An honest opinion of my game

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

The heel to ball of foot weight transition is a very important control point to initiate the stroke. If you are not too used to this practice balancing on the heels only. The feet outward thing helps in this aspect as well.

Heel to ball on a fh? I don't see anyone doing this. The weight is placed on the inside of the leg and the inside of the foot. You can see heel to ball on the front foot of a 1hbh but not on a fh. Heel to ball gives you a linear action towards the ball of the foot and the foot is usually placed facing the side fence. Maybe you are talking about neutral stance forehands or something.

Can you post a video of anyone doing this in a match? Not a practice / warm up video.

[rafazx10]

Alright, i didnt read every comment so i dont know if its been said before.

But two things
1 would be nice to see where your balls are landing when you are hitting the forehands, and even more important how you hit when they are actually being hit back to you instead of fed.

2 like said, you foot work is excellent, but is that how you really play? Seems like you were trying harder than normal on the video, would be pretty hard to keep that foot work through a match, but if you can and thats how you play more power to you.

Good luck with tennis wherever you go.

[boramiNYC]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

Heel to ball on a fh? I don't see anyone doing this. The weight is placed on the inside of the leg and the inside of the foot. You can see heel to ball on the front foot of a 1hbh but not on a fh. Heel to ball gives you a linear action towards the ball of the foot and the foot is usually placed facing the side fence. Maybe you are talking about neutral stance forehands or something.

Can you post a video of anyone doing this in a match? Not a practice / warm up video.

any time you set your feet for a stroke you land on the heel and pushing off happens either the big toe side of the ball of the foot or the big toe itself. so there is the transition. timing and smoothness of this movement of the feet is very well controlled for pros. rec players not so much. I'll see if I can find a footage but basically everyone does it.

[Jonny S&V]

Originally Posted by ATP100

1. Watch the ball....you don't.
2. Serve...higher ball toss.

1. No-one does truly watch the ball all the way into the racquet (save for Fed). It's unnecessary.
2. No. His toss is fine.

Originally Posted by TCF

Will, I have been coaching for 20 years and work with lots of college coaches. I am sorry but even though your strokes look good on video, they could not care less. No offense, but I can not tell you how many guys look amazing on video but simply can not win big matches. Pretty strokes do not a winner make.

This is reality:

https://www.tennisrecruiting.net/player.asp?id=764657

2 star recruit and 950 schedule strength. And you are already a senior. A D-1 coaching job is tough to get, they do not take chances on players without top notched results.

Your options are to try and walk on and get them to realize that you have only played 3 years and will improve fast. But D-1 coaches are not in the business of player development. They need to win now and will do so with foreign guys if needed.

Reality is no D-1 coaches will look at your video. Their assistants weed out the guys with your results. Sorry, reality stinks sometimes! Maybe your high school coach has some connections to bypass the system?

You can try to walk on at D-1. But more realistically would be a lower level college program. Most likely your funding will be student loans. Tennis scholarships for guys are tough to come by and only partials for all but a handful.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by TCF

Good luck. If you really want D-1 do not let my reality post deter you. You will just need to think outside the box and get yourself in front of coaches. I think the fact you have only been playing 3 years and have improved so fast may intrigue a coach somewhere.

A little advice, its awful about your uncle, grandfather, and Achilles....but leave that out of any discussions with recruiters. They will all say the same thing....odds are the guys you played also were having personal issues of some sort, yet they still won. (college recruiters and coaches can be brutal) They do not want to hear any explanations for poor results, they only want to see good results.

But remember that their assistants will not put the tape in front of them based on the current results. So you will need to be crafty and persistent!

Originally Posted by Rktennis1

I'm currently a college coach...let me give you my opinion. I'm going to be as direct and honest as I can be as if I was recruiting you.
First of all I like your game and your being proactive. Quite honestly most coaches will never watch that video, we don't have to. We can see your record and the kids you beat and the ones you don't. I use the recruiting videos to look at foreign kids, as it's my only option. Besides, if I see a video, I want to see a video of actual sanctioned tournament play.

Now as far as level goes d1 would be tough. I would never sell a kid short though. Too put it in perspective, my naia school brought in a kid #478 in the country and he's my #9 guy and will never play. Its tough. If you want to sell yourself to a division 1 school and would sell a school on your upside/potential and work ethic. You've only been playing three years, just think of the strides you could make, thats how I'd approach it.

Now a personal note, some advice... Does it have to be d1? Is that just a personal goal, or your coach recommended it? There are a lot of great d2, d3, naia schools in the southeast. It sucks to be the number #10 guy on a d1 squad and work your butt off and give up so many fun aspects of college to never play, trust me. I would go to a school where you will get most of school paid for, get a great education, make the lineup, and still get to be a normal kid.....my opinion. But if it has to be d1, you can do it, but you have to decide if it's worth it.

If you want some recommendations for schools or about the whole process, let me know. I used to be an assistant coach at one of the schools on your list, and I'd be glad to help.

I like how everyone puts DI on this pedestal, like it's impossible for a decent high school player to play on a DI team. I mean, yeah, if you wanna play on a top 75 DI school, it's virtually a requirement that you be around a 4-star on TRN.

But if he merely wants to play DI (where there's most likely consistent monies and facilities), there are PLENTY of DI schools that he could go to and start as a true freshman, such as Western Illinois U, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, South Dakota State (although SDSU has been upping their recruiting standards lately), etc... Those are just schools I've had experiences with. I'm sure there are many schools just like the aforementioned schools around the nation that could fit a guy like the OP.

[sunof tennis]

Originally Posted by AM_ledge

Nice hitting. Are you an Isner fan?

yes, I liked the homage to Isner with the bounce between your legs before you serve

[sunof tennis]

Originally Posted by Rktennis1

I'm currently a college coach...let me give you my opinion. I'm going to be as direct and honest as I can be as if I was recruiting you.
First of all I like your game and your being proactive. Quite honestly most coaches will never watch that video, we don't have to. We can see your record and the kids you beat and the ones you don't. I use the recruiting videos to look at foreign kids, as it's my only option. Besides, if I see a video, I want to see a video of actual sanctioned tournament play.

Now as far as level goes d1 would be tough. I would never sell a kid short though. Too put it in perspective, my naia school brought in a kid #478 in the country and he's my #9 guy and will never play. Its tough. If you want to sell yourself to a division 1 school and would sell a school on your upside/potential and work ethic. You've only been playing three years, just think of the strides you could make, thats how I'd approach it.

Now a personal note, some advice... Does it have to be d1? Is that just a personal goal, or your coach recommended it? There are a lot of great d2, d3, naia schools in the southeast. It sucks to be the number #10 guy on a d1 squad and work your butt off and give up so many fun aspects of college to never play, trust me. I would go to a school where you will get most of school paid for, get a great education, make the lineup, and still get to be a normal kid.....my opinion. But if it has to be d1, you can do it, but you have to decide if it's worth it.

If you want some recommendations for schools or about the whole process, let me know. I used to be an assistant coach at one of the schools on your list, and I'd be glad to help.

Realy good advice. Where do you want to attend college? Maybe you can go to a smaller school in that area first and then, as your game improves-you look pretty darn good for only playing three years, you could transfer to a D1 school.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

any time you set your feet for a stroke you land on the heel and pushing off happens either the big toe side of the ball of the foot or the big toe itself. so there is the transition. timing and smoothness of this movement of the feet is very well controlled for pros. rec players not so much. I'll see if I can find a footage but basically everyone does it.

Ok but I don't see it. What I see is a deliberate plant of the foot and usually there is an actual verifiable pause as they are either waiting or loading. Then the push come on the inside of the foot and maybe the big toe depending on shot / prep / angle. I don't see any heel to toe movement as you can see on the front leg of a 1hbh or even anything close to that.

If it's very important and everyone is doing it then it should be easy to find an example from any video. And running forehands don't count for obvious reasons.

I'm not trying to be argumentative at all as I'm here to learn and share things too but every time I ask you to provide video evidence of your observations you never come through.

So let's see it.

[shake&bake]

Guys if you want to start a debate about this heel planting topic and everything you can always start a new thread

[Cheetah]

ok. my bad. sorry.

[zapvor]

just watched the vid; for 3 yrs thats really good. like the serve. motion may be a tad off, but i like seeing that ball go. i would say D1 ball is super tough, but you can defniitely play somewhere D2. oh and i love you camping at the baseline taking every ball early. although a match video would be better i think

[NLBwell]

If you really, really, really, really, really, want to play D-1 tennis and have really gotten to your level in 3 years, then take a year off school, go to a tennis academy, pay the bucks, and play full-time.

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by Jonny S&V

I like how everyone puts DI on this pedestal, like it's impossible for a decent high school player to play on a DI team. I mean, yeah, if you wanna play on a top 75 DI school, it's virtually a requirement that you be around a 4-star on TRN.

But if he merely wants to play DI (where there's most likely consistent monies and facilities), there are PLENTY of DI schools that he could go to and start as a true freshman, such as Western Illinois U, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, South Dakota State (although SDSU has been upping their recruiting standards lately), etc... Those are just schools I've had experiences with. I'm sure there are many schools just like the aforementioned schools around the nation that could fit a guy like the OP.

This is an excellent point. I think that may people hear "D1" and automatically assume that people are looking to play at USC, Georgia or Pepperdine.

Originally Posted by NLBwell

If you really, really, really, really, really, want to play D-1 tennis and have really gotten to your level in 3 years, then take a year off school, go to a tennis academy, pay the bucks, and play full-time.

The year off with full time play is another excellent point.

[5263]

Lots of good advice from the college coach and others like johnny S&V who makes
a great point.
I wouldn't rule out jr college either for a guy like you who is improving so fast.
There should be some good tennis programs where you can get a couple more
yrs of training (nearly double), get some basic classes out of the way, then
transfer opportunities may be good.
You can likely still play some tourneys to get some good wins to show your
improvement and skill level.
My gut is that you should look for a great school less than D1, especially if
you don't want to do Jr college.

Really good looking vid for 3 yrs of training.
I liked Limpins technique points in his post, especially about shoulder turn and
tilt.

[pvaudio]

Here's a crazy question: OP, what do you want to do with your life? Obviously it's not to become a professional tennis player, so how about we start with the academics first. I bring this up because I know far too many great junior players from my day who ended up going to D2 and D1 schools on tennis scholarships and ultimately realized that after graduation, they'd have nothing. After that epiphany, they quit tennis and then graduated with the rest of their class. So, do you have a good idea what you want to study, or are you going in to play tennis and will figure it out on the way?

[shake&bake]

Hey guys, I have a quick update to shar with you all. I played my first tournament in a couple of months last weekend and won, beating some good players which helped my ranking on TRN. I made a match play video due to the low amount of match play on my first video. Would like to hear from you guys about it. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAVeSHHNXnE