Rhythm & Flow Tennis

1st in a series on Effortless Effort

I came across the concept of qi after meeting and working with a very talented Russian girl, Evgenia Linetskaya while traveling. Her dad was her coach and told me she never had an actual tennis coach.  He just couldn’t afford the lessons. What started out as a serve lesson with me, evolved into me becoming her unofficial traveling coach.

Her dad was small in stature, but very strong, a Bruce Lee type. She was only 15 years old and, like her dad, small in stature. The amount of power she generated in such a small body was astounding! She reminded me of Monica Seles at a young age back at Bollettieri Academy, whose dad incidentally was also not a tennis coach, but an Olympic triple jumper. The power seemed to be effortless. I also noticed that she was able to remain very calm under pressure. She had just started to play junior ITF events earlier that year, but she was already ranked in the top 100 in the world.

In Italy that year she had her first top 10 victory. She beat an 18 year old ranked number 7 in the world. I was blown away by the ease with which she did it. She wasn’t intimidated by the girl’s level or her ranking at all. It almost seemed like Evgenia expected herself to win the match. Her much more experienced opponent was the one folding under pressure, throwing rackets in frustration and losing her composure. It happened again shortly after in Belgium. Another top 10 win, seemingly without effort.  At only 15 years old this small girl already owned a level of physical, mental, and emotional balance that takes most people much longer to develop.  I knew at that moment that, if she stayed injury free, Evgenia was going to become one of the best players in the world.

Evgenia’s dad practiced martial arts, specifically kung fu and tai chi. I watched him do his exercise routines every day and it was quite fascinating. He always seemed very calm and in perfect control of his body. He explained to me how he trained Evgenia in different forms of martial arts and that external, or hard, martial arts differ from the internal, or soft, martial arts in many ways. In general, hard styles like kung fu use linear (mechanical) movements that require tension and place more emphasis on the development of muscle power. The soft styles, like tai chi, use more circular, flowing movements and require virtually no muscle tension at all. Soft styles place more emphasis on the development of internal energy throughout the whole body. This energy is called qi by the Chinese and ki by the Japanese. He explained to me how important qi is for maintaining balance, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Qi is frequently translated as the life force or vital energy that is held to animate the body internally. It is of central importance in some Eastern systems of medical treatment (such as acupuncture) and in some exercise or self-defense practices, such as tai chi.

After seeing Evgenia’s results, I definitely needed to know more about this type of training and this qi thing. I had never heard of it before, but it was happening right in front of my eyes, and I was impressed. Whatever Evgenia’s dad was teaching her was working. He was very vague about the specifics of the training, which was understandable… why share your secrets with potential future opposition?   I decided to do what I’ve done all my coaching career, observe, ask questions, and write things down.

Evgenia had very specific routines before, during and after competition. On match days, she always started with a tai chi practice. She would wear loose clothing, not tennis clothes or warm ups. Before matches, most players either talk to their parents, coaches, or friends or listen to their favorite music. Evgenia would sit by herself with her eyes closed, legs crossed and palms of her hands facing up. When I asked her about it, she said she would visualize the match, including the momentum changes and even the end result. I was fascinated.  After matches there was a period of refection, which I will discuss more in a later article.

During competition, what caught my attention was the exaggerated breathing, specifically the double grunt when she hit the ball. Evgenia was only the second player I heard doing a double grunt. The first most famously was Monica Seles. I asked Evgenia’s dad about it. He explained the importance of breathing during the swing, just like in martial arts. The first grunt happens when you inhale and the second when you exhale. The second grunt is also synchronized with the contact of the ball. It focuses all the attention on letting all the air out of your lungs at impact with the ball, the most important part of any swing. I knew about the importance of breathing from listening to sport psychologists like Dr Jim Loehr back at Bollettieri’s, but these people were taking it to a whole different level. In the morning Evgenia would practice breathing during her tai chi routines and, hours later, the synchronized breathing became part of her tennis swing.

I still couldn’t understand how such a small person could physically hit the ball that hard. Her dad told me that all Evgenia’s training was martial arts based. He explained that we all possess qi, even animals do. Have you ever tried to pick up a small dog that didn’t want to be picked up? It suddenly becomes very heavy. This internal energy flows through all of us. Bruce Lee, one of the most famous martial artists, weighed 125 pounds. He was famous for his one inch punch. He was able to knock out a 200 pound man with his fist one inch away from the man’s chest.  When asked about how he did it, he explained: “I don’t aim for his chest, I aim for his spine”.

Through all of this, I started to understand the concept of energy transfer better. It was an eye opener for me as a coach. I remembered wondering how players like Agassi, who also wasn’t very big, could generate so much pace with very compact swings. Evgenia became a top 20 WTA player at age 18. Unforeseen circumstances unfortunately prevented her from continuing her professional career. She was always so grateful towards me for helping her. In reality, she helped me more.