I Need Some Constructive Criticism (Please Be Nice) :D

[justinyyang]

Originally Posted by samarai

For you to dramatically improve , you are gonna have to get lighter. Not 100 lbs lighter but maybe 40 60 lbs. my hitting partner now lost 160 lbs in 18 months of regular tennis and changing his eating Habits. You can do it. He went from 360 to 200 by I playing tennis 3-4 times per week and eating 6 smaller meals daily. Only snacks on fruit and granola and water.

Exercising is no problem. Finding time to do it is the problem. Eating healthier and smaller meals is also a problem too. I'm not going to deny that.

[justinyyang]

Originally Posted by TomT

justinyyang, thanks for the vid and bio. Your movement and strokes seem pretty decent to me. I'm not qualified to critique or give advice, but you've gotten some tips already that might help you to improve. Importantly, you seem to have lots of potential.

What I will offer are two suggestions regarding camera angle and video:
1. Imo, it's better to position the camera centered behind you and high enough (eg., hang it on the fence behind you about shoulder height -- or higher and angled very slightly down) to take in the whole court and all the movement of both players.

Side shots, or like the angle in your video, can be used to augment the main, centered behind, camera viewpoint.

2. Edit out everything that isn't actual playing.

Thanks for the input. I'm using my iPhone 4S so there aren't many angoes that I can get with it since it doesn't have a wide angle lense that can capture more space.

[TomT]

Originally Posted by justinyyang

Thanks for the input. I'm using my iPhone 4S so there aren't many angoes that I can get with it since it doesn't have a wide angle lense that can capture more space.

Then spend a few bucks on a decent vid camera that you can mount in back of you. Just a suggestion.

[NLBwell]

Much of the tennis advice above is good.
The most important thing in your life right now is to get healthy. You will have the onset of diabetes within the next few years and heart problems soon after that.
The weight will make you less and less active and so everything will get worse.
If you can use tennis as the motivation to get a healthy and strong body, that would be terriffic. If you can take the emotions out of it and analytically look at your food and exercise objectively as fuel and body strengthening, you will be on the right path.
Be strong.

[TomT]

What NLBwell said.

[JoeR]

Justin,

As a fellow big guy who just turned 40... the biggest advice I can give is to get healthier and lose some weight now, while you're younger.

You'll glide even easier with less weight on your frame.

Aim for small goals... say... 10lbs at a time.
I'm fairly certain you'll notice the difference.

Keep aiming for 10lb drops in your weight... and before you know it... you'll have 50-60lbs gone.

I'm about six foot myself, and was carrying about 240-250 in high school.
I got up to almost 300 a few years ago, and have dropped down to the 230 mark through healthier eating/more activity/etc.

Try not to make the same mistakes I did... I was "fine" until I killed my feet with the extra weight in my early 30s.

Now, I have to be cautious with them.

In fact, I just got back on my feet after a bad ankle sprain on the courts that laid me up for a good 5-6 weeks.

If you'd like any hints/tips/motivation/support, let me know?

[NLBwell]

We all may act like jerks a lot on the tennis forums, but we do care about you. As I said in a different context, tennis is a cult. You are one of our tribe. We watch out for each other. Expect some rude remarks, but there is a lot of kindness and support for you and your tennis here as JoeR has shown. Whatever your goals are - whether just to play tennis, or bigger things, people here will help you.

[user92626]

I find that dieting and becoming healthy is gazillion times harder than any tennis technique I came across.

I know plenty of mediocre technique players who have very good results by being skinny and running down all shots. It seems like recreational tennis is ruled by match experience and great fitness. Rarely about techniques and strokes.

[justinyyang]

Originally Posted by JoeR

Justin,

As a fellow big guy who just turned 40... the biggest advice I can give is to get healthier and lose some weight now, while you're younger.

You'll glide even easier with less weight on your frame.

Aim for small goals... say... 10lbs at a time.
I'm fairly certain you'll notice the difference.

Keep aiming for 10lb drops in your weight... and before you know it... you'll have 50-60lbs gone.

I'm about six foot myself, and was carrying about 240-250 in high school.
I got up to almost 300 a few years ago, and have dropped down to the 230 mark through healthier eating/more activity/etc.

Try not to make the same mistakes I did... I was "fine" until I killed my feet with the extra weight in my early 30s.

Now, I have to be cautious with them.

In fact, I just got back on my feet after a bad ankle sprain on the courts that laid me up for a good 5-6 weeks.

If you'd like any hints/tips/motivation/support, let me know?

I just sent you a message via e-mail through the Talk Tennis server. Check your e-mail that you used to sign up with Talk Tennis and reply back. I'm assuming that you're reply will also be sent via e-mail.

[justinyyang]

Thank you for the inspiration and drive guys. I won't be offended unless you really give a nasty reply, other than that, I know where you're all coming from.

Thank you.

[justinyyang]

Originally Posted by TomT

Then spend a few bucks on a decent vid camera that you can mount in back of you. Just a suggestion.

I could, but I am a poor college student so yeah, haha.

[bhallic24]

Originally Posted by justinyyang

I could, but I am a poor college student so yeah, haha.

Anyway, you're probably sick of hearing the weight thing. I can only imagine. So I'll comment in reply to something else: your camera.

Here's an idea. No money for a mount? Neither do I. Just follow these steps:

1: Put your Camera in a zip lock bag.
2: Cut a hole in that bag.
3. Make 'em open that bag. No J/K ... for some reason I got that song Dick in a Box stuck in my head now.

let's try again,
3. put a string through that hole. Now you can tie it up on that fence you got there.

[justinyyang]

Originally Posted by bhallic24

Anyway, you're probably sick of hearing the weight thing. I can only imagine. So I'll comment in reply to something else: your camera.

Here's an idea. No money for a mount? Neither do I. Just follow these steps:

1: Put your Camera in a zip lock bag.
2: Cut a hole in that bag.
3. Make 'em open that bag. No J/K ... for some reason I got that song Dick in a Box stuck in my head now.

let's try again,
3. put a string through that hole. Now you can tie it up on that fence you got there.

That's a pretty good idea, haha. My only concern is that the quality of the video will be obscurred by the material of the plastic bag since it's only an phone camera. Maybe I'll make a makeshift mount that will hold my phone without blocking the lense and can still also be sercurely mounted to the fence.

[samarai]

Yea most of us probably are aware of the hardships of being a debt ridden college student. Try adding another 8 years of post graduate work. Back in the day, a couple of 99 cent wendy's value menu was the daily staple. How I miss those days. Keep at it.

[sunof tennis]

Originally Posted by justinyyang

Exercising is no problem. Finding time to do it is the problem. Eating healthier and smaller meals is also a problem too. I'm not going to deny that.

About a year or so ago, my son, who was just a little younger than you, lost 75 pounds. He did it mostly by eating smaller, healthier meals (and more frequently) along with some exercise. As side benefit to losing weight, his tennis game improved dramatically.

[bhallic24]

Originally Posted by justinyyang

That's a pretty good idea, haha. My only concern is that the quality of the video will be obscurred by the material of the plastic bag since it's only an phone camera. Maybe I'll make a makeshift mount that will hold my phone without blocking the lense and can still also be sercurely mounted to the fence.

just cut a small circular hole around where the iphone camera lens is.

[NLBwell]

As for the camera, I tape my flip phone to whatever is handy.

[ShoeShiner]

Strength training especially on legs.
More knees bend when hitting low ball.

[andrehanderson]

Justin, Ill give you honest advice that might seem rude but I promise you I only intend it as helpful since Ive fluctuated in weight quite a bit throughout my 42 years--from being in great shape to being 60 pounds overweight, back to being in great shape, and to the point Im at now where I need to lose about 20.

Dont settle and dont make excuses. You´re too young to not be able to figure out a way to take a better video if what you want is feedback. You´re too young to settle for being a tennis player who loves the game but can´t reach his practical potential because the only wall is "too far" or you dont want to get kicked out of some strip mall or because your partner just likes to hit hard groundstrokes. There are plenty of sites to find tennis partners and plenty of walls everywhere that you can use.

And the weight will always be a struggle but you cant stop trying to get healthy. I know its easier to just improve your technique and beat who you can beat and never push yourself too far out of your comfort zone, but I promise you that if you manage to lose the weight and get healthy it will not only make you love the game even more, but youll see benefits throughout every aspect of your life.

Anyway, tennis is awesome and you´re awesome for loving the game and playing it well. Now be awesomer.

[jkm07]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but here's my two cents on the weight issue...

In June, I weighed nearly 240 lbs. but after playing singles against a maddeningly-consistent friend and making smart choices about what to eat, I'm now at 190 lbs. and looking to shed at least 15 more. I'm slightly taller than you at 5'8 in.

The biggest challenge is controlling what food AND how much food we put in our mouths. When first starting out, I think it's too much to ask a person to monitor both the 'what' and 'how much' components -- that's why most diets fail at the beginning.

What really worked for me is focusing on the 'how much' part. Eat what you want, but in portions. Basically it comes down to calorie counting -- 2000 cal per day and only drink water. Yes, it's okay to have chilli cheese fries for lunch, but have breakfast = a bowl of cereal and dinner = something really light (for me, a heavy lunch usually fills me for the rest of the day). Choosing what to eat became easier once I got the calorie counting part down.

I hope it helps and good luck!