"Huchi Huchi... Huchi..."
Gawain gasped for air, supported his body with the racket, raised his head, and the corners of his mouth also raised, a thin layer of sweat oozed from his forehead, and the sunshine in Mallorca seemed to brighten his whole mood. The eyes are like a vast ocean, with a layer of sparkling light rising up.
Graf made a small sliding step to reach the net. You can see that his right foot pushed out a thin layer of red soil, but stopped in front of the net exquisitely. There was no need to brake at all, relying on the inertial sliding to change the position. Perfect control, casual posture, everything is so easy.
"Are you okay?" Graf looked over with concern.
Gawain used the racket to steady his body, stood up straight, shook his head repeatedly, and said that he was fine, with a full smile, "No, I still feel like I can't."
In the third round of the warm-up game, if we look at it purely from a numerical perspective, Gao Wen persisted for twenty-seven rounds. In the end, he was directly put to death by Graf's small ball and could not save it, but this is already his performance so far. The best one, a huge improvement over the previous two.
However, in Gawain's opinion, there is no difference from the first two rounds. There is no progress in footwork, rotation, control, etc. He is still following the routine he is familiar with, gritting his teeth, concentrating, and launching a powerful force. Confrontation, even if the number of rounds is extended, the content of the confrontation has not changed.
In other words, Gawain was clearly aware of his clumsiness and stiffness, and felt like a headless fly. He hit the wall forcefully, and refused to give up even though he bumped into walls everywhere. He kept bumping until his head was broken and bleeding, leaving him with no strength and energy. , but it has never been able to be used on the blade.
Of course, if the confrontation is placed on the entire court and Gao Wen relies on his youth, wisdom and layout, he can still win; the key is that such a laborious and clumsy way of winning and confrontation is destined to fail in the long run. , even more so in front of the masters.
"...Now I finally know what it feels like to be a cow on ice."
Gawain made a mockery of himself, causing Graf to raise the corners of his mouth.
"Or maybe, Bull on Ice?"
Gawain's follow-up words made Graf unable to hold back any longer. He burst into laughter and his whole mood brightened.
Graf tightened his mouth slightly and waved his hand.
"It's true that you still need to learn a lot about your footwork; but it's not that bad. Your basic skills are very solid and you can adjust your footwork quickly."
"The problem now is that you don't understand clay soil at all, you don't even know some basics, you just apply the same rules mechanically."
Hit the nail on the head.
The master is indeed different. In just three game rounds, he can see through Gawain's true nature.
Previously, Graf did not explain too much and went directly to the warm-up game. The most important thing was to hope that Gawain could experience it personally——
Only by truly practicing it, and only by truly feeling the texture of red soil with your feet, can you understand what is going on. It is so vivid that words cannot describe it.
Now is the time.
"Gawain, my statement is not 100% accurate, but it can be understood as an analogy to more vividly describe the difference between red clay and hard clay."
"On hard courts, everything is straightforward, straight forward, and ever-changing. Therefore, we often need to make judgments and choices in a fleeting time. Naturally, sudden turns and stops occur throughout the game."
"On clay, everything changes. Before we finish the shot, there are not only changes in the opponent, but also irregular changes caused by the surface. This also means that if we make rash judgments and choices, It’s very possible to be led by changes and get into trouble.”
"People always emphasize that patience is needed on clay courts. Patience here is not only long-round multi-shot duels, but also judgment of incoming balls."
"Before we make a choice to hit or move, we need to be patient and observe, and most importantly, observe the spin and the opponent's position."
"On hard courts, everything happens too fast. If the reaction speed is slightly slower, you may miss the hitting point; but this is not the case on clay courts. When the ball speed slows down, it gives us more time to observe, and it also gives our opponents more time to observe. More time to move, the whole hitting space is lengthened.”
"How to take advantage of this time difference is the difference between clay court players and clay court experts."
The words are a bit convoluted and not precise enough.
Graf hesitated a little. She was thinking about how she should explain it more accurately——
"...If you play on a hard court, you need to be more decisive, more determined, and even if you hesitate a little, you may miss your hitting point."
"If you use clay, you need to make more accurate judgments. Because of the characteristics of clay, the fault tolerance rate is higher, but this does not mean that you don't need to be decisive when hitting the ball..."
As she spoke, Graf paused again. She felt like she was getting involved.
The main reason is that after all, tennis is an ever-changing sport. Even if you move from hard courts to clay, the reaction time of a round may expand from one second to two seconds, but the lightning reaction in your mind is still calculated in milliseconds. , it is difficult to crystallize these changes.
However, Gawain still understood.
"Steffi, are you saying-"
“On hard courts, the flight trajectory and hitting point of a tennis ball are relatively fixed. At the same time, because of the venue, the accuracy of the footstep is very high. In addition, the speed and rhythm are fast, so everything is crisp and straight. Going there."
"On clay, firstly, the flight trajectory and hitting point of the tennis ball may change irregularly; secondly, the moving steps may not be accurate enough due to the clay, and the speed and rhythm slow down, so when the ball is hit, Before you need to observe and think.”
"Of course, that's not to say that hard hitting doesn't require thinking, but you know what I mean..."
Graf pursed his lips slightly, and you could see a slight smile flowing out, and then gently nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes, your understanding is correct."
“On the one hand, there may be many variables in the flight trajectory of the return ball, so we need to leave some room for adjustment for different hitting methods, and at the same time, we need to be prepared to use different hitting methods. This is also the important role of cutting and spin on clay. Reasons for the role, including the ball.”
To be precise, small balls in front of the net are originally a unique tactic unique to clay court. Because the opponent cannot stop and turn suddenly and start again suddenly, small balls often pose a greater threat; but with the overall development of tennis, Later, it became common on grass and even hard surfaces.
Of course, the same small ball plays different tactical roles on clay and hard courts, but that’s a story for another day.
"On the other hand, there is always a deviation in footwork, so you need to predict in advance whether the movement can be accurate or whether it should slide. If you choose to slide, when should it start and when should it end? Movement is not straightforward.”
“This is also one of the most obvious and direct differences between hard courts and clay.”
(End of chapter)
