Chapter 1171: Understanding
Graf looked at Gawain, a look of relief in her eyes, and nodded slightly. Although she didn't say much, her expression said it all.
"When people discuss Nadal's performance on clay, they often tirelessly emphasize that Nadal's super topspin can exert its greatest power on clay courts."
"Or maybe Nadal's defensive counterattack style is more suitable for clay courts, where the ball speed is slower, giving Nadal more time to counterattack."
"It's either forehand, backhand, movement, etc. People always seem to find various reasons to emphasize that Nadal was born for clay courts. But in fact, they only see the phenomenon and fail to grasp the essence. Tennis has never been a sport about who is stronger or faster."
"If we just talk about physical fitness and technical ability, let alone the current batch of young players, the younger batch of players have already caught up."
"Let's not talk about others, just take Sascha Zverev. In terms of talent, he does have the ability to be in the top ten in the world, but he only won two games against you."
Gao Wen: Hehe.
How could he forget that Zverev and Graf are fellow Germans.
Although Graf and Agassi now live in the United States for many years, this does not mean that Graf is no longer concerned about the tennis career in her home country.
Graf looked at Gawain scratching his head, a smile quietly flowing in the depths of her eyes, and then she spoke calmly in a calm tone.
"Don't worry, I won't eat people."
What's this chilling feeling? All the hairs on my back are standing up.
Quietly, Gawain glanced over Graf's shoulder at Agassi from the corner of his eye: Agassi hurriedly whistled and looked up at the sky, as if he was admiring the white clouds above the cloudless sky, and Sampras expressed strong contempt.
Graf seemed not to notice Gawain's gaze, a smile flashed in her eyes, and she continued speaking.
“Moreover, Roger, Novak, Andy and others are comparable to Rafa in terms of technical skills and psychological quality, so it’s normal for them to win or lose.”
"But why is it that on clay, Rafa has the upper hand?"
Simply put, in Graf's view, physical, technical, psychological, etc. are not the key factors. At least, this is Graf's opinion.
Then, Graf gave a conclusion.
"Rafa is truly the best player in history in terms of his understanding of clay. No one can match him."
So, Gawain had just given the correct answer, which was why Graf was particularly pleased.
However, Gawain was also an honest child who asked questions when he didn't understand something.
"I've heard commentators or professionals talk about this more than once, Steffi, the understanding of the surface, especially Rafa's understanding of clay and Roger's understanding of grass."
"What on earth does this mean?"
Perhaps Gao Wen's answer was correct, but it did not mean that he could fully understand it, so he did not pretend to know and directly raised the question.
Graf's eyes curved slightly and she smiled. She was very satisfied with Gao Wen's honesty and frankness. "This is what we need to adapt to today."
From a theoretical perspective, red soil is special in two ways:
First, move.
The clay court has excellent cushioning and shock-absorbing functions due to its unique honeycomb structure, which can greatly alleviate and release the impact of sports, and effectively reduce sports injuries such as wear and tear of the knee joints and lumbar spine. But at the same time, the granular texture of the court makes movement difficult.
Just look at the 100-meter race and you will know that the final results can vary greatly on a dirt track, a cinder track, a concrete track, and a professional track.
This is the case on clay courts. During high-speed movements such as starting, sprinting, braking, changing direction, accelerating, and second starting, it is often difficult for the soles of the feet to push off the ground, and it is impossible to obtain effective grip and reaction force from the ground. Naturally, there are many variables in the movement process.
Moreover, this is only one aspect; the other aspect is the control of the player's own spatial position.
Tennis is a sport that requires timing. Changes in the hitting point, shot position, and space between the tennis ball and the body will directly affect the hitting. Hitting the ball too early or too late, hitting the ball higher or lower will have a noticeable effect and have a direct impact on the game.
It is also because of this that players need to have a clear understanding of their own position, when to lead the racket, when to shoot, when to brake suddenly, when to adjust their steps, and so on, to ensure that they can complete the most effective shot in a comfortable position.
This is exactly the most difficult thing about the clay court.
The feet are constantly in a "sliding" state, and individuals are prone to making mistakes in their judgment of their own position and the position between themselves and the tennis ball.
Especially the sliding on clay, which is also Nadal's forte. He can make judgments based on the rotation, power and landing point of the return ball, such as when he should start the sprint, when to start the sliding, where the sliding should go, how to find the most suitable hitting position, etc.
Everything is just right. Not only will you not waste your steps, but after being accurate, you can also quickly adjust and prepare for subsequent shots.
This is our understanding of red soil.
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The correct movement model is Nadal; the wrong movement model is what Sharapova called, "the cow on ice."
Second, bounce.
The clay court is not flat and the particles are visible to the naked eye. Not to mention compared with the smooth and neat hard court, even compared with the grass, it is full of uncertainty.
Naturally, there are many unpredictable irregularities in the bounce of a tennis ball after it hits the clay, which may change the subsequent parabola of its flight.
For example, you have clearly run to the right position and swing the racket to hit the ball, but inexplicably, the ball misses. This is not because of the opponent's rotation, but because the irregularity of the court causes the rebound curve to occur in a way that neither player expected. Similar situations are very common.
Compared to the strong winds in Indian Wells, at least you can feel the strong winds coming in Indian Wells, but you can't see these changes coming on the clay court. There is no pattern, no prediction, and it is elusive. Moreover, it is always present throughout every shot of the game.
If these irregular bounces are common in daily life, and the changes are often subtle and only affect the effect of hitting the ball, then the most troublesome problem on clay courts is:
The presence of mines.
The so-called minefield is the clay court, which may have a small area that is particularly flat or uneven, so that the parabolic rule of the tennis ball after it bounces off the ground is completely reversed or broken; or, the tennis ball falls directly on the boundary line, because the material of the boundary line is different from that of the red clay, the conflict caused by the two different media causes the rebound parabola to go awry.
result?
That is to completely disrupt the balance and is the ultimate test of on-the-spot response. Most of the time, there may be no chance to respond on the spot at all, and the ball will be dead.
All these details are "irregular", "unexpected" and "sudden". No one can control them, which is fair to both sides of the game.
The strength of Nadal lies in the fact 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 even turn accidents into his own advantages.
This is a kind of talent.
(End of this chapter)