Gameplan

[Tropikal_Knights]

I have posted a video of me before............people said I was prolly a 3.5 but could be 4.0 if I had a good serve..........

Have played collegiate tennis d-3 number 3 in my team and some matches against d-2 colleges such as pomona , redlands back in the day. Dont know what their rankings are now.

Was always a hard hitter with a big forehand, useless backhand(now acceptable backhand), average slice, stupendous movement and great fitness..

The issue I always had similar to another thread here is not hitting a heavy ball. Have tried the hips rotating before the ball, early takeback whathave you but still the ball topspun slowly untill I flattened it out and really took a cut at the ball. How to hit a heavy ball?

Have a tourney coming up in which I am coming up against a hard but erratic hitter and a pusher...with an insane slice and good volley decent serve.....
I normally tend to rally with the baseliner but he tries to take advantage of my weaker backhand and attacks it.......Any tactics I can use against him....I try to move around the BH and hit a FH but because the ball is not heavy that effect is not there untill I take a big risk ....

As for the pusher his slice stays so low that many a time I frame the ball on my FH against him and do not have time to employ my weapons......I either wait for the slice to reach me or when I try to stay low and attack it with my two handed BH it goes out.....Again any advice?

Thanks

[Tropikal_Knights]

so many views no responses .....

[Bagumbawalla]

My feeleing is that 80% of all the questions, here, go something like- I want to win against all these players who constantly take advantage of my weaknesses and faults; what can I do to crush them in tomorrow's match.

And 90% of the answers would be something like- do your best tomorrow- then set yourself out on a program to start improving and becomming an all-round player- confident at hitting every shot. Get some lessons. Find a good, reliable practice partner with similar goals, work on getting into shape. Work on drills. Practice. Find a good practice wall and work on your "heavy" ball. Much of the effect comes from preparation, smoothness of stroke, timing, finding a good blend of forward momentum and topspin.

[S&V Specialist]

OP: How well developed is your net game/touch shots?

[Tropikal_Knights]

Originally Posted by Bagumbawalla

My feeleing is that 80% of all the questions, here, go something like- I want to win against all these players who constantly take advantage of my weaknesses and faults; what can I do to crush them in tomorrow's match.

And 90% of the answers would be something like- do your best tomorrow- then set yourself out on a program to start improving and becomming an all-round player- confident at hitting every shot. Get some lessons. Find a good, reliable practice partner with similar goals, work on getting into shape. Work on drills. Practice. Find a good practice wall and work on your "heavy" ball. Much of the effect comes from preparation, smoothness of stroke, timing, finding a good blend of forward momentum and topspin.

interesting nick.

I should have been more clear.......I am self taught.........Played the game for roughly 10 years....am reasonably good.......what I lack for in shots I sometimes make up with strategy.....played D 3 tennis in Cali for 4 years.......

I was hesitant to post the tourney bit because as expected people concentrate more on that than anything else I posted...........I have had the ability to hit good topspin have done some drills previously as well bit they cannot teach you a heavy ball.........

So let me be more precise forget the other stuff....I just need some tips on a heavy ball

[Tropikal_Knights]

Originally Posted by S&V Specialist

OP: How well developed is your net game/touch shots?

In my college days not bad.......even now the touch is there.but ever since I switched from Head to Donnay after like 10 yrs of playing with the Prestige mid the Donnay mid has a thin frame so at times feel like I cannot get enough mass behind the volley.........So I tend to break my wrist or lose control off the racquet head....

Someone told me to try to bend low for the volleys and keep the racquet head above the ball...........my two issues with the volley are

1. If the incoming ball is low how to put pace on it and push it deep.

2. Sometimes after hitting a topspin FH and approaching the net the opponent who may be a pusher just floats the ball back up with no pace and when I try to kill the ball with the volley especially on the FH volley side I sometimes hit it in the tramlines........any advice please

[luvforty]

where is the video?

[Relinquis]

RE volleys:

1 - on low balls (below the net) hit angles (make your opponent move) rather than trying to hit deep as you will most likely hit an easy shot for your opponent. (it will sit up).

2 - two ways to improve Long term: (a) practice your swing volley; short term: (b) don't go for a putaway volley, just a very tough volley for your opponent (position, angle, low hieght, etc...). You might have to hit another easier putaway volley after that, but you will have a wide open court.

[Bagumbawalla]

I don't believe there is just one style or method that generates a "heavy" ball.

One guy I play has hardly any take-back, very compact motion- the ball becomes an oblong, hissing missle that hurls itself at your racket.

A friends daughter,not even 5' tall, maybe 100lbs, uncoils into every stroke like a human spring. The ball is surprisingly hard.

Another player, an older guy, has a very fluid, classical, style. He hits the ball so seemingly effortlessly that you are not prepared for the effect on your racket.

What do these various styles have in common, if anything? I would say, 1- racket head speed at impact, 2- depth of placement, 3-lots of spin, but not at the expense of forward velocity.

I could not find your video (deleted?)- so, whatever your style, you need to get set up so you can get the racket head "whipping" smoothly through the ball- really fast- with topspin, but mostly with forward velocity. Note, you mention being able to hit topspin, but you really need the ball speed.

To practice, try hitting lower over the net and deeper in the court. Stay loose, don't force the racket, strive for racket head speed. And, you will need to practice.

[Tropikal_Knights]

Originally Posted by luvforty

where is the video?

Brother had posted them before but deleted them .......now am in the process of uploading them again.having problems with ytube so am trying vimeo and the like

[Tropikal_Knights]

Originally Posted by Relinquis

RE volleys:

1 - on low balls (below the net) hit angles (make your opponent move) rather than trying to hit deep as you will most likely hit an easy shot for your opponent. (it will sit up).

2 - two ways to improve Long term: (a) practice your swing volley; short term: (b) don't go for a putaway volley, just a very tough volley for your opponent (position, angle, low hieght, etc...). You might have to hit another easier putaway volley after that, but you will have a wide open court.

Thanks brother..the issue I have with the Donnay being a thin frame is that on hard shots cant get enough mass behind the volley and the racquet head moves in my hand........Should one have a firm wrist on the volley?

I have wrist issues and sometimes the wrist breaks on impact ..........the angle bit sounds good.

[Tropikal_Knights]

Originally Posted by Bagumbawalla

I don't believe there is just one style or method that generates a "heavy" ball.

One guy I play has hardly any take-back, very compact motion- the ball becomes an oblong, hissing missle that hurls itself at your racket.

A friends daughter,not even 5' tall, maybe 100lbs, uncoils into every stroke like a human spring. The ball is surprisingly hard.

Another player, an older guy, has a very fluid, classical, style. He hits the ball so seemingly effortlessly that you are not prepared for the effect on your racket.

What do these various styles have in common, if anything? I would say, 1- racket head speed at impact, 2- depth of placement, 3-lots of spin, but not at the expense of forward velocity.

I could not find your video (deleted?)- so, whatever your style, you need to get set up so you can get the racket head "whipping" smoothly through the ball- really fast- with topspin, but mostly with forward velocity. Note, you mention being able to hit topspin, but you really need the ball speed.

To practice, try hitting lower over the net and deeper in the court. Stay loose, don't force the racket, strive for racket head speed. And, you will need to practice.

Thanks for the comments.........Makes sense.......the girl coiling into the ball means her shot preparation must be excellent and must reach every ball quite early in order to prepare to coil into the ball.....I am trying to work on that.....for my age I consider myself pretty fit run around for hours on the court and make superior opponents tired but lack the strength in the legs and explosiveness, core strength to really bend and unleash into the ball I guess.

Staying loose with the racquet. Debates on this. Is it better during a set to keep a loose hand on the grip when hitting a shot or really choking the grip. I find when I am mentally relaxed I hold the racq loose but in tourneys against fellow players it is tough to do........Any tips for staying really mentally tough on court.

I try to block everything out around me. But think too much about winning or losing ........or what others might think of me for losing to a weaker player....you have to be where I am to understand this issue...... Otherwise during sets I beat people far better than me........but this time the stuff is getting to me.....for some reason.......