Ash Barty’s gut instincts add power to her game
World No 1 Ash Barty has added 10km/h to her first serve after experimenting with natural gut strings in her racquet.
World No 1 Ash Barty has added 10km/h to her first serve after experimenting with natural gut strings in her racquet in some intense lockdown practice sessions.
The circuit may be stalled but that doesn’t mean Barty has eased up on her drive to improve aspects of her world-beating game.
The 24-year-old will mark another anniversary from her stunning 2019 on Tuesday, which is a year to the day she was crowned the world No 1 for the first time.
Just weeks after winning the French Open, Barty beat German Julia Goerges to claim the Birmingham Classic, a title that elevated her to the top of the rankings.
She initially held the spot for seven weeks before surrendering it for a period surrounding the US Open, but has been back on top since September 8.
During the layoff, the Queenslander and her team have implemented some technical and tactical adjustments designed to further her tennis. Barty has also been practising with former touring professional and coach Ben Mathias in Queensland.
Her coach Craig Tyzzer said the switch to the gut string was designed to add “a little more grunt” to the Australian Open semi-finalist’s groundstrokes and serves.
Strings are said to be the soul to a racquet. A change in string type or tension is not taken lightly at professional level given players need to have trust in their tools.
In recent decades non-gut synthetic strings that are either nylon or polyester-based have become dominant, especially at club level.
Natural gut is considered the most playable string given the power and feel it provides but it is also expensive. As Barty found when briefly experimenting with it for a short period entering an Australian summer a couple of years ago, it can take even the most talented player a significant amount of time to adjust.
But the season suspension has proved a perfect time for the reigning Roland Garros champion to adapt to the nuances, Tyzzer said, and it is hoped she will reap the benefits.
“It just takes so long to get used to it, but she is now really quite comfortable with it,” Tyzzer told The Australian. “For Ash, it gives her a little more grunt but we just have to watch that it doesn’t flatten her out too much.”
The team will monitor how the switch goes when Barty returns to the tour but her form on the practice court has been strong.
The reports from thrice-weekly practice sessions on either clay or hard court at the Queensland Tennis Centre are positive.
Barty has added up to 10km/h to her first serve. If anything, her second serve now possesses even more “kick”, which comes from the spin that sees the ball jump upwards and sideways.
She feels comfortable striking her double-handed backhand and her powerful forehand and superb sliced-backhand are also benefiting with the greater feel.
The change in string should also assist when it comes to her volleying, already a feature of her game. Tyzzer said the camp was working on drills that will see Barty approach the net more regularly in matches when she returns to the circuit.
“I think that is the thing about her,” he said. “People see the talent, but she has worked incredibly hard to get to where she is. Every woman in the top 10 is talented but there is that little something that makes a difference.”
Barty has retained her fitness during the shutdown with a program set for her by Tennis Australia physical performance coach Mark Taylor. She has increased both her time on court and also the intensity of sessions as a possible return to the circuit nears.
The camp is yet to decide on whether that will occur in the US from mid-August.
With the French Open rescheduled to late September, the opportunity to defend her title remains an option after Roland Garros was initially suspended.
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