Not being able to keep up with my teammates

AndreDaGamer · Sep 14, 2020

I've missed out on a lot to update so I'll start now, so I've been currently gone out hitting daily, I've been working on a slice serve on the first and second serve and adding more spin into my game including my forehand and backhand.

chrisb · Sep 15, 2020

Good. I would recommend that you try to use topspin slice on your serves to ensure getting the ball over the net . And hitting outdoors in the wind requires learning how to use the wind and how to play upwind downwind and crosswind

AndreDaGamer · Sep 23, 2020

So I basically played a 1 set match and lost 6-4, afterwards I wanted to try to see how well I played with a wall keeping the idea of keeping a rhythm with a wall in mind
Does anyone know what I can improve on?

AndreDaGamer · Sep 23, 2020

nevermind, it just seems to show my feet, but does it look like my footwork is adequate?

Firepandas · Sep 23, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
nevermind, it just seems to show my feet, but does it look like my footwork is adequate?

Bud, you show up in frame for 5 second intervals.... I have no idea what is going on

Silverbuns · Sep 23, 2020

Record a match or something, even if just a friendly one. And buy a tripod

AndreDaGamer · Sep 26, 2020

here

tennis tom · Sep 26, 2020

Your footwork looks "adequate"--turn more sideways (closed stance) on your FH. BH take-back (up high) looks good--do the same on your FH--take the racket head up high (above your head) as you do on your BH.

AndreDaGamer · Sep 27, 2020

Dragy · Sep 27, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:

What kind of feedback do you want? Who’s on the other side? You both make too many mistakes for a practice/warmup rally. I suggest you tone down and try to give your opponent decent comfortable ball to extend rallies before you start hitting sides and ramping up power. When you accidentally get a tougher ball like wide deep one, don’t try to pay it back with same intensity and tight to the lines - make a more conservative shot. Etc.

tennis tom · Sep 27, 2020

OK, tennis is supposed to be fun, not torture--smile once in a while! U keep hitting yourself when u miss--stop punishing yourself. U have a good BH, don't change it. U ran around a few shots that should have been BH's--hit the right shot--hit a BH if it's on the BH side otherwise you're opening up your court.

Your follow-through sometimes on your FH has a big "flourish"--no doubt you're trying to emulate Rafa's windshield wiper finish--unless you're practicing eight hours a day stick with the fundamentals of stroke production. If you're practicing use more balls so you're hitting balls and not picking them up--good players each bring a can of balls to the practice so you have six. On your FH make your take-"back" UP above your head like you do on your BH. Now smile--this isn't algebra, just geometry I.

Fintft · Sep 29, 2020

Cobaine said:
If it’s powerful shots that are giving you trouble, you’re probably not used to the speed. Try preparing early and/or shortening your swing (before contact).

Also, step back a few more feet behind the baseline. That will give you extra time to prepare.

My two extra cents:

It might also have something to do with confidence and commitment to swing your racquet (fast and relaxed)....

nyta2 · Oct 5, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
I am 14, I play on a team with a coach who was a professional tennis player who played mainly on the challenger tour. Our team is highly competitive and I rally with my teammates. Recently however, we’ve gotten highly competitive and we’ve been doing 25+ and 50+ rally drills daily if not hourly, I haven’t been able to keep up as many of the people hit with a lot of power and consistency while I usually either miss some balls with the usual UFE or the winner hit by them. What I wish to learn or have tips on is how does one keep up with my teammates who are very good?

stand back and moonball until you get used to the pace.

AndreDaGamer · Oct 11, 2020

I’ve been having trouble taking the ball on the rise, any help?

tennis tom · Oct 11, 2020

Hey! How 'bout some feedback on my prior posts to you?--thoughts?

tennis tom · Oct 11, 2020

Learn this :

AndreDaGamer · Oct 11, 2020

tennis tom said:
Hey! How 'bout some feedback on my prior posts to you?--thoughts?

well, I should improve my footwork and I've tried cheering myself up but I still am not able to achieve what I want to do.

Morch Us · Oct 11, 2020

@AndreDaGamer watching multiple videos of you, it seems like you have really high passion to improve. Keep it up.

Yes there are a lot of room for improvement. But that is a good thing, since you don't have to search too hard to improve, and it is going to be a positive step everytime.

1. I don't see the same level of intensity on the court as much as your passion for tennis. Especially on the movement, and in general like for example high intensity kids at your age WONT be walking slow to pick up the balls, they will be running.

2. You don't match your intensity of shots on your intensity of foot/movement. So it maybe a good idea to reduce the intensity of your shots for the time being, and increase the intensity of your lower body (legs). This by itself would improve your consistensy a lot, thereby allowing your practices to me a lot more effective. Effective practices make your improvement faster.

3. Don't worry too much about your shots for the time being. I think your shots are good for the time being when you take it individually. The biggest problem is you just cannot do it over and over on a match or even a practice, because there is enough randomness on the incoming ball, and without improving your intensity and footwork, there is no way to connect them together to make a successful point.

Also take rest at times and don't try to practice when you feel you are completely drained out. Also do not ever make tireness as an excuse to lower intensity or performance on court.

So in summary

Lower body intensity, general intensity on mind, footwork & consistency.
Working on those will you the maximum possible results in near future.

Morch Us · Oct 11, 2020

This practice is just pure waste of time. It is going to be too boring to practice like this. You are never going to develop a rythm or form by doing this. Make it a habit that if both of you cannot make 20 balls in a row to the middle of the court, nothing else matters. Yes some tennis experts would say that in a real match, 20 ball rallies rarely happen. But without consitency, tennis is a boring game, and you won't even get a motivation to play. There is no reason for match practice, without developing basic consistency.

Developing more consistency would make your practice sessions more enjoyable. If your partner does not agree with this, change the partner, and find someone with correct mindset.

AndreDaGamer said:
I’ve been having trouble taking the ball on the rise, any help?

Deleted member 771407 · Oct 13, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
Well here’s an update, earlier today, I played a match, I lost the 1st set 6-2 but am leading 4-1 when we paused the match, key take aways were I had a hard time holding serve early on by losing the early rallies while dominating the rallies in the second set

Totally random thought, but maybe your raquet is a bit too heavy for you. The pro staff 97 requires a strong body/good pace. Try a 300g raquet, maybe even a pure drive.
You can switch to your pro staff when you grow up and get a bit stronger.

AndreDaGamer · Oct 17, 2020

Here's an update for today, for every 9 balls, I made 2 errors when taking the ball on the rise. I know that I have to bend my knees more and to keep my eyes on the balls longer but I don't know how to improve consistency on the rise.

giantschwinn · Oct 18, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
Here's an update for today, for every 9 balls, I made 2 errors when taking the ball on the rise. I know that I have to bend my knees more and to keep my eyes on the balls longer but I don't know how to improve consistency on the rise.

It's a touch/feel thing. Remembering you don't have to hit hard on off the bounce shots. Your goal is to redirect the ball to the open court.

esm · Oct 18, 2020

After seeing some of the latest videos - I think another good tip is to try a lengthy mini tennis (ie. half court). This will let you get used to the looking at the ball more closely and move your racquet more.
try to do 10 shots first with your partner and increase the number of shots as you get more comfortable with it. It is also a good option for warm up. Good luck with it and let us know how you get one with it.

AndreDaGamer · Oct 24, 2020

I went out hitting today with a teammate whom I referenced that I couldn't keep up with and I think I pissed him off really badly as I made many stupid errors and as a result I couldn't keep a rally of over 10 balls and then that must've been the final straw for him as he just started spraying fast balls out of anger or out of his ability, I was able to block many balls back, however, many of the balls forced an error out of me or he hit a winner. Comparing with myself from 6 months ago, I was able to get to many more balls, however, I feel that my friend has a LOT more power and as a result, I still cannot keep up with my teammate.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 7, 2020

The lefty slice serve out wide is the worst thing I’ve ever faced and I’ve seen a lot.

Dragy · Nov 8, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
The lefty slice serve out wide is the worst thing I’ve ever faced and I’ve seen a lot.

No matchplay video?

S&V-not_dead_yet · Nov 8, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
Here's an update for today, for every 9 balls, I made 2 errors when taking the ball on the rise. I know that I have to bend my knees more and to keep my eyes on the balls longer but I don't know how to improve consistency on the rise.

That's not a bad % for learning a new skill.

What kind of feed are you receiving? The toughest would be someone hitting hard at your feet. Maybe back off the difficulty scale and start at the opposite end: drop feeds.

Initially, don't even try to hit a target. Just work on the motion and keeping your eyes on the contact point and your knee bend.

If that's too much, just pick one variable.

S&V-not_dead_yet · Nov 8, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
I went out hitting today with a teammate whom I referenced that I couldn't keep up with and I think I pissed him off really badly as I made many stupid errors and as a result I couldn't keep a rally of over 10 balls and then that must've been the final straw for him as he just started spraying fast balls out of anger or out of his ability,

He doesn't sound very mature. If my hitting partner is having a rough spot, I'll adjust my hitting to make it easier for him, not more difficult.

however, I feel that my friend has a LOT more power and as a result, I still cannot keep up with my teammate.

You're making a mistake, IMO: by choosing one person as your comparison, you may never stack up favorably.

Your comparison shouldn't be someone else; it should be yourself. How are you improving? Where are you improving the most? Where are your biggest weaknesses?

These questions will lead to the most improvement. If you only compare yourself to a potentially better teammate, you might do things with short-term potential but do nothing or even hurt your longer-term development.

For example, you mentioned power: it's possible that he's just stronger than you and has better technique. Maybe you're better off not trying to compete on his strength; try and find one of your strengths instead and exploit one of his weaknesses.

You have resources; you just have to recognize and develop them.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 8, 2020

Dragy said:
No matchplay video?

I didn't since my teammates didn't take a video of my match like I asked them to, but I did for them. :\

AndreDaGamer · Nov 8, 2020

S&V-not_dead_yet said:
That's not a bad % for learning a new skill.

What kind of feed are you receiving? The toughest would be someone hitting hard at your feet. Maybe back off the difficulty scale and start at the opposite end: drop feeds.

Initially, don't even try to hit a target. Just work on the motion and keeping your eyes on the contact point and your knee bend.

If that's too much, just pick one variable.

Hitting medium pace to my feet.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 8, 2020

S&V-not_dead_yet said:
He doesn't sound very mature. If my hitting partner is having a rough spot, I'll adjust my hitting to make it easier for him, not more difficult.

You're making a mistake, IMO: by choosing one person as your comparison, you may never stack up favorably.

Your comparison shouldn't be someone else; it should be yourself. How are you improving? Where are you improving the most? Where are your biggest weaknesses?

These questions will lead to the most improvement. If you only compare yourself to a potentially better teammate, you might do things with short-term potential but do nothing or even hurt your longer-term development.

For example, you mentioned power: it's possible that he's just stronger than you and has better technique. Maybe you're better off not trying to compete on his strength; try and find one of your strengths instead and exploit one of his weaknesses.

You have resources; you just have to recognize and develop them.

I read this too late since I hit with him and within 15 minutes of shanking, I pissed him off so much that he slammed the ball and as the first post indicated, I never could reach a ball that he slammed at me. After I took a water break, he just hit serves and left 30 minutes early as I was "making him worse" by not getting back his balls with any pace.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 8, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
I read this too late since I hit with him and within 15 minutes of shanking, I pissed him off so much that he slammed the ball and as the first post indicated, I never could reach a ball that he slammed at me. After I took a water break, he just hit serves and left 30 minutes early as I was "making him worse" by not getting back his balls with any pace.

My friend however, watched and he said that the one that hit so hard was just playing like a beast and that my forehand and footwork are good but not so much as my one hander.

S&V-not_dead_yet · Nov 8, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
I read this too late since I hit with him and within 15 minutes of shanking, I pissed him off so much that he slammed the ball and as the first post indicated, I never could reach a ball that he slammed at me. After I took a water break, he just hit serves and left 30 minutes early as I was "making him worse" by not getting back his balls with any pace.

You're wasting your time playing with him. You're better served by finding someone who wants to improve and work cooperatively.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 8, 2020

S&V-not_dead_yet said:
You're wasting your time playing with him. You're better served by finding someone who wants to improve and work cooperatively.

He said that he would help me before I came, but then his friends just hit with him and then when I came and hit with him, I just pissed him off, like yesterday he actually helped with me on my conditioning and working on increasing pace, but today was something else.

giantschwinn · Nov 8, 2020

In real life, a 4.5 wouldn't have a 3.5 hitting partner unless she is very pretty and you are literally hitting on her.

I can totally understand why your friend is pissed off if you tried to match his pace and ended up spraying balls all over the place. I think you are better off finding another person similar to your level and work on rally consistency together.

ballmachineguy · Nov 8, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
So I basically played a 1 set match and lost 6-4, afterwards I wanted to try to see how well I played with a wall keeping the idea of keeping a rhythm with a wall in mind
Does anyone know what I can improve on?

Really liked the way you put your foot into the Penn can at 1:14. Maybe soccer?

AndreDaGamer · Nov 9, 2020

ballmachineguy said:
Really liked the way you put your foot into the Penn can at 1:14. Maybe soccer?

tried doing soccer tennis when I'm alone and I played soccer a lil bit when I was 4 so idk.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 14, 2020

I went out hitting today and I couldn't get myself to bend my knees, how do I make myself instinctively bend my knees?

Firepandas · Nov 14, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
I went out hitting today and I couldn't get myself to bend my knees, how do I make myself instinctively bend my knees?

Practice? Not everything has a short cut or neat little trick to help, Andre. It is just about drilling it over and over in your head and body that you have to maintain the proper technique.

AndreDaGamer · Nov 24, 2020

Is it just me or does it seem like I always have more unforced errors and I can't move when I start off a match only to get into the mood after consecutive errors, like being able to strike winners and force errors onto your opponent?

S&V-not_dead_yet · Nov 25, 2020

AndreDaGamer said:
Is it just me or does it seem like I always have more unforced errors and I can't move when I start off a match only to get into the mood after consecutive errors, like being able to strike winners and force errors onto your opponent?

Everybody gets going at different rates. Be active on your feet; that can work wonders for getting your head and body into a match.

Dragy · Nov 25, 2020

In warmup practice, after several dozens of baseline shots, we sometimes add some intensity and start hitting better angles putting some pressure on each other. Moderately aggressive - not kind of smacking or trying to hit through. Usually, after hitting couple of decent shots left-right, making opponent move, you get a clean putaway opportunity. Sometimes we take it, but as it's still a practice rally, on other occasions we recognize it, but reset the rally with a cooperative shot. Such an attituded - to be in a high-quality rally, to move opponent around maintaining a rally and to wait and recognize opportunity for easy putaway - is good to reduce UE and learn to pick proper balls to finish points.

AndreDaGamer · Mar 7, 2021

I've been wondering how to return high serves to the forehand and if it's possible to hit a winner off a high return

S&V-not_dead_yet · Mar 7, 2021

AndreDaGamer said:
I've been wondering how to return high serves to the forehand and if it's possible to hit a winner off a high return

Of course it's possible to hit a winner off of a high return: the important question to ask is what is the risk [same with any return or any shot for that matter]? Is the shot in your strike zone? How much power can you generate at that height?

How do you deal with any ball to the FH [not just a serve]? I sometimes alter my grip slightly from Eastern FH towards Semi-Western; that makes dealing with high balls easier. I typically do not try to hit a winner with the return because I don't think I'm accurate enough to justify the increase in errors. I usually just try and get it back deep CC or right at the server.

AndreDaGamer · Mar 9, 2021

Won my tournament today, thanks all for your help!

joah310 · Mar 9, 2021

congrats dude!

onehandbh · Mar 9, 2021

AndreDaGamer said:
here

Make sure to split step. Even when hitting against the wall. Stay light on your feet. They way you were moving in that video, you could have played barefoot because you were just slowly walking to the ball.

AndreDaGamer · Apr 10, 2021

Is there a way to take your anger out on the ball without sending the ball 10 feet long? because my friend smashed his racket and he let me destroy the rest

giantschwinn · Apr 11, 2021

I tell my son if he ever smashes a racquet, I will smash him.

zipplock · Apr 11, 2021

giantschwinn said:
I tell my son if he ever smashes a racquet, I will smash him.

Similar. I told my kid it took me working to earn the money to pay for the racquets, so if he doesn't take care of them he is disrespecting my effort.

Not being able to keep up with my teammates

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