Graf looked at Gawain, with a look of relief in his eyes, and nodded slightly. Although he didn't say much, his expression said everything.
"When people discuss Nadal's performance on clay, they often stress that Nadal's super topspin is most powerful on clay."
"In other words, Nadal's own defensive and counterattack style is more suitable for clay soil. The ball speed here is slower, giving Nadal more time to counterattack."
"It's either a forehand, a backhand, a move, etc. People always seem to find various reasons to emphasize that Nadal was born for clay; but in fact, they only see the phenomenon and fail to grasp the essence. , Tennis has never been a sport about who is stronger and faster.”
"If we purely discuss physical fitness and technical ability, not to mention the current group of young players, the younger group of players have also caught up."
"Not to mention anything else, let's just talk about Sasha Zverev. In terms of talent, he does have the ability to be among the top ten in the world, but in the end he only won two games in front of you."
Gawain: Hehe.
How could he forget that Zverev and Graf are fellow Germans.
Although Graf and Agassi have lived in the United States for many years now, this does not mean that Graf no longer pays attention to the tennis career in his home country.
Graf looked at Gawain scratching his head, a smile quietly surging deep in his eyes, and then he spoke in a calm tone.
"Don't worry, I won't eat people."
What's this shuddering feeling about? All the hairs on my back stood up.
Quietly, Gawain looked over Graf's shoulder and glanced at Agassi from the corner of his eye:
Agassi quickly whistled and looked up at the sky, as if admiring the white clouds in the cloudless sky. Sampras expressed strong disdain.
Graf didn't seem to notice Gawain's gaze, a smile flashed in his eyes, and he continued.
"Furthermore, Roger, Novak, and Andy are on par with Rafa in terms of technical and psychological quality, and their wins and losses are normal."
"But why does Rafa have the upper hand when it comes to clay?"
To put it simply, in Graf's view, physical, technical, psychological, etc., are not the key. At least, this is Graf's opinion.
Then Graf came to a conclusion.
"Rafa's understanding of clay is truly the best in history, no one can match him."
Therefore, Gawain just gave the correct answer, which is why Graf is particularly satisfied.
However, Gawain is also an honest child and asks questions when he doesn't understand.
"Steffi, I've heard commentators or professionals talk about this more than once, the understanding of the surface, especially Rafa's understanding of clay and Roger's understanding of grass."
"What does this mean?"
Maybe Gawain's answer was correct, but it didn't mean that he could fully understand it. Therefore, he didn't pretend to understand and directly asked questions.
Graf's eyes slightly curved, revealing a smile. She was very satisfied with Gawain's honesty and calmness, "This is what we need to adapt to today."
From a theoretical level, the special features of red clay are reflected in two points:
First, move.
Because of its unique honeycomb structure, the clay court has good buffering and shock-absorbing functions, which can alleviate the impact of sports to a large extent and effectively reduce sports injuries such as knee joint and lumbar spine wear. However, at the same time, due to the granular surface, Texture, making movement difficult.
Just look at the 100-meter race. On dirt tracks, cinder tracks, concrete tracks and professional tracks, there may be huge differences in the final results.
This is the case on clay courts. During extremely fast changes such as starting, sprinting, braking, changing direction, speeding up, and re-starting, it is often difficult for the soles of the feet to press on the ground, and it is impossible to obtain effective grip and reaction force from the ground. Naturally, movement There are many variables in the process.
Moreover, this is only one aspect; on the other hand, it is the control of the player's own spatial position.
Tennis is a sport that pays attention to timing. Changes in the hitting point, release position, and the space between the tennis ball and the body will directly affect the hitting. The hitting point is too early or too late, and the hitting point is higher or lower. , the impact of hitting the ball is clearly noticeable and has a direct impact on the game.
It is precisely because of this that players need to have a clear understanding of their own position, when to take the shot, when to take action, when to brake urgently, when to adjust their steps, etc., to ensure that they can complete the shot in a comfortable position with maximum effect. of batting.
This is precisely the most difficult thing about the clay court.
The steps are constantly in a "sliding" state, and it is often easy for individuals to make mistakes in their judgments about their own position and the position between themselves and the tennis ball.
Especially the clay slide, which is also Nadal's specialty. He makes judgments based on the spin, power and landing point of the return ball. When should he start sprinting, when should he start sliding, where should he slide, and how to find it. The best position to hit the ball and so on and so forth.
Everything is just right. Not only will your steps not be wasted, but once it is accurate, you can quickly adjust to prepare for subsequent shots.
This is the understanding of red soil.
The correct movement model is Nadal; the wrong movement model is what Sharapova said, "the cow on the ice."
Second, bounce.
The red clay court is not flat, and the particles are visible to the naked eye. Not to mention compared with the smooth and tidy hard ground, even compared with the grassland, it is full of uncertainties.
Naturally, there are many unpredictable irregularities in the bounce of a tennis ball after it bounces off the clay, which can change the parabola of its subsequent flight.
For example, you may have already run in place and swung the bat to hit the ball, but inexplicably, the ball missed. This was not because of the rotation of the opponent's bat, but because of the irregularity of the court that caused the rebound curve to occur. Neither player had the same problem. As expected, similar situations are very common.
Compared with the strong wind in Indian Wells, at least you can feel the strong wind in Indian Wells, but you can't see these changes coming on the clay court. It is irregular, unpredictable, and elusive, and throughout every game. Hitting, always there.
If these irregular bounces are common and daily, and those changes are often subtle and only affect the effect of hitting the ball, then the most troublesome problem on the clay court is:
The presence of landmines.
The so-called landmine is a dirt court. There may be a small area that is particularly flat or uneven, so that the parabolic rule of the tennis ball after it hits the ground is completely reversed or broken; or the tennis ball directly falls on the boundary line, because the material of the boundary line and Clay is different, and the conflict caused by the two different media leads to a parabolic rebound.
result?
That is the ultimate test of completely breaking the balance and adapting to the situation. Most of the time, there may be no chance to adapt to the situation and the ball will die directly.
These details are all "irregular", "unexpected" and "unexpected". No one can control them, and they are fair to both sides of the game.
The great thing about Nadal is that his understanding of clay has reached another level:
Although he cannot avoid these emergencies, his understanding is always deeper than others, and he can deal with them more calmly, or he can turn accidents into his own advantage.
This is a talent.
(End of chapter)
