My Real Life Tennis Strokes

[djarvik]

I call bs. As long as you're not stopping right where you are to take a backswing, being prepared earlier can only help. I didn't watch your whole video, but especially on the backhand side you were reacting way too late to a lot of balls, and getting stuck/jammed with tiny t-rex arms. With longer limbs you need more separation from the ball to get better extension. I'll watch the whole thing right now just in case I got a bad sample.

But yes, there is a limit to how early you want to take a backswing. Being too early was clearly not your problem.

100% correct.

Sherlock, go to 2:26 and hit "pause".

Now have a look at your feet and hips. You get a decent shoulder turn, but, your hips are square to the court and your feet are planted in a wrong position, make your body uncomfortable to even stand....let alone swing and execute a stroke. ....and the serve is not even coming....wish means it is a reflex...and not a good one too. Read what I wrote above.

If you feel you don't have enough time to turn your body when returning at your level, take a step back on returns.

[Sherlock 117]

I agree that I get too close to the ball sometimes on my backhand. That is something I am working on with my coach. But that is unrelated from how early or late my takeback is. Honestly I almost never feel late on my backhand, if anything I do on my forehand.

From the first couple minutes, I wrote down a few places that you seemed late, and they were all returns. Did the guy have a big serve? At .38, .45 and 2.15 you seemed to be a bit late. If you just had no time because of an amazing serve, there's not much you can do. But especially at .38 and 45, I can hear the serve and it seems like there's enough time to prepare earlier for a better return. As in moving out of the way and pulling your backswing immediately when you pick a side.
If you're already working with a coach, I'm sure he/she has a better handle on your game than I do, so I'm going to shut up now.
I do like how you rush the net after a good shot, your tactics are solid. And I missed your earlier post that you went 4-2, congrats man!

The guy did have one of the better serves I've faced at the 4.0 level. You're right, if I am ever late it is almost always on the return of serve. I thought you were referring to my ground strokes where I almost never feel late (though I could still be). Really though, thanks for the help. My coach does have a good handle on my game, but other people looking can't hurt too much. Ultimately I am going to follow my coach's advice and my own feelings on my game. I appreciate all the feedback and will use it in shaping how I continue to work at my game.

[venom400]

I have a few things to say ..

Relax a little , you are too tense it looks liek you are scared of the ball.

-stop jumping around without a purpose .

-learn to read the shot before it gets hit , I noticed that you were reacting to the ball , your shot prediction needs work .

-the racquet speed on your second serve is too slow , but if it consistent then meh.

-You are using your legs on your serve , but only for looks , relax your body and wrist and allow the power to go up to your wrist .

-Next time get a shot from behind so we can see what is going on with your oponent , is hard to see what you are trying to do on that angle.

-The court is too small , WTH ! how can you chase a lob on a court like that lol.

Edit: you seem like a 3.5 to me but maybe your cometition is different on your area .

[Sherlock 117]

Next time get a shot from behind so we can see what is going on with your oponent , is hard to see what you are trying to do on that angle.

It was just a spur of the moment thing. My doubles partner I had there owns a small video recorder so we decided to video each other a bit. If I had my own recorder with a tripod there is a facility we have tournaments at often where I could get a perfect view behind the court. I wish my partner had followed me a little bit more so I could at least have seen some of my volleys.

The court is too small , WTH ! how can you chase a lob on a court like that lol.

Where I live, almost all our courts are squeezed in to small spaces. Some of the bigger facilities are nice, but the small tennis-only clubs have a premium on space.

Edit: you seem like a 3.5 to me but maybe your cometition is different on your area .

Sigh

I guess if you want you can play the rating game, but there's really no point. I did just get bumped up to 4.0 in the big USTA bump up, but I was going to get bumped up anyways. I had a pretty good record at 3.5 last year and now I would lose very few matches against the competition this year. Not to mention I'm batting above .500 at the 4.0 level. My shots might not look great, but there are a lot of 4.0 players with awkward looking shots. The 4.0 players who have very solid shots usually have poor point construction and rallying skills...

Anyways, thank you for your comments. I'm trying to work on staying loose, but you know it's pretty difficult for me since I've actually had pretty stiff limbs my whole life. I'm not sure how I can get myself to consciously be loose. I certainly can't seem to do it unconciously, so I have to learn how to do it and gain some muscle memory for it.

[Sherlock 117]

the racquet speed on your second serve is too slow , but if it consistent then meh.

This is a big one. I made the video mostly for my coach to see my shots, and he was somewhat shocked at how much I was slowing down. He said I don't ever do that in lessons (though we've only worked on serve briefly twice). We're going to start putting more emphasis on that area. And I've got a nice summer planned hoping to hit at least 300 serves 3 days a week in addition to some on court agility and footwork drills all on my own time. I'm excited!

[Sherlock 117]

I call bs. As long as you're not stopping right where you are to take a backswing, being prepared earlier can only help. I didn't watch your whole video, but especially on the backhand side you were reacting way too late to a lot of balls, and getting stuck/jammed with tiny t-rex arms. With longer limbs you need more separation from the ball to get better extension. I'll watch the whole thing right now just in case I got a bad sample.

But yes, there is a limit to how early you want to take a backswing. Being too early was clearly not your problem.

100% correct.

Sherlock, go to 2:26 and hit "pause".

Now have a look at your feet and hips. You get a decent shoulder turn, but, your hips are square to the court and your feet are planted in a wrong position, make your body uncomfortable to even stand....let alone swing and execute a stroke. ....and the serve is not even coming....wish means it is a reflex...and not a good one too. Read what I wrote above.

If you feel you don't have enough time to turn your body when returning at your level, take a step back on returns.

What about at, say, 2:37? Is that right, or do I still need more?

BTW, still waiting on your comments for the FH and serve

[jayl0ve]

I believe you Sherlock, that you're a 4.0 player, I don't think the issue is the accuracy your NTRP level I have definitely seen 3.5-4.0 players with much crappier strokes than yours. Your backand looks quite decent (your forehand isn't terrible either but your BH looks better technically).

I have pretty decent strokes myself but I'm pretty bad at teaching/giving advice to anybody, about anything...all I'll say is that, like a few other guys have said (I think), you need to relax your arms to really get serious racquet-head speed....also you should try taking the racquet back on your FH side in a more vertical position, with the racquet-head much more above your wrists...you're just kind of taking it back however you feel like it, and missing creating the big 'power loop' or whatever you wanna call it, on your FH side.

My last bit of advice for your FH is to study videos of Andy Murray hitting FH's.

Do the exact opposite of what he does.

He takes the racquet back on his FH side like a limp-wristed little girl using a 20 pound frying pan as a racquet... and look at the FH it gives him. Utter crap.

[Moralspain]

I don´t recommend to try to imitate the pros, but in my opinion it´s not a bad idea to watch them just to see the basics, don´t pay attention to the individual details.

So there you go, some vids in slow motion and HD.

Tsonga´s FH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7YuzLLqG0Q&feature=channel

Safin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLo9_4R9Gc8&feature=related

Fer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLo9_4R9Gc8&feature=related

Nole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk1eqm_vazU&feature=channel

Roger Federer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el_y4QqIpNY&feature=channel


As you can see all the guys start the swing the same way.
All the FHs are pretty similar.

[djarvik]

What about at, say, 2:37? Is that right, or do I still need more?

BTW, still waiting on your comments for the FH and serve

Glad you reading my essays. For a second I thought you don't like what I have to say


2:37 was good, but once again a bit late on the contact, timing. The ball went just a bit to far behind you. A good indicator is to try and hit the ball before it reaches your toes. Also, you did a good hop step on return, but, you landed flat on your feet. Try to stay light (I know) and remain on your toes.

Another thing. When you hit your double handed backhand, try to have a small forward motion. For that, you would really need to hit a bit earlier. But makes a world of the difference if you do a small version of a "pinball" launching mechanism. Now, don't overdo it. Just a bit of a forward motion when you hit.

Go to 2:47 and hit pause. Now repeat that on every shot.

I will get to FH and Serve a bit later....for sure.....sorry for the delay.

[djarvik]

I was looking for some FHs that are not on returns and not followed by net approaches (these you do really well).

0.48-0.49 - pause it.
On this one, you are moving back on a deep ball....on a court that doesn't have enough room. I would try and catch this one on the rise.....you are also late on this stroke...the ball is too close to your body and too far back. What you want to do is have a full stretch of the arm when you hit a forehand. If you can't - then you too close to the ball. And of course you want to hit it while not moving back....and "on your toes" as far as timing. You let this ball control you instead of the other way around.

at 3:37 you do exactly what you were supposed to do above.

5:13 - pause it. Keep your back straight. Need to get to the ball? use your knees.

6:18 - good.

As far as your serve. Technically it is a good looking serve. I can't see the toss because of the position of the camera. You need to improve your lower back flexibility. Way too stiff. You should start serve motion in this position: ) and finish in this: ( Arch your back back and then forward as you hit. You bend your knees nicely on first serve, but it looks like you are doing your coach a favor by doing it....I don't see a power traveling from your legs into the shot...maybe because of a where toss the ball, probably thats the reason, can't see clearly on this video. Second serve - bend knees more.

Work on relaxing your arms and shoulders thruout the shots and serve. I generally get a feeling of you being too tense. Relaxed arms lead to more power, control, spin, more energy later in the match.

In your current form, your coach should work on your timing and repetition. You should work on flexibility of legs, lower back and upper body a lot. I think in your current form, your fitness is more important then your tennis. Yeah, you do some mistakes here and there....but it will polish itself out with repetition and proper correction of these mistakes by the coach while doing the repetition.

If you can, go to yoga, or any other class that includes a lot of stretching. After a few month of such class - you will be absolutely amazed by how much your game is progressed. Why? ....because the coach is probably asking you to do these things that i did now, but your current body state just doesn't allow it, limit you. 6'5 is not too tall....I am 6'3 ...and I have seen a very stretchy 6'5s in my life

[venom400]

I wasn't trying to put you down with the 3.5 comment , I , myself was still playing the 3.5 this season .

look http://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/reports/TennisLinkReports.asp?Level=I&MemberID=DB00343032D0938695841B1A09380F6E5D&CYear=2010

And this is a video I recorded 1 year ago (obviously my form has improved a lot since then specially on my back hand (I'm the guy in black)

http://www.youtube.com/user/venom400#p/a/u/0/3fDa8hPJX_0

My team are sectional champions and we are going to the regionals at Boca Raton , irrelevant but I am pretty happy about this

I probably will get bumped up to 4.0 next season and I feel pretty strong about going into the 4.0s since I have been playing unofficial leagues at the 4.0 with really good results , but our 3.5 (until the recent big bump) was more like a 4.0 and the 4.0 was like a 4.5 because it was filled with sand baggers.

Anyways maybe I will see you on some championships on day or if you ever come down to South Florida and want to play some tennis hit me up.

[Sherlock 117]

I will be sure to do that Venom. I would definitely love to play some guys on this site someday. I doubt I'll ever make it to nationals though because I'm more focused on getting on a team where I can get playing time in league, because I focus more on tournament play. But who knows, maybe I'll happen to plan a vacation in south Florida someday

Thanks for the tips everyone. Hopefully I can use this info and post some new vids showing some improvement later in the summer. I'm going to try and use all the help you guys gave me, without changing my shots too much (because I know that can totally ruin your game).