The Times Sport - UK (2020-07-18)

Sport

the times | Saturday July 18 2020 2GS 17

Sport

Explained

HOW TO DIG OUT

OF BACK CORNERS

The trick is not to try to hit the ball too

hard, because you’ve got such

limited opportunity for

backswing. Your body

should be square-on,

shoulders and hips

towards the wall.

During the shot,

on a backhand,

you’re

transferring

your weight

from the foot

nearest the

back wall to

the foot

further

forward

The situation

How to drive from the back corners

If your opponent has pushed you into

one of the back corners of the court,

it’s a tricky position from which to

retrieve. Depending on how

quickly you can get there,

you’re looking to

drive back along

the wall to

keep your

The technique

opponent’s

room for

manoeuvre restricted. You may

only be able to play a defensive

drive, waiting for your opponent to

make a mistake, or you may get

the chance for an attacking

option if your opponent

makes the first mistake.

Back wall

Your wrist

should be

opened up

and cocked as

you play the

shot, with the

racket head facing up

towards the ceiling

How to practice

Putting power in

The real trick to playing a drive

along the wall well is to ensure your

momentum is bringing you

forwards as you strike the ball.

Because you don’t have much

backswing, moving your

bodyweight puts power into the

shot. It also helps move you away

from the back wall towards the T

One thing that’s useful is to take the

sidewall out of

the equation

and practise in

the middle of the

court to build up

the rhythm of your

shot. With the ball

bouncing off the

back wall, you

can use the

centre line as

guidance, as

though

that’s

the wall

you’re

aiming to

hit the ball

up and

down. Then

move closer

to the

sidewall

when you’re

ready

Opening up the court

You’re looking for the opportunity to

volley or to play a drop shot or boast

(where the ball hits the side wall before

the front wall). These options can keep

your opponent guessing

Physical training

The demands of digging the ball out of

the corner require plenty

of glute strength, which

you can build doing

plenty of side lunges,

whether that’s using

a cable, a resistance

band or a kettlebell.

Plyometrics

exercises are also

useful for

developing foot

and ankle

strength

The ‘T’

Side wall

Front wall

Back wallBack wall

Service line

6.4m

9.75m

re

Sarah-Jane

Perry

British champion

and world no

unusual unless you’re a complete you-

know-what that you’re going to go up

against people like that. We all like to

get along. But in sport.. .”

One niggle could be exacerbated by

two-week quarantine rules for

entering New Zealand. Ainslie’s team

are trying to get dispensation to set

up a team hotel as their quarantine

base. They are lobbying through the

UK High Commissioner but Ainslie

says: “The New Zealand team don’t

want anything to do with it. They

have washed their hands of it.”

Dozens of his staff will be heading

out there from September while the

new boat, all 75ft of hull plus foils, will

be shipped the following month in a

Russian cargo plane. “Not cheap,”

Ainslie says.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the petrochemicals

billionaire, has put about £120 million

into this attempt to win the trophy,

though he may need to arrive by

superyacht to avoid quarantine.

The number of travellers from the

UK will inevitably be down but

Ainslie is confident that the event will

be a success. “Sailing is akin to rugby

in New Zealand, one of their major

sports,” he says. “I think it’ll be crazy.”

At 43, he believes that he has

another America’s Cup cycle left in

him — “past that, I think, would be a

push” — and it would be perfect to go

out as holders and hosts back in the

UK in 2025. But first they have to

reach the 2021 final as work continues

on their flying machine.

1 Two South African-born

players appeared for

Liverpool in the 1986 FA

Cup final but played for

other nations. Bruce

Grobbelaar represented

Zimbabwe; who played for

Australia?

2 Plenty of rugby union

players have switched

allegiances in the past but

Joeli Vidiri is the only man

to have won caps for which

combination of two

countries?

3 New Zealand were the

Australia at Upton Park in

2003, 23 years after his

father faced them in

Sydney?

9 In 1986, Vai Sikahema

became the first Tongan to

play in which sports

league?

10 Christian Karembeu,

who won the football World

Cup with France in 1998,

was born on which Pacific

island?

11 New Zealand’s Mahé

Drysdale is the reigning

Olympic champion in which

event?

12 Which Australian striker

scored four goals in a 4-

Premier League win over

Liverpool in 2000?

13 Fuahea Semi competed

in the luge for Tonga at the

2010 Winter Olympics as

Bruno Banani, so named

due to an endorsement

deal with a marketing firm.

What is the company Bruno

Banani known for?

14 Which is the only

country apart from

Australia and New Zealand

to have won the Oceania

Nations Cup men’s football

tournament?

15 Four Australians have

won an F1 grand prix. Which

of them has won the most?

WEEKEND

QUIZ

it so hard to sail’

most interesting things was when you
have a guy like Dennis Rodman who
was a pain in the arse but he’s so
talented you just have to find a way to
fit him in,” Ainslie says. “He [Jackson]
let him disappear to Vegas, and then
he comes back and he’s like, ‘Well,
Dennis is Dennis. So we’re going to
do this. And Dennis will either join in
or he won’t, but we’ve got to make it

work.. .’ I mean, what amazing

management.”

There was also Jordan concocting

feuds to drive his own

competitiveness. “Yeah, to create a

sort of siege mentality,” Ainslie says.

“It’s certainly something I used in my

Olympic career.”

And now? “I really like that side of

sport. In our everyday lives it’s very

man crew hoping to win the America’s Cup in New Zealand early next year

Answers: 1, Craig Johnston. 2, Fiji and New Zealand. 3, 2010. 4, Adrian Lam. 5, Tim Cahill. 6, George. 7, Vanuatu. 8, Frank Lampard. 9, NFL. 10, New Caledonia.

11, Men’s single sculls. 12 Mark Viduka, for Leeds United. 13 It is a German fashion brand selling mainly underwear. 14 Tahiti, in 2012. 15 Jack Brabham (14)

There is one on each side of

the boat weighing 1,175kg

each. The boat “sails” on

one of them at a time with

the main body of the vessel

out of the water. The foil on

the other side of the boat is

raised out of the water.

The T-shaped

hydrofoil

The key figures

Boat length 22.76m

Weight 6.450 tonnes

Crew 11

Mast height 26.5m

’ acompleteyou-

CAMERON GREGORY/INEOS TEAM UK

only unbeaten team at the

men’s football World Cup in

which year?

4 Which Papua New

Guinean is head coach of

Wigan Warriors?

5 Which former Premier

League player appeared for

Western Samoa at the age

of 14?

6 What was Sir Don

Bradman’s middle name?

7 Which country — in the

midst of a global pandemic

— made headlines for its

first broadcast of live

cricket in April?

8 Which footballer played

for England against