Andy Murray - Time To Reduce Clay Intake?

Andy finds himself in a position again where his Clay credentials have come under fire. This time granted is different through injury, but still Clay seems to be a nut Andy has had difficulty throughout his career in cracking. His clay record is 50-33. He hasn't made a Clay final. Now if you take into account he turned pro in 2005 his average of Clay court matches over his career is 10.35. Now given Clay is a large part of the tennis season you have to say on that statistic that he isn't playing enough Clay court tennis.

Given the type of player he is it begs the question how does a player of his ability struggle so much on the dirt?

To me it comes down to 2 things:

1) Lack of the use of the FH
2) Restricted movement

Many will say he hasn't a FH strong enough, but in 2011 I think we caught glimpses of how good his FH actually is. To me he has always had a confidence issue with the shot, but for me the reluctance to use it really does limit his ability on the dirt. Sure his BH is a great shot, but once that breaks down he is a sitting duck. His FH shortcomings lead to him playing a short length and just getting punished by players with a heavier weight behind their strokes. His movement again something that looks very un-natural on Clay. Can't utilise the slide due his ankle and really without the weight of strokes struggles. Fitness on Clay can only count for so much if you have the strokes to back you up. Andy sadly doesn't have this.

So what is the way forward? Well look at Sampras. Ok granted Andy isn't going to have the career he did. In his 14 year career his Clay record was 90-54. Average of 10.28 matches on Clay a year. I think Andy might need to shift his focus more off Clay and on the HC and Grass where for me his chances of success are much greater. He just turned 26 and he isn't going to get any better on the dirt. I think if Andy was to make an impact on Clay for me he should've gone to South America and participated on that swing to maybe improve his game on the dirt early in his career.

If I was in his camp I would certainly be saying to him 'You know what Andy your game isn't suited to Clay. By all means let's play the mandatory events. Let's not bust a gut though to achieve success because it will become more increasingly difficult to defend the points and maintain the consistency. Let's move our focus more around the HC and Grass season. Your 26 and in your peak. Let's maximise this around the surfaces and events more tailored to your game.'

Andy has given all he can on the dirt and for me like Rafa who is changing his schedule to encompass more Clay, I think Andy will need to do the same with HC and Grass. I don't think anyone would begrudge Andy is he did such a thing and won more titles on his preferred surface as result.

Good article. As I mentioned yesterday there is something about his movement on clay that lays him open to injury. He's a big lad with a big frame, clay really does expose finesse of movement and players use the strategy of going behind players much more because changing direction is harder. Its this torsional twisting that for me is causing him problems.

Actually watching him play the Seed Plough was interesting. Because of the injury he became a lot more aggressive and was hitting a lot of winners. If he is to play clay I suggest he adopts this approach more rather than his modus operandi of extended rallying. Sure, it will likely fail most of the time but he may also get the odd break through...might as well go for 20 x R2 exits and 2 titles rather than 22 QF's. This was Sampras's approach and to be fair it nearly worked (won Rome, should have won RG'96).

If he's not prepared to change his game then yes, cut back...the problem is there are 3 Masters (1 optional) so abstention is an issue...plus there are a lot of points for grabs.

A lot depends on just how bad the back is. We often hear of severe injuries that will compromise their next slam only for them to turn up the next week.

I agree lydian. If anything he is worst possible player for Clay. Take Berdych and Del Potro. Not the best movers, but still generate the results because they can blast players off the court. Andy can't do that.

Granted there are a lot of mandatory Clay events, but if he just plays himself into some form ready for the Grass and HC swing.

Its quite hard to analyse where he is at because, if we believe what he is saying, he has basically been injured for the majority of both the last two clay court seasons. In the season before that he made three semis - losing to Nadal in MC (a match he could have easily won in straights); Djokovic in Rome (having served for it) and Nadal again at RG (in straights but with a very narrow margin between them).

Sadly, given the chronic back issue he has flares up on clay, it may well be that 2011 will end up being his best year on the surface.

Hurting for the last year and a half???? He looked very lively when he won USOpen.
Indeed, a player with such a defensive style of tennis would be more prone to physical damage. Sending soft balls over the net for hours would exhaust a Hercules. I'm surprised that he lasted this long.
I think that Andy is simply just exhausted. Also, the latino crowd on the clay tournaments (France, Monaco, Spain and Italy) are not that favourable toward him. He needs your attention.

Good article lk, I hear what you're saying about playing more "non-clay" events but where can he fit them in? What I'm wondering is, theoretically, if he skips these compulsory Masters events, what happens? Does he get fined or even banned?

he wouldn't do that, I think he has too much pride to admit he can't play on the surface. I think he made a mistake admitting he struggles on it so publicly, if I was facing him and I had heard him say that I would be desperate to get out there and play him to gain a big scalp. He pushed Rafa quite close at the French Open 2011, albeit straight sets I think it was more competitive that his losses to him at Wimbledon and the US Open in my opinion.

I would say the injury flares up on clay due to the slow nature of the surface. Andy touched on it yesterday and it makes sense. When the ball lands at his feet there is not a lot of pace on the ball and more than on other surfaces Andy has to impart his own pace onto the ball and they way he does this looks awkward on the eye. If you watch his action he comes up and over the ball in a hooking style and if you look at his right hip in the finishing position it is at a tangent compared to the left hip.

Perhaps lydian or socal can better explain as I am no technical expert and have never played tennis but I would say this is what is aggravating his injury. On any other surface (all of which are quicker) he doesn't need to impart pace on the ball as the surface provides that.

Now I'd be loathe to suggest he gives clay a miss or cuts right back and besides he is obliged to play in those tournaments regardless of how they affect him. However, I really cannot see any other way around the problem other than to alter his whole playing style on clay which would be very difficult this late in his career.

Nice article and I am with LK on many points.

When Andy re-arranged his forehand to encompass more top spin, which just happened to be two years ago he lost a certain amount of power and now on slow surfaces he has to force more into the shot (unless he flattens it out) Coupled with a service action that is too flat on facing the opposition, he must be putting too much pressure on the swing through the hips. He may feel like his whole game needs extra generation of power on the red stuff. Its not all the time, but a continuing onslaught on clay may be why he has picked up this ongoing injury that has never healed.

PS, I have never liked his new top-spin like Nadal forehand.

I don't know what it is CC, I don't know that clay courts would be harder on the body or not. One thing is we know murray has bad feet and ankles and a clay court is good for your feet but bad for your ankles. The feet don't take a pounding but the sliding and change of direction can put more stress on your ankles. This may be an injury that he has been carrying into the season that has flared up as he plays more and more, maybe a chronic issue.

Jubbaisle

Welcome back to an old friendly face

CAS wrote:he wouldn't do that, I think he has too much pride to admit he can't play on the surface. I think he made a mistake admitting he struggles on it so publicly, if I was facing him and I had heard him say that I would be desperate to get out there and play him to gain a big scalp

Good point. He does far too much of the lowering of expectations "I'm not worthy" type comments, when it comes to Clay. However, I genuinely feel he is totally spaced out by it.

Good article.
Debatable, but I think he should be trying to improve on clay. He is having a bad year now, but 2011 was better.

I don't agree that Murray can't hit with power. He can, and has done so much more over the last year or so. I think he can on clay too. He hasn't this year, he's been extremely passive... And now we know why.

He has an issue on clay even at full fitness in that he doesn't move very well. And when Murray doesn't move well he doesn't play well. This year more than any other he has moved and played badly. And that's clearly down to his back injury.

Yes on clay you have to generate your own pace more often and that is something Murray can normally do. But that increased rotation has resulted in worsening his injury. It was exactly the same last year. For me, that is why he has struggled on the forehand this stretch.

What should he do now? Not sure. Part of me wants him to pull out of RG but that would mean being seriously undercooked for Wimbledon. Murray takes longer than any of the top guys to reach top gear after a break, even if its only a few weeks. I'd be really worried that a period of rest would ruin what is - for me - his best chance yet of winning Wimbledon.

Long term I think he should reduce his clay involvement a bit. Not totally write it off, that would be nuts if he ever wants to reach number 1, a task which he surely has to go for but I think is beyond him anyway because of his deficiencies on clay.

Danny_1982 wrote:I don't agree that Murray can't hit with power. He can, and has done so much more over the last year or so. I think he can on clay too. He hasn't this year, he's been extremely passive... And now we know why.

Yes on clay you have to generate your own pace more often and that is something Murray can normally do

He can hit with power, but not the same degree as his three rivals and that's what is important. In fast conditions, he now (for me) holds the advantage as his timing hits the sweet point and he then comes up with his lovely variety of shot selection - which includes powe shots. These though are generated either due to the pace of his opponent (i.e. return winner) or a shot from his opponent that says 'hit me'. For isntance it's rare (in comparison to the others) that Andy hits a pacey winner within 4 strokes off a passive opponent

I have always found his inability on clay a bit perplexing, maybe he likes some pace in the shots to redirect with or likes the ball lower in the zone. I don't watch as many Murray matches as I do other players so I will defer to the hardcore Murray fans and their opinion on this one. I just find it interesting that one of the best movers and defenders has so much trouble on the surface that should favor his game. Murray is a rather unique player so it will be interesting to see if he can get better results, can't ever see him becoming a world beater though on this surface.

If Tim Henman can get to an FO semi and nearly (ish) beat Coria, surely Murray can do even better one day!

CaledonianCraig wrote:I would say the injury flares up on clay due to the slow nature of the surface. Andy touched on it yesterday and it makes sense. When the ball lands at his feet there is not a lot of pace on the ball and more than on other surfaces Andy has to impart his own pace onto the ball and they way he does this looks awkward on the eye. If you watch his action he comes up and over the ball in a hooking style and if you look at his right hip in the finishing position it is at a tangent compared to the left hip.

Perhaps lydian or socal can better explain as I am no technical expert and have never played tennis but I would say this is what is aggravating his injury. On any other surface (all of which are quicker) he doesn't need to impart pace on the ball as the surface provides that.

Now I'd be loathe to suggest he gives clay a miss or cuts right back and besides he is obliged to play in those tournaments regardless of how they affect him. However, I really cannot see any other way around the problem other than to alter his whole playing style on clay which would be very difficult this late in his career.

The aggravation CC is that on Clay there is absolutely no give. On HC and even Grass he is able to move side to side without a slide as it were as the surface holds up and isn't lose. On Clay because the surface is lose and he isn't really a great mover on the surface means there is a greater chance he might slip or slide and cause a twinge.

Danny_1982 wrote:I don't agree that Murray can't hit with power. He can, and has done so much more over the last year or so. I think he can on clay too. He hasn't this year, he's been extremely passive... And now we know why.

He has an issue on clay even at full fitness in that he doesn't move very well. And when Murray doesn't move well he doesn't play well. This year more than any other he has moved and played badly. And that's clearly down to his back injury.

Yes on clay you have to generate your own pace more often and that is something Murray can normally do. But that increased rotation has resulted in worsening his injury. It was exactly the same last year. For me, that is why he has struggled on the forehand this stretch.

What should he do now? Not sure. Part of me wants him to pull out of RG but that would mean being seriously undercooked for Wimbledon. Murray takes longer than any of the top guys to reach top gear after a break, even if its only a few weeks. I'd be really worried that a period of rest would ruin what is - for me - his best chance yet of winning Wimbledon.

Long term I think he should reduce his clay involvement a bit. Not totally write it off, that would be nuts if he ever wants to reach number 1, a task which he surely has to go for but I think is beyond him anyway because of his deficiencies on clay.

I agree yes he can generate power on the surface because he has shown it before. I think he has had a confidence issue with going for the heavier shots because of the risk factor. Andy is a clever guy and will always play the percentages. I don't think he has ever grasped controlled aggression on Clay like he can on other surfaces.

What was the RG match when he twisted his ankle, was it Berrer?

Anyway, after he did it he knew he couldn't rely on movement so just decided to hit it whenever he could... And he blasted Berrer off the court!

Why he doesn't adopt that approach more often on clay, god knows. It can't do much worse.

Against both Berrer and Troicki.

He can do it, but I think there is a confidence issue there as well as aggressive all out play is exhausting too. His serve has gone backwards over the years and I agree he needs to work out a way to gain cheap points.

Andy might want to ask TD's to kindly avoid scheduling him to play on his birthday in future.

His previous (and only other ...?) mid-match retirement, which came at the Hamburg Masters back in 2007, just happened to be on his birthday too.

Spooky, eh ......

That's fabulous trivia there lags

I think Andy will be ok for Wimby...his mother implies he's focusing on that.
However, who knows maybe we'll see him in Paris yet...unlikely as it may seem.

I would sooner see him sit it out. After all we know he doesn't really stand a chance so best that he rests up for the grass court season where he can be a real force.

Glad you liked it lydian

You might be rather more accomplished than me (to put it mildly....!) at showing kids how to improve their backhand. But when it comes to the more weighty matter of Andy Murray birthday retirements I'm clearly in another league ........

haha Lags....you're a LTA Grade 5 Master Performance Coach when it comes to birthday retirements indeed.
http://www.lta.org.uk/Coaches-coaching-assistants/Coach-education-structure/Master-performance-coach-qualification/

Whats the secret of your success lags?

Now for the ultimate trivia question - which other tennis player(s) have retired mid-match on their birthday?

Oh jeez..... that's just TOO difficult lydian.

Dunno to be honest. Any clues....?

Have been thinking of possible candidates, and Tipsarevic strikes a chord as something of a 'serial retirer' ..... Is it him ..... ???

Nadals birthday is during Roland Garros, so it cant be him. Federer doesnt retire. Djokovic's birthday is a week insid Murrays, so there would be a tournament on during his birthday more often than not. So maybe a retirement early on in his career?
Tsonga or Gasquet?

Time to reduce clay intake?

No wonder he's underperforming if he's eating the stuff!

Maybe not quite so weird as it would seem.

Those who follow the world of professional golf might be aware of Jesper Parnevik (career best rank = 7) and his predilection for volcanic dust - apparently to the benefit of his game.

His unusual diet was also credited with curing the back problems of a fellow touring pro named Ove Sellberg.

Maybe worth a try Andy ....??

http://thegolfjourney.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/day-40-ove-jesper-parnevik-and-the-volcanic-rock-treatment/

But... Andy played six-eight matches on clay. Three tournaments. He isnt participating in back-to-back 250s. How much more cutting back can he do?

lags72 wrote:Oh jeez..... that's just TOO difficult lydian.

Dunno to be honest. Any clues....?

Have been thinking of possible candidates, and Tipsarevic strikes a chord as something of a 'serial retirer' ..... Is it him ..... ???

Well, its literally correct in that Andy Roddick on his birthday announced his plans to retire completely after he finished USO'12.

He didn't win the USO without a decent FH though, so this seems to be a bit mysterious. The big disappointment in this clay season has been his serve, it's just too easy to return for most good players. Needs to alter his serve a bit for one, and then don't allow himself to be miles behind the baseline.

That's very very naughty lydian.....

I shouldn't have to remind you that you had specified "mid-match" and this was what threw me off the scent of Roddick as a possible candidate !!