Hitting video+How do you get better over the winter?

dozu said:

why are you not playing for the college team?

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Up&comer said:

You don't have any glaring problems.

On your backhand, catch it a little further out in front and extend further out to the target. You look like you pulled off of the one with your arm.

Other than that, looks good.

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BagelMe said:

Well, I didn't know boy's tryouts were going on the first week school started. Also, I didn't play tennis competetively over the summer.

I don't know if I could have made a D2 team, considering I've only been playing for 4 years.

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dozu said:

if you didn't have much competition experience, then 4 years is a bit short... but D2 covers a very wide spectrum.... i think the weakest D2 programs prolly have 4.0 equivalent players.

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Mikeadelic said:

Bagel, it's really hard to tell when your clips are so short.

What I can say is this - although your strokes look good generally, I have to wonder how they are as you increase to a 10-shot, 15-shot, 30-shot+ rallies.

Sometimes, apart from pace, it is hard to differentiate between true 4.0 and 4.5 or even 5.0 players, because by the time you get to 4.0, most of your strokes can already look good in a two- or three- shot situation (this is for those 4.0/4.5 players who make tons of UEs, but look really good when they hit in a glancing situation).

It seems to me that, due to a combination of mental concentration, footwork, recovery, and timing, your strokes may start breaking down the longer the point goes on.

Think about it like this:
On the first shot, your swing is perfect. You watch the ball for an extra 10ms, and recover 10ms too slow, but you're still fine for the second shot. Then you watch the ball for another 10ms too long, and recover another 10ms too slow, but your still fine and you get to the third shot. However, as you get to the 10th, 15th, 20th (if at all), your "time debt" catches up to you, and shows up in a bad contact, or a rushed swing, or some other form of mistake. It's a domino effect.

In summary, your strokes may be fine (I can't see from other angles so I can't truly judge them), but there are many, many other areas that may be limiting your development.

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TennisCJC said:

Are there private or public indoor facilities that have USTA teams near your university? Maybe post cards there that you are looking to join a USTA or leauge team.

Do the indoor clubs have singles ladders?

Are there internet leauges like K-Swiss Ultimate Tennis or T2 that operate in your area?

Next best idea is to transfer to a university in the south, or southwest. I live in Georgia and play outside year round. A bit cold in Jan and Feb but I still probably get in about 2-3 days per week on average. I will play outdoors if temperature above 30 degrees and have played leauge matched in the 20s.

If nothing works out for winter tennis in your area, ask your parents to send you to a 1-week adult camp in Florida as a Christmas present - during XMAS break.

As others have stated, your game looks sound - you look like a tennis player. Hard to tell if 4.0 or 5.0 but good potential.

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BagelMe said:

I try to watch the ball longer, kind of like Federer. It really boosts my consistency and spin.

After watching my videos though, I can see what you're saying though. Don't exactly know how I can work on this

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tennis_balla said:

Both of you need to get more then 4 balls over the net. I saw the first two videos you posted, video 3 and 4, and the longest rally I counted was 4 balls. Get your consistency up, you guys were both all over the map. Its great to hit winners but if you're missing easy shots into the net or long its useless.

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Mikeadelic said:

To clear things up, I wasn't talking about watching the ball longer at contact. That is always a good thing to do and I usually hammer that into my students. I meant that, after you hit the ball and it goes to your opponent, you spend an extra 10ms to see where your ball lands instead of focusing on your point of recovery after the ball leaves your stringbed.

You gotta develop a quick mental rhythm to boost your consistency. Something like: hit-recover-split step-hit-recover-split step... not hit-watch ball land-move-watch ball come back-move-split step etc etc

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BagelMe said:

My partner wasn't hitting hard, so I was going for more aggressive shots. If I ever get to play I'll try to put my iphone up and record it.

Apparently my backhand in vid 4 was in But the shot where I hit the ball into the net at the end in vid 3, I was way too far behind the baseline, like one of the other posters mentioned.

Also, its funny how I rarely get into a 10+ ball rally unless I'm hitting with someone better than me, where I try to put more focus on placing the ball. My usual hitting partners, who I've been playing with since I started tennis, tend to hit the ball very hard and consistently, so I guess they've rubbed off on me a bit.

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tennis_balla said:

You guys were just hitting correct, and not playing points? Didn't look like you were playing points from what I remember. If so, hitting winners and going for your shots is useless. Get some 15-20 shot rallies going, working on your timing, rhythm, footwork etc. Doesn't matter if your partner wasn't hitting hard or is weaker. That has nothing to do with it. Its about training properly and to be honest you guys are just wasting your time on the court right now with the way you're playing/training.

I might sound harsh but thats the way it is. If you wanna move up and get better then you better start practicing like it cause from what I've seen if you called me to hit I'd decline.

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BagelMe said:

I don't take this personally, but I do understand what you're saying and appreciate your advice.

I'll try it out next time I get time on the court.

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