A good example of the many questions we could ask ourselves in order to understand how these “laws” work and “assist” our strokes would be: Why are my shots consistently better when I manage to keep my center of gravity low and when I’m balanced and/or centered? The point being that if it didn’t matter at some “physics” level then getting to the shot within balance and bending your knees wouldn’t make any difference at all…

We’re dealing with an incoming ball at different heights, speeds, spins and a myriad of other characteristics that in theory could be returned perfectly well each and every time -IF- the perfect set of “conditions” could be applied to our returning shot. If we could see the whole process in slow motion we could adjust all the parameters: 1. Get to the optimum set up/position (distance from ball, etc) behind the shot. 2. Hips and torso turn (racket back) 3. Correct grip for perfect racket head openness/closeness. and 4 and 5 and 6… et al…

But of course, getting all the conditions “just right” is impossible to do. The fact is that we only have a fraction of a second to make all these judgments and decisions on how to proceed. But on the other hand if we get familiar with what set of “laws” assist us best in hitting a great tennis stroke we can ALWAYS apply them behind each and every shot knowing that at least within a pretty good degree of approximation (margin of error) we’re doing the “right” thing.

In my experience (which to a large extent has just been on a trial and error basis) this has proven to be effective. This has obviously been a process over time, but I still today (in a much lesser degree) make a conscious effort to watch carefully those things that cause undesirable results. And guess what… they are always the same ones… So what has happened as a result is that things got much more simplified (easier in the sense that no “guessing” is involved). I do so much LESS today than what I used to years ago because I strive to do that which (for the most part) works, while staying away from that which consistently showed me that did not.

Does this mean I achieved some kind of perfection? No!! I’m still no way near the player I’d like to be, but I thought sharing this would address what without a doubt has made -over time- my game more consistent and efficient. One of the good things about it too is, that since it “shrunk” my form to that which is more closely in tune with the “laws…”, my focus (since my mind is done figuring out/discarding/selecting) has gotten better too. In fact, this is not to be confused with something overly heady or analytical, or playing by numbers… It’s really not, it’s more a matter of training your body senses (through trial and error) to what it would be like achieving the “right feeling” for every shot. Once it feels right, it would most likely prove that the body mechanics are in place too. I hope that helps!