How's Oscar's method different?

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Permalink Reply by John Carpenter on April 29, 2009 at 11:41am

Great question, John. When I ordered the DVDs way back when, I was surprised Oscar answered the 800 #. I only thought his stuff applied to beginners also before I saw the DVDs. His core tenet is simplicity, which must mean for beginners. I told him I had often played practiced and played college doubles with tennis with Flach and Seguso, with my old college friend Jerry Clark as my doubles partner. Oscar mentioned he showed Robbie Seguso how to develop a world class kick serve in one lesson. This intrigued me as I did not know that Oscar's tenets applied at the higher levels. I would discover that they applied to all levels. For advanced players, feel is everything. Playing by instinct is everything. I can tell you that every great player today, when they play their best, is playing by Oscar's core tenets of "waiting" and hitting "across the ball" not through it. I have coached many high performance players including given lessons to three satellite tour players who came to me for a tune up because I taught Oscar's MTM. I even got invited on court at 7am with Tommy Haas at Cincinnati one year to warm up his backhand before Monfils arrived and he was showing me how he hit his BH and I noted to him he hit it exactly like Oscar Wegner teaches and he thanked me for the compliment and told me Oscar was a very well respected coach. I couldn't ask any more questions because Monfils finished his laps and was ready to hit. I will tell you that the better you get in tennis, the faster the game, and the more efficient you better be, and Oscar's Modern Tennis Methodology (MTM) is the foundation of you playing your best tennis, especially at the higher levels. At the higher levels, you need to create more time and space due to the speeds of the shots, and MTM is the only real method that emphasizes and then shows you how to do that effectively.

If you are content playing a certain way, even conventional, more power to you. It might not be worth changing. Me, I want to play my best, and I want to emulate the pros. I'm 50, and I can hit any shot like the pros, in form and style if not at Gonzalez' 124 MPH forehand. I will tell you this, I've been at the US Open Tennis Teacher's Conference and many great and well known coaches acknowledge Oscar's MTM as the best, even if they don't say so publicly. It creates great tennis players like no other methodology. Is it the only way to play? NO! Is the the only way to get to a great level? NO! But if the PTR and USPTA really knew how to teach tennis well, then why has USA tennis declined to the point at amateur level and pro level where we are on verge of being a third world tennis power except for Venus and Serena who learned MTM through their father. The mark of a great tennis methodology is it's repeatable by others. Oscar's MTM gets results like no other teaching method, which is why his converts are so loyal. I've tried all the teaching methods published and I know of nothing that gets such results. But once you really understand what playing natural and efficiently really means per MTM, you realize that the pros play very naturally and efficiently, each with their own preferences and idiosynchrocies, each according to their own physical builds and boundaries, and each according to theire own personalities. But they all play according to the tenets laid out in Oscar's revolutionary 1989 book.

Even Nick Bollittieri recently wrote publicly for the very first time that you can't hit a "killer forehand" from a closed stance successfully in pro tennis today. Oscar has been claiming that for nearly forty years. Glad Nicky B finally got it right.

If you have any doubt, write me and I'll send you some old articles Oscar wrote that will help you see how Oscar's stuff applies to all levels. Learning is on a gradient, and the more you advance, the more refinements you add to your game but you stick with the three real fundamentals of tennis which I believe are "find it, feel it, and finish it." Last note, I once met Master Pro Ajay Pant, who helped coach Amanda Coetzer (former #10) and worked with Agassi on his serve, just to name a few. Ajay noted how I was teaching as opposed to the other coaches on the court and said "you must be an Oscar guy." I smiled and in test to see if he was friend or foe, I asked him, what do you think is the number one fundamental of tennis? He smiled back and said "find the ball, of course." Then we talked about how Venus has lost her serve at the time because she could not "find the ball." He really knew modern tennis. See www.tennisteacher.com if you have any doubt and browse it carefully. Look at the coaches section, which contains a former top 100 female player and some other pretty accomplished players. I have coached very high level players using MTM every time for the last five years. I don't follow Oscar, I follow results, and Oscar's MTM gets the best results. Show me something that gets better results and I'll follow it to the moon.

Permalink Reply by JUN on April 29, 2009 at 1:21pm

very well explained. i had a talk with john last night and i learned a lot just by how he explains it. you can't get any better than this.

John Carpenter said:

Great question, John. When I ordered the DVDs way back when, I was surprised Oscar answered the 800 #. I only thought his stuff applied to beginners also before I saw the DVDs. His core tenet is simplicity, which must mean for beginners. I told him I had often played practiced and played college doubles with tennis with Flach and Seguso, with my old college friend Jerry Clark as my doubles partner. Oscar mentioned he showed Robbie Seguso how to develop a world class kick serve in one lesson. This intrigued me as I did not know that Oscar's tenets applied at the higher levels. I would discover that they applied to all levels. For advanced players, feel is everything. Playing by instinct is everything. I can tell you that every great player today, when they play their best, is playing by Oscar's core tenets of "waiting" and hitting "across the ball" not through it. I have coached many high performance players including given lessons to three satellite tour players who came to me for a tune up because I taught Oscar's MTM. I even got invited on court at 7am with Tommy Haas at Cincinnati one year to warm up his backhand before Monfils arrived and he was showing me how he hit his BH and I noted to him he hit it exactly like Oscar Wegner teaches and he thanked me for the compliment and told me Oscar was a very well respected coach. I couldn't ask any more questions because Monfils finished his laps and was ready to hit. I will tell you that the better you get in tennis, the faster the game, and the more efficient you better be, and Oscar's Modern Tennis Methodology (MTM) is the foundation of you playing your best tennis, especially at the higher levels. At the higher levels, you need to create more time and space due to the speeds of the shots, and MTM is the only real method that emphasizes and then shows you how to do that effectively.

If you are content playing a certain way, even conventional, more power to you. It might not be worth changing. Me, I want to play my best, and I want to emulate the pros. I'm 50, and I can hit any shot like the pros, in form and style if not at Gonzalez' 124 MPH forehand. I will tell you this, I've been at the US Open Tennis Teacher's Conference and many great and well known coaches acknowledge Oscar's MTM as the best, even if they don't say so publicly. It creates great tennis players like no other methodology. Is it the only way to play? NO! Is the the only way to get to a great level? NO! But if the PTR and USPTA really knew how to teach tennis well, then why has USA tennis declined to the point at amateur level and pro level where we are on verge of being a third world tennis power except for Venus and Serena who learned MTM through their father. The mark of a great tennis methodology is it's repeatable by others. Oscar's MTM gets results like no other teaching method, which is why his converts are so loyal. I've tried all the teaching methods published and I know of nothing that gets such results. But once you really understand what playing natural and efficiently really means per MTM, you realize that the pros play very naturally and efficiently, each with their own preferences and idiosynchrocies, each according to their own physical builds and boundaries, and each according to theire own personalities. But they all play according to the tenets laid out in Oscar's revolutionary 1989 book.

Even Nick Bollittieri recently wrote publicly for the very first time that you can't hit a "killer forehand" from a closed stance successfully in pro tennis today. Oscar has been claiming that for nearly forty years. Glad Nicky B finally got it right.

If you have any doubt, write me and I'll send you some old articles Oscar wrote that will help you see how Oscar's stuff applies to all levels. Learning is on a gradient, and the more you advance, the more refinements you add to your game but you stick with the three real fundamentals of tennis which I believe are "find it, feel it, and finish it." Last note, I once met Master Pro Ajay Pant, who helped coach Amanda Coetzer (former #10) and worked with Agassi on his serve, just to name a few. Ajay noted how I was teaching as opposed to the other coaches on the court and said "you must be an Oscar guy." I smiled and in test to see if he was friend or foe, I asked him, what do you think is the number one fundamental of tennis? He smiled back and said "find the ball, of course." Then we talked about how Venus has lost her serve at the time because she could not "find the ball." He really knew modern tennis. See www.tennisteacher.com if you have any doubt and browse it carefully. Look at the coaches section, which contains a former top 100 female player and some other pretty accomplished players. I have coached very high level players using MTM every time for the last five years. I don't follow Oscar, I follow results, and Oscar's MTM gets the best results. Show me something that gets better results and I'll follow it to the moon.

Permalink Reply by Lucile Bosche´ on April 29, 2009 at 2:46pm

Great response, John Carpenter! I like that you acknowledge Oscar's is not the ONLY way to play and that even those who do use it maintain their own unique style and personality. That's the beauty of MTM! The only thing that must not be violated is that one must not try to mix conventional and modern techniques - simply because it is just not effective. It would be like trying to run to the left and to the right at the same time. Sooner or later you have to make a decision which way you are going.

I have to say that I never knew what I was watching when I went to pro tournaments or tuned in the Tennis Channel until I got Oscar's book and DVDs. And, I had no idea what I was doing with my game either. After studying MTM intensely I can now "see" what's happening before my eyes. Thanks to Oscar's method my appreciation of the game is much greater. I now understand what it means to "Play Like The Pros". Realizing this I could then begin to apply it to my own game, and that was really exciting. The mystery of why I couldn't improve after years of conventional lessons was finally solved - it wasn't me, it was the method I was being taught! I instantly saw where what I had been taught in conventional methodology differed from the way the pros play. I decided right then and there that I wanted to play like the pros and Oscar's method gave me permission to try. Even many high performance players of all ages seem to fall victim to the notion that they must follow conventional techniques imposed by tennis teachers and coaches, rather than be allowed to play by feel and with their own intuition guiding them. I have heard so many times players say "I always thought that felt wrong", "that never worked for me" or "it didn't feel right but I'm not the expert" when they area given an alternative with Oscar's method. It is astounding (and sad) to realize how much talent is unrealized because of the restriction of conventional methodology. It is also amazing to me to see how well players, restricted by such techniques, still manage to play! I really respect people's physical ability and strength of spirit to play so well when hamstrung by restrictive techniques.

The good news is that any player at any level can, if he is willing, unlearn obsolete conventional techniques and adopt MTM at any point of development. As a tennis teacher I am intent on starting new players (children and adults alike) using the same techniques the pros use right from the beginning so they do not have to waste time (as I did) learning one way then having to "unlearn" and start from scratch. I have found that there are 3 types of players when it comes to adopting Oscar's method: 1) the uninitiated who do not know the difference between conventional and modern tennis - the easiest group to introduce to MTM 2) those who have learned by conventional methods (whether amateur players or teaching professionals) and are suspicious of, resistant to or argumentative about learning something new - this group I do not even spend energy on, I simply hope that somehow someday they will be able to change their minds for their own sake and 3) the free and adventurous spirits who, whatever their level of play or status or the amount of time and money invested in learning the sport are not only willing but eager to play better or teach better tennis, regardless of labels - these are the beings for whom MTM is ideally suited, and they are perfect candidates for joining Oscar's Tennis (R)evolution.

And all this this does not even address the non-mechanical aspect of Oscar's teaching, actually the most important part! I love John's statement "I don't follow Oscar, I follow results, and Oscar's MTM gets the best results". I wholeheartedly concur!

Permalink Reply by John Zhao on April 30, 2009 at 9:15am

Thanks so much, John and Lucile (thx Lucile also for directing me to this site from tennisw where I used my wife's userid rchen). I guess I understand all of what you are saying but without the benefit of "feeling" them. I am trying to become well versed in MTM so that I can be the voice of reason in my son's tennis development. For now, I'll just accept the fact that it'll be a long time. A quick question: does hitting "across the ball" apply to flat shots as well?

Permalink Reply by Martín Garnica on April 30, 2009 at 2:19pm

It's my guide for all of my strokes. In this method I deposited all my confidence, and I hope that it guides me to the professional level.

Permalink Reply by John Carpenter on April 30, 2009 at 10:31pm

Hi John Zhao,

Yes, modern tennis is defined by changing the direction of the force (incoming ball) but there are several directions you can hit across the ball. Oscar's MTM does not say you do not hit a flat ball when it is appropriate to do so. Advanced Tennis Project in 1998 discovered that at the pro ranks, there really is no such thing as a flat ball, only a "flatter ball" or a ball hit with less spin. Sampras' serves were often over 4,400 RPMs in ball rotation. It was the combination of power and spin that made his serve so powerful and heavy. Even Agassi averaged 1700 RPMs on his groundstrokes and it was thought he hit flat by many observers. Hitting across the ball occurs literally on the groundstokes (left to right or right to left), the volleys (down and forward, or by pulling in or outwardly across such as when you stab volley to your forehand away from you), and even the serve, which is hit up and to the right which explains why the pros are seen in photos with the back of the hand facing the net and the arm hanging out to the right with the racket pointing down. You can hit a flat shot, but just be aware of the risk. As Oscar pointed out in his 1989 book, a shot hit 100 miles MPH one inch above the net will go out unless there is a force that brings it down into the court. That force must be topspin in most cases or a nice underspin that causes the ball to sink. If I can hit a flatter ball and cause a mistimed shot by my opponent, I'll go for it as long as I'm highly successful. But I have to understand the risks. MTM emphasizes ball rotation, with topspin as the foundation, but Murray learned to play modern in Spain, at the Sanchez Casal Academy, where these techniques are taught probably as well as anywhere in the world outside of having Oscar give you lessons. Murray rotates the ball as well as anyone in the game today, constantly changing spins, more topspin, then a slice, then a flatter shot. A great example of how and when to hit flatter is Nadal, who often hits a few looping reverse forehands (some call it the buggy whip where he finishes his left shoulder) with three to four thousand RPMs of topspin and then hits the third or fourth ball with a classical modern FH finish towards the opposite shoulder and the "flatter" ball looks like a rocket as well as throws the opponents timing off who has become used to the high looping kick forehand he just hit a couple times.

If you are coaching your son, you can email me as I can give you some further private direction to help you develop him even if he's being coached professionally. It does not have to be as long as you likely think.

John Zhao said:

Thanks so much, John and Lucile (thx Lucile also for directing me to this site from tennisw where I used my wife's userid rchen). I guess I understand all of what you are saying but without the benefit of "feeling" them. I am trying to become well versed in MTM so that I can be the voice of reason in my son's tennis development. For now, I'll just accept the fact that it'll be a long time. A quick question: does hitting "across the ball" apply to flat shots as well?

Permalink Reply by John Zhao on May 1, 2009 at 9:30am

Hi John. Thanks again for the the insightful answer. I will definately email you privately at some point with more questions.

Permalink Reply by Lucile Bosche´ on May 2, 2009 at 11:20am

Thanks for the great explanation of the "flatter" shot, John Carpenter.