Feedback on my strokes (video)

[shojun25]

I haven't posted a video in here for a long time, I would like to see what you guys think.

PS. I am the guy in the grey shirt/ white shorts. Also, my hitting partner was not hitting well today, but he would appreciate everyone's advice(s) too.

http://youtu.be/Ehgj60SNc5M

[TomT]

Originally Posted by shojun25

I haven't posted a video in here for a long time, I would like to see what you guys think.

PS. I am the guy in the grey shirt. Also, my hitting partner was not hitting well today, but he would appreciate everyone's advice(s) too.

http://youtu.be/Ehgj60SNc5M

Thanks for the vid shojun25. Nice and clear. Good sound. Definitely make some more soon with (very important) the camera positioned a bit higher.

I'm not qualified to critique. Groundstrokes look very nice to me. I can imagine you guys having some great hitting sessions and playing some exciting matches.

You're in the near court, right? (Far court looks like grey shirt to me also.)

[Moz]

Only watched a minute. Guy this end doesn't get in a ready position, is very upright and moves as if he's browsing a supermarket aisle. Where's the intensity?

[gbgTennis]

Hey there,

I'll just point out the most obvious things one forehand aswell as backhand that i saw.

In general i like your Backhand better technique wise, especially your slice looks nice.

Forehand:
As Moz stated before you don't go into a readyposition. You just stand to the ball the way you walked towards it.
You don't bend your knees, but in order to do that you need to improve your preperation first.
Look at your forehand and backhand in comparison. You will notice that on the backhand side you rotate your body more, and you also transfer your weight into the ball better.

On the forehand i suggest you to practice either doing a little hop into the ball as you hit, or just walk through it, doing the "walking step", in order to improve your weighttransfer.
In order to fix the issue with your preperation let your partner hit far into your forehandside, with not too much pace, so you'll have to walk up to it. Then when hitting, take an open stance and bend your right knee. Rotate your body about 90° clockwise and perform your stroke. When practicing just put more focus on your stance and kneebending than you normally would.


I like your backhand, it looks solid. Just one real easy improvement i'd suggest is the swing. Something many people do is start their backswing very high, usually because they learned that way on the forehand side and transfer it to the backhand aswell. With a two-handed backhand however that is not ideal, as it doesn't give you the extra acceleration it does on the forehand side, but makes your timing much harder. Maybe try to just take the racquethead back at about the height of the waist. You don't need to take it back far or high, just something like 45° counter-clockwise. To see that in performed in perfection look at Safin/Nalbandian Backhands.

I hope my feedback helps.

Greetings

[pvaudio]

Come on! Intensity! I don't know if that's what the younger generation is taught these days, but you stop moving after you hit a ball. Eyes open, scanning your opponent for the shot he's going to hit, and be on your toes to hit it. You get jammed many times because while you do split step, you split step onto flat feet. Get those feet set, shoulder turn, stroke, recover, split step, shoulder turn, stroke, recover, etc.

That's all I end up saying on most of these videos these days. I'm a huge believer that simply moving better improves every aspect. It lets you max out your strokes by letting you hit them how you want every single time. Once you can do that, THEN start changing their mechanics.

[LeeD]

Gotta agree with pvaudio.
Very little effort used in the vid.
Play like that, and you'll lose to a tenacious 3.5.
Play like that, you'll stay lowest level 4.0 foreever.
Add some energy, the base is there.

[BaboFan]

Solid strokes but lazy lazy! Not worth watching of no effort

[shojun25]

Thanks for the criticism, everyone. I really appreciate it.

Honestly, this is my first time seeing myself play on video since approx. 3 years ago. I imagine myself moving a lot better, but it is completely different than how I imagine myself playing. I'm actually pretty embarrassed and disappointed to myself because after years of playing tennis and critically analyzing every stroke, I forget to play with intensity in my rallies. I agree I need to move with more intent, I have no excuses after seeing this video.

I will post another video after midterms, and hopefully I am able to incorporate every advice mentioned. Also, I will try to get a video of my serve. It seems everyone here are very detailed on that part of tennis.