Ready Position Theory Change

 I'm currently proofreading all of the posts from last year.  They will be coming out as a pdf format book pretty soon.  Stay tuned.

There were a couple of posts referring to the ready position.  The "science" of the ready position (RP), is that it was dynamic based on the elevation of the ball to be hit.  If you hit a good dink, you would expect that the ball would more likely to be hit high to you and you would in anticipation of that shot, raise your paddle.  If you hit it too high, expect a low ball, so drop your paddle.

Also, and it's the point of interest, the RP was always biased towards a backhand position.  There is more frontal coverage with the backhand as you can slide the paddle almost fully across your body and out to the backhand side, up and down is also not a problem.  The model suggested that you would only shift to the forehand side when needed.

I think the backhand model is a good one when everyone is close together at the net.  It takes time to shift to the other hand and the extra body coverage is a good thing.  If you will not be able to move your body, then you have to move your hand.

But if the next ball is going to come from the baseline and you are at the net, then you have more time to change hands.  It's generally easier to put away a shot with the forehand for most people.  If you have the time to shift to the backhand when needed, then staying on the forehand will make you readier to hit a put away shot.

Also as long as the ball is off on your forehand side, then you are more likely to get a shot to your forehand, so again, setup to hit a forehand.

I was watching one of the best players at the Downs Saturday and he was setup for a forehand shot most of the time.  When absolutely required at the net, he would shift to a more backhand position, but it was rare.  If he was at the net and the ball deep, he was always setup to hit a forehand.

Keeping to a backhand or neutral setup, (where the paddle is between the forehand and backhand positions), as a ready position is probably a good rule of thumb.  But the better you know that thumb, the more the rule is nuanced.  Maybe a better philosophy for the ready position is to setup as a function of what shot you expect and how much time you'll have if you guess wrong.

There are a few players at the Downs that don't like to hit backhands and they run around a lot of shots to hit forehands.  When they do get a forehand shot they can be quite effective.  We can steal their readiness if we are more willing to setup for forehands on a conditional basis.