Leading Elbow Part 2

 As we wander between holidays and wonder what happened to our fighting weight after feast after feast, I wanted to return to the elbow leading the shot post that went up late last month.

The general idea is that the elbow leads the forearm and you want to keep the hand and paddle behind the elbow until a bit after contact with the ball.  This is true of golf in re the trailing arm and backhand disc golf throws too.  

I've been paying attention to it and trying to make sure I do it when I serve.  This is an unhurried stroke and I have time to make sure I lead with the elbow and follow with hand and paddle.  Not a lot of speed is required for a serve, so it's a perfect time to try some of these things.

When I do it correctly I get a more solid strike with less vibration.  If, on the other hand, I manipulate the paddle with some wristy action, then the elbow will pivot away from the ball as the hand goes forward of the elbow at impact.  This seems to stress the elbow.  I think the idea is that the paddle swings into the ball and you don't want to try to hit it, just rotate your shoulders and let the arm and then the elbow and finally the hand and paddle follow the rotation.

Let me diverge about elbow pain a moment.  I've had bouts with tennis and golf elbow -- tennis elbow is when the pain is on the outside of the joint, golf the side closer to your body.  I've been pain free for a while.  I don't know what causes it to show up and retreat.  It's done that a few times across a large number of decades.  I suspect a tiny difference in the golf or PB swing will start the cycle of irritation.  The cause seems to be very subtle.

When I swing the paddle with a lead elbow I sense no strain on the elbow joint, the joint and the shot feel very solid.  I can sense the power and ultimate ability to crush opponents with this technique.  I yearn for the day when I do it on all strokes.

But getting back to reality, if you are having elbow issues, this may be something to consider.

A swing with a leading elbow seems to be a more powerful action.  It requires more of a body motion than a hand action.  I have hit some really interesting serves that have heavy topspin, are fast, and don't seem to bounce very high.  They land about the center of the service area and then skid a bit.  All useful characteristics.

As for ground strokes, I suspect that this is the proper stroke too.  I don't trust it enough yet to incorporate it.  I do it while warming up and it works quite well.  

Trust?  No Trust?  Yes, well, let me explain.  When you swing this way you are making very little effort in positioning the paddle to the intended ball trajectory.   The paddle should be pointing towards your baseline as you start the stroke.  As you turn and bring your elbow at the shot, the paddle will rotate to the proper position.  The face will rotate 90 degrees to be perpendicular to the net.

The paddle's "squaring" is inherent in the swing.  If you try to make sure this happens or "help" it, you will stall the swing, flip your wrist, and not be able to hit it as hard.  You have to do it enough to figure this out and and calm an overly active mind that's thinking about how to hit the ball.  Athletes don't think much about what they do, they just do it.  I suspect that they figure this stuff out through trial and error early in their career and don't analyze why it works or what they are really doing.  Certainly more true of the very high level athletes, where conscious thought will only slow them down.  They act and react and just play.  Analysis comes later if at all.  We can learn a lot from that, but it's hard to do and your mind may not be wired for that kind of flow.

If you watch some pro level PB you will see a constant movement of the players and by that I mean all the players.  If you watch a single player and not just who is hitting the ball, you will see constant adjustment of feet, paddle, and location as the ball moves around the court.  Highly entertaining if you are interested in the minutia of it all.  But no one is having the internal conversation, "The ball is left, so I want to step one medium step left."  Nope, the pattern of play is recognized and the step left is automatic.

There are not a lot of patterns to pickleball, so this automatic movement is easily learned and after a bit it's just reaction to what's happening or going to happen.  

I think that's about it for this.  Try the elbow attitude, I think it's the proper way to swing for power and less pain.  And then keep moving your feet!

Update:  I know that no one has actually read this yet, but there are some modifications that need to be made.  That's the problem with research, it might change your theory!  So there is a John Cincola video up on YouTube about the forehand drive.  He shows that the whole arm is handled as one unit.  That's fine.  But note that his stroke is more of a service stroke that something that comes from the side.  He doesn't lead with his elbow, but the paddle lags everything.  So I don't think I'm much wrong with the above topic.  It might be an exaggeration and that is the "feel" that I need to do it differently.  If you try it out, I'd be interested in your experience.