Practicing Overhead Timing

[Achillesg]

As a 14 year old, the overhead to me was just as easy as any other shot. Now, as a 45 yr. old coming back to the game after a 30 yr. layoff, the overhead is the hardest shot. I guess the reasons are obvious. Shoulders, flexibility, eyesight, but mostly the timing.

Here's my question: Is there any easy-to-use gimmick that I can use to practice my overhead timing? I prefer not to go out and hit 50 or 100 overheads in a row because of wear-and-tear on the shoulder. My practice sessions on the backboard normally include a few minutes of hammering shots to the base of the backboard so that the ball pops up high. That's really helpful, but again, is wear and tear on the shoulder.

There's porably nothing to substitue for the real thing, but I thought I'd throw out the question just in case.

[AngeloDS]

Find a fence taller than you, most courts have fences. Throw the ball up and towards the fence and the use the serve motion and bam, if you hit it FLAT the ball will be stuck in between your racquet and the fence. Not stuck in the fence, but trapped between your racquet and the fence. So your racquet is holding the ball against the fence.

If you hit it and the ball bounces off the fence, or doesn't get trapped between the fence and the ball. You're not hitting flat or mishitting.
Fence - Ball - Racquet
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Your ball should be trapped between the fence and your racquet. Your racquet head should be flat to achieve this. Not only this, but you need to be at full extension and if there's anything wrong. You'll see it clearly.

This helped me on my serve timing and my overhead timing.
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[scotus]

I'm glad you are using the wall to practice your overheads. It's a wonderful tool.

But the wall doesn't have to be taxing to your shoulder. There's really no need to "hammer" anything. Much of the pop you get from the overheads comes from snapping of the wrist. Watch James Jensen's DVD, and he shows you exactly how to practice overheads against the wall. I follow his instruction and hit about 30 overheads against the wall in about a minute. Take a short break, hit another 30, and I'm ready to go!

But most importantly, I would recommend that you take things slowly. You will be able to regain most of your flexibility in time. But trying to get there too fast often results in injuries.

[XFactorer]

Does anyone know if NetFlix has any instructional tennis videos?! I'm always interested in watching instructional tennis videos, but I've never actually took the time to find any. I have books, though!