Read all the sticky's : I'm thinking too much now !

[Juksosah]

I'm 2.0 and my forehand is a liability. (often I drive it long) And there is not a lot of power in them. I read the sticky's about forehand repair, but somewhat it makes me think more before my strokes and now I kinda of lost my forehand.

Often it does more harm than good. I remember once I was really frustrated, I took the ball thinking about notin really and I crushed it. It resulted in a perfect flat forehand, 1mm above the net, the kind I would like to hit everytime. Yes, my head was still, I used my legs for power, racquet was square at impact, etc..but I didn't think of that while executing this shot. What I can remember the great feeling of letting go all my body into the shot. Relaxation.

Now I think about : turning my shoulder, looking at the ball, having a short backswing, doing small steps,.. and it end up that especially on balls faster than 'slow' I miss because there's too much tecnique to think about. Each tme a got a short and easy ball and I think about crushing it, ends up wide. If I could disconnect my brain sometimes...


Shouldn't be easier to just say : do whatever you want but just be relax, and listen to your body when he shouts ' hit it right now'.

What about you guys ??
Are you still thinking at your strokes, footwork, or it comes naturrally ?
When you were begginners like me did you have to 'force' yourself doing all these technical things to have consistent strokes ?

Maybe I should frustate myself more !
Just to share my opinion about thinking in tennis.

[kevhen]

Yes, relax and just hit the ball, but there are some good habits to be learned and engrained in the mind along the way, like keeping the head still and eyes focused on the ball, taking the racquet back early, moving fluidly to the right spot with good footwork, etc.

[livthemoment]

Often it does more harm than good. I remember once I was really frustrated, I took the ball thinking about notin really and I crushed it. It resulted in a perfect flat forehand, 1mm above the net, the kind I would like to hit everytime.
I just wanted to mention... the reason you practice proper technique is because often you will not be in a groove to hit a forehand with only 1mm margin of error. I you just don't think and hit, eventually you will get in a slump and will not know how to get out of hit. (with a flat forehand it is easy to get into a slump of hitting it long, and then compenstate by trying to hit a weaker shot to keep the ball in the court).

[Geezer Guy]

Tom Veneziano at www.TennisWarrior.com teaches (if I understand him correctly) that technique is not what's important - it's repitition. I've read a lot of what he says - including his free monthly newsletter - and frankly I don't agree with most of it. However, that's what he teaches and he says he has a lot of success with it. It's pretty much what YOU were saying.

Here's an excerpt from his website:

Tennis is not based on mechanics. Tennis is based on a feel for a given shot and that feel allows the mechanics to function properly. The mechanics and the technical skills are a result acquired from developing a feel of the stroke through repetition which is the cause. You do not efficiently develop the mechanical by painstakingly forcing yourself to do a plethora of technical things correctly. That simply leads to frustration! Acquire a feel for a given stroke through repetition and you will execute the mechanics properly.

He talks about the mental side of tennis as well, and that IS a bit more mainstream. I like most of what he says about the mental aspects of the game.

[Marius_Hancu]

do this without a partner, but on the court:

take a ball hopper full of balls
start at the service line, in the doubles corridor
drop balls in front of you from your left hand, say from shoulder's height
attack them after bouncing going after them with nice small steps, but don't rush your footwork, remain in control
start sending SLOW forehands in the corridor to the other side
(move the racket slowly, in order to be able to control its face at all times)
make sure you're placing a reasonable amount of topspin on them
make sure that your racket face is vertical at contact
make sure your racket trajectory comes from low to high under the ball, you must LIFT the ball over the net

when you're able to place 75% of the balls in the corridor,
go backwards 8 feet towards the baseline and continue from there

this is not easy, you need lots of repetition

you might want to buy a subscription to easitennis.com, it will help you a lot

[Bungalo Bill]

I'm 2.0 and my forehand is a liability. (often I drive it long) And there is not a lot of power in them. I read the sticky's about forehand repair, but somewhat it makes me think more before my strokes and now I kinda of lost my forehand.

Often it does more harm than good. I remember once I was really frustrated, I took the ball thinking about notin really and I crushed it. It resulted in a perfect flat forehand, 1mm above the net, the kind I would like to hit everytime. Yes, my head was still, I used my legs for power, racquet was square at impact, etc..but I didn't think of that while executing this shot. What I can remember the great feeling of letting go all my body into the shot. Relaxation.

Now I think about : turning my shoulder, looking at the ball, having a short backswing, doing small steps,.. and it end up that especially on balls faster than 'slow' I miss because there's too much tecnique to think about. Each tme a got a short and easy ball and I think about crushing it, ends up wide. If I could disconnect my brain sometimes...


Shouldn't be easier to just say : do whatever you want but just be relax, and listen to your body when he shouts ' hit it right now'.

What about you guys ??
Are you still thinking at your strokes, footwork, or it comes naturrally ?
When you were begginners like me did you have to 'force' yourself doing all these technical things to have consistent strokes ?

Maybe I should frustate myself more !
Just to share my opinion about thinking in tennis.

It is normal to think too much about things. Tennis is a difficult sport. YOu have a lot to learn and what you are learning is trying to be sorted out, grooved, and programmed to eventually become automatic. What you need to do is not become so frustrated that you give up. Tennis is a learning process and you need to also enjoy the new things you need to grow in.

So relax about what you need to learn and enjoy your improvements. Tennis is like anything else in life, you have to work at it in order to get better.

[FiveO]

Yes at your level you probably have a ton of "swing thoughts" going on. That's normal. You probably find youself saying "so much to do, so little time". As you improve and rise in level those thoughts become minimized and are eventually automatic, requiring only one or two thoughts to correct something which goes off. One suggestion for right now is to organize and properly sequence those swing thoughts. Like learning a new dance step there is an order and a time for everything in a particular stroke. Time the phases of the stroke to the visual cues before you. For example:

1) opponent/practice partner hits=Unit turn then move to the ball

2) ball bounce on your side of the court=Be properly set-up/Ready to hit

3) Contact to full follow-through

4) Recover

Sounds mechanical but so is dancing when learning a new step. Eventually it will flow more naturally like the newly learned dance step. After that it will happen with very little, if any, thought. Right now separate and sequence the phases to lessen the feeling of sensory overload. Having the stroke phases more organized will also rid you of the rushed feeling you're probably experiencing right now. Dance is performed to a count 1-2-3-4 and learned that way. Tennis strokes can be learned in the same manner 1-2-3-4 or ball-bounce-hit-recover. At your level it's easier to perform and groove these phases in a dead ball drill, from a basket or hopper of balls as opposed to a live ball drill with an equally rated player where quality of shot can vary widely from ball to ball. A wall with a piece of tape marking net height is good as long as you don't overhit. Relax go through the phases. You'll get there.

[Juksosah]

Thanks for all the replies so far,

For sure playing a match 1x per week is not sufficient. I could practice like you said Marius, I just wonder how much $$$ will I need to sink b4 becoming good. Is it better practice or playing matches, in order to improve fast ? Problem here in Canada is the 4%/$%?$%/ winter and where I live there is one or two places for indoor tennis and they make you pay a lot just to use their court + membership.

"a live ball drill with an equally rated player where quality of shot can vary widely from ball to ball."

And there's no rallies at all. Often after 2 or 3 hits someone does an unforced errors. I often need to run forward because of a low short ball that i'm not expecting or a weird bounce then i'll move back because i did a weak shot too.
Dealing with all these kind of balls screw up my techniq too I guess.
But hitting a buckt of balls at an ideal heigth and ideal bounce is not representative of the kind of balls you'll be dealing in a match.
I'll try it, can't hurt for sure.


"Relax go through the phases. You'll get there."
Yes I will, question mark is when

[Bungalo Bill]

Thanks for all the replies so far,

For sure playing a match 1x per week is not sufficient. I could practice like you said Marius, I just wonder how much $$$ will I need to sink b4 becoming good. Is it better practice or playing matches, in order to improve fast ? Problem here in Canada is the 4%/$%?$%/ winter and where I live there is one or two places for indoor tennis and they make you pay a lot just to use their court + membership.

Yeah I bet that is tough. Court fees can add up. You need to be realistic about your improvement then. Practice is not limited to just the courts. You need a combination of both practice and match play to get better. I would highly suggest that you integrate your practice and your match play so they are complimenting one another. Work on the things you didnt do so well in for the match in practice.

Finances are sometimes a barrier to enter or get good at this sport. What you need to do is set your goals. What level do you want to get to. Then determine how many times can you practice and play during the week. I am sure summer time you can do more (I am assuming). It takes several years for players to rise to an advanced level even in Sunny Southern California. There is a lot to learn in tennis, it looks easier than it really is.

My recommendation is set realistic goals to what you can do and learn to be content with your progress even though it might be slower due to where you live. Find walls to hit on, court time, in your living room work on grip changes, keep yourself fit, etc...just do the best you can.