3.5 to 4.0 Action Plan?

[beernutz]

Originally Posted by asked_answered

I still need to record one of my matches, but I do have this video of me doing some service practice last month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=512_OaxIDPg

The first half is shot at distance; the second half shows my service motion.

You look pretty tall in your video so your serve should be a weapon. I would work on getting more follow through and leg action to generate some additional serving speed.

One of the things I've seen playing up at 4.0 this fall is there are some pretty darn good servers at this level. I faced a guy Monday in a doubles match, I'll call him George because that's his name, who was hitting blazing fast serves. The rest of his game was somewhat inconsistent as he liked to hit his groundstrokes about as hard as he could but that serve was the biggest I've ever faced including a lot of 4.5s and a few good college players I've hit socially with.

[asked_answered]

Thanks for the tips, Beernutz! I do want to make my serve as much of a weapon as possible. (I'm 6'1" tall.) I serve harder in matches, particularly on the first serve, but I have to be a little cautious with practice, as my elbow begins to hurt when I serve a bunch of hard serves. (I'm probably using too much arm with my harder serves.) I'll work on follow-through and using my legs more.

[roman40]

In my opinion, 4.0 is not about hitting winners, it's still about preventing your opponents from coming to the net and avoiding unforced errors.

Coach is helpful at any level, at least biweekly, especially if you're serious about improving. Besides that, here is a few simple pointers, in order of importance:

1) Practice, practice, practice. Remember, playing a match/set is not good practice, unless you can play without worrying about winning (most people can't do that). The best drill is a baseline rally (with a person, not machine), either cross court (fh to fh) or half court (fh to bh), where the goal is to keep the ball deep (past the service line), try to hit at least 10 in a row (20 should be your goal). Another good drill is (2-3)baseline, then short ball, then volley, this really helps to improve footwork.

2) Keep the ball deep, and if possible, to opponent's weaker side. It doesn't have to be a great shot, just deep. It will force errors from your opponent and will give you short balls, which is a big advantage.

3) Work on improving 1st serve percentage, because 4.0 player rarely attack first serve, even if it's fairly weak. That will also help with second serve.

4) Learn to take advantage of short balls, and don't be afraid to move to the net, don't go back to the baseline after coming close the service line to hit a short ball. That's very important at this level, because you'll get A LOT of them, either because of error or on purpose. Lot's of pushers like to give you a short ball, then hit a passing shot or a lob. There is a simple strategy for short balls, if it's to your back hand, then slice deep to opponents weaker side. If it's to your forehand, hit deep down the line. Follow to the net along the path of the ball for a volley. If your opponent likes to lob stay closer to the service line (to hit an overhead), otherwise closer to the net.

5) Keep moving and applying pressure on your opponent, never stop moving during the point. Never assume you've won/lost the point, or that the ball is out. Always anticipate a return, and get ready to finish the point.

Good luck!

[dman72]

Originally Posted by roman40

In my opinion, 4.0 is not about hitting winners, it's still about preventing your opponents from coming to the net and avoiding unforced errors.

Coach is helpful at any level, at least biweekly, especially if you're serious about improving. Besides that, here is a few simple pointers, in order of importance:

1) Practice, practice, practice. Remember, playing a match/set is not good practice, unless you can play without worrying about winning (most people can't do that). The best drill is a baseline rally (with a person, not machine), either cross court (fh to fh) or half court (fh to bh), where the goal is to keep the ball deep (past the service line), try to hit at least 10 in a row (20 should be your goal). Another good drill is (2-3)baseline, then short ball, then volley, this really helps to improve footwork.

2) Keep the ball deep, and if possible, to opponent's weaker side. It doesn't have to be a great shot, just deep. It will force errors from your opponent and will give you short balls, which is a big advantage.

3) Work on improving 1st serve percentage, because 4.0 player rarely attack first serve, even if it's fairly weak. That will also help with second serve.

4) Learn to take advantage of short balls, and don't be afraid to move to the net, don't go back to the baseline after coming close the service line to hit a short ball. That's very important at this level, because you'll get A LOT of them, either because of error or on purpose. Lot's of pushers like to give you a short ball, then hit a passing shot or a lob. There is a simple strategy for short balls, if it's to your back hand, then slice deep to opponents weaker side. If it's to your forehand, hit deep down the line. Follow to the net along the path of the ball for a volley. If your opponent likes to lob stay closer to the service line (to hit an overhead), otherwise closer to the net.

5) Keep moving and applying pressure on your opponent, never stop moving during the point. Never assume you've won/lost the point, or that the ball is out. Always anticipate a return, and get ready to finish the point.

Good luck!

Great post.

[asked_answered]

Thank you for the tips, Roman40! I have a hitting partner (a new 4.0), but he isn't interested in doing anything but playing sets. So, I'm trying to implement a lot of the advice of the other responders in this thread (and will do the same for your advice) during my practice matches with him. (And, yes, it's hard not focus on trying to make the score look better, rather than just work on aspects of my game. But I'm trying!)

I'm also trying to find a coach. That would be really, really useful.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by asked_answered

Thank you for the tips, Roman40! I have a hitting partner (a new 4.0), but he isn't interested in doing anything but playing sets. So, I'm trying to implement a lot of the advice of the other responders in this thread (and will do the same for your advice) during my practice matches with him. (And, yes, it's hard not focus on trying to make the score look better, rather than just work on aspects of my game. But I'm trying!)

I'm also trying find a coach. That would be really, really useful.

Find another partner..in fact find as many of them as you can. You need at least one person who's willing to just hit for an hour every now and then...it can still be competitive, like playing points, but all the stop and start of match play is not the best practice.

[asked_answered]

I'll look for an additional person to hit with, Dman72. Thanks!

[roman40]

Originally Posted by asked_answered

Thank you for the tips, Roman40! I have a hitting partner (a new 4.0), but he isn't interested in doing anything but playing sets. So, I'm trying to implement a lot of the advice of the other responders in this thread (and will do the same for your advice) during my practice matches with him. (And, yes, it's hard not focus on trying to make the score look better, rather than just work on aspects of my game. But I'm trying!)

I'm also trying to find a coach. That would be really, really useful.

Yeah, lots of players don't like to do drills. However, some enjoy it after they try it. I would also suggest to look for more partners, since variety of practice partners and playing styles will better prepare you for league matches. That said, I am sure you guys warm up before playing sets, so try to incorporate drills into the warm up, even 30min of drills is better than nothing.

[asked_answered]

I will do that, Roman40, and I'll also try adding drills to warm-ups for my league team (or at least on the court I'm warming up on). Thanks!

[tennis4josh]

Lot of good suggestions in this thread. The best way to move up in USTA ratings is to play up. Try to find a 4.0 team to play on. Even if you don't get too may matches, just practicing with those guys will help you. An ideal team would be full of 3.5 rated players so that there is no pressure to win and everyone gets to play. Play 7.5 combo league. The level of play in 7.5 is pretty much same as regular 4.0 doubles.

Good Luck
-Josh

[asked_answered]

Thanks for the suggestions, Tennis4josh! I'll look into future league play options. (I do think I need to improve my playing ability first, though. I don't want to waste my opponents' time with completely lopsided matches.)

[dcdoorknob]

I'm no instructor, but you do look like you could really benefit from a bigger knee bend + explosion upward on that serve. Like was mentioned, you appear to be somewhat tall, so making that serve a weapon seems doable and will make things easier for you, but it can only be so much of a weapon if you aren't using your legs to help you on the serve. But I would maybe wait to really try to make that change until you find a coach.

I bring it up because it is actually something I am working on at the moment myself (with a coach, and then on my own too). The timing is different to get used to, but I believe it will pay off in the long run once I get it down.

[asked_answered]

Thanks, DCdoorknob! I've actually fiddled with bending my knees more, even leaping up to the ball, in the past but only a little. I'll see if I can get some professional input on that.

[Coach Carter]

Originally Posted by asked_answered

Hi, folks. I moved from 2.5 to 3.5 last year, and I am now trying to figure out how to get from my low 3.5 level to a 4.0 level. I've played 32 matches (mostly singles) this year on a local ladder; in three USTA tournaments in the 3.5 singles draws (I lost respectably in my first tournament, won the consolation final in the next, but got dusted in the last one); and a spring 3.5 men's league where I won one doubles match and one singles match but lost the rest (and lost my other singles matches badly). I practice my serve at least three times a week, and I hit against a wall or use a ball machine about once a week. I also play casual sets in singles and doubles two or so times a week. I take a lesson every three months or so. I'm over forty and in decent physical condition: 6'1", 180 lbs. What else should I do to reach my goal? Any recommendations or recommended threads would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much!

without reading too much more here, I would just focus on winning where you are now. not so much on looking ahead. i think many times you get tied up with that and cost yourself success in the present.

[asked_answered]

Thanks for the tip, Coach Carter! I'm not really looking ahead, so much as trying to improve my play now, which I hope will lead to wins at 3.5 this season and to 4.0 level play in the future.

[yonexpurestorm]

try posting on craigslist looking for practice partners. i kind of ran out of ppl to play and posted an ad on craigslist and said i didnt want to play sets, just wanted to drill and work on shots. combined with my other hitting partners i have more hitting sessions than i have time. i now hit like 6 times a week. but i can really see the improvement in my weaker shots. at least 2-3 times a week ill go hit and will not play any sets or point games. just rally and drill. this actually is a much better workout and you realize how much walking around you do during sets. but i still have guys that only wanna play sets, and i use those to practice my new shots i drilled on. i dont care if i lose. then when i play a tournament i have the confidence to go for better shots, but if its not working i play to win. i have sort of created a system for myself to improve my game. i am finding the jump from 4.5 to 5.0 and then to open tournaments is really hard, but if you put in the work its possibl.e

[asked_answered]

Thanks for the suggestion, Yonexpurestorm, and I hope your work results in many open tournament wins!

[josofo]

Originally Posted by asked_answered

I still need to record one of my matches, but I do have this video of me doing some service practice last month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=512_OaxIDPg

The first half is shot at distance; the second half shows my service motion.

nice serve.

[asked_answered]

Thanks, Josofo! I'm working on it.

[nickarnold2000]

Some great advice here! I went from being a strong 4.0 to a 5.0(in my 40s_I'm 47 now) because I focused on improving and not winning. Also, I found a good core of great players who really forced me to get better racket skills(better serves, better returning, how to upon up the court) but also to physically improve my footwork and court speed.
I know guys who can play well when the ball is being hit right to them but if they're forced to move - it's a different story.
The use of poly strings has increased the ball pace a lot too so footwork to me is huge, IMO.