Tip of the day

I Took a Private Lesson With Simone Jardim (Full 77-Minute Session)

You're at the baseline, the return is coming to your backhand, and you squeeze the paddle to make sure it goes somewhere. It goes somewhere, just slowly.

In this uncut lesson, Simone Jardim tells pro Tanner that his groundstrokes are all arm. Power should build from the bottom up, in three phases.

First, load your legs. Second, tighten your core until your abs feel like they're doing a crunch.

Third, swing with your arms, and keep them loose. Simone's shorthand is tight, tight, loose: legs working hard, core tight, arms relaxed.

Tight arms are what make a return feel stiff, because you end up muscling the ball through your arms. Her husband Chad puts it as working less to achieve more.

Two timing cues make the chain work. Have your paddle back by the time the ball bounces, taking it back as the ball comes toward you instead of waiting for it to reach you.

Then make contact out in front of your body, which Simone says gives you more power.

On the backhand, the load comes from your shoulder turn, so point your paddle at the back wall before you swing. With no shoulder turn, Simone says, you have barely any core.

To practice it, Simone had Tanner hit with loose arms and told him she wanted every ball to go long. Accelerate, and if you miss, you miss.

It will feel mechanical at first, and Simone says the more you do it, the more natural it becomes. The thing to watch is how the ball sounds once Tanner stops muscling it, a change you can hear on the video and can't get from the page.

Key points

Think tight, tight, loose: legs working hard, core tight, arms relaxed.
Tight arms make your return stiff because you end up muscling the ball through them.
Have your paddle back by the time the ball bounces.
On the backhand, load with your shoulder turn by pointing your paddle at the back wall.
In practice, keep your arms loose and accelerate, and if you miss, you miss.

Watch the full tutorial here.