Gawain's right foot touched the bottom line of the teeing area, and he pushed lightly with the sole of his foot. The force extended from his toes all the way down his calf. The soles of his shoes could feel the rustling sound of red clay particles flowing between the edges, followed by a soft but yet soft sound.
The tough clay texture forms a rebound, pushing the body out.
A turn.
His body was already flying out, and then he saw Graf continuously retreating and tampering with his feet, adjusting while retreating, and rushing towards the bottom line of the service area; but Gawain only glanced lightly from the corner of his eyes, and then his eyes locked.
After playing tennis, I noticed Graf's little ingenuity.
A light pick, without deliberately controlling the length of the return line, but the angle and rotation are very tricky.
The return ball hit the sideline lightly. After it bounced on the ground, a side spin pulled the parabola outward. At the same time, almost all the force was removed. The material of the sideline further weakened the rebound force, so that when Gawain turned back,
, there is almost no bounce height to be seen.
This also means that the hitting space is limited.
However, Gawain was not panicked at all.
Different from the adjustment of long strides and small steps on hard ground, at this time, Gao Wen was seen kicking the ground with two small steps in succession, with his right leg and left leg, kicking hard, completing the acceleration in a short period of time, relying on the power of pushing on the ground
The reaction force pushed the body violently, and then the right leg rushed forward.
Slide!
The inertia of the forward thrust has already pushed the body forward, and the legs are fully extended in the splits. Hold the shot with your right hand and continue to extend.
A thin red clay waterfall rises from the ground, just like a car passing through a puddle on a rainy day.
Then, I touched it!
In fact, not only did he touch it, but Gao Wen actually had time to make changes. Graf had obviously controlled the return of the ball to the extreme, but Gao Wen still found room for clever use of his wrists in the gaps, and gently
Push everything along the side and wrap the tennis ball softly——
One pick.
There is almost no strength, just using the skills of the wrist and forearm, all of which are hands-on skills, to push the tennis ball in a straight line.
Without pausing, use the power of your right leg to push off the ground, complete the turn on the spot, adjust in small steps continuously, rush forward, and return to the bottom line of the service area again.
One rush, one kick... "Ah! Damn it!"
At this time, Gawain could clearly feel that his clay steps still lacked fire——
From turning back and forth to sliding, then turning on the spot, speeding up and sprinting, and finally braking control, this is a series of complex footstep transitions.
If it is a hard court, Gawain can control it easily, and the whole connection will flow smoothly, increasing his movement speed in the smoothest and most concise way, and at the same time saving energy to achieve the best effect; but on clay, the adjustment of details and the conversion of footsteps
, the connection is not coherent.
Look, when he returned to the bottom line of the service area this time, he didn't adjust his steps in time, so in order to save time, Gao Wen braked suddenly again.
Of course, this does not mean that you cannot brake suddenly. Even Nadal and Djokovic must brake suddenly when they are on clay courts; but braking suddenly means that you are in a passive state and cannot adjust your steps smoothly.
operation, may face difficulties next.
Similarly, the same principle applies to warm-up games.
Today is already the fourth day since Gao Wen arrived in Mallorca. He has adapted to the venue, adjusted his tactics, and the training time has flown through his fingers in the blink of an eye.
Obviously, Gawain's footsteps have made great progress——
In this warm-up game, the confrontation between him and Graf had reached the thirty-eighth round. Compared with the day when he first came to Mallorca, it was an earth-shaking change.
However, the thirty-eight rounds are not a strong confrontation with bayonets seeing red. After all, this is just a warm-up game with limited intensity. Then entering the second half, Gawain's footsteps returned to the habit of hard courts. From here on
It can be seen that the training time on clay is still far from enough.
really!
A sudden stop and turn is just the beginning, just like a domino, the first domino falls, and then triggers a chain effect.
Gawain's steps became more and more passive; the difficulty of returning the ball became more and more difficult.
Forty-three rounds.
Forty-eight rounds.
Seeing that Gawain's advantage was being eroded bit by bit, things seemed to have returned to the familiar pattern of Graf. Although Gawain still persisted and did not drop the ball, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Gawain was very passive.
Very, very passive, the balance of confrontation has tilted.
Gawain did not give up.
Kick the ground.
Turn around.
Forward thrust.
The whole movement was completed in one go - using hard-court steps, you can still survive on clay, but it's just more strenuous. But now Gawain has no choice, right?
Head-on, hit, greet the ball.
Gawain, turn your body slightly sideways, instead of turning sideways forehand, but get out of the way and use backhand.
Bend your knees, lower your center of gravity, backhand with both hands, and cut sideways towards the tennis ball. It looks like a passive return shot.
However, when he was about to touch the ball, he let go of his left hand and changed from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand, relying on the strength of his wrist and forearm to make a powerful cut.
change.
The tennis ball, feeling the strong force, spun at high speed, like a butterfly, gracefully crossed the net, and then... fell lightly.
Close to the net!
Moreover, the one-handed backhand gives up stability and instead adds strong spin.
After landing, you can see that the tennis ball spins outwards. It does not have much rebound force, and further stretches the hitting line.
On the opposite side of the net, Graf's footsteps have arrived smoothly, but Gawain's wrist control in returning the ball this time is too subtle and delicate——
The line, landing point, force relief, and rotation are all top-notch.
Graf's forehand was already in position, but there was not much space to hit the ball. She could only use her wrist to gently pick up the tennis ball, trying to pick it up again.
However--
The parabola was not controlled well and hit the net.
J.
In this round of the warm-up game, Gawain had the last laugh.
Gawain stood up straight again, panting like an ox, and his chest heaved violently. It could be clearly seen that his physical exertion was aggravated by the way he moved in the second half. Big beads of sweat were flowing down like small streams, but
, the smile on the corner of his mouth fully bloomed under the sun.
A pure joy.
Graf also stood up straight and gave a thumbs up to Gawain, with a hint of relief in his eyes.
Indeed, in the second half of this warm-up game, Gao Wen's footsteps had already lost the touch of clay and returned to his familiar hard court method, but the point is -
Not only did Gawain persevere, he also found the correct way to return the ball in an extremely passive and extremely difficult situation.
In fact, it can be seen from here that Gao Wen's understanding of red soil has made great progress.
Graf was very satisfied with being able to achieve such results in less than three days of training, which shows that Gawain's understanding is very gratifying.