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Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Catharsis
I saw this question recently on Yahoo! Answers, "Is an underhand serve legal in tennis?". The answers were "closed" by the time I saw it, but I have such a good answer (and some guy was dumb enough to say it isn't legal)... so here it is:
Of course, it's legal. The only requirements for a service motion in tennis are that you toss the ball in the air and strike it with the racket before it hits the ground, and that you strike the ball before touching any part of the court with your body (remembering, of course, that the lines are part of the court). You see players with a shoulder injury serve underhand all the time. The whole point of the overhead serve is to give yourself an advantage, especially if you're a serve and volley player. Of course, if you have a lousy serve, then it probably won't matter much how you do it. A player with excellent ground strokes who generally plays from the baseline could probably win just as well using an underhand serve all the time. In fact, the old drop-shot serve is a classic "catch 'em off guard" tactic since most players stay well back of the baseline when receiving. If you do serve underhand, then your best bet is to hit the ball directly at your opponent to (1) force him/her to "run around" the ball, and (2) because that will typically give you the best "angle" (depth of the service court line vs height of the net). And if you do try the drop-shot serve, then it's usually more effective in the deuce court (if you're right-handed, or ad court if you're left-handed). Unless you have a real killer of an overhead serve that will take you to world class tennis domination, it's unlikely that you'll be winning all that many service points due to your serve anyway. Ground strokes win--and lose--matches as a rule, not serves, when the players are evenly matched.
Now, isn't that a really helpful answer? (I used to teach a little tennis, as well as work in a tennis shop, as well as play in local and state tournaments; so I know a little bit about tennis... even if I haven't played in 25 years.)
Of course, it's legal. The only requirements for a service motion in tennis are that you toss the ball in the air and strike it with the racket before it hits the ground, and that you strike the ball before touching any part of the court with your body (remembering, of course, that the lines are part of the court). You see players with a shoulder injury serve underhand all the time. The whole point of the overhead serve is to give yourself an advantage, especially if you're a serve and volley player. Of course, if you have a lousy serve, then it probably won't matter much how you do it. A player with excellent ground strokes who generally plays from the baseline could probably win just as well using an underhand serve all the time. In fact, the old drop-shot serve is a classic "catch 'em off guard" tactic since most players stay well back of the baseline when receiving. If you do serve underhand, then your best bet is to hit the ball directly at your opponent to (1) force him/her to "run around" the ball, and (2) because that will typically give you the best "angle" (depth of the service court line vs height of the net). And if you do try the drop-shot serve, then it's usually more effective in the deuce court (if you're right-handed, or ad court if you're left-handed). Unless you have a real killer of an overhead serve that will take you to world class tennis domination, it's unlikely that you'll be winning all that many service points due to your serve anyway. Ground strokes win--and lose--matches as a rule, not serves, when the players are evenly matched.
Now, isn't that a really helpful answer? (I used to teach a little tennis, as well as work in a tennis shop, as well as play in local and state tournaments; so I know a little bit about tennis... even if I haven't played in 25 years.)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Funny
I was at SnapFiles--noticed there was a new freeware dictionary/translator package. I went to the homepage for the package to check it out, as I am wont to do. Due to at least several spelling and grammar mistakes on their own site, I decided to pass. Of course, maybe they didn't use their own package when creating their site? Still...
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