Interview With Sabalenka’s Technique Coach Gavin MacMillan- How Biomechanics Effect Tennis Players
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2024
- I had the honor of sharing an interview with Gavin MacMillan who is Aryna Sabalenka's technique/biomechanics coach. Check him out at www.sportsciencelab.com/gavin...
Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
0:22 Gavin MacMillan’s Story
2:38 Sabalenka’s Ball Toss Height
4:37 How Sabalenka Is Improving Her Game Overall
6:23 Sabalenka Forehand Breakdown
8:56 Is Tennis Really All Mental?
11:18 Sabalenka Technique Changes
12:50 Do Pro Players THINK About Pronating?
14:10 Influence of Roddick And Sampras Serve
14:59 Serve Strategy With Sabalenka
15:44 Serve Mechanics With Sabalenka
16:49 Sabalenka Forehand Mechanics Explained
19:11 Left Arm Mechanics For Tennis Players
23:00 Right Arm Tennis Fundamentals
26:00 Should Players Think About Lag And Snap?
30:31 Spine Mechanics For Tennis Players
32:06 Serve Throwing Mechanics For Tennis Players
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Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
0:22 Gavin MacMillan’s Story
2:38 Sabalenka’s Ball Toss Height
4:37 How Sabalenka Is Improving Her Game Overall
6:23 Sabalenka Forehand Breakdown
8:56 Is Tennis Really All Mental?
11:18 Sabalenka Technique Changes
12:50 Do Pro Players THINK About Pronating?
14:10 Influence of Roddick And Sampras Serve
14:59 Serve Strategy With Sabalenka
15:44 Serve Mechanics With Sabalenka
16:49 Sabalenka Forehand Mechanics Explained
19:11 Left Arm Mechanics For Tennis Players
23:00 Right Arm Tennis Fundamentals
26:00 Should Players Think About Lag And Snap?
30:31 Spine Mechanics For Tennis Players
32:06 Serve Throwing Mechanics For Tennis Players
Wow! Someone who knows his stuff, at last. Using physical biomechanics as a base for coaching is a solid foundation. I’ve only seen one other UA-camr make tennis instruction videos with a deep grounding in physical science and I guess he got disillusioned with all the hate mail and lack of understanding and gave up, sadly. Missing you, Vlad!
Thanks for your comments and feedback. I think we need to stand for what we believe in, and there will always be opposition and haters, but who cares! Best, John
Which channel are you referring to, please?
@@11comfortablynumb
ua-cam.com/video/_w1iFq7YW6M/v-deo.htmlsi=ZHDstH6RSD3hF9Hn
Powerflail! Vlad! Very nice you mention him 👑 For me the biggest influence in my tennis “career”. Sometimes before I teach someone tennis, I’ll send a selection of his videos. I think a lot of times to show my appreciation to him. Thank you for mentioning him 🫅🏼
How long will we have to wait to get a full technical description with images of the strokes from Gavin? - this verbal stuff is good but I wish there was more.
Thanks for the great question. I will work on this with Gavin. Best, John
Congrats, on such an interesting discussion. Thanks to you John for reaching out to Gavin. His insights were fascinating and must have felt good, with his technical pillars being consistent with your own. Honestly, it looks like you both were only getting started. That must have been fun.
Thank you. We had a great time! After the interview we conducted a clinic with a group of my students. It was really productive for them! We will do it again for sure! Best, John
Wow! You hit a GRAND SLAM with this interview coach John! Very informative information that even us club players can incorporate into our games! I'm sure this awesome technique coach has never said the words " PAT THE DOG" analogy for forehand technique. All your subscribers are much appreciative ! 👍👏
Thank you, Jose! Glad this interview was valuable to you! Stay tuned here at PPT, as we strive to bring more value to you! Best, John
The entire video is enlightening. a true "10 out of 10". "Left Arm Mechanics" (which you kindly timestamped at 19:11 in) is a MUST WATCH. In baseball little league, we Coaches learned to train the pitchers to invert the left hand (non-dominant hand) side with their "glove up" [and, then, during games, with the pitcher on the mound, we would yell, "glove up" as an appropriate, simple trigger to focus the player and cause the proper biomechanics, with that simple command). I didn't fully understand why "glove up" worked so well, but Sabalenka's biomechanics specialist (Gavin) now tells us why: it causes the "inversion" (of the shoulder and spine?) and allows for proper torque of the body/spine (well, listen to the video for a more accurate explanation). Turning back to tennis, I've always wondered what "trigger" I could yell to my player to lock him/her in on his/her serve, akin to our "glove up" command in little league. Gavin says Novak's coach is regularly commanding "chin up", even though that's not really what it takes. Maybe "chin up" will be my new "glove up"? (although high school parents in our area are apparently not supposed to speak substantively to their players during matches).
Thank you Daryl for your great analogy to pitching and contribution to the interview! Kindly, John
Awesome interview and great insights!
Thank you! Stay tuned, as we have a lot more coming here at PPT! Best, John
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this interview. Especially the part when he explained the 'lag' (on the forehand groundstroke) which seems to be such a subject of interest for many recreational players. Gavin, explaining that the lag is not something a coach should teach, instead letting it happen naturally with the wrist being relaxed, clarified it for many players. The tossing arm motion was also a subject that made a lot of sense too.
Thank you for this video. Very well done!
Thank you so much! Kindly, John
Great instruction as usual. I really liked when you said that you are a sponge and still learning. At 73 I feel the same way
Thank you so much! Stay tuned, as we have a lot more coming here at PPT! Best, John
Great interview! Love the points that MacMillan makes.
Thank you! Stay tuned, as we have a lot more coming here at PPT! Best, John
This is ridiculously enlightening!
Glad you enjoyed!
Great video. I noticed in the interview you let your guest do all the talking . Good job.
Thanks for watching! - John
Excellent discussion, there's so much more to talk about. Gavin is eloquent and so informed. Above all I think his desire to help other learns sports and humillity to keep learning are his best traits. Those drive him to inform himself to the best of his capacity. You too John, I love your channel. Wish another time you can have him back. Discuss things from the tour. Other strokes. There's so much to talk about.
Hi Sebastian, Thanks for your great comments and feedback! Very much appreciated! Gavin will be back! Best, John
He is so right when he says that coachs talk about mental problem when it's technical problem ! How can you be confident when your shot is not sure 100% in training ?
Right on! Best, John
I am loving this interview. So amazingly open, honest, and clear. 👏👏👏
Brilliant interview, thanks to both of you for sharing this!
No problem! Hope you benefiting from everything on the channel!
Great conversation, a lot of information to process, thank you both for sharing your knowledge!
Thank you for your feedback! Best, John
Brilliant as good as anything ever on UA-cam. Required viewing for any tennis player.
I found this interview to be extremely interesting. Thanks for creating this content. Gavin certainly gave me food for thought and a new way of thinking about things. Cheers!
I am pleased to know you enjoyed and benefited from the interview. Be sure to check out all the content here in the channel. Kindly, John.
This is great!
Great conversation 👍
Thank you! Stay tuned, as we have a lot more coming here at PPT! Best, John
Great intv. Love the info given. For a tennis nerd like myself, this deep dive content is right up my alley! Tks!
Very interesting interview. Some detailed thoughts on arm and hand positions during serve and FH that I intuitively also came to myself, and it is so positive feeling to hear those validated by a coach from top of the game. Thanks for great job. I am subscribing and will be waiting to hear more from Gavin
P.S. And good luck to Aryna!! Excellent start of the season. Keep it up!
Thanks so much for your comments and contribution to the video. Glad to know you subscribed as we have a lot more coming here on the channel. Best, John.
Great stuff!!
Glad you enjoyed it Steven!
Really great interview! 👍👍👍
Thanks for listening!
Nice video. Advice, captions are fine but they are distracting being placed in the middle of the screen.
Thanks for the feedback! Best, John
John, I really enjoyed your interview with Gavin. I do have one issue with the wrist pronating over in the follow through on the forehand. I prefer your emphasis on the shouder coming through the contact area and extending the time the racket face is perpendicular to the intended line of the shot. I think it is correct that the racket face should turn over on the followthrough, but I don't want any or at least hardly any, wrist flexion through the contact area. The racket face is actually going from closed to open as it as the racket goes through contact. If the face starts to turn down at this time, gravity just drops the ball off the face of the racket and you don't hold the ball on the strings as long. So I emphasize getting through the intial part of the follow through with the wrist laid back althoujgh it definitely does what Gavin says in the completion of the stroke.
Hi Don, thanks for your comments and contribution to the video. I agree with you as well. And, I know you know your stuff! you’re still the only other coach (that I know of) who understands the feel of the grip on the forehand as you described on tennis player.net years ago. Best, John
The spinal engine is about the most important concept brought up, it will unlock so much movement potential when you understand it.
Thanks for watching Jacob stay tuned for more on the channel!
That was amazing video
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Great video! It makes a ton of sense that the arm on the frontside controls what’s happening on the backside for the forehand & serve. Any insights on how we should think about getting that kind of torque on the two-handed backhand?
Wow, what a great question! The two-hander is definitely a left arm dominant stroke (for a right handed player). Load up on the back (left) leg, get a strong coil / rotation so the right shoulder is past perpendicular to the target. Then it's all left side rotation and drive. I hope this makes sense and is helpful! Best, John
Nobody ever talks about the off hand/arm in tennis, except us.
Yes, agree. Rarely discussed or understood by most. Best, John
Hi John , do you recommend extending the toss arm out into the court as your racket drop is starting? the idea would then be to tuck the tossing arm into the body to stop rotation just before contact. I'm trying to figure out whether that helps initiate and time the shoulder over shoulder movement without over rotating.
Hi and thanks for your great question. It certainly does time the movement. The tossing arm should begin to pull down as the legs drive up. This combination will cause the shoulders to rotate, which in turn allows the racquet to fall and rise without any effort. Let me know if you have additional questions. Kindly, John
Thanks so much! Definitely helps. Will go out and experiment. I think my tossing arm is pulling in a little too early sometimes.
Let me know how your practice goes. I can review your serve if you like. Here is a link to my popular video analysis: performanceplustennis.com/performance-plus-serve-stroke-video-analysis-description/. Best, John
@@lyndseyandandrew5771
Does he mean on forehand one should invert the racket face (the side of hitting the ball shall face the back fence first) before swing forward?
No, Gavin does not want the racquet to go back because it reduces the shoulder rotation in the forward swing. Best, John
@@PerformancePlusTennis so what exactly does he advocate on take back? I don’t quite get it. I saw Sabalenca racket face pointing back before her forward swing. Thanks
Hi Jack, Gavin prefers that the backswing stays compact, on the right side of the body. At it's lowest point in the downswing, the face of the racquet should be closed at a 45 - 90 degree angle. @@bournejason66
- Молодец, Арина Сергеевна Соболенко! 👍🎾💪
Thank you! Best, John
I watched the entire video. Just so I understand this correctly, he’s advocating for the tossing arm to ideally be positioned to the right side with the palm pointing to the net for maximum benefit to uncoil the spine. He is also saying not to have the left arm fall like doing a karate chop with an extended arm but to do what instead exactly? I can’t imagine he wants to have the arm fall straight down like a building being demolished in a north to south straight up to down direction. So is it correct to assume he wants to let the left arm fall by bending at the elbow and driving elbow into the body then?
Here he shows what should happen:
ua-cam.com/video/9vv5PRdQgC0/v-deo.html
He advocates for the tossing arm to be on the right side of the plane. The palm faces the net at the top. After the escapula has rolled over and now can only go back one way. A natural motion that promotes efficient mechanics.
Ohhhh I didn’t see it at first, the video kinda cuts off his hand at the top of the screen. But it’s clear to me now. Release the toss and have palm point to the net, then the arm will pull down into the body with the palm rotating naturally back to face the body. I notice if I rotate the palm to face the net and reach as high as I can, I can feel the scapula protracting away from my spine. I personally struggle with keeping the tossing arm up for too long. You can see my serves on my channel. They have the same common mistakes, left arm stays up too long and hitting arm forearm-humerus angle never narrows below 90 degrees due to incorrect racket take back.
It’s like swim free style pulling water to your waist
@@topspin1715 I responded before but I put some links in my comments and UA-cam took it down. I'll help you with no links.
Saw your Channel, my 2 cents are:
Your left foot is coming in front of your right foot. That's a bad movement in pinpoint. Keep it back of your right. Not by much but back. See De Minaur, Performance Plus has an analysis on it and you do the same. You take away rotation. Put your hips at a bad angle. Reduce the distance you can move your racket through. It's a quick improvement.
You do a funny mistake with your left arm. So you learned to keep the arm to the right side. That is a good practice. But you leave your arm to the right. Look for a Federer serving in slow motion video in UA-cam. He brings his racket up through the right but he extends in line with his shoulder. The arm is above his body. When he extends in line his palm faces away from him. Your arm stays to the right and gravity does its job. You have your arm diagonally up and have to resist that weight. So you end up muscling to keep your arm up and get tired. Extend totally, have your palm face away, watch in video your arm is not falling to your left when you extend.
I can't say much more. Because I'm not there it's hard to apply changes. So it's better to give advice slowly. Can ask more if you have questions.
Thanks for the great questions and feedback! Yes, you are correct about the tossing arm and hand position. Here is my video on this topic: ua-cam.com/video/uhdFJjvPlbs/v-deo.htmlsi=DCxxvtYnDwP3hXW3. He wants the tossing arm to fall away slightly before tucking. I have been advocating a semi-circle movement, then tuck, which is what most pros do. Gavin prefers more of a bend at the elbow and then tuck as you describe. My advice: Experiment and see what works best and is most comfortable/ natural for you. Let me know how it goes...thanks, John
Very rewieling for me coach iun Denmak for more than 30 years. So it!s the a lot about ingraving the changes to be natural .(new musselmemo must take ower) .
the first english-speaking person to pronounce rybAkina right! 😄
Not too bad huh? Haha
@@PerformancePlusTennis same applies to kasAtkina (kasAhtkina) 🙂
It’s interesting that both Gavin and Mark Kovacs have biomechanics background, both work with athletes with different backgrounds. But one says serve is a throwing motion while the other swears it’s not…
Stay away Kovacs
Mark Kovacs has no idea what he’s talking about. He also thinks the serve is like a shot put motion (you push off the back leg exclusively), which is complete nonsense!
At the end when Gavin says, "...and that's where we're gonna start today." Does that mean there's a part 2 of this interview?
They had a tennis lesson after. Gavin was dictating it I believe.
Gavin was referring to the clinic we conducted after the interview, but I will have him on the channel again for sure. Thanks, John
@@PerformancePlusTennis Gotcha! Thanks John, I am guessing a lot of people were really wanting to see that clinic.
Next time! @@fxanimator1
If this is Saba being basic, heaven help everyone else. 👍
I’m barely smarter than a rock. I ask: Drawing the tossing arm down near the torso instead of letting it swing down like the hands of a clock creates more acceleration of the long axis (like a figure skater who tucks to spin faster)?
If yes, maybe I’m way smarter. 🙂
Thanks, John. Cheers
Jeff
Hi Jeff, What a great analogy! Thanks for your comments and contribution to the video! Best, John
I’m more interested in how 178cm Coco can serve consistently as fast as 185cm Federer.
Once you go "palm up" on the hitting side of the body, you will never be able to properly *externally rotate the shoulder* and achieve a proper racquet drop. And likewise, if you do drop properly but go "palm up" on the swing upwards, you will not be able to properly *internally rotate the shoulder* to contact.
Is that the idea? 🤔
Thanks for your great question! You’re exactly right. Anytime the palm rotates upward, you lose the position of the shoulder where rotation is achievable, and long access pronation is activated into contact. Best, John.
Audio is not good.
Rough audio but a great message! Next time we will film indoors
So many "high level" coaches stink
When Macci was saying it was Aryna confidence and everything she is doing is fine I realize he nows little
Thanks for your feedback and contribution to the video. Personally, I don’t find that Rick Macci knows much about the serve… certainly, not as much as he thinks he knows!