Lots of good advice on this one...
...lemme just chime in again:
- First, you're a 3.0 trying to get to 3.5. A noble goal, but why stop there? I have, as any of you who have seen my posts know, a lot of issues with NTRP, one of the major ones being that it tends to be self-limiting. When I started playing, back when the world was young, there was no NTRP. We were whatever we were, which was probably 2.5 to 3.0. What were we aiming for? The equivalent of 7.0, obviously. I read all the books I could, watched all the tennis I could, and tried to play like my heroes...Ashe, Stan Smith, McEnroe, and so forth...and it more or less worked.
One of the especially limiting things about NTRP is that it talks almost exclusively to strokes and strategy, doesn't say a word about the athleticism you need to move up. Most players would do well to drop their rackets for a summer, and work on nothing but foot speed, agility, strength, and flexibility. A lot of the reason why a 4.5, for example, has "sound footwork", as it says in the NTRP descriptions is that a 4.5 player has figured out that to have sound footwork, you need to be a better athlete.
- So having said all that, moving from 3.0 to 3.5 is still an excellent goal. As a reminder to all of us, let me attach the ratings from 3.0 through 4.0 so you can see where you might want to go as well as where you want to go next.
3.0
You are fairly consistent when hitting medium-paced shots, but are not comfortable with all strokes and lack execution when trying for directional control, depth, or power. Your most common doubles formation is one-up, one-back.
3.5
You have achieved improved stroke dependability with directional control on moderate shots, but need to develop depth and variety. You exhibit more aggressive net play, have improved court coverage and are developing teamwork in doubles.
4.0
You have dependable strokes, including directional control and depth on both forehand and backhand sides on moderate-paced shots. You can use lobs, overheads, approach shots and volleys with some success and occasionally force errors when serving. Rallies may be lost due to impatience. Teamwork in doubles is evident.
- One of the key things I'd like to emphasize about the above is that when you get to 4.0, it says you have to have "dependable strokes." What that means is that while doing all that good stuff about having directional control, depth, and so forth, you can't make a lot of silly unforced errors. What that translates to, for me, is that to even think about getting above 3.0, at the 3.0 level, you've got to have pretty clean strokes...which I usually don't see. Most 3.0 players, for example, serve with a semi-Western forehand grip, and hit backhands with whatever grip happens to appear for a given stroke, and swing at volleys, and so forth.
You're working with a pro, so I assume you're not doing any of these Bad Things. But be advised that there's a subtle implication in the NTRP ratings descriptions, which is that a 3.0 has basically the same clean stroke as a 4.0 and above...just not as much topspin, or depth, or whatever. So my advice is get your fundamentals down, and stop thinking about what level you are. The fundamentals of an athletic ready position, quick, efficient footwork, early prep, and a clean stroke are what you build on, so get them dialed in, and your progress from one level to the next will be relatively painless.
I'm not saying, however, that everybody should have exactly the same strokes. I was watching the Champions Cup from Boston the other night (a series which every aspiring player ought to watch...), and the commentators, quite rightly, were saying that Jim Courier had a little hitch in his getalong on his backhand...but he realized this early on in his career, felt like his stroke passed the acid test of effectiveness and consistency, and stayed with it. Lendl had a service toss that I'd never advise anybody to use...but it worked for him. If you have a toss like Lendl's, fine...as long as you can get 60% of your first serves in, and hold your serve at 15 every time.
So focus on that kind of stuff. Could a ball machine help in that effort? Definitely, as I said, if you use it right. As somebody above noted, it's going to cost you about $1000 to $1.5 K...minimum. And as I've been saying, and as a number of other people have said, it's just one more training aid. I hit about 2 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week, with one hitting partner or another. About once a week, I'll get out with my ball machine. I don't really use it to make any great leaps forward, I use it mostly to iron out whatever bugs I'm experiencing. For example, backhand volley is probably my best shot, but lately I've been shanking a few more than I'm comfortable with. So the other day I set up my ball machine and hit two sets of 300 balls to my backhand volley. After 10 balls, it was obvious what was wrong, namely, the same old boring stuff. My prep was a little late, so my timing was off, and I didn't have much direction or pop on the volley because I didn't have much follow-through. I was also arming the ball a little, and not getting a good step into the shot. So I got that cleaned up and regrooved my backhand volley.
I think the advice people are giving you about renting a ball machine and seeing what it does for you is good stuff...I wouldn't run right out and buy one, at this point. Just remember that the ball machine will do exactly what you tell it to do, but it doesn't care about what you're working on, or where you hit the ball...or even if you hit the ball. That's up to you...