Most of the exercises in my new workout regiment consist of pelvic twists such as this cable pull exercise: The pelvis does all the work in these exercises, the arm just follows along. It’s supposed to be the same in tennis. I’m supposed to bring the racket back by twisting my trunk then step into the ball and whack it using pelvic twist and abdominal muscles to blast those winners. Watch pro players, they propel themselves at the ball and twist all the way around as their shirt goes flying. Then watch recreational players. Much of the time their arm does all the work. No wonder there are so many tennis elbow straps sold. Did you ever see a professional player wear a tennis elbow strap?

When I severely injured my back in 1986, my movement teacher gave me a very valuable suggestion. She asked me to watch how people move so that I could learn how to move efficiently myself. Watch joggers for instance, they look like they belong in a Monty Python silly walks episode. Sometimes their legs move and their top doesn’t. Sometimes their arms move and very little else. Sometimes they land on their toes and other times they look like Frankenstein clomping along. Look at walkers also. Notice where the movement stops in their body: are their hips stiff, is their spine frozen, are their arms glued to their sides? Your entire body should move from the foot through the legs then the pelvis and the trunk. Start noticing how other people move and then look at how you move.

Practice Report: worked out at the gym for an hour and a quarter