Trying to play D3 Collegiate Tennis. Evaluate my Groundstrokes?
 

Definitely need some critique here. First thing I noticed was how cramped my forehand looked. And how bad my bh slice looks. Any advice/comments/feedback is greatly appreciated. Some topspin bhs towards the end.

GroundStrokes: (Btw I'm playing with my lil sis so the rallies were pretty short)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp6iDEsA8dY

Not sure what you want to hear. I'm not impressed by seeing you hit with your younger sister, or in your other thread, seeing you just hit serves. It's not just about form/technique. It's about can you control the point against someone of equal or better strength. I don't see anything wrong, but I don't see anything either that says wow that kid has some talent. So what I want to see is how smart do you play and how hard do you work. How do you translate that into match play.

Forehand looks pretty solid but not amazing, to be completely honest. I think the backhand definitely needs some work, it's really flat and stiff.

Also, from that one volley you hit, it seems like you have some technical issues there.

question is, how much time do you have till college?
how much time and effort go into your training?
do you have a competent coach? possibly someone with a college tennis background? he/she could evaluate you much better than we based on a few minutes of video:)

Do the basketball lines affect play? Often when I'm constructing points, the tennis court lines help (targeting, gauging depth). All them other lines would mess me up. Sensory overload.

And oh, focus more on your footwork. Even when rallying you shouldn't let balls bounce twice (bad habit).

find someone who plays d3 tennis and hit with them. or find someone who hits at that level and hit with them.

forehand looks pretty good but your sister isn't giving you the pace and especially spin that you will likely see. backhand looks awkward. both volleys i saw looked really awkward too and i think that's the big one. if you can't play dubs - it limits your opportunities.

I played D3 tennis years ago. You'll do fine. It's a continuation of high school tennis, nothing too magnified beyond this (was my experience).

I originally wasn't going to play when I got on campus. But then, in talking to this intelligent senior girl, who was a runner, about it, she pointed out that for the past four years I'd been outside in the spring playing tennis. . . and would likely want to, once spring rolled around again.

This was true. So I played. Any "coaching" I can give you would be nonsense based on the jot of video you've left here. My guess is that you would find yourself much more dynamic on court, and feel more energy overall, if you could shake off about five pounds. I suppose that's a useful bit of advice I can share, along with the firm advice to pay attention to your grades when you're in college. They matter.

since d3 tennis is all about the experience (there is no $$ right?).... so yeah, the grades are priority #1....

the tennis - yeah, the FH is good.

BH - the 2hbh drive, you spin like a top and fall backwards... there should be weight shift / stepping thru the ball, so you finish on the front foot (the right foot).

the slice - too vulnerable.. no bite, no pace... emulate Federer... really throw your racket edge at the ball as if you want to cut the ball in half, this will ensure you have absolute face control, and allows you to lean into the shot and push forward to get penetration.

Volley - needs rebuild.

I understand what you're saying. I guess my point of posting this video was to just get some general feedback, nothing specific. Just to make sure there was nothing majorly wrong with certain strokes.
Yeah my backhand has always been a struggle. I've just recently been able to start to feel it building in consistency. And volleys are usually much better I was just kinda fooling around when I hit that one.

Probably about a year to a year and a half? Only coach I've had is my high school coach who knows very little about tennis in general. I plan to play some tournaments during the summer.

At first it was a bit hard to keep track but I've learned to ignore them. And yeah I feel like I have better footspeed than actual footwork so something to work on.

Yeah my volleys are usually much better I think I'll upload a video soon considering I've never gotten critique on volleys before.

Appreciate the encouragement I've started dieting for about the past week and a half (yeah its still early) and plan to start hitting the gym for some strength and cardio workouts.

Yeah grades are my def priority (Just miss tennis and club tennis isn't the same lol) the bh is def something I just spin in until I can get around to my forehand. I was just kinda messing around on the volley usually they're a lot better (at least in my mind lol) I'll probably upload a video sometime soon just to get some volley feedback though.

Are you transferring schools, or is your school a D3 school already?

And yeah, I won't add any actual stroke critique since I'm not qualified in that area. What I would say is that given what you want to do, you really need more footwork and agility. Set court related fitness goals for yourself as you're working out: times for line touches or suicides, etc. in addition to general fitness goals: mile time and pull ups...so on and so forth.

Good or decent grades, DIII no problem somewhere.
Apply early.

Yeah I agree with you. I've probably got an extra five or ten pounds of fat that I'm gonna turn into muscle hopefully. Footspeed and footwoork is def something I'm gonna focus on along with endurance since I can't usually blow guys off the court with power.

Eh didn't do so well first semester... (too much goofing off) I'm hoping to do alot better this semester and have a decent GPA and apply right after second semester.

D3 levels are anywhere from average high school to mid pack D1. it depends on school if you'll make the team. for regionally ranked teams and up I think it would be tough for you but at the below that you might be able to make the team. work hard to improve and good luck.

Agree with boramiNYC. Years ago I had a friend to went to small junior college and over 1/2 the tennis team was from overseas on a scholarship. My friend was good - very solid 4.0 player who worked in the summer as an assistance coach in clinics. He could not make the team. I have played other guys who played D3 and were not that strong. So, there is a big variance in ability.

If you really want to improve, get some lessons.

Quick points:
1. Your slice BH needs re-engineering. You lead with elbow and don't use the shoulders much.
2. I only saw 1 volley (didn't watch all the video) and it was not good. Your hand should not move much on a volley. Your hand moved about 3 or 4 feet. I am not going to try to write how to volley - get a few lessons.

I know lessons are expensive but if you really want to play D3, get some lessons and continue to work hard. Maybe you and your sister could share a lesson to reduce costs or maybe you have another friend interested in lessons. You may also want to look into summer camps 1 week long or more. If they are in your city, you might be able to stay at home. A camp usually is 3 hours or more per day of group drills. Not a lot of individual instruction but you will hit thousands of balls and get a few tips on obvious weakness.

Trust me, you seem like a smart guy, so you should be fine. They say that the first semester is the most important of your academic career. I have found this NOT to be true. Admissions people and coaches are not stupid. They realize that the shift from high school to college can be enormous (especially in very demanding first year programs designed to weed you out). If you have the tenacity to improve your grades and do so, then that's really all that matters.

It really depends on the school. Competitive D3 teams will be far above the skill level of a high school team.

Your forehand is far superior to your other shots. The strategy against you: only hit to your backhand and make you volley. Take the match 6-0, 6-0.

Work on your weaknesses, because they're glaring.