Tennis Oxygen

Hello,

I am very happy to announce some exciting news about tennisoxygen.com. For the past 4 months Cody Hunter, tennisoxygen.com's web master has been working hard redesigning the entire site. We are hoping to roll out the new version in the next 5 to 6 weeks with great new features for our members.

New video: The Drop Shot. 

We have seen Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic become extremely successful in recent times by breaking up the rhythm of the point and utilizing a drop shot when their opponent least expects them to. In this new installment of the Common Threads of the Game Video Series, Christophe breaks down the Drop Shot. We take a look at the Where, Why, When, and Strategy of how professionals hit the drop shot, and how you too can learn to take advantage of this silent killer.

New player added to the Pro Stroke Video Library: Alexandr Dolgopolov.

There is something about Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr. Maybe it is the way his blond pony tail flops as he bounces around the court like the Energizer Bunny. Or could it be his balls? He can hit them early or late, big and hard, fast with spin or off-pace with slice. Dolgopolov plays with a sly, cheeky smile that seems to say ‘catch me if you can’. And the way he jerks his opponents about the court is almost like he is giving them the middle finger. Without a doubt, Dolgopolov’s style is not for the tennis purist. This 22 year old from the Ukraine is definitely new school. His look and game could have very well been created by an Xbox engineer; serve powered by a hard drive add-on and groundstrokes fired by two analog triggers. All said, he is fast-paced and fun to watch.

(from the article" The Dog Unleashed" by Robert Davis for Deuce Magazine.

For the rest of this article click here.

My new years resolution is to publish two new instructional videos per month plus adding a new player per month to the pro stroke video library. My full time job keeps getting in the way!!!!

-Christophe

Hello,

 

Check out my latest video about Andy Roddick's Backhand on the home page. I take a close look at what many consider Roddick's Achilles Heel, his two-handed backhand. I break down his backhand and point out four flaws in his technique and compare Roddick's technique with some of the greatest backhands in the game.I truly feel that Andy Roddick has been an over achiever winning a Grand Slam and staying in the top 10 for 9 consecutive years. No one is more dedicated or works harder than Andy Roddick but if he is ever to get that elusive second Slam, he is going to have to address this deficiency in his game.

Click here to get to the video.

Happy Holidays!

Christophe. 

Greetings,

While Rafael Nadal was on his way to winning the 2010 US Open every television announcer attributed his sudden serve improvement to a "slight grip change". To me it was so obvious that it was not a mere grip change, but specific changes to his motion, footwork and wrist angle, that led him to increase his serve by close to 20MPH. Frustrated at the ignorance of the so called experts on television, I went ahead and put a video together showing the specific changes Rafa had made to his serve. Soon after the video aired on tennisoxygen.com I received an e-mail from a tennis coach named Oscar Borras telling me that he was the one responsible for the specific changes Rafa made to his serve. This past spring, while filming at the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Spain, I met Oscar to discuss the lesson. Before I left, Oscar gave me the video footage of the lesson so that I could prove to the world that it was much more than a grip change and that he was the one responsible for Rafa's serve improvement. So with Oscar's permission I have put together this latest video illustrating the step by step progression he used to teach Rafa his new serve. This is an incredible lesson on many levels but especially to see how Oscar broke-down Rafa's serve as if he was a beginner- from having him throwing the ball without a racquet to serving from the service line. I really hope you enjoy this behind the scenes look at a tennis lesson given to one of the greatest tennis player's of the modern era.

 

* My agreement with Oscar was to make this video public to show as many people as possible what he accomplished in improving Rafa Nadal's serve by 20MPH in 2010.

 

Enjoy the video! Christophe. 

                                                                                                          November 2010 Newsletter    

Hello,

Well, once again, I have failed to meet my monthly newsletter deadline. Much of my free time has been spent developing new videos for the Stroke Lesson Library and uploading new videos to the Pro Stroke Library, all while keeping my day job as a Director of Tennis. Trips to the ATP Rogers Cup in Toronto and the US Open in New York City this past summer have provided numerous hours of editing and adding to each respective library.

I am thrilled to announce that TennisOxygen.com is currently approaching some exciting milestones. Our Grasshopper membership is nearing the 500 mark, and we expect our YouTube following to reach 1000 subscribers in the coming weeks. It has been an overwhelming and exciting feeling to receive such positive feedback from not only casual tennis fans but also from my peers. In the past few months, coaches from around the world (India, UK, Netherlands, and Japan) have been sending me videos of their promising juniors to analyze. It has been an honor to be able to give them ideas to help develop these youngsters who are at such a critical stage in their growth as tennis players. One example of such a player is an 11 year old girl named Emira, coached by Tom Allsopp, that you should take the time to watch on YouTube. Tom is an excellent young coach who has done a wonderful job developing Emira's game with a profession career in mind for the near future. Watch Emira here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jc-YAWIeM4

Next week, I will be attending the ATP World Tour Finals in London where I will be taping more footage for both the Pro Stroke Video Library and the Stroke Lesson Library. We now have 28 of the top 30 ATP tour players in the Pro Stroke Video Library, making it the most comprehensive slow-motion Pro Stroke Video Library on the internet.

This month's featured article:

The Straight Arm Forehand vs. The Double Bent Forehand 

Coincidence or the evolution of the modern forehand?

What is the double bent position? The double bent position is the combination of both the wrist and elbow being bent at ball contact. To get a better understanding of the double bent position please reference the video lesson: The Forehand Common Thread Series Part #3: The Double Bent Position. When hitting with a straight arm forehand keep in mind that the wrist will also be laid back at contact.

For the past 20 years, the topspin forehand groundstroke has been executed with a double bent arm position. I can only think of one player during that time span who hit their topspin forehand with a straight arm, Mark Philippoussis. Currently three out of the top eight players in the world (Nadal, Federer, and Verdasco) choose to hit their forehands with their arm fully extended at the point of contact. So, was Phillppoussis ahead of his time? Changes in the topspin forehand throughout the past two decades are primarily due to new technology utilized in both, strings and racquets. Advancement in equipment has allowed, and in some ways forced, professional players to use more extreme grips and swing paths, permitting them to deal with higher bounces and pace. Despite the evolution of the grip and swing path, the forehand stroke was still executed with a double bent arm position at contact, until now. 

The main reason the double bent position was always used was because that position gives the player the most leverage and power at contact. The combination of a bent arm and a laid back wrist situates the body in its most effective position to hit an effortless forehand. So how and why would three out of the top eight players choose not to use this technique? Because this new technique truly is a double edged sword. The further the arm swings away from the body, the more racquet head speed will be generated, but the amount of racquet control suffers. When hitting a straight arm forehand, contact now has to be made further out in front, causing the player to tend to over-rotate and make contact almost perpendicular to the net instead of parallel. When the arm is kept straight at contact, footwork has to be perfect to keep the proper distance between the ball and body. It is a high-risk, high-reward type of stroke that has been mastered by, arguably, the two best players in the modern game. Even though Roger and Rafa utilize the straight arm forehand, the game is still being taught with the double bent forehand. I personally recommend learning and using the double bent forehand. But, the consistent domination of the world's best truly makes me wonder if we are we witnessing the next mutation of the modern forehand? Only time will tell.

New Site Features:

Pro Stroke Video Library Scrollers 

We are adding new scrollers to each player's video library, which will make viewing the strokes of your favorite players more streamlined and effortless.

Free Tips

Contact me for free personalized tips.

New Players Added to the Pro Stroke Video Library 

ATP Tour Players

Andy Roddick

Stanislas Wawrinka

Jurgen Melzer

Philipp Kohlschreiber

Marin Cilic

David Ferrer

Nicolas Almagro 

Feliciano Lopez

David Nalbandian

Ernests Gulbis

Marcos Baghdatis 

Mikhail Youzhny

Mardy Fish  

Legends 

John McEnroe

Patrick Rafter

Marat Safin

Mikael Pernfors   

Upcoming players to be loaded to the pro stroke video library:

WTA

Victoria Azaranka

Kuznetsova, Svetlana

Maria Sharapova

Natalie Oudin

Vera Zvonareva

Kim Clijsters

Jelena Jankovic

Elena Dementieva

Victoria Azarenka

Justine Henin  

Marion Bartoli

Ana Ivanovic

Yanina Wickmayer

Daniela Hantuchova

Melanie Oudin  

ATP 

Juan Carlos Ferrero

Fernando Gonzales

Sam Querry

Albert Montanes

Richard Gasquet

Gilles Simon 

Janko Tipsarevic

Jeremy Chardy 

Malisse, Xavier 

Julien Benneteau 

Michael  Llodra 

Arnaud Clement 

Ivo Karlovic

Santiago Giraldo  

Fabio Fognini  

Ok my grasshoppers, I will try my best to keep you updated in a timely matter. Until then, watch the new videos and don't hesitate to ask me questions about your game. For those of you who are hip, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. One more thing, trust me, I'm a trained professional.

 -Christophe