setting up for a ball

[princeO32433]

when i hit i always feel like my stroke is rushed. how do you deal with this? is it my footwork? if so how do i help it?

 

[fuzz nation]

When you hit a stroke, you turn through it as you swing and before you turn through the shot, you have to turn away from it. It's never too early to at least partially turn away - it can even happen before you take your first step toward the ball and can be mostly a turn of the shoulders.

When you're even having a casual hit, practice "bursting" to the hitting zone as soon as the ball is hit from the opposite end. Then you can be at the hitting zone and already stepping into your stroke before the incoming ball even bounces. Get yourself set to burst with a good split-step as your opponent hits the ball and then pop out of the starting blocks with a very deliberate move to the ball. Develop the instinct to do this all the time.

Sometimes players will wait and time their stroke so that the entire back-and-through motion gets the racquet to the ball just as it arrives, but it's too easy to misjudge the timing and swing late. Economize your backswing so that you immediately get your racquet down and back to the point where you release it through the ball. A big loopy backswing takes a longer chunk of time and can set your timing way back, but a quick and compact one can set you up sooner and keep you ahead of incoming heaters.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Hitting a flying rennis ball, especially when someone is trying to win a point against you, is a lot like an assembly line process with many sub-operations all coming together at the right time to make a well finished produce. In this case, the product is a well hit ball- back to the opponent's court.

You can divide the process into court sense and tactics, getting to the ball, setting up in correct position, and stroke mechanics. If any one aspect of the process fails, then you experience product failure-- sort of like in "I Love Lucy" where she is trying to make chocolates and gets behind and then there are bob-bons all over the floor. Substitute "balls" for "bon-bons".

Start with watching the ball. Watch it go from your side of the court and arc over to the opponents side. While the ball is flying, you should be adjusting your position to somewhere in the center of the most likely area of returns.

How do you know where the ball is likely to return-- court sense. You can get this fron experience, but also from watching other players, and from reading books about strategy, ball placement, court angles and percentage play. I recommend you go to the bookstore and find something along these lines.

Now, the ball is coming back-- watch it leave the opponent's racket and begin to make further adjustments. Keep your eyes on the ball and move in as direct a path as possible toward the spot where you can set up for your stroke.

Now you are there, waiting, knees bent, weight on the rear foot, racket back-- ready to execute the stroke. Still you are watching the ball and making final, small, shuffling corrections.

The ball is bouncing up to the contact point. You are poised, almost spring-like. You begin to shift your weight- moving your weight and energy forward. Mentally, you visualize the path your racket must take through the ball in order to land where you intend. You follow that path with your racket- watching the ball intently and hit the ball to an intended spot that will give you the best advantage. That is tactics- and the same book should cover that, as well.

Watch the ball arc over to the opponent's court... and repeat.