NTRP 0 to 5 in a year? Is that possible?

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Buford T Justice

Yes...I don't enjoy playing that style either....but it definitely works.

I know the style works, that's why players that are not in ATP/WTA use them.

[luvforty]

ntrp numbering should change.

in stead of 1-7, they should use bigger number like 1,000,000 to 7,000,000

so beginners will stop asking - can I reach 5,000,000 in a year.

[kimbahpnam]

since there is no 0 rating, it's impossible.

[DakotaM]

I think 5.0 would be unattainable, but 4.0 is reasonable if you work hard enough. I went from 2 months experience and 6 seed at my below average high school team to 4 seed at a D3 college in about a year and a half. I'm about a 4.0 player now. My playing partner is a former D2 player and coaches at a college, and I played with him 5 days a week in order to progress at this rate. In my opinion, immersion is the best way to get better as long as your technique is correct to begin with. Play somebody better than you every single day.

[JW10S]

Originally Posted by luvforty

ntrp numbering should change.

in stead of 1-7, they should use bigger number like 1,000,000 to 7,000,000

so beginners will stop asking - can I reach 5,000,000 in a year.

More like 1 to 7,000,000--then maybe they will get it. Even though the NTRP system was supposed to standardize things I'm astounded by how many people are absolutely clueless as to how the system works.

[Buford T Justice]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

I know the style works, that's why players that are not in ATP/WTA use them.

Yes, for every video we see of someone with beautiful strokes, there are 5 guys out there that look ugly playing, but will kick their butts, sometimes very badly, in a match.

I know.....I've been beaten many times by them!

One of my good tennis buds (one of these guys who beats me every time.....) plays this style and is very successful all the way up in UT 6.0-. He is fully prepared to hit 20 balls to win a point and that is on a hard court....never mind clay...youll need a calendar to time the match. If you are not prepared for that, you will start to try and hit winners, which is exactly what this type of player wants you to do, as they are quite certain the odds are in their favor that you cannot blast balls by them consistently. And, they are right. They are playing smart to win (provided they are in shape and fit enough to play sets that take an hour plus each), but it is an unexciting way to play in my opinion. I thought this style of play would peter out by the upper eschelons of rec tennis, but it doesn't. There are many many players who approach the game with this mindset, and again, there are many who are successful with this approach.

Of course...this is spoken by someone who loses more than wins against this style! LOL

[Fuji]

Nawh, it's not possible no matter how talented you are. 5.0 have tons of match experience, which you really can't make up for with sheer athleticism.

That being said, a Div1 (5.5 NTRP) singles player I know has only been competing in tournies for two years, and he's bottom of the roster. That being said, he plays for over 30 hours a week, on court, 45 weeks (ish) of the year. That doesn't include his off court fitness. Guy is a machine, and I really wouldn't recommend it as it is very easy to get injured with that heavy of a workload.

I've gotten around 3 years of serious tennis under my belt and I can hang with open players to hit with, but I only compete at what would be an American 4.5 level because of my awful mental game. 4.0 is very attainable if you are halfway decently fit, and have a good stroke base. The biggest thing at 5.0 however, as I already said though is the match toughness that comes along with it. I simply don't play enough matches to really keep mentally tough.

Good luck though, I really hope you can succeed!

-Fuji

[dr325i]

Originally Posted by Stergios

Hi guys,

I'm new here and new to tennis. So, I'll introduce my self.

I've been waving in life for as long as I can remember my self. I can't help it but to try out what comes to mind more than twice. Though I never act impulsively.

I've been changing hobbies, friends and jobs through out my life. Weirdly enough I was very stable in relationships but that's another story.

Anyway, in summer of 2012 I was fed up with my job and I started to looking up for a new hobby to have some fun and mentally relax. I tried quite a few things, from rock climbing to skydiving. And then came tennis.
I really hooked up with the sport and I started to play at least twice a week.

I'm known for my extremities and tennis wasn't going to be of any difference. To make a long story short, in a few months time I decided to get rid of my current job (at least for a year), move to an apartment of 1/4 of the size and price of my previous one and get my extra time and savings into tennis, for a year.

After studying the NTRP levels of tennis I had to set a bold goal, right?
I want to know if it is possible to get to a level of NTRP 5 in just one year of intense training;

I know it's a long post and a long shot too but I wanted to share it with you and make you feel it as i feel it... More over I would be very humbled to listen to any tips or suggestions you may have.

Stergios
---------------------
Dream like a child and work like a real athlete in life.

Not sure how possible this is, however, just last week I had a pleasure to play with a solid 4.0 in Taipei that started playing 2 years ago. I don't think this guy plays every day either, if he did, I could see him at 4.5 -5.0.

[Venetian]

It's definitely possible for certain people to reach higher levels of play in a shorter period than others. I've seen several players pick up tennis early in high school and go on to play college tennis after their senior year. I would say they were 4.5 to 5.0 level players. So beginner to 5.0 in about 4 years is pretty darn good. But 1 year? I don't see that happening.

The most important thing to consider is also not time or money spent training, but natural ability. If you have amazing hand-eye coordination and athleticism, then you might be one of those guys who can climb relatively high in a few years. But if you lack in either or those areas, you'll probably never get there. So make sure you realistically evaluate your abilities before dumping a bunch of money into this quest. There's usually one of these types of threads on TTW every year, and most of the time the player wastes a bunch of money and we never hear from them again. Though it does often provide a lot of entertainment. And you can't always put a price on that.

[tennis ratchet]

the difference between 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 is going to be technique--they will know better and better the correct shot to make from multiple positions on the courts, with pace--but more than that, consistency. consistency is the real killer and honestly i don't think you can learn it in just one year.

[barringer97]

You need 10,000 hours to get to a 5.0. Can't do that in a year.

It's similar to a scratch golfer.

Good luck.

[Sumo]

Originally Posted by LeeD

I concur with SA. He is a tennis teaching pro.
I've been playing for over 29 years.
To make a solid 3.5 in your first year would be almost too amazing to consider. You can PLAY at 3.5 tournaments, but that doesn't make you a 3.5 level player.
For most, it takes THREE years of intensive, 4-5 day a week tennis to get there.
I played 3 years of high school football and basketball. I learned to surf in competitive 1-3A contests within 4 years. I could ski ANY expert run at SquawValley within my 11th day ever of skiing.
In tennis, with help from several pros, I was able to win only one C, or 3.5 tourney within my third year of 5-6 day a week tennis.

Compulsion fulfilled.

[1980]

This is an unrealistic goal I think. I've spent a lot of time moving from hobby to hobby and devoting exorbitant amounts of time trying to become good at this or that. Often times a year is long enough to become better than average at something, but it takes years to unlock the subtle nuances that only come from hard earned experience. That being said, when you aspire to absolute greatness, try your hardest and fail, you still end up being pretty damned good.

[Phonco]

Maybe if you're a 7ft tall player with a Isner/Karlovic caliber serve. You'd probably be able to take players to tiebreakers and break it down to luck. Karlovic is a guy I feel who has okay/sub-par strokes, but his serve is so good that he can compete.

On a more serious note, I'd say it's not impossible, but very improbable. I think it's possible to be able to hit at that level, but to "play" at that level is a different story. Personally I feel the higher up you go, the less it becomes about strokes and the more it becomes about intangibles/experience/mentality. That comes with lots of hours of playing.

You would need a few conditions to have chance at completing your goal.

-Great coach
- 5.0/5.5+ hitting partners who, for some reason, are dedicated to helping only you
-Athletically gifted, or came from another explosive type sport i.e basketball, track sprinter etc.
-Dedicate your life and play something like 10 hours a day, every day
-No injuries

If you had all this, learned everything right the first time, then you might hit your goal in one year. If not, then you'll at least be able to rally at that level.

My only proof is that I actually met someone who had very similar conditions, but his goal wasn't 5.0 nor was he under such a deadline. However, I still think your goal is still extremely improbable.

[JW10S]

What people do not understand is that as you move up improving gets harder, not easier. Getting from a 2.5 to a 3.5 is not very difficult, but getting from 3.5 to 4.5 is difficult. It's analagous to a swimmer or runner who can take seconds off their times early on but as they get higher in the ranks taking 10ths or even 100ths of a second off is very hard and is often the difference between finishing 1st or last. The NTRP scale does not go up linearly but exponentially. You can't go from nothing to something special fast or easily, sorry to burst the bubble but it won't happen.

[Ryoma]

Why a year? What not an hour? Don't let time stop you.

[eidolonshinobi]

I'm in the end of my second year (year 3 this summer) in my tennis journey and I'm a solid upper 4.0, can hang with 4.5s but not consistently. I played a lot...still playing.

I won't say that I don't doubt you...tennis is just so technical and so many strokes are needed to even be considered a 4.5 player.

Being athletic will help tremendously as I reached 3.5 within a year. But it just gets harder from there.

This was my progress:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3DBE7D128D2A8117

I dont have my first few months on here because I deleted my old youtube account. But pretty much a bunch of wall hitting and ugly playing. It hurts my eyes when I watch old video of myself playing but gives me motivation to always keep improving because I've already gotten so far.

[iradical18]

I'll not say it's impossible but to be at a legitimate 5.0 level in a year would be just shy of it. That said, I'm rooting for you!

[boramiNYC]

Originally Posted by slowfox

When Jordan wanted to make it in Major League Baseball, I recall analysts saying that the muscles most often used in basketball differed from those in baseball. Nobody questions Jordan's athleticism, but even with all his abilities he could only play double-A ball. Not sure how he did in the minors. Was he good?

I don't know how badly jordan wanted and needed to do really well in baseball. I doubt his passion for baseball was a tenth of that for basketball as he was just starting NBA. I believe if he had the same amount of passion and desire in baseball at his age and had coaches who could translate his talent to baseball, he could have become at least competitive in major league.

balancing ability in skateboarding, motorcross, and archery can translate well to tennis, strength of upperbody needed for moto and archery will help upperbody coordination for tennis, breathing and focusing ability in archery can be useful for tennis as well. and there's the gamesmanship that can be learned in any competition. etc

[TomT]

Originally Posted by Stergios

Hi guys,

I'm new here and new to tennis. So, I'll introduce my self.

I've been waving in life for as long as I can remember my self. I can't help it but to try out what comes to mind more than twice. Though I never act impulsively.

I've been changing hobbies, friends and jobs through out my life. Weirdly enough I was very stable in relationships but that's another story.

Anyway, in summer of 2012 I was fed up with my job and I started to looking up for a new hobby to have some fun and mentally relax. I tried quite a few things, from rock climbing to skydiving. And then came tennis.
I really hooked up with the sport and I started to play at least twice a week.

I'm known for my extremities and tennis wasn't going to be of any difference. To make a long story short, in a few months time I decided to get rid of my current job (at least for a year), move to an apartment of 1/4 of the size and price of my previous one and get my extra time and savings into tennis, for a year.

After studying the NTRP levels of tennis I had to set a bold goal, right?
I want to know if it is possible to get to a level of NTRP 5 in just one year of intense training;

I know it's a long post and a long shot too but I wanted to share it with you and make you feel it as i feel it... More over I would be very humbled to listen to any tips or suggestions you may have.

Stergios
---------------------
Dream like a child and work like a real athlete in life.

Well Stergios, I like your sig, but I think it's important to set realistic goals. If you're young, and fit, and have had some experience playing 'ball and tool' sports such as baseball, table tennis, squash, badminton, etc., and with a passionate commitment and many hours of diligent, tedious practice, then maybe you might reach a 3.5 to 4.0 level of competitive play in a year. The difference between that and a 5.0 player is, I would guess, beyond your capability to comprehend at this time. Anyway, I think it's beyond my comprehension at this time.

5.0 is a really proficient level of play. It's a long term goal (certainly much longer than a year) for somebody just starting out. Here's a suggestion. If you're really committed to and passionate about this, then put it out there. Start a thread on Talk Tennis. A video diary of your progress.