Rate me and tips

[imperion]

Hello fellow forumers.

I have been playing tennis for about 3 years now for my high school. I have never been rated ntrp wise and would definitely like to get tips on my playing. Here is about 4 min of video with only a few shots from myself. I am the one on the left with the prostaff 6.0 with the baige (spelling) shorts. Anything would be helpful because I seem to get no power. One of my mentors told me it is because I drop the racquet head too early. Any suggestions of any sort are great. Thanks.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rUb-n_Kr56k

[psp2]

It's difficult to say b/c you barely hit any groundies. I think I counted 4 fh and 1 bh, 2 volleys and 1 overhead. From what I saw, I wouldn't worry about NTRP ratings and such and just work on developing the fundamentals of the sport.

[imperion]

so is that a good or bad thing?

[ubel]

so is that a good or bad thing?

That's bad in the sense we haven't been given enough material to make an adequate assessment of your skill level. You should get out on the courts with a camera and rally with a friend and focus on getting a nice, continuous video of you just hitting in a medium paced rally back and forth. Get a good amount of both forehands and backhands in the video, as well as vollies at the net. Also if you have time, get some serving footage with the camera behind you and a little higher than chest level so we can see direction, depth and your full service motion. Getting some footage of you rallying from this angle is desirable as well, as it'll help us judge the depth of your groundstrokes and what kind of consistency you have. Good luck :)

[imperion]

alright. i will reply to this thread once I do that. This was the first time i videotaped myself. My peers all said I was being too harsh on myself since the video only covers so little. Seeing yourself play is weird.

[Thomas Bird-Itch]

Power begins with the legs. Your footwork is poor and you're swinging mostly with your arm, which is why you have no power.

On your groundstrokes, get your legs further apart, bend your knees, and lean (or even step) into the ball as you swing. Also, your shoulders should turn nearly 180 degrees; front shoulder begins under chin, back shoulder ends under the chin. Watch lots of videos paying close attention to footwork and the shoulders. Power does not come from your arm alone - it is the legs and torso that creates it.

At the net, you need to keep your grip continental for every shot; a forehand grip is for forehands - not serves, volleys, or overheads. Your western grip at the baseline is ok, but you need to develop better footwork to use it properly.

[shindemac]

All arm and too much brushing up. You need to hit through the ball to get more power. You also have a poor base meaning you look out of position, unbalanced, or you jumped one time. Footwork needs work too. Yea, I guess too many things.

[grizzly4life]

why don't they hit you the ball more?? i mean in the practice. your buddy hit tons of shots.

you hit the ball awfully late especially for trying to hit with a pretty western-ish grip..... relax, go less western and try to hit the ball alot earlier, and then extend the racquet down the line at least somewhat.... looking at your follow-thru, you aren't extending down the line or doing the windshield wiper. you stroke is really abbreviated in its follow-thru.

can you get a friend to read this stuff and then help you?? you're a big guy, you look athletic and obviously you love tennis or you wouldn't be here.

EDIT: others are pretty negative about alot.... but early, relaxed prep, and hitting thru the ball with a long finish would get you 50% of the way towards hitting decent shots.

[gsquicksilver]

with the PS85 6.0, to generate power, you need to make sure you coil your body and uncoil into the shot. hit through the ball. from the few moments i saw you hit the ground strokes, you tend to whip the ball with more brushing instead of hitting through the ball. try doing that and and let us know the results.

the ps85 stick has a very small sweetspot. once you hit it and hit through the ball, i believe you'll find some pretty good pop.

oh, what tension are you stringing at? what's your setup?

[imperion]

I use the Prostaff 6.0 strung with prince duraflex synthetic guts at 60 lbs. I am thinking about lowering it a little bit. I also use Wilson Pro White grip at 4 and 3/8.

[grizzly4life]

didn't notice the racquet... i think it's a terrible choice. (i realize it may not have been a choice)

get a racquet like LM radical MP on this site or i.radical OS seriously cheaply on big auction site (TW doesn't sell anymore)...

you need a better racquet for your game.

[gsquicksilver]

I use the Prostaff 6.0 strung with prince duraflex synthetic guts at 60 lbs. I am thinking about lowering it a little bit. I also use Wilson Pro White grip at 4 and 3/8.

i probably wouldn't string it less than 58 pounds, but that's my opinion. i have my ps85's strung at 65 pounds with babolat synthetic and my setup has 6 inch strips of lead on the 3 and 9 positions, total of 8 strips (double layers) plus 16 ounces of lead in the handle area. so it brings the stick to about 13.5 ounces. but again, like i said, this stick tends to favor strokes that have a nice follow through into the shot, where you hit through the ball. imagine the ball as a baggette bread...try to hit through the whole baggette without touching the frame. it's easier to achieve with an eastern grip, but from looking at your vid, i'm assuming you're using semi-western or western grip. it's a more flat type of shot (robert landsorp style), but that is my playing style and choice. everyone has their own style and preference.

good luck!

[gsquicksilver]

didn't notice the racquet... i think it's a terrible choice. (i realize it may not have been a choice)

get a racquet like LM radical MP on this site or i.radical OS seriously cheaply on big auction site (TW doesn't sell anymore)...

you need a better racquet for your game.

there's nothing wrong with the ps85, in fact it's a very good racquet. but like grizzly said, it might not suite your style of play. from what it looks, you might benefit with a more larger headsize frame with a more open string pattern.

for me, i learned from the ps85 since it was a hand me down racquet 14 years ago. i had no idea the history behind it cuz i thought it was a crappy old racquet. but i got used to playing with it and all these years later, i just can't play as well with another stick.

the ps85 doesn't help improve your game. it only is effective if you already hone the shots. you need good timing and proper technique to use this stick effectively.

[shrakkie]

It seems like you have been playing tennis for ALOT less than three years!!

Though that might have been as there wasn't many of your groundstrokes on there.

[LuckyR]

The bad news is that your stroke production was very beginner-like. The good news is that you were "just hitting around" casually and hopefully your footwork would get a lot better if you were playing intensely. Also you seem like a young, strong and relatively athletic fellow so you could make up a lot of ground if you worked at it seriously.

[imperion]

w00t havent been burned for hecka long. Seriously guys I know what you think. I watched myself and was like WTF was I doing. That is the ugliest **** humanity has ever seen. Anyone else?

[qwerty66]

um... that is a good example of buying a racket that you are not able to use:D
try getting a lighter racket with a bigger head like apd or lm rad
and try to improve before using a intenses stick like the ps 85;)

[Phil]

Imperion - Have you considered taking up golf?

[shindemac]

Yea, you should delete your video like what most other people do.

[imperion]

too bad there were a gift and I have two.

[qwerty66]

well buy another racket cuz it's not helping you what so ever

[ssjkyle31]

You might want to have one of your buddies feed balls to you from a basket of 50 +. He should feed 25 balls on the forehand then 25 balls on the backhand. The video was long but you barely hit any balls. It was just alot of waiting around.

[imperion]

I just videotaped myself again last night and even though the video is short it showed a little bit of improvement to me. I will put up the website once youtube confirms it. Thanks guys for the blunt criticism. I sure as hell needed a reality check. You guys rock.

P.S. Im not going to stop using my P.S. 6.0 I never blame the racquet.

[imperion]

here is another vid of me playing some more. I felt I did better this time, but not great still. the footwork definitely still needs work. Here it is.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYNByU8-Tz0

[gsquicksilver]

i notice you stand quite a distance behind the baseline. try to stand closer to the baseline and take the ball on the rise. you should be able to do that with your style of backswing. it'll throw your opponent off balance if you can react quicker than he can.

[imperion]

Yeah everyone always tells me that, but usually I stand further back to get warmed up.

[zapvor]

one thing i noticed is that you are hitting off the back foot. try leaning in forward when you hit it will give you better power and control. just keep practicing it doesnt look too bad. this is from the 2nd video you posted. good luck

[thenjimmysaid]

You've got a good foundation. But in this sense, I think you were nervous a camera was there and you got lazy since your friend was just hitting. Move your feet a LOT more, there was a backhand that you had to jump for and I saw it kind of go flying in a weird direction.
MORE MORE MORE practice kind sir. :]

[imperion]

That is totally true. My team had a match against Piedmont high school today. WE WERE TROUNCED ON! In my singles 2 match it was like I could rally fine with the guy, but it always seemed like he had the edge. I mean I was relaxed and composed, but he still won with 3 safe breaks on his belt. I think I definitely need to go running more. Goes to show that even if you are okay in your own league, you are probably garbage elsewhere. Thanks again guys.

[The Prodigy]

xD it's okay imperion, i lost in straight sets, deucing in all my service games. xD

btw, love the sound effects

[imperion]

no i suck. my style is way too random.