An honest opinion of my game

[IsnerFan]

try to get your racket head below the ball on your backhand to generate more topspin. Also, you service motion looks exactly like isners.

[Up&comer]

Forehand is fine. Footwork is really busy, almost to the point it looks like it is forced. Not a bad thing, it just looks like maybe you were exaggerating for a video (no problems there). Backhand...it looks like you cut your swing off too soon and, quite frankly, it looks like a much more forced stroke than your forehand. Serve is good, maybe try a little higher ball toss and get some more extension. Volleys looked good, a little bit too choppy for my tastes on the backhand.

Looking at your TR, it's interesting to see that you post some good scores against good players, but you also have losses against lesser players that isn't indicative of that form. For example, you took a set off a solid 4 star, but you also lost convincingly to a 2 star. I think it would be interesting to see a match video, just to see of you maybe keep the racket head speed up against those 3 and 4 stars or, more importantly, you don't against lesser players.

Anyway, nice video. Thanks for posting.

[shake&bake]

Thanks for all the comments guys, I really appreciate them. My ranking is definitely not where it should be, I played a decent amount of tournaments at the end of my junior year but I mainly focused on ITAs this summer which dont count on TRN, and I had some good wins and matches there. The past couple of months I havent played many tournaments at all, I lost my grantfather and my uncle and my head just wasnt together. The last tournament I played was the NC State Closed, a huge tournament for NC players, where they played all the doubles first, and my partner and I made a run and lost in the finals to the 1 seeds. I had a great draw for singles and was crusing in my first round, up a set and a break, and then I strained my Achilles. I tried to play through it and didnt want to retire but the guy came back, and I could barely walk in my backdraw match. Thanks guys for your opinions, Ive got some stuff to work on and I really appreciate it!

[TCF]

================================================== ==

[pvaudio]

Although I am not his level, I agree with U&C on the footwork. Footwork should be something natural in that the top half of your body and the lower half of your body should not influence one another in an obvious manner. That sounds stupid, so let me give two examples. You have a forehand which is three strides away. If you run to the shot, simply run and get it, you will be able to swing at the ball, but since you chose to just sprint to it, the stroke will not be your normal forehand stroke. Instead, if you choose to move into position to hit it, you can hit your normal forehand stroke and then use your footwork once again to get back into position. In the prior case, your footwork dictated exactly how you could hit the ball which lead to an inconsistent result. If you moved to the ball instead, you could stroke it like you do on the majority of shots.

If you look at players like Federer, Hewitt and Kohlschreiber, you'll notice something similar: they always hit the same fluid stroke regardless of their position because their footwork allows them to get there and get back to hit it as such. Other plays with more poor footwork end up hitting desperation shots and then they have trouble recovering. Your footwork in this case, is unknown. It is quite obvious that you're forcing yourself to have active feet for the video, but that forcing looks very unnatural for the strokes that you're hitting. I would take another video with matchplay and then upload a portion about halfway through a set. If your footwork is outstanding, then you won't even be thinking about it and it will come through. If not, you'll see that when you watch it. Since your strokes, (in this case the upper body in my philosophical tennis Zen speech) look fine, I would bet immediately that that's why you've had great results against better players because you're super focused on making sure everything is clicking all the time, whereas against lower players you have not. I could be completely wrong and would like to know if I am.

In short: active feet on video does not mean good footwork. It's obvious that is not your natural footwork because you would be exhausted within a single game if it was. Video some real points and then see what it looks like. Best of.

[basil J]

For three years of playing, I think you look great. I agree on the footwork, calm it down and get a smoother flow to your game and it will carry over to your strokes. best of luck and keep working!

[Rktennis1]

I'm currently a college coach...let me give you my opinion. I'm going to be as direct and honest as I can be as if I was recruiting you.
First of all I like your game and your being proactive. Quite honestly most coaches will never watch that video, we don't have to. We can see your record and the kids you beat and the ones you don't. I use the recruiting videos to look at foreign kids, as it's my only option. Besides, if I see a video, I want to see a video of actual sanctioned tournament play.

Now as far as level goes d1 would be tough. I would never sell a kid short though. Too put it in perspective, my naia school brought in a kid #478 in the country and he's my #9 guy and will never play. Its tough. If you want to sell yourself to a division 1 school and would sell a school on your upside/potential and work ethic. You've only been playing three years, just think of the strides you could make, thats how I'd approach it.

Now a personal note, some advice... Does it have to be d1? Is that just a personal goal, or your coach recommended it? There are a lot of great d2, d3, naia schools in the southeast. It sucks to be the number #10 guy on a d1 squad and work your butt off and give up so many fun aspects of college to never play, trust me. I would go to a school where you will get most of school paid for, get a great education, make the lineup, and still get to be a normal kid.....my opinion. But if it has to be d1, you can do it, but you have to decide if it's worth it.

If you want some recommendations for schools or about the whole process, let me know. I used to be an assistant coach at one of the schools on your list, and I'd be glad to help.

[Cheetah]

Really good posts in this thread. Rktennis1 has some good advice I think.

Very very good tennis for only 3 years. It would be interesting to see your game in another year.

[boramiNYC]

For just 3 years of training you are playing very good tennis. But, you are competing against players who played much much longer with similar intensity. Keep it up and keep working hard but it's time to find some high level instructions and coaching to further your development.

A couple tips. I love the energy on your footwork but it's a little over the top being on the balls of your feet. That wastes energy and reduce solidity on your shots. And you gotta learn weight transfer not just putting your body in the middle of your feet all the time. Try to learn putting your weight on the heels more and only go for the balls of the feet when needed. This will give more stability and solidity for each foot and be able to transfer weight for the benefit of your shots.

Your backhand. The contact point is too low relative to your hands and it's not on the most efficient swing path. Try to lower your hands and lift up the racquet head for the contact point. Swing your hands lower than the ball not level. This should improve solidity and consistency of your backhand.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

A couple tips. I love the energy on your footwork but it's a little over the top being on the balls of your feet. That wastes energy and reduce solidity on your shots. And you gotta learn weight transfer not just putting your body in the middle of your feet all the time. Try to learn putting your weight on the heels more and only go for the balls of the feet when needed. This will give more stability and solidity for each foot and be able to transfer weight for the benefit of your shots.

Put weight on the heels?? Huh?

[LeeD]

This "stay on your toes" thing is ridiculous. It can only be maintained for a very short time.
Your calf's are strong enough to support your body full time. Yes, push off your heels, ending with the balls of your feet.

[boramiNYC]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

Put weight on the heels?? Huh?

yes for this kid. his heels rarely touches the ground. pros rest their weight on heels to initiate their strokes most of the time and only lift them when needed.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

yes for this kid. his heels rarely touches the ground. pros rest their weight on heels to initiate their strokes most of the time and only lift them when needed.

Yes his heels don't touch enough but

I'm not 100% sure but... I disagree.

Imo the pros do not put their weight on the heels to initiate a stroke (talking fh here).
The weight goes on the inside of the rear leg, on the inside of the foot, with the head and center of gravity in front of the rear leg. The heal will touch the ground but the weight is not on the heel, the weight is put in front of the right leg on the prep and if they were to lift their left leg they would fall over forward. This slight 'unstability' helps them initiate the weight transfer. Putting weight on your heel will cause you to lean back.

Maybe an established coach can weigh in on this...

[Cheetah]

hmm.... i'd like to retract my previous statement. Maybe you are referring to an earlier point in the stroke then i am. i am talking about when they begin the forward swing. i think you mean the beginning of when they are planting the outside leg. right?

[LeeD]

Yes, at the forward swing, a strong player can get on their balls of their feet. On the initial plant, there is almost full body weight involved.

[boramiNYC]

The heel to ball of foot weight transition is a very important control point to initiate the stroke. If you are not too used to this practice balancing on the heels only. The feet outward thing helps in this aspect as well.

[sureshs]

Check about NCAA regulations about your coach endorsing you in the video. Somewhere I read that you cannot even leave any extra comments about yourself in the text section below the video (after posting the video).

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by Rktennis1

I'm currently a college coach...let me give you my opinion. I'm going to be as direct and honest as I can be as if I was recruiting you.
First of all I like your game and your being proactive. Quite honestly most coaches will never watch that video, we don't have to. We can see your record and the kids you beat and the ones you don't. I use the recruiting videos to look at foreign kids, as it's my only option. Besides, if I see a video, I want to see a video of actual sanctioned tournament play.

Now as far as level goes d1 would be tough. I would never sell a kid short though. Too put it in perspective, my naia school brought in a kid #478 in the country and he's my #9 guy and will never play. Its tough. If you want to sell yourself to a division 1 school and would sell a school on your upside/potential and work ethic. You've only been playing three years, just think of the strides you could make, thats how I'd approach it.

Now a personal note, some advice... Does it have to be d1? Is that just a personal goal, or your coach recommended it? There are a lot of great d2, d3, naia schools in the southeast. It sucks to be the number #10 guy on a d1 squad and work your butt off and give up so many fun aspects of college to never play, trust me. I would go to a school where you will get most of school paid for, get a great education, make the lineup, and still get to be a normal kid.....my opinion. But if it has to be d1, you can do it, but you have to decide if it's worth it.

If you want some recommendations for schools or about the whole process, let me know. I used to be an assistant coach at one of the schools on your list, and I'd be glad to help.

Thanks for your imput. It's good to read the perspective from someone currently in the trenches. One thing we don't know are what his academic goals are, and if a D1 school is necessary for him to meet those goals. But, assuming that his priority is tennis, and considering that he's only been playing for 3 years and likely to improve a lot in the next few years, do you think it make sense for him to play for a D2 program and, if he can improve enough in 2 years, transfer to a D1 program? I bring this up because I know a few players who did this successfully many decades ago. But, I don't know if that would be feasible today.

[Rktennis1]

I totally agree. I have no clue what his academic ambitions are, if they are lofty I'd definetly recommend a smaller school. If a certain academic program at a d1 school interests him and he wants to walk on, great. As far as transferring d2 to d1, sure he could, but I dont know why you'd want to, unless you are in a bad situation. Truth is unless you are at an elite school competing for a d1 national championship, the experience is pretty much the same.

I would always put academics first and graduate with as little debt as possible, thats my opinion. This coming from someone who is paid to win college tennis matches.

[shake&bake]

Thanks so much for the comments guys, they really help. Academics are always first, and I am a very good student (4.0, lots of AP classes and extracurriculars) with a good work ethic. Im definitely weighing in D2 and D3 schools, I just want to get as good as I can get with the time I have left and try to reach as high as I can, and from there choose a college where I can keep improving. I really appreciate the comments guys, they really help.