In these illustrations we present examples of the factor of stability in professional strokes. A key factor in the maintenance of stability is the use of almost every muscle to control the movement of the body during the stroke, even when the stroke is not executed particularly fast. The images in this lesson have been hi-lighted in the places where the the player's exertion of force are clear.

In the photo, below left note the legs and arms. In the middle photo we see the right leg and arm exerting force to maintain stability even though there is little forward movement. Similarly, below right.

This level of muscular development should NOT be developed in the gym, but rather on the court. What is needed is dynamic stability. In contrast, muscular development from being in the gym produces static stability. Michael Chang complained that the worse thing he did was to bulk up in the gym because it robbed him of his agility and movement. If you spend time in the gym to get muscle, then you will get slow as well and still will not have the dynamic stability needed to control all parts of the body in high speed rallies.

The figures above are included to show how common dynamic stability is in professional play, but do not add anything additional to our discussion.

Dynamic stability cannot necessarily be developed by just running around the court and doing speed and endurance exercises. It must be deliberate. Becky trained for 18 months trying to develop dynamic stability through these traditional methods with little success. She developed greater endurance and speed, but her shot making lagged in consistency at high speeds ( a key indicator of the absence of dynamic stability when your technique is otherwise sound). Our solution has been to focus directly on developing exactly what we need. Our program to develop dynamic stability consists in ballet lessons, Tai Chi, and slow motion, highly deliberate stroke production in the short court and in front of the mirror.

A key contributor to dynamic stability is the presence of fine grained muscles to support the use of gross muscles. Hence, we have developed exercises to stimulate the growth of fine grained muscles for stroke control.

A key exercise that we use is to stand in front of the mirror and contract every muscle in your body sufficiently that you can feel them, but not so much so that your freedom of movement is compromised. In this state, we execute each stroke for two minutes. We do this three days a week until its usefulness seems to have expired. When you reach this point, you will have developed increased control and will be using it without being directly conscious of it.

Do all exercises with extreme caution. EASI Tennis is not responsible for any injury that may arise from doing these exercises. They are offered only as a description of what we do.