Yeah I need help, video inside

[wy2sl0]

I am the one in white/grey.

It's funny how you realize so much from a video. Its winter here so I play maybe a couple times a month only, and during the summer maybe 2 times a week or so. I really need to change some things to be more consistent. I do not care about rating and will not ever care, but I do want to be the best I can. Be honest I can take it, just keep the comments on tennis things please.

Few things I notice;
Serve motion is not good at all. I mean I am doing everything in a single motion, and am not giving myself a chance to react to a different toss, nor generate consistent pace or spin.

Backhand used to be better I sware, but my forehand used to be unreal awful. All of last summer I just remember trying to hit everything forehand to improve that, and now I am suffering on the backhand.

My slices I know, I have no reason to lie they are usually never that bad. I corded alot so I just started lobbing them so I am not worried about that.

Anything you see that I can change to improve I would appreciate. Thanks

I played better later on. 4:50 is my best point I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvE34fVWhuU

 

[CallOfBooty]

I did not watch all of the video, but judging from the first couple minutes, I can see that you are quite tense. You are not fluid enough in your strokes; you seem nervous as well. Try to relax a little bit more and follow through on your strokes. I see that you stop midway after you contact the ball on some serves and forehands.

 

[SuperFly]

TOn the serve, you are barely extending your arm. Toss the ball higher and reach up for it, and you should see your arm becoming straighter (not to mention some more mph's.)

 

[xrxpapi12]

dude you looked really really stiff loosen up lol
and listen to what the guy above me says about serve

 

[wy2sl0]

You are absolutely right thanks I need to toss higher. On the subject of stiff I totally see it, I just didn't know what to call it. I almost feel like I play that way to be more consistent, where if I just swing I will spray it :-( The beginning is the worst though later on I hit a few winners. Thanks for the advice so far

 

[Zachol82]

You wont be "spraying" it if you still keep the correct form in check. You can definitely still loosen up while still maintaining correct form.

It's a good idea to video-tape your matches and your practices. You really don't know what you look like unless you're watching yourself in third person.

 

[wy2sl0]

You are right. On my backhand I have always been VERY tense and tight. I have tried to just swing freely but my control is not as great. As for my forehand it is getting there in terms on being relaxed (when I put myself in the proper position that is) it used to be horrible and pushy.

 

[wy2sl0]

Yeah man thats some serious pace. Is that all pronation of your wrist to get that much pace?

 

[Jonny S&V]

Yeah man thats some serious pace. Is that all pronation of your wrist to get that much pace?

It's a combination of my legs, torso, and wrist, but the pronation is a slight majority of the power for sure.

 

[RoddickAce]

On your serve, it seems like you lift your right left up, and then you do a slight hop with your left leg. For example, watch at 1:51 in your video, click play and pause repeatedly to watch it frame by frame, and you'll see how you lift your right leg up early. Ideally, you would want to spring upwards during your swing with both legs leaving at a similar time.

Also, sometimes your right leg kicks far off to the side (1:52); which might indicate that you are over-rotating and thus not getting good balance. I think this has to do with the issue I stated in the above paragraph; if your left leg stays on the ground while your body is trying to move forward, your left leg acts as a pivot, and you move in a spiral too much.

Also, as someone said above, tossing the ball higher will let you extend your left arm fully and naturally I think it also facilitates a bigger shoulder turn?(someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

Also, do you know what grip you're using on your serve? http://www.tennis.com/articles/articlefiles/1337-2006_04_19_grip_guide.jpg Which one is your base knuckle on?

 

[RoddickAce]

Hmm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIB-cYkjGQQ

Still wanna say I'm a 2.5?

Wow, you got rated 1 star by 4 people...probably haters. I'm gonna rate you five stars to bring it up lolz.

 

[wy2sl0]

Yeah I do notice that alot and I feel off balance. Should I stand at say 45* onto the court instead of parallel with the baseline?

I also use continental on serve.

 

[RoddickAce]

Yeah I do notice that alot and I feel off balance. Should I stand at say 45* onto the court instead of parallel with the baseline?

I also use continental on serve.

I think where you're positioning your feet right now is good. It's just that you are over-rotating at times; and that is making you off-balance. I think the root of the problem is still also the toss. Try a higher toss and also try tossing it further left or right slightly to see which location lets you maximize your power potential while not over-rotating.

I couldn't really see clearly on too many forehands, but when you have time to prepare properly, the mechanics generally look nice. I can't really comment much on the backhand because I don't use a 2-handed backhand, but I think you may want to use more shoulder turn in your shot. Maybe try to pull your racquet back (using your shoulders and upper body) more, so that your back is somewhat facing the net. That would promote more shoudler rotation in your shot.

Btw, I'm not a really good player and I'm just calling out some of the stuff I can see, so don't trust me fully. For expert advice, ask posters like BungalowBill or SA.

 

[wy2sl0]

That is exactly how I feel, you are absolutely right. I need to just get a bucket of balls and serve serve serve. When I first started I spent alot of time just rallying and serving, because my serve was awful (to me it is the most difficult part of tennis). Well it hasnt changed much at all in a year and I still cant stand it.

I notice my motion has no period in which it stops its just like a jumbled damaged motion. I do want to change that completely and have my arm almost perpendicular to the ground pointing up and set properly. Consistency on service motion is important for consistent serving right?

As for my strokes im using a Speedport red, which is 105. This seems a bit big for me, and the head heavy feeling and being large almost feels like its stopping me from getting more spin and control. I am only 120 lbs though and I am really worried a smaller racquet will just put me at a bigger disadvantage to all the people I play against who are strong. Do any of you have an idea if I should address this, or just keep my racquet. My dad in the video uses a Youtek Speed Pro, which I find pretty heavy.

 

[athiker]

Re: your serve. Yes your toss is low but Johnny S&V's is probably on the low side too but it seems to work for him. If you want more power look at your serve at :22, :33 & 1:34 just to pick a few at random, specifically your legs. You barely bend them at all and instead of using them to explode into the ball and serve you kinda twirl your body around into the ball, but with no real base from which to create any real power. You then have to throw you right leg out to keep your balance.

Now look at Johnny S&V's video again, specifically his legs. See how he draws his right leg under his body to form a base of power, bends his knees and pushes up and out into the ball.

Next look at your shoulder angle on those 3 serves...relatively flat. Take a look at Johnny S&V's shoulder angle after his toss. Watch how much shoulder movement he has into the ball vs. yours. That goes back to bending your legs more as well. If you don't bend your legs to get that position you will kill your back....well I would at least, b/c I'm much older! So bottom line...create and base w/ your legs and then bend and load them! Good luck and have fun, also kudos to Dad for staying active with his son.

 

[amx13]

On your groundstrokes...split-step!, It would help you a lot to be ready for the incoming shot. On your forehand, try to follow through over your shoulder, so you can clear the net with margin for error. Try to master that before you try the windshield wiper motion. Check out the fuzzy yellow ball video section, they have some great step-by-step instruction for the basic shots.

On a side note, I saw some of your other videos, is that you playing the guitar?...nice solos! Heart´s "Alone" was great. You play tennis as a righ-handed and the guitar as a left-handed?

 

[LeeD]

Difference in serves with low toss, between Johnny and OP, is control, muscle and tightness.
OP uses little muscle, is loose to the point of uncontrolled flopping.
Johnny is tight, uses muscle correctly, and controls his whole body....even with that toss waay over the lefty shoulder.
Johnny's serve is 4.5-5.5.
OP's serve is 3.0 at best.
And everything that applies to the serve applies to all the other strokes as well. Loose and floppy is not good.
Muscular, tight, with full control is like Courier and Agassi, not horrible either.
If I had to pick, I'd say the above is better.
Loose and floppy is never good for tennis.

 

[ttbrowne]

Other than you do need work on your strokes but I just think you need a lot more time getting used to reading the ball.
I notice you are reacting a bit late on almost every shot and it's due to just being unfamiliar to the bounce and location of the ball.
This cannot be helped with any cure other than playing a lot and getting used to it.
I don't know who said....Pros react to the ball as it's coming off of the opponents racket, good players react to the ball as it crosses the net, and hackers react to the ball as it's almost hitting the court...something to that effect.

 

[Jonny S&V]

Difference in serves with low toss, between Johnny and OP, is control, muscle and tightness.
OP uses little muscle, is loose to the point of uncontrolled flopping.
Johnny is tight, uses muscle correctly, and controls his whole body....even with that toss waay over the lefty shoulder.
Johnny's serve is 4.5-5.5.
OP's serve is 3.0 at best.
And everything that applies to the serve applies to all the other strokes as well. Loose and floppy is not good.
Muscular, tight, with full control is like Courier and Agassi, not horrible either.
If I had to pick, I'd say the above is better.
Loose and floppy is never good for tennis.

Thanks for the complement, I'm not worried about ratings quite yet. After college maybe, but I hope I'll be at Open level by that point.

I actually like my students to be loose, in your words floppy. By floppy, I mean the arm/shoulder should be loose (it's pretty hard to hit a good serve without explosion in the lower body). I'm actually really loose in my arm in that video, although it looks tightish. Tight is all relative anyhow...

 

[LeeD]

I actually hold my racketgrip as loose as humanly possible, to NOT throw the racket.
And the body has to be loose to work the whole chain correctly.
But flopping body parts AFTER the ball strike is not a good thing. It just shows lack of control, all loosey goosey, but no control of the various body parts.
You can hit pretty hard with a relaxed gait. But it's much harder to hit hard with a loosey goosey uncontrolled body.
And every once in a while, a really nice controlled fast solid stroke....meaning inconsistency.

 

[Jonny S&V]

I actually hold my racketgrip as loose as humanly possible, to NOT throw the racket.
And the body has to be loose to work the whole chain correctly.
But flopping body parts AFTER the ball strike is not a good thing. It just shows lack of control, all loosey goosey, but no control of the various body parts.
You can hit pretty hard with a relaxed gait. But it's much harder to hit hard with a loosey goosey uncontrolled body.
And every once in a while, a really nice controlled fast solid stroke....meaning inconsistency.

Ok, I get what you meant now.

 

[wy2sl0]

Difference in serves with low toss, between Johnny and OP, is control, muscle and tightness.
OP uses little muscle, is loose to the point of uncontrolled flopping.
Johnny is tight, uses muscle correctly, and controls his whole body....even with that toss waay over the lefty shoulder.
Johnny's serve is 4.5-5.5.
OP's serve is 3.0 at best.
And everything that applies to the serve applies to all the other strokes as well. Loose and floppy is not good.
Muscular, tight, with full control is like Courier and Agassi, not horrible either.
If I had to pick, I'd say the above is better.
Loose and floppy is never good for tennis.

Ok I am understanding kind of. I am not loose on my shots though (groundstrokes) so are you saying my arms are just flailing or the opposite, saying being a little tight is ok?
And yeah that was me playing guitar thanks Camera is just on mirror I am right handed.

 

[wy2sl0]

I find it really funny after watching this over a couple times and looking through all the replies that, to me the most glaring of all is the ridiculously dumb choice of shots I made to shoot myself in the foot time and time again - and noone mentioned hehe. I really have horrible strategy at beating an opponent and adjusting my game.

 

[pabletion]

are u taking some lessons? thats the best way to improve, otherwise you'll very likely be repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The best thing you could do is get a couple of lessons with a good coach so he can tell you specifically where youre wrong and how to do things right. Its more about feel, when you start doing things the right way you can feel it on how you impact the ball and how it feels when youre hitting.
FH: youre arming the ball, using mostly your arm and not the body, a clear example at 1:26. You need to set up earlier, close your shoulders more (left shoulder pointing towards the other side of net), maybe extending your left arm (like pointing at the ball) will help you turn your shoulders more. Youre not following through, you close the racquet face too abruptly, you need to extend throught the shot and follow through with your whole body, carrying it forward with the momentum. On most FHs you seem to not go forward at all, but just rotate a bit over the same spot, this robbs you of power. Check some pro vids of FH to see how they hit "through" the ball, extending forward.
Serve: a bit of the same, youre only arming the ball, not using your whole body, which is what provides power. More shoulder turn and a little pause at the top of the toss gives you a kinda like spring effect. You have to extend more when you toss the ball, get your left shoulder up and dropping the right one, you'll accomplish this by pointing up at the ball when tossing, trying to extend the left arm. Turn your shoulders more and keep your legs quiet, bending a bit after the toss.
BH: I didnt get to see too many of them, but from what I saw, you need to be more fluid (most posters have said this also), you look too tight. Follow through more, above your right shoulder. To give you a goal, try and hit yourself in the back, below your right shoulderblade, on every backhand, this helps me to remember to accelerate and finish my follow through.

Overall, you got some decent stuff, short backswing which is good. You need a lot of practice to get better, maybe drills with a coach or friend who feeds you balls, that is the best thing, practice strokes over and over again. If you only play you cant really get better cause youll do the same things over and over again and if you lack the proper technique its gonna be very hard to get better.

 

[wy2sl0]

Thank you for the advice and post. A couple questions though.

FH: youre arming the ball, using mostly your arm and not the body, a clear example at 1:26. You need to set up earlier, close your shoulders more (left shoulder pointing towards the other side of net), maybe extending your left arm (like pointing at the ball) will help you turn your shoulders more. Youre not following through, you close the racquet face too abruptly, you need to extend throught the shot and follow through with your whole body, carrying it forward with the momentum. On most FHs you seem to not go forward at all, but just rotate a bit over the same spot, this robbs you of power. Check some pro vids of FH to see how they hit "through" the ball, extending forward.

Please watch the video at 5:45 - 6:00 and 9:15-9:25 because that shot you are referring to I was off balance and returning, which I do believe is a different issue. When I get to set up, I shoot with a closed stance much like in the section I am referring to. If that is what you mean please let me know. I know my other parts are really messy but I have worked hard on getting my forehand working using my torso legs and arm to provide pace, especially since I am a very light guy.
Serve: a bit of the same, youre only arming the ball, not using your whole body, which is what provides power. More shoulder turn and a little pause at the top of the toss gives you a kinda like spring effect. You have to extend more when you toss the ball, get your left shoulder up and dropping the right one, you'll accomplish this by pointing up at the ball when tossing, trying to extend the left arm. Turn your shoulders more and keep your legs quiet, bending a bit after the toss.
I think you are right on. I am going to make a concious effort at this and tape my next match.
BH: I didnt get to see too many of them, but from what I saw, you need to be more fluid (most posters have said this also), you look too tight. Follow through more, above your right shoulder. To give you a goal, try and hit yourself in the back, below your right shoulderblade, on every backhand, this helps me to remember to accelerate and finish my follow through.
1My motion on backhand feels very stiff and unnatural. Please watch 10:07-10:15, that feels like a smooth motion to me, and I conciously tried to swing down to up on that shot and it worked. I stopped the motion from going to my back, althought I could have let it continue. The reason I have kept it so long is because it is my most consistent shot usually, and I can hit it very flat with a great amount of pace if I really take a cut at it, even as ugly as it is. Despite this I do need to change it because I find myself not being able to hit balls outside of a small margin and that is more than likely because my swing is bad. Thanks for everthing.

Overall, you got some decent stuff, short backswing which is good. You need a lot of practice to get better, maybe drills with a coach or friend who feeds you balls, that is the best thing, practice strokes over and over again. If you only play you cant really get better cause youll do the same things over and over again and if you lack the proper technique its gonna be very hard to get better.

 

[mtommer]

From what I saw the number one thing you need to work on first is to consistently keep your eyes on the ball longer. It looks like you're making the same type of mistake as someone who starts to run before they catch a ball. It almost always leads to a dropped ball.

 

[wy2sl0]

From what I saw the number one thing you need to work on first is to consistently keep your eyes on the ball longer. It looks like you're making the same type of mistake as someone who starts to run before they catch a ball. It almost always leads to a dropped ball.

What exactly do you mean? I usually look where I am shooting once the ball reaches the last 2-3 feet from my racket. Do you mean longer before or after or what?

 

[wy2sl0]

I think I kind of misrepresented what I do. To be honest I dont really know it isn't concious! I dont follow the ball right to the racket usually I don't think. If I am in a hurry to hit it, then I watch the ball. If I have alot of time then I look where I am hitting alot more since I have time.

 

[athiker]

Videos like the ones below are all over the place...videos, still images, etc. of Federer holding his focus on the point of contact well after ball contact. He's certainly the most famous for doing it almost to the extreme. I lifted some of the links below from another thread (link at the bottom). I think Bungalow Bill posted them. Also note how still or "calm" his head remains through his stroke.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1273724609613333533#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=ES&hl=es&v=kmhvKafCYsk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNPaZj4yn00

Thread: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=2574003

 

[athiker]

Here is a pic:

Andy Murray watches the ball also...just a little differently. :wink: :mrgreen:

It's a JOKE...no flames please.

 

[athiker]

One more thread...some discussion about players that do and don't. Also about whether the most important part is not necessarily watching to contact, but having a still head and not jerking up.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=276260

Article linked to in thread: http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/federervisiontechnique.html

 

[mtommer]

What exactly do you mean? I usually look where I am shooting once the ball reaches the last 2-3 feet from my racket. Do you mean longer before or after or what?

Time index :08. Watch your head through the serve. Your head should have been pointed up through the impact zone longer. Instead you snap your eyes to the front and if you really pay attention you can see your head turn back to the right a smidgen re-tracking the ball.

Time index :16 Watch your head as you hit the backhand. See how you're following the ball after you hit it? Yea, you hit it in the net but the shot itself was one of your cleaner hits. Take note of that.

Time index :23 Watch again as eyes are almost pointed straight ahead through contact. I know he hit a hard shot and you were just reacting. That's not the point. You hit way to your left because you pull your swing as you hit. If you had kept the eye on the ball longer you may not have pulled the ball so much and it might have gone in.

These are just a few examples.

 

[wy2sl0]

Time index :08. Watch your head through the serve. Your head should have been pointed up through the impact zone longer. Instead you snap your eyes to the front and if you really pay attention you can see your head turn back to the right a smidgen re-tracking the ball.

Time index :16 Watch your head as you hit the backhand. See how you're following the ball after you hit it? Yea, you hit it in the net but the shot itself was one of your cleaner hits. Take note of that.

Time index :23 Watch again as eyes are almost pointed straight ahead through contact. I know he hit a hard shot and you were just reacting. That's not the point. You hit way to your left because you pull your swing as you hit. If you had kept the eye on the ball longer you may not have pulled the ball so much and it might have gone in.

These are just a few examples.

Ok I notice clearly, I will make an effort on that also.

I am still wondering about what pab meant, as I don't see problems in my forehand really when I am set.

 

[lichihhsiao]

Ok I notice clearly, I will make an effort on that also.

I am still wondering about what pab meant, as I don't see problems in my forehand really when I am set.

Your groundstrokes has power, but you always hit it to him. Just try less power and more topspin at the corners, so you can make him run. I hope this will help

Good luck.

 

[pabletion]

Ok I notice clearly, I will make an effort on that also.

I am still wondering about what pab meant, as I don't see problems in my forehand really when I am set.

Ok, I saw the parts you asked me to watch, so here it goes: First off, and I forgot to mention this on my earlier post, your foot work needs improvement. For example, you serve and then stay flatfooted immediately after serving as you watch where your ball is going and where its gonna come back to. You could try to serve and then immediately try and get in balance and bounce off your toes, waiting for your opps reply. Because you get flat footed, you prepare late, almost on all shots. On your FH, you start your backswing after the ball has bounced. Youre still able to hit cause of your current level of play, mostly the balls youre setting up to are very slow, but as you play higher level opponents, youre gonna get jammed and notice you cant set up on time. You should try and take the racquet back before the ball bounces, specially on easy balls. Again, and this is when you have time to set up for your forehand, you almost only rotate over the same spot youre standing while you hit. You have to follow the shots momentum and end up forward from where you started your swing, specially on easy sitting duck balls. You could try and follow short easy balls that youre gonna hit with your FH to the net, this will help you learn how to finish forward. You close your FH too fast also, this might also contribute to you being too still while you hit it. Again, if you learn no set your forehand up earlier, you will be able to control your shots more, and be able to guide them better, not just return them to the middle.

Most of your Backhands look more like a slap than a real swing, you seem to just block or slap the ball back, and on a bit higher leverl that shot is gonna do no good. Try and finish over your right shoulder, and maybe even try and hit yourself on the back, this will remind you to accelerate and comb the ball, giving it topspin and control. This will take time but I assure you it will work. The best backhand I saw was the last one, at 10:10, there you have followed through a bit higher than on the others, and you had great control. That one should serve you as a model.
Keep it up, its clear that youve just started playin not too long ago, the fun of tennis is being able to get better and better and try to perfect your technique. Good technique is the way to go, poor technique will only take you so far even though it seems that things are working out. Enjoy the ride, tennis is a jealous beeeeatch!

 

[wy2sl0]

Yeah I understand. I have been playing for about 2 years once or twice a week for 4-6 months of the year. To get to the level I am at now, took me only a few months but I am finding I had not improved really in the last year, just my serve a little bit which was unreal bad.

When you say don't twist my body on the forehand though, what exactly do you mean? I watch videos and it just seems the pros do the same thing.