Auto Positoning System, plus a few other things

[BrushedBigJJ]

Go here for a simpler version of this
viewtopic.php?f=1034&t=17138

This thread has some use, but the other one is better.

The reason why power shots completely died is because patch 3 did 5 things:

1. It made the start of swings erratic and inconsistent which makes it nearly impossible to to time the ball right.
2. After a power shot the player has a very slow first step after you finish hitting the ball.
3. At times the player has "stupid feet" and will sometimes lunge only after 1 or 2 steps, which means if you have to take 3 steps to get the the ball he/she would hit it off balance meaning it will be a poor shot and you have an even slower first step.
4. Control shots can be sometimes be hit with the pace of a power shot.
5. Power shots take big chunks out of the players stamina.


What I'm about to say mostly restores 1 through 3 back to the way they were before patch 3 if done right with good timing.



Auto positioning system

As I explain this think of the hit buttons. Releasing late is never a good thing, and releasing too early aint great either.

The weaker part of the auto positioning system works like this:

1. Press the dpad/anolog to the open court
2. Release the dpad/anolog right around the time the ball is hit to the open court by your opponent.

You did it right if your player suddenly gets a jolt of speed right as you let go and run straight to the ball. If it is hit behind you, your player will stand right where he/she is. If there is too much open space behind you will have to press in that direction to get the player to move over there. So if you are standing on the singles line around the baseline doing this, its hard for the opponent to hit it by you when this is done right. If you are too far off the court you had no chance anyway

The stronger part of the auto position system works like this:

1. The instant before your opponent hits the ball you either tap up or tap down on the dpad/analog
a) Pressing up is better but it can sometimes make your guy approach the net
b) You should really try to make sure you tap up, don't hold it, think of it as a control shot
2. Now press left or right depending on where your opponent hit the ball
a) It is important that you pick one direction or the other quickly
b) If you see that you chose the wrong direction quickly press the correct direction
c) If you pick the wrong direction the character just stands in place and doesn't go the wrong direction
d) You can still easily get to the ball if you pick the wrong way and then quickly pick the right way, but your shot will not be as good
e) When you choose the correct way and have perfect timing you player will usually hit a very good shot

The strongest part of the auto position system works like this:

1. Hold up or down on the dpad/analog and release up or down right before your opponent hits the ball.
2. Now press left or right depending on where your opponent hit the ball.

In short you need to release a direction at the right time to get it to kick in.

From my view everyone has the same speed when you start moving depending upon how the auto positioning kicks in.

I talk about timing based on the beginning of the swing later. When you use the auto positioning I described above you can time the ball based on your swing when using a power shot because the players swing is much more "predictable."



Using RB (much less important, you don't even need to touch RB if you don't want, if you want to approach the net press up just before your opponents swing and then up again)

While using the auto positioning system you can also hold RB.

1. If you are using a power shot and you don't get the power circle filled it will be a bad shot or a least not a good shot
2. RB and doesn't seem to mix well if you want to hit control shots with good power
3. Its easier for your player to run to the open court if you hold RB through the shot, but it is easier for people to hit behind you.
a) sometimes the player runs up(not good), but other times he/she hop steps toward the open court(good)
b) the run up seems to happen if you just barely get the ball, and the hop step happens when you get to the ball easily enough
4. If you are pressing RB when your opponent swings at the ball choosing the wrong way hurts you much worse than if you did not press RB

Stamina

1. Stamina gets drained more from power shots than running
a) Flat power shots take big chunks out of your stamina. If you hit 10 flat power shots in a rally your stamina will be in the red.
b) Topspin power shots take a little bit less of a chunk out of your stamina.
2. In a pure control shot rally the stamina still goes down, just very slowly.
3.
Everything beyond this point isn't as important but is good to know. Getting your player to the ball on balance is the most important thing to winning, but if you don't hit well it can only take you so far.



Timing the ball

What does the instruction book say?

The Top Spin 4 book says, "release the shot button when your player should begin his or her swing for the best timing."

That always works when the ball is hit slow, but not as well when the ball is hit hard at you. But to hit the ball well you need to be able to predict when your character will start his or her swing.

How I hit the ball

I try to time two different things everytime I hit the ball, releasing the button, and pressing the direction you want to hit the ball. So to press the direction you want to hit the ball means you cant already be pressing the way you want to hit the ball, you either have to be pressing an opposite direction or not pressing anything.

Timing 1

1. Press the direction you want to hit the ball early somewhere between half a second to a full second, then
2. Release the button right before your player swings the racket
(if it says "too soon" then you released the button too far in front of the beginning of your swing)

Timing 2

1. Release the button well before your player starts his or her swing, again a half second to a full second, then
2. Press the direction you want to hit the ball right before your player starts his or her swing
(if it says "too soon" then you released the button to early and/or you you pressed the direction to far in front ofthe beginning of the swing)

Easy Timing

Dont worry about when you choose the direction you want to hit the ball, and just make sure you release the button or tap the button right before you start your swing.

Timing 2 is what i mostly use. It has one major strength and one major weakness. Its strength is that you get a little extra pace and direction when using a power shot even when a little off balance. You can get more pace from a control shot too but its much more random. Its weakness is that if your opponent hits a slow ball and release the button as if you were hit a fast ball you cant repress the button and no matter how well you press the direction before the swing it will be a mediocore shot. With timing 1 you can let go of the direction you want to hit and press it again at the right time.

When you get the auto position to work right the start of your swing is consistent so you can predict it accurately which is very important.

[Agassi_Return]

1. The instant before your opponent hits the ball you either tap up or tap down on the dpad/analog
2. Now press left or right depending on where your opponent hit the ball

So i tap up, after i hit the ball, then position my player by choosing the direction. I see now difference besides the fact that tapping up costs more time for positioning my player.

[Furicle]

1. Hold up or down on the dpad/analog and release up or down right before your opponent hits the ball.

Not sure to understand... If I hold up or down, the player will move towards or away from the net, right ? If it's the case, won't my player be a little misplaced ?

[Corbon]

2. RB and doesn't seem to mix well if you want to hit control shots with good power.

There's a word missing between and ___ doesn't.

[BrushedBigJJ]

1. The instant before your opponent hits the ball you either tap up or tap down on the dpad/analog
2. Now press left or right depending on where your opponent hit the ball

So i tap up, after i hit the ball, then position my player by choosing the direction. I see now difference besides the fact that tapping up costs more time for positioning my player.

Yes, you give up a split second of getting back in proper position to get the auto positioning to kick in.

1. Hold up or down on the dpad/analog and release up or down right before your opponent hits the ball.

Not sure to understand... If I hold up or down, the player will move towards or away from the net, right ? If it's the case, won't my player be a little misplaced ?

Yes if you are going to hold you have to already be in good position no question about it, but sometimes you have time to pull it off.

2. RB and doesn't seem to mix well if you want to hit control shots with good power.

There's a word missing between and ___ doesn't.

Oops and shouldn't be there

[Corbon]

Ok.

What does Reflex do when you're at the baseline (not on returns, within a rally).

[Agassi_Return]

it improves your control shots and you can change the direction of your player faster.

[Corbon]

That explains how my S&V player (110 Wings, red Reflex) often hits cleaner shots than my powerhouse with 140+ wings and is less likely to get wrong footed as well (you can turn him around quicker). Since Stamina on an S&V player is low, you'll end up doing baseline control shots all the time while waiting for an opportunity to advance to the net.

I still wonder how Wrong Foot Expert works, does it detect the opponent's movement and then makes your shots more precise when you're aiming against the running direction?

[Agassi_Return]

I still wonder how Wrong Foot Expert works, does it detect the opponent's movement and then makes your shots more precise when you're aiming against the running direction?

yep