Tim Prapong's Articles (21)

As the recent owner of both these fine frames, Head and Wilson have really improved racquets in this weight category. I will describe the differences between the two. Both of these racquets are better than the Head Graphene Prestige Pro, also at 11.1…

The last two meetings of the two titans, at the Shanghai and the IPTL league, showed Federer's increasing prowess at dominating the forecourt. Certainly, Edberg has not only improved Federer's volleys to such an extent. He has also made Fed cut off the angle from where Djokovic can pass. 

The years Fed spent with Annacone trying to adapt a chip and charge…

Looking at the current world rankings, Nadal is 12500 pts, Djokovic is at 12330. Then there is a precipitous drop in points, with Wawrinka at 5525, Federer at 4945. Why would there be such a drop? I attribute this to the simple fact the prior two have more topspin and sidespin on their forehands.

Let's be honest here. The serve is no longer the determinant of…

Roger Federer met the press Monday in Hamburg and the Swiss star revealed that he made the decision to play the event the day after his shock second round loss to Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon.

“I think this decision was made very quickly the day after Wimbledon,” Federer told the German press today. “I thought, what are my options now? Do I need more practice? Do I…

I'm sure this could run in a few categories:

1) Racquet freak: Gotta try the latest racquets, demo ten racquets when they come out at the start of the year. End up getting six of the same, then an itch happens. You buy a different one, then have to sell the six when that new one plays better. Then it happens every year. Check!

2) League addict:…

http://blog.tennisspeed.com/

Say no more. Because there is nothing more to be said after reading this article, which confirms my own experimentations with closed faced swings. 

If you read with a careful eye and truly absorb what is being said in the highly detailed 7 part blog on "A Roadmap to a Hall-of-Fame…

     Tennis has gone from winning points to conserving points. But that's what is to be expected with better racquets. To be able to stay in the point longer. Sampras used to win a quick easy points with a big serve, serve and volley, or down the line screamer with his running forehand.

     And Federer is partly of this school.…

We hear often that the new mechanics in tennis is the "modern forehand". What makes for the "modern"? Then there is invariably the mention of angular momentum. How does this apply to tennis? 

There has been a change in how the forehand swing is shaped, and the top guys of today hit the forehand much differently from how the top forehand hitters did in the…

Whether you have a predominantly level base swivel, such as the Djokovic backhand above, or the more forward leaning forehand of Federer, in tennis, balance is key. Knowing where your balance is at the point of contact can be difference between a wildly spraying shot and a solidly struck screamer down the line. 

Look at how level Djokovic's right thigh…

I was out practicing with a friend who plays 4.5 and open tournaments and leagues. I hadn't seen him in 8 months, and he had told me he had changed his forehand drastically. Originally, he had a Berasetegui type Extreme Western forehand grip, which would produced gobs of spin, but would not drive through the court much. He would wail upwards on the ball and…

Back is almost facing target on takeback

Closed and bladed at contact"

After contact, chest facing target:

pics from "smoothtennis" at …

Here are two very good links to videos by famed and highly respected tennis coach Rick Macci discussing the UNIT TURN. The unit turn is one of the major changes in the modern pro tennis game. You don't have to be a pro to understand it either. …

Well, I am going to explain the forces which may cause for an errant toss. 1) shoulder rotation 2) balance and 3) alignment. Here I am going to call #1 the "merry go round" and #2 the "seesaw". And #3, the 2 to 7 LINE.

Here goes #1: This is what I call the "merry go round effect". You're supposed to be nice and…

 Nadal was not feeling well during this match, but Davydenko closed this out with little sympathy. He produced accurate shots and took over the match being down a break from the start. Nadal narrowly escaped being bageled again in the second set, but it was all Nikolai's way. No Fed/Nadal final in Doha this…

This is a very short highlight youtube of the match. Ryan Harrison really has a serve motion reminiscent of Sampras. He has…

Nadal responded to Federer's strategy of attacking returns by serving much more aggressive. You don't have much of Federer asserting the chip and charge against those serves. The other thing to note is how Federer is not crowding the baseline in these rallies. It is true that Federer had the better tempo at the beginning and Nadal weathers the storm like he usually does. Federer even had break point to win the first set. But his backhand in the…