4.5jumping to open in pursuit of 1glorious atp point

[rjw]

Originally Posted by yonexpurestorm

^^^when i play the 4.5 tournaments now i feel like i should win, rather than how i wanted to win a few months ago. i have been playing a lot lately. ive been doing a lot of training with a guy i met. we dont play any sets or games. we go out and work on shots. mainly my bh. i dont have a coach, but this practice has been helping me a lot to get the mechanics locked in my head. it really helps to just continuosly hit bhs over and over to really ram that movement into my head.

i ended up losing the 5.0 tournament in the semi's to the eventual winner. he really attacked my bh and came to the net constantly. i had no passing bh answer for the strategy and lost. i dont have any tournies coming up so its all practice for the next month.

Keep up the good work....interesting to kind of watch your progress.

[yonexpurestorm]

quick update,

there arent too many tournaments coming up for oct/nov/dec. here are links to the two that i plan on playing in oct/nov.

http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournamen....aspx?T=100952

http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournamen....aspx?T=100984


the one coming up next weekend i will be doing open because the draws are pretty small. the one in november i will be doing 4.5. the nov tournament last year gave out $300 to the winner of the 4.5's and i think there were around 40 players. im looking forward to this one and plan on winning. i might do the top gun tournmanet, but it depends on the draw sizes because it is more expensive than most tournies. and ill do the grand prix doubles if i can find a decent partner, but i will definantly be doing these two tournaments.

ive been training a lot lately. literally playing 6 days a week. my barricade 6's i got in the begining of august are basically dusted and i need to send them in to get my warranty. i took yesterday off because my legs were so tired from the weekend. saturday my tri level team played the national champs from last year and we pulled out a win which was cool. they were 5-0 this season and hadnt even lost a set the whole season. our 3.5's and me and my partner at 4.5's took our matches and we lost our 4.0's. we played a 3 set match, and then right after i had a practice session with one of my hitting partners and we rallied and drilled for about 2 1/2 hours. then sunday morning i had my usta flex league match and that went 3 sets and was around a 2 1/2 hours of tennis too. needless to say i was dead tired and needed a break. today i have doubles practice with my team, then wed and friday drilling. saturday league match at 10am and then my singles tournament after.

i have noticed that i am feeling burned out when i play sometimes. some days i feel like taking a few days off and relaxing. but when i would take a day or two off i feel like i am regressing in my progress. it feels like i am back in highschool and how i would skip a basketball practice and i wouldnt get to play in the next week's game. now when i skip a day of practice because of laziness or i want to do something else i feel like i cheated myself the next day.

i am working harder than ever and my game is really showing it. my bh has improved immensly from just a month ago. i can now keep a decent rally going with it and even hit winners and passing shots when needed. its still is nowhere near my fh in terms of constistency and as a weapon, but it is coming along nicely. i hope to get some match video of this weekend to analyze my bh during a match.

anyways, i will update after this weekend and let you guys know how i did.

[CHOcobo]

i wish i can play and have hitting partners as much as you do.

keep practicing and posting vdo's.

[heftylefty]

yonexpurestorm, post your match time for the Long Beach Open. I live in Long Beach and I'm thinking about checking out the tourney.

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by heftylefty

yonexpurestorm, post your match time for the Long Beach Open. I live in Long Beach and I'm thinking about checking out the tourney.

i had to make a change of plans. i signed up for the chapman university tournament instead because i have my league match in irvine at 10 am. champan U is a lot closer than long beach. i signed up for the 4.5 because the draw was a little larger, but they put me as the #1 seed so i dont actually have to play on saturday. anyways, here is the draw.

https://tennislink.usta.com/Tourname...51&E=3&D=M&S=F

i quickly looked at some of the other ppl in the tourny and it looks like i should be able to win this one. my most immediate goal is to be in the top 10 for 4.5's in so cal and then i really want to start competing in opens regularly. hopefully i can win this tourn and the one in november and then ill be ready to jump to open and compete. ill update how i did after my matches this weekend.

[heftylefty]

yonexpurestorm, if you need a lefty to hit against, let me know.

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by heftylefty

yonexpurestorm, if you need a lefty to hit against, let me know.

ya im always down to hit. i work in carson and drive through long beach everyday to get home. as long as you can keep a decent rally and dont mind not always playing sets i would down to hit. i like to practice and drill specific shots, and play set occasionally. i work M-F untill 5pm and could usually play around 530. what courts do you play at around your area?

[yonexpurestorm]

my weekend started on saturday with my usta doubles league. me and my partner played a really good team and had a really tough match with one of the better doubles teams in the league. we ended up losing 7-6 5-7 4-6. it was a long 2.5 hr match and i think my partner got a little tired at the end. i think he is in his 50's, but i am not sure. it was probably one of the most fun doubles matches i had ever played. it was really compeptitive because we had split the other two matches and both teams were watching hoping their team would win. i ended up breaking my last string on my 3rd pstgt and had to break out my yonex w/ syn gut i hadnt used in months, which really affected my serve. i was pretty upset the rest of the day, but the overall match was awsome to play.

then on sunday i took my first round match in my tournament. my opponent was a guy i played in a 4.0 tournament finals match in the beginning of the year. after that tourny we exchanged numbers and had met up a few times since then, so i knew what i was facing. i was probably playing some of the worst tennis in a while. i think it was because i knew i had never lost to the guy so i wasnt able to get my energy going and try at 100%. i still ended up winning 6-4 6-4,but i wasnt happy with my performance. i think one of my problems is that if i play someone i know i am better than i will not try as hard and i can lose a match like this. next week i have the semi's and i will make sure to not let this lethargic attitude overtake my game again.

overall a fun weekend. i would have liked to win both matches, but i dont really consider doubles to be my game. anyways, i took monday off and have practice with my team tonight if it stops raining. then wed i have a match scheduled with a friend of mine. thursday and friday i have training sessions with two different guys i meet up with. i think thurs i will work on serve return and then friday take it a little easy and work on volley and bh's. then its off to a busy weekend with my team doubles on sat at 10am and then the semi's of the tourny at 1pm, and if i win ill have the finals on sunday at 11am.

[dbr_dac]

hey man it's dexter.. we played months ago at the anaheim tournament. I'm down to drill in Carson during the week or weekends if your interested. I live near to LAX.

[heftylefty]

Originally Posted by yonexpurestorm

ya im always down to hit. i work in carson and drive through long beach everyday to get home. as long as you can keep a decent rally and dont mind not always playing sets i would down to hit. i like to practice and drill specific shots, and play set occasionally. i work M-F untill 5pm and could usually play around 530. what courts do you play at around your area?

I work in Santa Monica and don't get home until 7ish if Im lucky. I play out of BJK and Anderson Park on the weekends. I hit serves during my lunch break twice a week. I don't need to play sets, prefere working the kinks out with drills.

Hopefully we might meet at a tourny. I'm playing the LB Seniors end of the month and maybe LaHabra.

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by dbr_dac

hey man it's dexter.. we played months ago at the anaheim tournament. I'm down to drill in Carson during the week or weekends if your interested. I live near to LAX.

whats up man. ya im def down to hit after work. weekends might be tough because its a pretty far drive and im usually busy with my leagues and other stuff. i work monday through friday and get off at 5. there are courts right next to my work called anderson park. im pretty sure it has lights, but ive never played there so i dont know how crowded it gets during the week. im also down to meet somewhere in the middle if you know where some good courts are. shoot me an email at jamisonhart@yahoo.com and we can set up a time to meet up.

[yokied]

You're putting yourself out there, and that's commendable. My reading of your posts are that you're ambitious to achieve in a short space of time, but that requires some flexibility in outlook.

These comments are based on the youtube videos you've posted, which I watched the latest 3.

I counted 3 DHBH on very soft balls and couldn’t see how the ball was travelling on 2 of them so have to disregard it.

Your slice backhand looks like it's incapable of going down the line, and certainly not without major adjustments in swing and footwork which would telegraph it to your opponent. Your problems with lefties will not go away until this is remedied (as a lefty I dream of playing RH who can only hit slice bh crosscourt).

Also on the backhand, it does not look like you can generate a solidly paced shot off it. 2 things: not enough of a swing and you're hitting it far too close to your body. Slice shots hit virtually in front of your chest are also telegraphing where you're placing the ball. And at the most basic level, you're simply giving your opponent way too much time.

You move with pace, and that's good. But the actual final few steps are lazy. On the backhand, it's technically lazy for aforementioned reasons (you're actually moving into the backhands a little too much cramping the swing to just push it in). Which brings me to: also on the backhand, it looks especially weak picking it up from low with even a little width, which should be a strength with a slice backhand.

There's a few reasons for the slice backhand: return of serve, disguised drop shots, pick up balls from very low and then also from very high. You have part of the first part.

The other footwork problems are however with the forehand. Virtually every forehand is from a totally open stance. You may have fantastic co-ordination, but that's not likely to hold up under pressure. Your court position is not too bad, letting a few balls drop too much but mostly the problem is getting near the position then opening up the stance for no real reason. Too many unforced errors there going for winners particularly inside-out forehands that just aren’t necessary. The flipside of this footwork coin is weakness on the running forehand, where the body is on a more closed stance and you’re not really sure how to swing and the mechanics simply aren’t there.

If it seems harsh, then sorry, but I genuinely believe you need coaching. I’ve seen games like yours many times before, and frankly wouldn’t have bothered if you didn’t present like you do in the thread.

You’d benefit a lot from ironing out the issues identified with your groundstrokes. Someone has done a hack job on your backhand and only outside help can rebuild it. You have gotten into unnecessarily risky habits on the forehand, which, again, needs outside help and better players to prove it to you and make the adjustments to see accuracy on winners and defensive shots improve a lot.

But the most important reason: the serve. The core rotation is not happening properly because the tossing arm is not tucking in. The hips are following through, but not actually moving enough in the service motion. Hence that hop out into court with the front leg to try to drag the back hip around. The net result here will be extra shoulder strain.

[yokied]

Sorry I really don't mean to be rude to the OP and if I realised he'd posted his email I would've just sent it to him. I wish I could edit that post.

I'd add that with that lack of core rotation you're losing a bit of power on the serves too. I'd also clarify that the hop I'm identifying is not just some on-the-spot or fall-away hop but you're actually hopping off to the right.

I'd need to get a better look at it to go further than this: it seems to be delaying the core rotation in the service action then after the swing is finished and you've landed that left foot position is then forcing the other hip to rotate around to regain balance.

Best wishes and good luck to the OP.

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by yokied

You're putting yourself out there, and that's commendable. My reading of your posts are that you're ambitious to achieve in a short space of time, but that requires some flexibility in outlook.

These comments are based on the youtube videos you've posted, which I watched the latest 3.

I counted 3 DHBH on very soft balls and couldn’t see how the ball was travelling on 2 of them so have to disregard it.

Your slice backhand looks like it's incapable of going down the line, and certainly not without major adjustments in swing and footwork which would telegraph it to your opponent. Your problems with lefties will not go away until this is remedied (as a lefty I dream of playing RH who can only hit slice bh crosscourt).

Also on the backhand, it does not look like you can generate a solidly paced shot off it. 2 things: not enough of a swing and you're hitting it far too close to your body. Slice shots hit virtually in front of your chest are also telegraphing where you're placing the ball. And at the most basic level, you're simply giving your opponent way too much time.

You move with pace, and that's good. But the actual final few steps are lazy. On the backhand, it's technically lazy for aforementioned reasons (you're actually moving into the backhands a little too much cramping the swing to just push it in). Which brings me to: also on the backhand, it looks especially weak picking it up from low with even a little width, which should be a strength with a slice backhand.

There's a few reasons for the slice backhand: return of serve, disguised drop shots, pick up balls from very low and then also from very high. You have part of the first part.

The other footwork problems are however with the forehand. Virtually every forehand is from a totally open stance. You may have fantastic co-ordination, but that's not likely to hold up under pressure. Your court position is not too bad, letting a few balls drop too much but mostly the problem is getting near the position then opening up the stance for no real reason. Too many unforced errors there going for winners particularly inside-out forehands that just aren’t necessary. The flipside of this footwork coin is weakness on the running forehand, where the body is on a more closed stance and you’re not really sure how to swing and the mechanics simply aren’t there.

If it seems harsh, then sorry, but I genuinely believe you need coaching. I’ve seen games like yours many times before, and frankly wouldn’t have bothered if you didn’t present like you do in the thread.

You’d benefit a lot from ironing out the issues identified with your groundstrokes. Someone has done a hack job on your backhand and only outside help can rebuild it. You have gotten into unnecessarily risky habits on the forehand, which, again, needs outside help and better players to prove it to you and make the adjustments to see accuracy on winners and defensive shots improve a lot.

But the most important reason: the serve. The core rotation is not happening properly because the tossing arm is not tucking in. The hips are following through, but not actually moving enough in the service motion. Hence that hop out into court with the front leg to try to drag the back hip around. The net result here will be extra shoulder strain.

i appreciate your input, and always welcome constructive criticism. one of your comments about my open stance fh where i get to the ball and then open up for no reason, i dont really understand. i know i have a sort of unorhtadox style of fh, but it is open stance so shouldnt that be how i set up my shot. on the bh, i know i hit way to close to my body. i have been working real hard on my bh for the past few months. i plan on making a video of me not in match to show the improvement of my bh.

i play regurlarly with a few teaching pros and beat them every once in a while, except one guy i have never beaten. they always give me tips and pointers about my game. i dont plan on paying for coaching because i feel my gm is advanced enough where i dont need to pay 40-50 bux an hour to have a guy tell me things i learn on youtube. since the beginning of this summer i have really focused on my gm and i see the improvement coming along. maybe once i hit a higher level and i really see major halt in my improvement i might take some coaching to fix the kinks, but for now im doing it on my own. it is kinda part of my experiment. how far can a working full time recreational player without proffessional help go after only being a moderatly good high school player. so far i am slightly behind the goals i had originally set for myself. i should have been able to win three 4.5 tourns by now and won a few rounds in an open tourn, but as long as im improving im happy.

[jdubbs]

Congrats on your win in the 4.5 tourney this past weekend!
What happened in the final? You lost the first set 0-6...but came back to win.

[yonexpurestorm]

thanks jdubbs. i dont really know what happened that first set. i usually take some time to get into a groove, but not that long. i think i was tired from playing 2 matches the day before and came out sluggish. he was a good player, very consistent. i switched my gm up a little in the 2nd set. i started taking some power off my shots and make the points longer because he was getting my hard shots and i was making too many errors.

it was funny though because he was a TT member and he said he had seen some of my videos that i had posted. i noticed he really attacked my bh because thats the thing im always saying is my weakness. lol, never really thought about my opponents reading my posts and knowing my weaknesses.

overall it was a really fun match. i think he had me 5-3 in the third on my serve. i held and then i broke him to make it 5-5. then i held again and broke him in the last gm. after the first set i remember thinking i was done, but i just told myself to keep playing. its still just first to two.

we exchanged numbers aftwerwards and i plan on playing him again because he lives somewhere in irvine.

[x5150]

Originally Posted by yonexpurestorm

thanks jdubbs. i dont really know what happened that first set. i usually take some time to get into a groove, but not that long. i think i was tired from playing 2 matches the day before and came out sluggish. he was a good player, very consistent. i switched my gm up a little in the 2nd set. i started taking some power off my shots and make the points longer because he was getting my hard shots and i was making too many errors.

it was funny though because he was a TT member and he said he had seen some of my videos that i had posted. i noticed he really attacked my bh because thats the thing im always saying is my weakness. lol, never really thought about my opponents reading my posts and knowing my weaknesses.

overall it was a really fun match. i think he had me 5-3 in the third on my serve. i held and then i broke him to make it 5-5. then i held again and broke him in the last gm. after the first set i remember thinking i was done, but i just told myself to keep playing. its still just first to two.

we exchanged numbers aftwerwards and i plan on playing him again because he lives somewhere in irvine.

Good match Jamison, you flipped the script on me after the first set, attacking my backhand. I do tend to rely on consistency too much and frequently go into push mode, then the whole game goes south. I need to be more offensive like you were in the 2nd and 3rd.

Note to self: don't eat a 24 oz rib eye night before a finals match, you'll cramp up in the 3rd lol. It was Capital Grill though yum.

Are you playing top gun?

[yonexpurestorm]

Originally Posted by x5150

Good match Jamison, you flipped the script on me after the first set, attacking my backhand. I do tend to rely on consistency too much and frequently go into push mode, then the whole game goes south. I need to be more offensive like you were in the 2nd and 3rd.

Note to self: don't eat a 24 oz rib eye night before a finals match, you'll cramp up in the 3rd lol. It was Capital Grill though yum.

Are you playing top gun?

ive made that mistake before of eating a huge meal the night before thinking you will be fine. then the next day you feel like your running around about to give birth, lol. that match was really fun though. it was back and forth the whole time. im pretty sure ill be playing in the top gun tournament. so far i think theres only you and one other guy signed up though. if the draw gets over 8 ppl ill sign up. i dont know why top gun charges so much for their tournament. its like 55 bux compared to the 35-40 normally.

[subban]

Just out of curoisty, could you get an atp point playing doubles. If that is the case then all you need to do is find a really good player, a real good pro to signup with you as your partner and win a open tournament. Then say I am a professional tennis doubles player!

[arthurchen]

top gun is one of the biggest tourneys in southern california, they have a nice goodie bag with a hooded sweat shirt and some of the money goes to charities. Hence the higher fee. I would highly recommend should be a lot of depth in 4.5 and 5.0 singles