Tennis Technology and Training Tuesday
Arthur Ashe started training under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Johnson in Lynchburg, Virginia at the age of 10. Before Ashe and all the other players in Dr. Johnson’s program were allowed on the tennis court, they had to first demonstrate mastery of a device known as “The Tom Stow Stroke Developer.” Levels of the Game by John McPhee provides a detailed description.
“Behind Dr. Johnson’s house is a combined garage and tool shed that contains a curious device. From a bracket on the floor to a beam above runs a vertical elastic cord, drawn fairly taut. About two feet off the floor, the cord passes through the center of a tennis ball. The height of the ball is adjustable. The developing tennis players hit this ball with pieces of broom handle cut twenty-six inches long, the exact length of a tennis racquet. The device, known as the Tom Stow Stroke Developer, was invented by the teacher of Sarah Palfrey, Helen Jacobs, Margaret Osborne, and J. Donald Budge.”
Excerpt from Levels of the Game by John McPhee
The Tom Stow Tennis Stroke Developer is exactly the kind of thing that piques my interest. I think I could take a reasonable shot at constructing such a device based off McPhee’s description alone. Additionally, the internet coughed up a couple of interesting references to supplement what I am envisioning.
Tom Stow apparently published a book in 1963 with the title “The Tom Stow Tennis Teaching System and Stroke Developer.” It is out of print and no copies are currently available on the secondary market. This is how rare tennis books get added to my wish list. Fortunately, a diagram popped up in one of the essential tennis instruction discussion forums. I believe the image was sourced from Stow’s book.
The Tom Stow Tennis Stroke Developer is intriguing because it develops the focus and eye hand coordination required to hit a tennis ball. I believe that this would be legitimately useful in modern tennis. In fact, Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach is perhaps the natural modern evolution of the concept.
I do have some questions on the mechanical principles of using the Tom Stow Stroke Developer. Specifically, I would think that the cord above and below the ball would interfere with the natural follow through. I wonder if a simply hanging a ball from an elastic string might work better.
Additionally, I have to confess that I once had (and possibly still have) a Boxing Reflex Ball. That is very similar in construction to the Tom Stow contraption. If I can find it, it will probably be subjected to some abuse from a wooden dowel in the near future.
As I continue to read history and biographies of tennis players of yore, I am repeatedly drawn to how they trained. It’s even better when that training invokes methods that are outside the modern mainstream. I revel when that training involves equipment or devices that are no longer in use.
The Tom Stow Tennis Stroke Developer hits that that sweet spot.
Fiend At Court participates in the amazon associates program and receives a paid commission on any purchases made via the links in this article. Additional details on the disposition of proceeds from this source are available in the “About Fiend at Court” page.
