The stylish Russian digs in and hits a forceful defensive shot while he's on the run.
1.Love the way Youzhny digs in with his feet. He has a lot of ?ex in his left knee and is pushing off on his toes (notice the space between the clay and his left heel). Many club players stand straight up when they run; Youzhny lowers himself like a soccer player and is determined to arrive in the best position possible. He has started to turn his upper body and take the racquet back, using his left hand to stabilize the frame at the throat. Youzhny holds the racquet with a Continental grip, which will allow him to create backspin. His racquet head is up, but not back all the way—he’s tracking the ball. Many players take the racquet back too far too soon, which results in an awkward, Zorro-like swing.
2. You can see that Youzhny is light on his feet as he continues to bend his knees and push forward with his toes. He’s not ?at-footed. Now that he has sized up the shot, he begins to cock the racquet and coil his shoulders more.
3. Youzhny brings his racquet behind his ear, not something I recommend for a club player. The technique is great, but dif? cult to execute. He needs more racquet-head speed here because he’s in a defensive position, so he’s increasing his range of motion to accelerate his swing. There’s the right amount of space between his hitting arm and head, as well as between his right elbow and chest. Club players tend to keep their hitting elbows too close to their bodies, which causes the racquet to drop and the wrist to collapse on impact. Youzhny’s stroke is built from the ground up, as you can see by his knee bend and straight back. If you bend at the waist, your legs will straighten and you won’t rotate your hips properly.
4.In the previous pictures, Youzhny’s eyes were locked on the ball. Now that he has made contact, his head and eyes don’t jerk away. I get good results when I tell my students, “Look at the back of your strings after you hit the ball.” Youzhny’s right leg points diagonally away from the baseline, but he’s still hitting a forceful crosscourt shot. The racquet face is slightly open and the head remains above his wrist after contact. He swings his left arm back to balance the force of his right arm going forward. Too many club players allow their off arms to follow their hitting arms, which opens the shoulders and robs strokes of power.
5. This photo is a perfect teaching tool. The ball is gone, but Youzhny remains sideways and his left arm has moved farther back to keep him balanced. Notice that the slice is not a wristy shot. When Youzhny made contact, the racquet head was above his wrist. Only now, as he carves through the rest of his motion, is the racquet head pointing down. Still, his wrist remains ? rm.
6.Youzhny has knifed the ball from high to low while driving through it. Now his racquet is on the upswing. A good slice should trace the shape of an archer’s bow: down, through, and up. Emphasize “through,” or you’ll end up with a ?oater. Youzhny’s left arm moves back, a mirror image of his hitting arm. Soon his left foot will come around as he prepares for another stretch of running. Dig in again, Mikhail.