fast track to 4.5

[luvforty]

say you get a joe six pack, average build, athleticism everything, in late 20s, guy is now a 3.0, and wants to get to 4.5 in the shortest time possible.... how would you do it?

I have an idea - I'd let him only use the continental grip, and work on serves, volleys, baseline chip shots.... and his strategy will be S&V, or delayed S&V on serves, and chip-n-charge on return games?

is this idea crazy or not?

[Ducker]

well its a bit crazy. no matter what you gotta put in the practice time. it comes down to hrs of practice

But i guess yes. serve and volley would be the way to go.

[Headshotterer]

Don't underestimate footwork. The better mover you are, the better you can hit offensive shots and keep up in the higher levels.

[Tmano]

If you can a good tennis instructor, then perseverance, practice but that kind that aims to build your strokes and serve and foot work, endurance, stamina, wiling to get to every single ball to push your self over the limit. Mentality because you may think it's not that hard to get to a low 4.0 but to get to a solid 4.5 it's a whole different story....

[HunterST]

Get him good coaching, and strokes that produce a lot of TS, height, and depth. Then get him hitting against hard hitters so he can maintain good depth and placement against good players.

Have him practice attacking and putting away mid court and short balls. Basically building a tough counter puncher.

Do this 2 hours per day, 5 days per week.

[LeeD]

There IS no fast track.
And some players can learn to play net, while other's never ever come close.
Just gotta hit a ton of balls against a boat load of different good players. No short cuts, no fast track.
How much time you put in affects how good you get how quick.
And a sports competitive background helps tons.

[HunterST]

Originally Posted by LeeD

There IS no fast track.
And some players can learn to play net, while other's never ever come close.
Just gotta hit a ton of balls against a boat load of different good players. No short cuts, no fast track.
How much time you put in affects how good you get how quick.
And a sports competitive background helps tons.

Agree with this. That's why I was forcing my imaginary player in post to practice 10 hours per week to get in the practice time.

Although, I do think it would take less time to become a defensive counter punching 4.5, (especially for fast people) than an attacking all court player.

[rkelley]

The fastest way is to get a good coach, develop a solid foundation of proper strokes and grips, and hit a lot of balls. Most real people find this difficult due some combination of time and money, but that's the fastest way.

Beyond that I don't think there are any gimmicks. A 4.5 is a very solid player. They can hit hard, with spin, direction and pace, can hit every shot at least passably and most shots pretty well. You can teach yourself, you can not play every day, but then it will take longer.

[mikeler]

There is no fast tracking but a big serve can hide a lot of other weaknesses at the 4.5 level.

[max]

Originally Posted by LeeD

There IS no fast track.
And some players can learn to play net, while other's never ever come close.
Just gotta hit a ton of balls against a boat load of different good players. No short cuts, no fast track.
How much time you put in affects how good you get how quick.
And a sports competitive background helps tons.

Lee: good stuff. Lotsa balls against lotsa different players.

[rkelley]

Originally Posted by mikeler

There is no fast tracking but a big serve can hide a lot of other weaknesses at the 4.5 level.

This is true at any level. Can you say Goran?

[babolat king]

Originally Posted by rkelley

This is true at any level. Can you say Goran?

Goran's weakness was his mind. He was the most talented tennis players ever. Along with Rios, there are many that believe these two players underachieved with the talent that was at their disposal.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by rkelley

This is true at any level. Can you say Goran?

Good point.

[LeeD]

Basically, you have to apply a 3-4 year full time with coaching program to make lower level 4.5's. That's starting with better than average athletic and genes, NO injuries, and no outside pressures.

[Vertiz]

The "fast track" is countless hours practicing on the court. working out in the gym, and playing as much competitive tennis as you can. A good coach is almost essential as well. Note, a bad coach will not help you much, and may hurt you in the long run. In my opinion you should not teach/force him to play a certain way that is effective against lower level players, only to plateau at 4.5. Let him work hard, develop his own identity, and then see if he can maximize his potential. Why stop at 4.5 when he can go to 5? Wish him the best of luck.

[goran_ace]

There is no fast track. You can get to 4.0 in a short time based on athleticism and strokes, but it's a big jump to 4.5. You aren't going to win matches at 4.5 on strokes alone, you have to know how to play a match. Everyone at 4.5 is capable of hitting a decent ball and players tend to be well rounded enough that there aren't glaring weaknesses to exploit. You're up against some pretty savvy players incl. teaching pros, former college and high school players who have 10-20+ years of match experience. There's nothing you can throw at them they haven't seen before.

[slowfox]

Why do adults have a more difficult time learning than our youngster counterparts? What was that thread a while back about these kids laughing at 5.0s?

Anyway, being an adult player myself, I often wonder why I can't just "play" like these high school kids (who smoke everyone at the park).

[LeeD]

I think if an adult did not have to work, placate a S/O, and nvagate his own way thru life, adults would learn tennis as fast as any kid.
School is not that hard, I'm sorry to say. Some people make it harder than other's, but you gotta consider your overall goal. If getting straight A's is necessary, then your priority is there, and not in tennis.
As a 3rd year player, at age 27, my practice partners were No1's and 2's of MissionHIgh, CityCollege of SF, and the top local juniors around SanFrancisco.
They considered me good enough to set regular practice dates with, and most became my doubles partners for at least a few tourneys.
A couple went on to WIN pro WTA tourneys, while they were still my regular monthly practice partners.

[luvforty]

good feedback everyone.... however it sorta got off target..

hard work is a given.. i said fast track, not instant track.

my real question is, with conti grip alone, is 4.5 achievable faster than otherwise (you had to learn sw fh and 2hbh).

and i said 4.5 because that's about as far as you can go.... i know some conti only players, and i can say their upper limit is 4.5

[LeeD]

Conti grip works only if you have superior quickness and speed, since your topspin strokes aren't as powerful, and your passing shots don't dip as much, or spin enough to bother another volleyer.
McEnroe can beat most top level 5.5's, using his conti grip. He's like 52 years old. Given a 22 year old body, he'd be even better.
But since the grass is always greener.....la la, if you chose only conti grip, you'd be doubting yourself constantly, because every other good player uses specific grips to hit each shot.
It would be tough to counter hard topspin high hopping shots with only a conti grip, since a slice is slower than a topspin ball, it creates less angle, and you only have a slice off that high bouncing ball.
You can try, but your groundies will lack pace with consistency.
And volley skills are not for every player. You need a hit and forget attitude, believing your net game will prevail in the end.
It is NOT the current winning tennis philosophy.