[video] Please criticize my strokes

[skandy]

Couple of videos of me hitting with a ball machine -

Forehands - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPG0mVTmsA
Backhands - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5NkgIsdsEg

I've been playing from age 6 till 12, then stopped playing and started again last summer - 17 years later at the age 29. It wasn't exactly the perfect start I hoped for - I broke my dominant arm in February (snowboarding), then got a tennis elbow, sprained both wrists, got a shoulder injury and finally rolled an ankle at the end of the season. Funny, huh? I thought I'm done, but the amazing news is that all those injuries have healed during the winter and they don't seem to bother me anymore, so I really want to keep it this way Now I work out a little, stretch, properly warm up etc. My main concern is whether my technique is arm-friendly, especially on a backhand side, which I self-taught last year (used to have 2hbh as a child but now it feels awkward). Of course, any other tips and suggestions are more then welcome.

Please disregard the 2-handed backhands on the video.

Thanks!
-Andrey

[BravoRed691]

Ooo lala...aren't you tired? Not much to say but thanx for posting! Im sure more qualified people will comment soon enough.

Br

[C_Urala]

on your BH.

1. You put your right foot in parallel with the back line. This blocks your hips and hinders your weight transfer.
2. You open your shoulders too much. Instead of low-to-high motion with your hitting arm, you do uncoiling. And you try to impart the topspin only by supination. I think you should try to bend your knees more.

To prevent injuries, just keep your wrist firm and the elbow extended at the contact.
my 2 cents

[C_Urala]

you asked to disregard your 2hbh. Yet, I'd say you are late with your backswing. It seems too short and because of it you just muscle you shots.

Well, I know about 2hbh not much..

[madmanfool]

On forehand:
First thing i notice is you use very little backswing (on forehand and backhand). If you compare it with Safin, you both turned your upper body, got your left arm out in front. But the difference is that Safin also has his right shoulder pulled back. Second thing i want to point out is at your followthrough, your right leg is still lingering somewhere in the back. Pull it along so you end up with both feet parallel.

[herosol]

i have to say like with alot of other people, you have good strokes that you don't necessarily have to change it, unless you aren't getting results from them. Your contact, and your launch off the stringbed looks really nice, and i have to say very-well practiced.

I really like your split steps and footwork, and what i notice the most is your relaxed look and ESPECIALLY your upper body rotation is massive, which generates good pace i would see.

But just one thing on the backhand:
I have said this alot across the forums, because its not a must change but i really think it helps.

On your backhand, your right foot should be atleast 45 degrees pointed towards the net. That way, you can bend your knees, because if your right foot is parallel to the net, you strike the ball, but your leg cannot propel forward, rather you depend on your big upper body rotation to generate the pace. If you look on youtube for Gasquet's backhand from 2007 Wimbledon, you will see how much his foot is pointed towards the net, and how low he bends his leg. I mean he is literally almost touching the ground with his knees.

Actually ill show you it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQxb4ZtR-4

thats mainly it from my minimal knowledge :[

[C_Urala]

Originally Posted by madmanfool

... your right leg is still lingering somewhere in the back. .

Yes. And it means that you do not fully transfer your weight into FH either. It looks like you start retrieving for your next shot even before you finish a previous one.

P.S. However, the comparison with Safin is not valid. The pics are shot from different angles..

[Josherer]

Originally Posted by skandy

Couple of videos of me hitting with a ball machine -

Forehands - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPG0mVTmsA
Backhands - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5NkgIsdsEg

I've been playing from age 6 till 12, then stopped playing and started again last summer - 17 years later at the age 29. It wasn't exactly the perfect start I hoped for - I broke my dominant arm in February (snowboarding), then got a tennis elbow, sprained both wrists, got a shoulder injury and finally rolled an ankle at the end of the season. Funny, huh? I thought I'm done, but the amazing news is that all those injuries have healed during the winter and they don't seem to bother me anymore, so I really want to keep it this way Now I work out a little, stretch, properly warm up etc. My main concern is whether my technique is arm-friendly, especially on a backhand side, which I self-taught last year (used to have 2hbh as a child but now it feels awkward). Of course, any other tips and suggestions are more then welcome.

Please disregard the 2-handed backhands on the video.

Thanks!
-Andrey

You need to put your weight forward on your backhand, each time you hit it you are going backwards.

[Pusher]

Really nice strokes.

Your FH has little wasted movement and you have a compact swing that helps when taking the ball early which you seem to do. I wouldn't change a thing.

Likewise on the one hander. Compact and efficient.

Yeah, there are some minor points to be made but you seem to hit with confidence and you have light feet. All strokes for players evolve over time and I suspect you will incorporate minor changes as you see fit-but you appear will trained. I suspect you're hard to handle in match play.

Good video and thanks for posting it.

Edit: I took another look at your one hander. I suspect it is a consistent shot for you but as you are practicing you might try to get more of a unit turn. Bring that leading shoulder a little futher back-maybe under your chin. That may give you more power and spin. Concentrate on moving forward with this stroke as many people seem to come up with their momentum going back along the baseline.

[baek57]

imo you have very nice strokes overall. there were 2 things which stood out to me. one being the front foot on your backhand which has been mentioned in earlier posts. the other is it seems to me like you dont even look at the contact spot... which may or may not be the cause for the shank on the backhand. there are other real minor things... but those 2 were what stood out right when i saw it.

[Vision84]

Forehand could be more explosive. What I mean is coiling up more with more hip and shoulder rotation and beginning with all your weight on your right leg and then uncoiling like a spring which will force you to rotate and your right leg to land foreward more. I see you coiling up a bit but you should be able to rotate further on the backswing. This video explains it well.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=whpVYbiJpFs&feature=related

[35ft6]

Yeah, you could probably take your racket back further on the forehand, but there's really nothing wrong with it. It's fine. Would like to see if it falls apart when you're hitting on the move, but it's pretty sound.

The backhand, you should try to turn your shoulders more on the backswing. But you're at least trying to do the right things with it. I feel like your racket is a little too closed on contact sometimes and that a good player could break down your backhand pretty quickly, but it's a really nice start.

[WBF]

You seem quite fit, but there was something odd about your footwork for the few shots where you were shuffling back and forth between shots. Your forehand stroke itself looked good from what I can tell in the video, although as people have mentioned, you could probably use less arm and more power from the rest of your body.

You should take some footage while playing with a decent player who moves you around a little more than a ball machine. It would be much more helpful. Also set the camera up behind you vs. in front, so we can se the results of the shots. People often point out minute and stupid inefficiencies in professional level strokes, so it's helpful to see whether the form being used is actually working or not.

[skandy]

Thanks for the great advises! I will comment on them when I get to work

[skandy]

Originally Posted by C_Urala

on your BH.

1. You put your right foot in parallel with the back line. This blocks your hips and hinders your weight transfer.
2. You open your shoulders too much. Instead of low-to-high motion with your hitting arm, you do uncoiling. And you try to impart the topspin only by supination. I think you should try to bend your knees more.
3. you asked to disregard your 2hbh. Yet, I'd say you are late with your backswing. It seems too short and because of it you just muscle you shots.

1. Totally agree. I was a bit surprised to see it on the video, I thought my footwork is more solid. Looks like I just need one extra step.

2. (regarding uncoiling) This is actually what I consciously tried to do to be more aggressive on the backhand side. Good point about bending my knees more

3. The 2hbh is there simply because a friend of mine (camera operator) asked me to show him how to do it (he's a beginner) and I don't have video editing software yet . Last time I hit it 18 years ago, now it feels completely unnatural to me.

Originally Posted by madmanfool

On forehand:
First thing i notice is you use very little backswing (on forehand and backhand). If you compare it with Safin, you both turned your upper body, got your left arm out in front. But the difference is that Safin also has his right shoulder pulled back. Second thing i want to point out is at your followthrough, your right leg is still lingering somewhere in the back. Pull it along so you end up with both feet parallel.

Honestly, I don't think my forehand backswing is "very little" (not sure about the backhand, but it doesn't look "very" little to me). If you look again at the pictures of Safin's and myself (by the way, I think those pictures put together are the pinnacle of my tennis "career", I'm so flattered - thanks a lot for doing it! ), you'll see that our shoulders are orthogonal to the base line. The difference is that he is using a semi-closed stance on that shot; I used closed stance.

[Mike Cottrill]

Originally Posted by skandy

Thanks for the great advises! I will comment on them when I get to work

BH.
Do you notice any fatigue or pain in your right knee or ankle? The placement of your foot seems like it may add stress to these areas. Also may make it harder on your knee to bend.

[skandy]

Originally Posted by BravoRed691

Ooo lala...aren't you tired?

Not really, I didn't run a lot on those videos. The only thing I'm tired of is being injured

Originally Posted by herosol

...On your backhand, your right foot should be atleast 45 degrees pointed towards the net. That way, you can bend your knees, because if your right foot is parallel to the net, you strike the ball, but your leg cannot propel forward, rather you depend on your big upper body rotation to generate the pace. If you look on youtube for Gasquet's backhand from 2007 Wimbledon, you will see how much his foot is pointed towards the net, and how low he bends his leg. I mean he is literally almost touching the ground with his knees.

Actually ill show you it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQxb4ZtR-4

thats mainly it from my minimal knowledge :[

Thanks! The footwork on my backhand is now #1 on my priority list. Awesome video of Gasquet, btw.

[skandy]

BTW, C_Urala, are you really "С Урала" (from beyond the Urals) ?

[smoothtennis]

Very nice strokes.

The only comment I'll offer is on the one hand backhand - looks pretty good aready, but as a few mentioned, and this stuck out at me, is the limited shoulder turn there. The racket could go back a bit more, and the uncoiling will happen naturally with your experience and timing. Just get more of a turn, and keep it all smooth. And watch the elbow bending, make sure you are not losing power with the elbow being bent too much there. I think you could get it a 'little' staighter with great results for little work. You are fine tuning now...no big changes.

All in all, I saw a lot of things I really liked. You stay balanced, you keep your torso upright which facilitates great core rotation without comprimising your balance. It's nice to see a lot of good grooved mechanics going on there.

[Nellie]

On your backhand, it looks to me that:

1) your contact point is really close to your body and right hip. At times, I think this causes stress on the arm because you are not getting good extension on some of the hits

2) as the video goes on, it looks like you are not getting a good step into the ball, and trying to torque to the right and open your body, while faling backwards. There are some style differences in the 1 handed (Gasquet), but I find that it often works better to stay more closed and finish more in line with the direction of the ball.