should be the base, and then you add tools and skills that will make you more complete and give you better results.

Wow!! Awesome! Love it! Dude the space is awesome! I didn't even listen to anything you said! LOL! Cheers and looking forward to the new age ET!!! M

Thank you for such good content as always!!!

People in general are too often short term outcome based and not long term process based. If I assess that playing 'safe' will cause me to win less than 50% of points in the long run then why would I adopt that strategy? The most likely outcome is I lose. If I decide to play a serve and volley style then I don't care how many times I'm getting passed as long as I'm holding serve. I played with a significantly worse mixed doubles partner that would always get on me if I ever got passed down the line or I let the ball go and it dropped on the line even once during a match regardless of what was happening on every other point. I tried explaining how those shots were low percentage and I'd take my chances all day on those but she wouldn't even consider the idea of it. I knew I was causing decision making stress on our opponents that resulted in easy points or at least easier shots for my partner that the occasional winner by the other team was justified. It did cause some team friction when we played but I knew it was our best shot at winning so I did what I had to.

When I play singles, I always try to encourage my opponents to try really hard, low percentage shots by heaping excessive praise on them when they make it! For example, often at my 3.5 level I am hitting 90% of my shots to their backhand. Usually, the player wants to run around their backhand and try to rip a forehand down the line. They make 1 or 2 out of 10 of those shots and every time they make one of them I exclaim what an amazingly great shot that is, how I have no chance to get to that, why I need to make sure I don't hit any shots of there forehand because they're fore hand is such a weapon, etc. This makes him try to take that very difficult shot even more often, resulting in 8 or 9 out of 10 balls either wise, into the net or into the back fence. Yes, tennis is quite a mental game!

Aghh...cringe worthy negativity from people, making quick comments, not even giving themselves a chance to make a more holistic observation. Then again, probably good feed for the negativity hungry algorithm of youtube. I had quite the good time watching that video BTW. Just loved how many times she actually pulled off those shots. Hehe. Cheers! M

Isn't that Phil?