TS4 new video, facebook page.

[JJ_DUBZ_87]

If anyone can find a grass court, play it

I second that

[jayl0ve]

[quote="JJ_DUBZ_87"]@jayl0ve: I'll work on that... the flashlight theme is pretty good too. The great thing about winter months is, if ur broke and can't afford indoor time, it leaves lots of time for simulation swings in your living room... (I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that ))[/quote]

Yeah trust me you're not

I do it every day in my room. It's not a bad thing to do IMO, especially if you do it in front of a mirror.

I also have become insanely good at this thing where...damn i'ts kinda hard to explain, but basically you hold the racquet with the strings pointing at the ground, and hit the ball in a right to left motion (reverse for lefties i guess), and see how fast you can spin it. I've got it spinning so fast that when I let the ball hit the ground it literally jumps all the way across my room Whatever you call it, it builds up mad wrist strength.

[JJ_DUBZ_87]

lol definitely not a bad thing to do at all! When I hit after spending a long time off court, ppl are always amazed that my level doesn't drop off... (basically it's cuz I watch my shots in the mirror everyday lol) so it's like I never stop playing...

I pretty much have the flashlight thing down on my forehand so I'm looking forward to another update vid with a more compact swing.

I dunno what that thing is called exactly lol, but I don't really have enough open room space to do it in...with my luck it'd hit a vase or my tv... But, I might just work on the left to right swing motion and build up my wrist strength... I hit with a lot of spin as it is though lol

[Moralspain]

6'2", i'm pretty good server, but thanks to my heigh not because training

[tenjintenkai]

I don't want to spoil the nice party you got there but judging from the video you posted there's no way you hold a chance to even score a single game in a "future" tournament.
"Future" tournament and "Challengers" are still international level, and you'll compete against atp ranked 150 to 1500 depending on the tournament. So yeah it seems like the guy ranked 1300 atp wouldnt be that good next to Federer, but he still is light years away from you.
I dont say that to be mean but when i look at you hitting the ball i see lots of flaws which would be a real burden even against club players, and that clearly shows that your level "isn't there yet"

-Your movements are slow
-you dont do the small steps to adjust position
-you are not positioned correctly to hit the ball
-you dont hit the ball at the right timing
-you lose balance when you hit because your body is not stable, especially in the forehand, the body is twisting.
-forehand preparation is too loopy, you dont stand a chance to be on time at the ball even at high club level
-you dont take the ball early
-etc.

Dont worry, you play well tennis. but not at "future" level. Just to give you a small idea of it: I would probably crush you easily without even losing a game, and i have a friend who's among the 100 best swiss players who beat me VERY easily (i only get a couple of games per set)... guess what? This guy got destroyed in a future tournament by atp 500.
Yeah thats how sport works, there are so many "levels" that people cant even imagine if they are not "in it".
Also pretending to play in future tournaments means that you train tennis at least 3 hours a day + a couple of hours of physical condition. Yeah it is like a real job.

I really dont want to put you down, you look like a good tennis player, but just not at international level.

[JJ_DUBZ_87]

Firstly, dude, I never said I was ready for Futures tourneys right now. I know how far ahead the competition is...which is why I'm training ...maybe u missed those posts... I'm aware of the rankings of the players that play futures and I'm not even thinking about challengers right now, and if I were to play right now I wouldn't be able to score a game. In a few months of training, however, my chances will improve greatly (...stay tuned for subsequent videos...)

You know for someone who "don't want to spoil the nice party" (sarcasm aside...) you could have chosen a better approach. Aside from that, your point is clear. I'm not ready for tournament play yet, however, I am much better than club level players and the reason why some of those flaws showed was because my hitting partner was crap so his laziness inherently rubbed off on me a little...it's hard to be enthusiastic with a crap hitting partner.

Again maybe you're under the impression that I want to play a futures tournament tomorrow... which would be stupid on my part because I know my game isn't there yet, but (a) you don't know me or my game and (b) when I play against someone better, I play better.

Thanks for the shopping list of flaws that you picked out of my one youtube video of a slack hitting session...it's nice to know that somebody's willing to tell me all the things I did wrong and offer no solution whatsoever aside from saying "you're lightyears away from the 1300 ranked player..." thanks.. that's great.

I'll post another video soon and hopefully the 148 things wrong with my game will be reduced down to <50... but who knows maybe they'll be something wrong with the way my shoelaces are tied.

[tenjintenkai]

oh damn i am sorry i sounded like an *ss... it wasnt my point, i am sorry if i offended you, really.
English is not my native language so sometimes it is difficult for me to express my thoughts correctly without sounding like a party crusher

Club players level range from weak to very strong. You look like you have a good level to do club tournaments without even training more (depending on the category you'll be playing in you can even win some tournaments)... I was just a bit concerned because i understood you had hopes to do well in "challengers". I say that because years ago i had hopes too... until i got hammered back to the ground. Hehe

Of course i cant judge your game by just one video of you playing on a "so-so" day, but at challenger's level you can't have technical flaws. I mean for sure you dont have to have all tennis shots like Roger, but the basic strokes have to be pretty solid.

I would be glad to help you improve the points i mentioned. In fact those are little details that won't be too difficult to apply to your game, but then it's just a matter of time (lots of) and practice (lots of) to get the new "form" to be "automatic". You have good basics. I sounded very hard because i judged you from the "challenger" level so my words were not easy... but as a club player it is very encouraging.
How old are you and for how long do you play tennis?

well i guess we kinda went off-topic on this thread but i would be happy to discuss it further (maybe in another post or by pm)

Cheers

[JJ_DUBZ_87]

its all good. and we've been off topic for like 2 pages now lol but I'll send u a pm to talk about it...

My bad for getting so defensive...but uh yeah I was like "dang this dude's harsh!!" SO, thanks for offering to help and yeah we'll continue this in a pm...

Back to TS4 homies!!

When's the demo comin out???

[djarvik]

Hey guys, as long as you talk about tennis - you are never off topic on ITST Continue, by all means.

JJ, no disrespect, offense, or anything like that, but I agree with tenjintenkai. In fact, I would even write it the same way ...or even harsher. And I think it is great for you, for any player. I don't believe into a "false encouragement" - if you second - you last! That's the only way forward man!

If only judging by video, you are a good few levels away from futures.

I used to play Club and Future level tournaments. While I was winning club level, I was mostly dispatched away early in futures. It is not even the "talent" issue, it is simply consistency, fitness and technique. I could clearly hit a bigger FH and serve better then my competition, but I would lose anyhow most times.

I agree with you JJ that when a hitting partner is crap, you tend to play to his level and be a bit lazy. BUT, you have a few flaws in your technique and foot work that have nothing to do with laziness. Tiny problems that essentially will prevent you from "getting better" no matter how much you practice. These are not "huge problems", rather small little tiny things that should be addressed if you want to move forward.

All that said, I actually like your FH. I would love to see a shorter version of it, and would love to see how you return a good serve from that side. I think the wind-up is a bit long yes, but you hit it rather clean, especially considering you are out of balance on more than a few of these. You seem to almost prefer the ball a bit higher, I wonder how you handle low bouncing balls?

I haven't seen your serve or return. These maybe more important than anything as you play at higher levels.

In any case, good luck and I am sure that with good training you can get to future level rather fast. You do have a nice looking game.

[JJ_DUBZ_87]

Lol I like that "if you second - you last!" lol that's true and I have to admit it was like 3 am and I was very irritable. Anyway, yeah if I want to improve there's gonna have to be some criticisms. I'm ready now lol bring em on!!! grrr

so...umm how many levels is a few levels lol, I have to say I am optimistic about my training when it begins this month. I'm hoping by the summer I'll have everything together, and I've been pm-ing Tenjin (Razz?) and his first main concern was "FOOTWORK!!!" My feet are like sacks of bricks so they MUST move more. I even looked at some vids of other Futures players and was like "DANG...their feet never stop moving." I really gotta get that together.

The next vid I'll post, hopefully by the end of this month (depending on how my "coach" is feeling - he had surgery in December), will show for starters a HUGE increase in level of competition. I mean the kid I play against (a 14 yr old who demolished everyone he played in HS...wait till u see this kid) beats almost every coach he plays, and his brother was recruited to a D1 school, and their dad used to play pro tournaments so he knows what it takes... It's gonna be a test of my game all around. You'll see my service return, my speed, my consistency level (which I've been told makes other players mad because they can't pick on a "weaker" side), and it's funny you picked up on that DJ, but I do like the ball to bounce a bit higher... but that's mainly because I don't really bend my knees for the low ones. (Tenjin got me workin on that).

In terms of my FH, it has gotten me in trouble when I play big hitters tbh... my backhand is a MUCH more solid shot and is definitely my big weapon. jayl0ve suggested a "flashlight" style swing...so I'm tweaking my takeback slightly to be less loopy... more straight back and follow through.

Trust me I'm filling my dry-erase board hanging on my wall with as many tips as I can. I've been playing for a while so it's easy for me to add things to my game and make small changes...now if u would have said, "Jon...you need to play as a righty...the whole lefty thing's not working for you..." that would be a problem lol. But this stuff I can do and I'm looking forward to hitting the court again to implement it.