During a long point

[sureshs]

There were several multi-stroke points when I played last night. I was moving side to side. I noticed that while the first couple of groundies was good, the next tended to go down in quality. I felt hurried and hassled, and caught myself jumping into the shot one time.

How do you maintain the same stroke consistency over a multi-stroke point, along with all the running? Do you do a mental and physical reset after each stroke? How do you get over the feeling of losing track of where you are and where your racket head is?

[rkelley]

It's almost all mental for me. When I get in those long rallies I can start to doubt my ability to keep it going. I start to feel like I'm going to hit an UFE. Lo and behold if it doesn't come true!

What I try to do is hit the tenth ball like the first. Watch and hit. Don't force things that aren't there.

Sometimes I can do it.

[sureshs]

Confusion sets in for me after a few balls in a row in a real match when I am moving instead of just hitting rally balls. I don't see clearly and I don't know where I am. I try to remember to come to the neutral position after every stroke, but sometimes that also goes.

But definitely vision is the biggest problem.

How to correct it?

[wallabeechamp]

For me it is remembering to breath efficiently and correctly. Staying as loose and relaxed as possible.

[isilra]

This is what makes you closer to the professional level. A 5.0 also can hit a ball as good as a pro but when it comes to consistency, they make more mistakes than a pro. I think it is a matter of practicing, if you make long rallies everyday for years, than you learn how to stay loose and relaxed in any condition.

[boramiNYC]

a lot of it is balancing ability and fitness. for someone with better balance even simple standing is different internally. at motion the difference becomes more stark.

[Relinquis]

Maybe you lack focus OR your court positioning/movement are bad?

you're thinking too much of other stuff and not looking at the ball: will i make the next point, will this be a winner, can i keep this up? etc...

Focus:

positioning yourself, still looking at the ball, bouncing/running/sidestepping to get in position, still looking at the ball, swinging through the contact zone, still looking at the ball, and so on...

Court positioning / Movement:

I recall you questioning if there is strategy in tennis. This is where it comes in. You're hitting on the run poorly because you are doing one of two things wrong: A) You're not constructing your points well enough (directionals, shot selection, etc...) and/or B) You're not getting into the right position to cut off tough angles and benefit from your previous shot (i.e. approaching after good shots, getting back to the court after being pulled out wide, aide and split stepping appropriately, etc...); Fitness matters in this respect as well.

Or maybe your stick is too heavy for you or not headlight enough?

[TheCheese]

What are you focused on during the rally?

Try and focus on what the right shot to play is and whether you're positioned correctly, rather than focusing on where your racket head is.

Also, if the problem is that you're rushed, maybe try hitting some loopier shots or back up off the baseline a bit.

If you're just getting winded, then that's normal.

[NLBwell]

Long rally? What's that?

[ramos77]

I do my very best to avoid them

[The Meat]

I sometimes push and make my friends go for the corners, really helps with this problem. Also I enjoy it when they make a mistake

[sureshs]

Breathing and balance seem to the main issues to address.

Vision is probably a lost cause. My progressive multifocals blur the vision during motion, especially when tracking the ball in the vertical direction, which is the direction in which the refractive index changes. Add to that the effect of the glasses slipping during movement causing differential movement wrt the eye.

But at least breathing and balance can be addressed.

And also putting away shots when there is an opportunity instead of allowing the opponent to recover.

[Greg G]

Are they sport specific progressive lenses? These have an enlarged distance zone and a wider intermediate zone I believe.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Greg G

Are they sport specific progressive lenses? These have an enlarged distance zone and a wider intermediate zone I believe.

I have never heard of them. I tried prescription sports glasses once. They curved all the way to the sides. I could not play with them. It was a total waste of money. One shop told me they could not be made for my prescription, while another shop said they would do it, and I believed them.

I will look into this sport specific progressives.

[MAX PLY]

Sureshs, you may wish to check with your optomitrist or eye glasses store. I am near sighted and only wear my progressives for day to day things. For tennis, I do not wear the progressive lens and have a separate pair of glasses purely for tennis. You can also get some very lightweight frames that stay on your head without any sort of strap. I have a pair of TAG Heuer frames with rubber covered titanium stems--they never move while I play. You might also check into Silouettes (I used to use those). I have been playing in glasses for 20+ years and have always had separate glasses for tennis (oh, and have avoided curved lenses--simply cannot play with that distortion). Good luck.

[luvforty]

suresh all these post counts you rack up here, are making you finger strong but cardio weak lol.

suggestion - from how on, you have to run 5 miles for every post you make.... i guarantee you 50-ball rallies will be piece o cake

[VeeSe]

Better fitness is your answer. If you have no problem with balance and court orientation after 5 balls, there's no reason why the others should be different unless your body is getting too tired, then other things start to come into play. Cardio training could help a lot (some long distance running, interval workouts like 400m repeats etc can go a long way).

[Mahboob Khan]

Originally Posted by VeeSe

Better fitness is your answer. If you have no problem with balance and court orientation after 5 balls, there's no reason why the others should be different unless your body is getting too tired, then other things start to come into play. Cardio training could help a lot (some long distance running, interval workouts like 400m repeats etc can go a long way).

I was going to say this. Yes, it appears it's a physical conditioning issue. When you get tired your technique suffers and when your technique suffers your mind suffers and when your mind suffers your result suffers. It happens to all of us even to the top players.

[Anton]

Originally Posted by sureshs

There were several multi-stroke points when I played last night. I was moving side to side. I noticed that while the first couple of groundies was good, the next tended to go down in quality. I felt hurried and hassled, and caught myself jumping into the shot one time.

How do you maintain the same stroke consistency over a multi-stroke point, along with all the running? Do you do a mental and physical reset after each stroke? How do you get over the feeling of losing track of where you are and where your racket head is?

Make sure your splits steps are timed right and you are moving on bent legs and maintaining balance.

Work to improve your stamina.

Sometimes breathing is an issue too, though that is part of stamina

[LeeD]

Breathe, relax, practice, get in shape.
Even Nadal, if he doesn't do the above, is good only for short points.