Biggest Accomplishments For 2006

[Cindysphinx]

Has anyone improved a particular aspect of their game, and if so, how did you do it?

I worked hard on my tennis in 2006. Lots of lessons, lots of practice. Several aspects of my game improved: match toughness, volleys, groundstrokes, mid-court game. I don't suck quite as much this year as last, which is a relief.

I think my biggest accomplishment for the year has to be the serve, though. Before this year, I hated to serve. My first serve had nothing on it. I never knew where it would land. I used the wrong grip. My second serve was a cream puff push. I was broken all the time.

This year, I changed my grip to Continental and practiced serving at least one hour per week. I got more and more confident in my serve and didn't chicken out on big points. I can slice or serve flat. I got a second serve that is still not hard enough but that goes in consistently such that I haven't double-faulted in a match this season. Now, the thoughts in my head before I serve aren't "Oh, God! Please don't let me double fault!" I am thinking about placement. Boy, life on a tennis court is so much easier when I know I won't lose because my serve stinks.

Hmmm. Now I just have to figure out what to fix for 2007 . . .

[kevhen]

You have not double faulted at all in 2006??????? I wish I could say that.

[ceejay]

I read Winning Ugly early in the year, and then didn't lose for a couple of months. It was very useful... and I didn't swear as much as usual.

Annoyingly, I now haven't played at all for a couple of months and will probably be shite next time I attempt to play.

I need to work on my serve like you did too.

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by kevhen

You have not double faulted at all in 2006??????? I wish I could say that.

Wait! That would be an exaggeration.

I did all this work on the serve in the summer and fall, mostly. I haven't double-faulted in a league match since the league season started in September.

I did double-fault plenty in the spring season from April to July before I fixed my serve.

And I double-faulted in practice a couple of weeks ago. I was *shocked,* I tell ya!

[bribeiro]

My serve is much better, both first and second serves, but still not as good as I want them to be. For 2007, I need to work more on footwork, first serve consistency, and 2nd serve.

[kevhen]

Do you just play in a doubles league then so you only serve every fourth game? What percentage of first serves do you get in? Even when I hit safe second serves, I would only get like 95% in. Now I hit a more aggressive slice second serve and my percents are more like 80-85%.

I think it's amazing if you get 100% second serves in. How many in a row have you gotten in now?

[Cindysphinx]

Yes, I play only doubles right now, so I only have to serve every 4th game.

Percentage of first serves? Mmmmm, I honestly don't know. I tend to be rather streaky on my first serves. I had a game on Saturday where I missed every first serve but still held. I've been told I need to go for less on my first serve in doubles to get a higher percentage in. I, being hardheaded, won't listen to this because I think my partner and I win lots of easy points if I serve hard because the receivers make more errors and pop-ups. Plus, I like to serve and volley in doubles, which is easier with a faster first serve. (My groundstrokes are my weakness, so I'd much rather crash the net than try to win points from the baseline).

I still have room for improvement on the serve, of course. My second serve goes a bit deeper now, which is nice, but the pace is not as good as my first serve. It's going to take some guts to go for more on the second serve, and I'll bet I'll start double-faulting more.

[BiGGieStuFF]

Improving on my nerves against playing strangers. For so long I pretty much just played against 2 maybe 3 people. I joined a singles league and pretty much had to learn to play against different styles. Primarily it was the nerves that I had to learn to tame. It's still there but it gets better with each match I play.

I'm hoping I'll get comfortable enough to actually relax fully when I play in 2007.

[Geezer Guy]

You may never be double-faulting, but if you're not going after your second serve aggressively then you may be losing too many points.

For instance, say you hit 20 second serves in a match. Say all 20 go in, but your opponent successfully returns 18 of them. On the other hand, say you really go after your 20 second serves and only hit 15 of them in, but your opponent only returns 10 of them. Your percentages may be worse (and no one likes double-faulting) but you've got to be brave enough to fail occasionally to succeed in the long run.

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by Geezer Guy

You may never be double-faulting, but if you're not going after your second serve aggressively then you may be losing too many points.

For instance, say you hit 20 second serves in a match. Say all 20 go in, but your opponent successfully returns 18 of them. On the other hand, say you really go after your 20 second serves and only hit 15 of them in, but your opponent only returns 10 of them. Your percentages may be worse (and no one likes double-faulting) but you've got to be brave enough to fail occasionally to succeed in the long run.

No argument there, GeezerGuy. I do plan to take my second serve to the next level in 2007, hopefully before I meet someone who can punish it more than my current opponents.

Then again, what I have noticed at my level is that even if my second serve has less pace and more spin, my opponents can't hurt me too badly. They'll either step up and crush it but I can still get it and continue the point, or they'll step up and crush it into the back wall.

For now, though, I'm awfully happy to have made the progress I've made. I mean, you shoulda seen my little 2.5 serve a year ago. The event that convinced me I had to learn to serve better was a singles match in Sept. 2005. I finally met a singles opponent with an approach shot. She ate up my little push serve and beat my butt, and good.

[kevhen]

Geezer, your analogy may have some holes in it. In your scenario, she wins 2 points and the point is neutral (or slight opponent's advantage) on 18 of them when she serves weakly but safely. When serving aggressively she loses 5 points but wins 5 points and the other 10 points are neutral. She has actually won more points with the safer serve at this point (+2 instead of just even). If her groundstrokes and vollies are strong then it's better for her to serve safely.

[kevhen]

At 3.0 level, opponents can't take advantage of a weak serve very often or if they try to they often make mistakes so it's pretty safe to hit a safe serve.

As you improve, you will want to add more spin to your first serve in doubles to give yourself more time to get to net and less pace for your opponents to use against you. Otherwise you will be hitting difficult low first vollies while standing in no-man's land.

Right now your opponents probably just block back your hard serves and take bigger cuts at your softer serves.

[Jack Romeo]

things i improved:
1. forehand - more consistent, more versatile and i can also hit more winners from this side now
2. serve - better placement, higher percentages, more aces, less double faults, higher percentage of winning points on both first and second serve.
3. match toughness - i don't get down on myself anymore when i start off a match in bad form. i can work my way into a match now, unlike before.

[bribeiro]

Originally Posted by BiGGieStuFF

Improving on my nerves against playing strangers. For so long I pretty much just played against 2 maybe 3 people. I joined a singles league and pretty much had to learn to play against different styles. Primarily it was the nerves that I had to learn to tame. It's still there but it gets better with each match I play.

I'm hoping I'll get comfortable enough to actually relax fully when I play in 2007.

I completely forgot about this, I have that same problem.

[amx13]

For me its was the backhand, wich was pretty much non-existent before I got a power-v-grip. Now I hit some great winners on the backhand side. Now I need to focus on my serve.

[LuckyR]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

Has anyone improved a particular aspect of their game, and if so, how did you do it?

I have to say the biggest change for my game, I got right here off of this Forum. Namely, using lead tape to "Safinize" my racquets and completely change my game. Three cheers for the TW Forum!

[Geezer Guy]

Originally Posted by kevhen

Geezer, your analogy may have some holes in it. In your scenario, she wins 2 points and the point is neutral (or slight opponent's advantage) on 18 of them when she serves weakly but safely. When serving aggressively she loses 5 points but wins 5 points and the other 10 points are neutral. She has actually won more points with the safer serve at this point (+2 instead of just even). If her groundstrokes and vollies are strong then it's better for her to serve safely.

Well, maybe the math of my example didn't work out, but I was trying to simply show that just because your 2nd serve is "in", doesn't mean it's "effective". Better to go for a LITTLE more on your second serve - even if there's the OCCASIONAL double-fault - than to just concentrate on getting 100% of them in the box.

Starting the point off in the offensive is more important than starting the point off in a defensive position.

Within reason, of course. I agree that a lot is determined by the strength of the returner.

[LuckyR]

Originally Posted by Geezer Guy

Well, maybe the math of my example didn't work out, but I was trying to simply show that just because your 2nd serve is "in", doesn't mean it's "effective". Better to go for a LITTLE more on your second serve - even if there's the OCCASIONAL double-fault - than to just concentrate on getting 100% of them in the box.

Starting the point off in the offensive is more important than starting the point off in a defensive position.

Within reason, of course. I agree that a lot is determined by the strength of the returner.

Geezer, you are, of course, correct. Since we are all responding to text, without any other information, we put a lot of our own "spin" on posts. But, I will say that: if you never fall while skiing, you aren't skiing aggressively enough. And if you never double fault in singles, you are not serving hard enough.

[kevhen]

Yeah I could get close to 100% of my serves in by hitting soft but if I do that against 4.5 guys I will lose 80-90% of the points as they go on the attack. So I have to hit a bigger second serve and take some double faults to win maybe 30% of my second serve points instead of 10-20% against slightly stronger opponents.

100% percent in at the 3.0 level is great though, so I wouldn't change a thing. Work on your new more aggressive second serve when hitting first serves and then by the time your are 3.5 your should be able to hit those for second serves.

[dave333]

i improved all of my game, mostly thanks to yale tennis camp for my groundies, and nick bolletiris sonic serve and TT for my serves.