Whole or Part Method
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Lee Couillard, USPTA, Head Tennis Professional, Punahou School explains the "Whole" and "Part" method of teaching. According to Dr. Paul Salitsky, the newer research suggests that we should be using the "Whole" method as opposed to the "Part" method. Paul is a lecturer in Sports & Exercise Psychology, Motor Learning, Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior and Exercise Biology at US Davis.
In this video, we break down the forehand groundstroke. One commonality of all the world-class players today is that the majority of them use the "Whole" method of a circular loop backswing on both the forehand and backhand sides.
This elliptical swing pattern allows the racket head speed to increase throughout the swing. Because players today position themselves a little farther back behind the baseline than in previous years, the shorter backswings do not generate enough velocity to keep the ball deep into the court.