My Backhand and Forehand Video

[ZPTennis]

I've seen so many people posting videos lately so i thought i would do the same.

This is me from about a year ago but just never posted these clips. What rating do you all think I am. I know this is a tough crowd. Thanks. :)

Backhand Rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Vb8f3MyAo

Forehand Rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0-ergiEAhY

[aspiringchemlete]

I can't give a rating, but I can tell you what I think. For the backhands, it looks like you're not following through all the way over your shoulder. But it does look fairly consistent. For the forehands, you take the racquet back early which is good, but sometimes you still hit the ball late. Maybe it was because you were purposely not moving toward the net? Also, you do something awkward-looking during the take back (or maybe it just looks awkward to me).

[plowmanjoe]

looks like you need to involve more of your body in your strokes especially your legs.

also you can't really rate someone on their strokes. technique doesn't 100% determine how good of a tennis player you are.

[Verilious]

I agree with the above poster. But I gotta say your backhand reminds me of Courier's for some reason....

[FEDEX1]

^^^^yes i agree with you also. thats the first person i thought of when i saw that his backhand

[plowmanjoe]

courier's backhand was all wrong. it looked like a baseball swing. and yet he was still a pro. so like i said before, we can't determine your rating from your strokes alone.

[str33t]

Hey ZPTennis, since they're saying they can't rate you by your strokes alone, why not show them your nasty kick serve. I rememer seeing it in a thread somewhere. ;)

[Swissv2]

great strokes, very smooth. Your rally partner needs to improve a bit... :P
I can't really give a rating until I see you in a match.

[ZPTennis]

haha. I've had so many people tell me that my backhand looks like Courier's.

I personally think my backhand is quite ugly but it seems to work pretty well for me.

I agree I need a better follow through and defintely need to work more on bending my knees. I'm a very unflexible person.

str33t, I still have that video. I'll probably end up reposting it when i get some more serve videos. :)

[ZPTennis]

great strokes, very smooth. Your rally partner needs to improve a bit... :P
I can't really give a rating until I see you in a match.

Hey its not too bad for my 66 year old dad. :grin:

[Shashwat]

your strokes look unorthodox, but hey, if it works for you, then thats all that matters.

[ZPTennis]

your strokes look unorthodox, but hey, if it works for you, then thats all that matters.

cool. i dont feel unorthadox so i guess thats a good thing.

[JMS]

solid strokes and as suggested if you use your body more to step into the shot, you can improve on your already impressive strokes, looking good man and good luck with further development

[XhotXEX1290]

as long as your bh works though, i guess its ok. but you really don't need to close your racquet face before hitting it. when you loop your forehand, make sure the buttcap is pointed perpendicular to ground and than loop it so that the buttcap is facing the ball.

[dave333]

Love that forehand. Good net clearance, depth, power, spin. Its got the goods.

[Vision84]

From the strokes alone I would guess 4.5 though to get an accurate idea I need to see all your strokes and in a match situation.

Your strokes are quite consistent in these videos. If you have the time to change your strokes you could add a loop to your backhand and get the racket more sideways on the backswing.

And no one has said this yet but I like your hat. ;)

[yourmom08]

you don't look like you're getting too much of your power from your legs, since my upper body isn't all that strong i push off with my legs so much that i lift off the ground on my forehand (think andy roddick but with a nadal style swing) but hey, you seem to be hitting good as is ;)

[shindemac]

5.0. U doing good, but your strokes look unorthodox. Nice pace, spin, and placement. U could be higher cause I know u have a wicked serve. An exact rating wouldn't matter cause you'd still be playing in Opens.

[Mad iX]

Yeah, backhand is unorthodox. Backswing has a completely closed face.
Definitely use your body more. Turn your shoulders and bend those knees.

[ZPTennis]

Vision im glad you like my hat. :) the first time i wore it at the club, everyone i knew was making fun of me. so of course i had to keep wearing it.

i appreciate the comments from everyone. im seeing pretty much the same things said from most people.

"i think" my backhand is less unorthodox now that it was in the video. i feel like my takeback is not so closed off but i haven't recorded myself in a while. im sure its still ugly, but i've accepted the fact that it will probably never look great but i'll keep working at it.

[smoothtennis]

Right...impossible to rate on that rally, but your forehand looks pretty good for what you actually do, which is turn the body and uncoil with it. However...as far as what you 'could' be doing...you don't load your legs much at all. You could seriously increase the power and spin on that forehand if you would coil down into the legs by bending the knees. I think it would have an immediate and dramatic impact.

I don't want to be too critical either, but I did notice you don't move well between strokes. You set your weight down in between hits for much too long, which is the only reason I would rate you around 4.0, with the potential for higher if you were moving. Hey, and maybe you do in a real match, but we often move in a match like we do in practice, so only you know that.

Another big thing...is how your game plays out during a match, not just your strokes. I was playing a guy with very nice looking game last week, he had all the shots, but every fourth forehand had a funny glitch, and he would hit long. He had no chance to win with that little defect in his game. And it was mainly in his head you know.

Your backhand works....lol, sure it's different, and it looks to me like a two handed forehand stroke almost the way you execute it. It reminded me immediately of Gambil's two handed forehand.

Man...if you gets those legs working for you...you could really have a very solid game! Get those legs working bro!!! Don't waste those good strokes.

[Alex132]

taht is some weird grip on backhand....

[moopie]

Something I noticed...
On the forehand you let your left arm drop down straight as you swing. I believe it's better to bend the left arm and tuck it into the body. It's something 100% of pros do.

[ZPTennis]

if i was hitting the ball harder with more pace and spin my dad cannot rally consistently with me. so i wanted to stay with what he can handle.

I will have to get a video of when im hitting more aggressively so that can be analyzed. i know i do use my legs more then but the question will be if i use them enough. and i see what you mean with the left arm.

I appreciate the comments.

[ZPTennis]

taht is some weird grip on backhand....

i know, don't try it. :p

[TENNIS_IS_FUN]

Just by looking at the hat, i can tell you're power level is over 9000.

[Ambivalent]

That's a pretty extreme backhand grips, but if it works for you, then good.

[Thomas Bird-Itch]

You hit just like one of the 4.5/ex 5.0's here.

[ZPTennis]

Just by looking at the hat, i can tell you're power level is over 9000.

I went up a whole NTRP point after i bought that hat. :D

That's a pretty extreme backhand grips, but if it works for you, then good.

I'm not sure why but the regular standard grip just never would work for me. I tried it for quite a while.

You hit just like one of the 4.5/ex 5.0's here.

4.5 is my official rating so that makes sense. I played a 5.0 tournament a few months ago and lost to the eventual winner of the tournament 6-2, 6-3. so I wont consider myself a 5.0 until i can win a 5.0 tournament.

[shindemac]

That's a pretty good score against a "5.0". It sounds like you're closer to a 5.0 than u think. Also, how do u know the person who won is actually a 5.0 and not higher?

[thundaga]

that is one extreme grip you have there... looks like ur right hand is using a one-handed bh grip. those half-volleys looked fairly awkward for you, but it seems to be fairly solid otherwise.

[ZPTennis]

That's a pretty good score against a "5.0". It sounds like you're closer to a 5.0 than u think. Also, how do u know the person who won is actually a 5.0 and not higher?

Thats true. I don't really know what his level is. I just need to enter more touraments to see my place.

that is one extreme grip you have there... looks like ur right hand is using a one-handed bh grip. those half-volleys looked fairly awkward for you, but it seems to be fairly solid otherwise.

I think it really is the same grip one handers use. I had one awkward backhand when i was hitting the forehand rally where i got lazy with my feet. It was an ugly shot. :)