Originally Posted by
BPWT..
Hi,
You are right regarding the tennis example, in that it impossible to always hit a perfect/textbook backhand all of the time (though Roger Federer comes pretty darn close). :)
However, looking at a backhand: You can hit it with slice, topspin or hit it flat. Federer's topspin backhand is different to, say Nadal's... but they both follow the 'concepts' as it were. Start low, hit over the ball. And they both have the correct 'technical' attributes too: plant the foot, bend the knee, particular grip (though Nadal's is typically more exaggerated), use of the shoulder, etc. And they both have the same 'result' (the ball rapid dips down when it reaches a certain part of its path/flight). Also, typically, they are both employing the same 'strategy' too when they use the backhand.
You can tell both are playing a backhand because of the above - you wouldn't confuse it with the swing of baseball bat, or a golf club.
Even someone like McEnroe, who appeared to be the exception to the rule in terms of having really unorthodox ground stokes, was still following the same conceptual, technical and strategic "rules". Tennis players are bound by them, even if we can see differences in style and tactics when the game is played.