One step.
One kick.
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 earthy texture creates a rebound that pushes the body out.
A turn.
His body was already flying out, and then he saw Graf continuously retreating and tampering with his feet. He retreated and adjusted, and rushed 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 rebounding force, so that when Gao Wen turned back, , there is almost no bounce height to be seen.
This also means that there is limited room to bat.
However, Gawain didn't panic at all.
Different from the long strides combined with small step adjustments on hard ground, at this time, Gao Wen saw two small steps in succession, kicking the ground with his right leg and left leg, completing the acceleration in a short period of time. The reaction force pushed the body forward 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. The right hand is used to shoot and continue to extend.
A thin waterfall of red clay rises from the ground, just like a car passing through a puddle on a rainy day.
Then, it touched!
In fact, not only did he touch it, but Gao Wen actually had time to make changes. It was obvious that Graf had achieved the ultimate in controlling the return of the ball, 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. It is all hand work to push the tennis ball in a straight line.
Without pausing, he used the power of his right leg to push off the ground to 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 easily control it, and the entire 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 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 that Gao Wen arrived in Mallorca. He has completely adapted to the venue and adjusted his tactics. 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 has 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. 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, this is just the beginning, just like a domino, the first domino falls, and then triggers a chain effect.
Gao Wen'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 Graf's familiar pattern. 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.
The entire movement was done in one go - using hard-court steps can also survive on clay, but it's just more strenuous. But now Gawain has no choice, right?
Head-on, hit, greet the ball.
Gawain, turn his body slightly sideways, not to sidehand forehand, but to get out of the way and use backhand.
Bend the knees, lower the 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.
Feeling the strong force, the tennis ball spun at high speed, like a butterfly, gracefully crossed the net, and then... fell lightly.
Stick to the net!
Furthermore, the one-handed backhand gives up stability and instead adds intense spin.
After landing, you can see that the tennis ball spins towards the outside. 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 wasn't much space to hit the ball. She could only barely pick it up with her wrist, trying to pick up the tennis ball 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 , 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 Gao Wen persevere, but he also found the correct way to return the ball in an extremely passive and 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 showed that Gawain's understanding was very gratifying.
This is a positive sign.
(End of chapter)
