High speed performance requires well developed body control for maintaining stability. This is essential, as we have said, in order to minimize the small fluctuations that can occur in the racquet path from many sources such as the arm, shoulder, leg, rotation, running, etc. We have pointed out how just having your front foot hit the ground during, rather than before, the strike can cause the racquet head to bobble as much as several inches resulting is a miss hit or shanked ball. In this lesson we review all factors of stability that are necessary to understand and command if you are to be able rally consistently hit at high speeds (65mph and above).

The first and most fundamental source of stability is the legs. They are the platform from which the player must operate. If they are not firmly planted, sub par contact will result except as a matter of chance. Sometimes one sees players on TV jumping off the ground as they hit. A problem with seeing a player like Myskina or Roddick do this on TV is that you are not able to see the real consequences of it in terms of lower ball speeds. An occasional success is meaningless since that will not win a match. Agassi and Sharapova, on the other hand, try to achieve maximum stability on every occasion, even though this is not always possible.

Ideal Platform Stability is Provided by Firmly Planted Foot Positions. (Click on image to see video)

To develop stable legs you must do exercises. Squats are one exercise and walking on a balance beam is another.

Rotational stability is another issue. As the body rotates and the racquet is advanced there is a tendency to fall off a straight vertical and horizontal axis. This is called rotational instability. See the figure below.

Rotational Stability

It is essential to maintain rotational stability to assure consistency and control at high speeds. An exercise is to hit dropped balls at high speeds while maintaining perfect balance with fixed leg position. A key to rotational stability is to have a strong core (center of the body where the torso is held to the hips and legs by muscle). The exercise we do is to hit five sets of ten balls dropped by an assistant in rapid succession.

Elbow positioning at contact can be very unstable. This is because the shoulder joint is fixed to the body in a manner to facility a wide range of arm motions. However, while advancing a tennis racquet, this joint can be very unreliable. In particulate, the elbow must be in front of the body plane if the racquet face is not to tilt downward as it is accelerated. See the rollover Image below.

Examples of Stable Elbow Positioning before Contact	An Unstable Elbow Position Causes the Racquet Face to Flip Downward (Move cursor over image to see transition)

Contracting the racquet forward from the shoulder, by the butt is essential for horizontal stability of the racquet path near the strike point. Avoid allowing the racquet head to begin rotation into the ball path until just before the strike.

Stable Contraction of the Racquet Forward by Controlling the Advance from the Shoulder (Click on Image to See Video)

Many students have told us that this movement is awkward. True. If everyone started playing using this movement, everyone would making money playing tennis as a professional. It is awkward and requires about six weeks to get accustomed to. Don't let the feeling that it is awkward discourage you. This just indicates you are normal. Also it is normal to feel like giving up when a movement feels awkward. DON'T give up! This movement will develop and will greatly improve your stroke speed. An exercise that will help develop this movement is for a friend to hold the tip of your racquet as you pull it forward using the shoulder muscle not from the forearm!

In order to have a stable contraction stage, it is necessary to significantly build up your shoulder control. The movement of the racquet is controlled from the shoulder and this joint must dominate in advancing the racquet as just mentioned.