I found this rec.sport.tennis post so appropriate to our technique discussions, I just had to post it:
Quoted message said:
(dar) said:
Practice is key, but I recall something a club pro once said to me. I had taken a bucket of balls and rented a court for an hour and hit serve after serve after serve. About halfway through he came up to me and said, "You know, you really don't need to practice that lousy serve anymore. You have it down cold."
And yeah, he was right. Practice is only good if you're practicing good fundamentals. Otherwise, you're just creating a really hard habit to try and break some day. Good instruction (video is great to actiually *see* what you're doing) is first -- *then* practice practice practice.
Also, the lifeguard brought in a big blue monofin this morning. He let a few of us try it.
The monofin felt very awkward. Most of all, I felt very clearly that my feet were not pointing straight out behind my legs. I felt a lot of stress just above my ankles and sensed a big angle that I don't sense with my small fins. The woman that usually swims next to me agreed.
Donal Fagan AIA Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com (Anglicise the name to reply by e-mail)
Also, the lifeguard brought in a big blue monofin this morning. He let a few of us try it.
The monofin felt very awkward. Most of all, I felt very clearly that my feet were not pointing straight out behind my legs. I felt a lot of stress just above my ankles and sensed a big angle that I don't sense with my small fins. The woman that usually swims next to me agreed.
You have to practice with it a lot. It is a very specialized form of racing.