Successful tennis players are willing to do what unsuccessful players won't do!!!!!!!

Hey all,

I know a ton of tennis players in my 20 plus years of playing. I did a lot of tournaments from 1999-2004. I'm 4.5 moving to 5.0 now. I'm always baffled by the amount of things many players "won't do" because "that's not the way I do things" (like new ways to practice, going out to practice your serve 3 days a week for 20 minutes per session) or "I've never done it that way, and that's not changing."

Here is a list of things that I was willing to do in order to win:

1-Demoed a lot, lot of rackets and bought $1200 in rackets in order to find the right one.
2-I had a players black book where I listed players tendencies and strengths and notes.
3-I created a scrapbook of my accomplishments and pictures of pros doing what I wanted to do.
4-Read Tennis Mastery, Secrets of A True Tennis Master by Welby Van Horn, Winning Ugly. I wanted to learn from the masters instead of trying to learn it "my way". My way sucks, their way works.
5-I became an intense studied of pro matches, and why one player beat another.
6-I used to practice my serve 6 days a week for at least 20 minutes per session.
7-I have taken lessons at the rate of $75 per hour. I only work with coaches that have a competitive background, and current link to tournament play in some way.
8-I have a string log that has notes, tensions recorded.
9-I actually seek Holy Grail socks and shoes.
10-I bought custom orthotics to eliminate plantar fascitis.
11-When demoing rackets, I took notes to evaluate scores against the same consistent players to see how much the new racket was "worth" in games.
12-I purchased a few instructional DVDs. I really enjoyed the Tennis Guru DVD and Fearless Tennis by Jeff Greenwald.
13-Bought a tennis scoring watch by Winset. I no longer have to think about scoring much. Helps after a long rally and you don't know what the score is, now, I just look at my watch.

These are a few of mine. What are you willing to do to be successful that others won't do.

John

BillyIdol said:

Here is a list of things that I was willing to do in order to win:

1-Demoed a lot, lot of rackets and bought $1200 in rackets in order to find the right one.
2-I had a players black book where I listed players tendencies and strengths and notes.
3-I created a scrapbook of my accomplishments and pictures of pros doing what I wanted to do.
4-Read Tennis Mastery, Secrets of A True Tennis Master by Welby Van Horn, Winning Ugly. I wanted to learn from the masters instead of trying to learn it "my way". My way sucks, their way works.
5-I became an intense studied of pro matches, and why one player beat another.
6-I used to practice my serve 6 days a week for at least 20 minutes per session.
7-I have taken lessons at the rate of $75 per hour. I only work with coaches that have a competitive background, and current link to tournament play in some way.
8-I have a string log that has notes, tensions recorded.
9-I actually seek Holy Grail socks and shoes.
10-I bought custom orthotics to eliminate plantar fascitis.
11-When demoing rackets, I took notes to evaluate scores against the same consistent players to see how much the new racket was "worth" in games.
12-I purchased a few instructional DVDs. I really enjoyed the Tennis Guru DVD and Fearless Tennis by Jeff Greenwald.
13-Bought a tennis scoring watch by Winset. I no longer have to think about scoring much. Helps after a long rally and you don't know what the score is, now, I just look at my watch.

Click to expand...

I've never done it that way, and that's not changing..





I kid.. its good youve taken it that far and see improvements...

aka willing to spend, spend , spend.

Claudius said:

aka willing to spend, spend , spend.

Click to expand...

It's much more than that really, if playing tennis makes you happy (and it surely makes me happy) then shelling out a little extra dough to find your holy grail of racquets/shoes or whatever is nothing, not to mention you don't need to BUY tons of racquets to test them since the demo program is a godsend.

And being a student of the game is a great thing, in my opinion.

You don't have to do any of those things.

good thread. subbed.

BillyIdol said:

Hey all,

I know a ton of tennis players in my 20 plus years of playing. I did a lot of tournaments from 1999-2004. I'm 4.5 moving to 5.0 now. I'm always baffled by the amount of things many players "won't do" because "that's not the way I do things" (like new ways to practice, going out to practice your serve 3 days a week for 20 minutes per session) or "I've never done it that way, and that's not changing."

Here is a list of things that I was willing to do in order to win:

1-Demoed a lot, lot of rackets and bought $1200 in rackets in order to find the right one.
2-I had a players black book where I listed players tendencies and strengths and notes.
3-I created a scrapbook of my accomplishments and pictures of pros doing what I wanted to do.
4-Read Tennis Mastery, Secrets of A True Tennis Master by Welby Van Horn, Winning Ugly. I wanted to learn from the masters instead of trying to learn it "my way". My way sucks, their way works.
5-I became an intense studied of pro matches, and why one player beat another.
6-I used to practice my serve 6 days a week for at least 20 minutes per session.
7-I have taken lessons at the rate of $75 per hour. I only work with coaches that have a competitive background, and current link to tournament play in some way.
8-I have a string log that has notes, tensions recorded.
9-I actually seek Holy Grail socks and shoes.
10-I bought custom orthotics to eliminate plantar fascitis.
11-When demoing rackets, I took notes to evaluate scores against the same consistent players to see how much the new racket was "worth" in games.
12-I purchased a few instructional DVDs. I really enjoyed the Tennis Guru DVD and Fearless Tennis by Jeff Greenwald.
13-Bought a tennis scoring watch by Winset. I no longer have to think about scoring much. Helps after a long rally and you don't know what the score is, now, I just look at my watch.

These are a few of mine. What are you willing to do to be successful that others won't do.

John

Click to expand...

You should change your title to "Some successful players are willing to do what unsuccessful, by choice or otherwise, players won't or can't do."

For example: I'm glad you have $1,200 to spend on demoing racquet. Some don't. The same thing goes for lessons. I'm not trying to undermine some of your ideas, they are good ideas. I'm merely suggesting that the ones that take a lot of money are a dependent variable versus an independent variable, ie something anyone can do if they are serious about improving/reaching their potential.

That tennis obsession thingy ya got going on

Well, yes, you don't need to buy $1200 worth of rackets. Yes, I have evolved. Yes...I was once had the delusion that tennis rackets play, but the truth is that tennis players play, and a racket does nothing. I can win with almost any racket. But if I want that extra 10%, then yeah, demoing every once in a while is cool. Now....I don't like much change anymore. I know this one guy that has stayed with the iRadical for about 10 years, he is good...no doubt. He is using an OS iRadical with multifilament. Now, yes at times, he can dominate me. He will win that one set when he is on fire. But long term...I win 2 out of 3 consistently. I'm using AluPower and ripping the ball deep to his backhand, and he is mostly on his heels, flailing the ball out. He has less control with the multifilament in the OS. If he took my advice on rackets and string, his game would go up, and his one handed backhand could use a little instruction. But....he doesn't want to change. Its his choice.

When my skills weren't as good, I was changing rackets monthly. I need more instruction versus another racket. I have not really spent that much money on lessons....is $500 over my entire life really that much?

I don't even think that you need to be in tennis to "improve". I know plenty of people that take lessons, and they don't follow ANY of the advice. If they want to pay an instructor $60 to hit some, and rap about tennis...I don't judge. People are into tennis for different reasons. Some people just like to rap about tennis.

I guess my point is that many, many people profess that they DO want to get better and they won't even practice 1 hour a week. Practice 2 hours and get dangerous. Practice 3 or more hours a week, and you might be looking at taking home that club championship. I don't really think it is about money. I didn't spend $1200 on rackets in one year, it was over 6 years. I think that it is more about WIT (whatever it takes). But everyone is at a different level in life financially. I received absolutely no instruction in tennis as a youth, and wonder how far I would have gotten as a junior, but I don't live in the past, I deal with the here and now. I love tennis, and now that I have busted my backside to make it, I'm going to drop some change on tennis. I just go a little frugal in other areas of life.

Many people want to get better, and they keep maintaining that their inferior form due to pride. Hey...if you want to learn tennis...go to people who know...the local tennis pro. I used to try to serve with an Eastern forehand grip, and I got good....up to a point. And about 6 years ago, I switched to continental with the help of an instructor and books, and haven't looked back. Sometimes you have to admit that you have been doing it wrong for years...and that can be hard to do.

What else is hard to do? Keep using that new, correct form while you are losing I (initially). I don't play to win anymore, I play to improve, and I take losses as a necessary process of getting better where I will (in time) inevitably win even more. I am more relaxed now, and enjoy the process now more than ever. I enjoy the battles more, and care less about the final outcome. But let's be honest, it still does feel good to dominate someone 6-0, 6-1. It also feels good to squeak one out 5-7, 7-6, 7-6.

I am grateful to have the ability to play tennis everyday, while much of the world is living in abject poverty. FYI, I do support a boy in the Philippines and his family. So...yeah...I try to be charitable too. And, I guess I have given the Filipino family much more than the $1200 that I have spent on rackets. I have my donations linked to my credit card at $50 a month for about the last 3 years, and I do so joyfully.

Cheers to all!!!

John

I think you failed at 1.

Your spending on all that equipment is really nothing to brag about. That doesnt make you a more dedicated player.

Ever heard the saying all the gear but no idea?

I'm not saying that's you but where I play there's a lot of guys who always have the latest shoes, strings, rackets etc but never push themselves in practice or do serving sessions etc etc.
All the other things you do are impressive though

BillyIdol said:

Hey all,

I know a ton of tennis players in my 20 plus years of playing. I did a lot of tournaments from 1999-2004. I'm 4.5 moving to 5.0 now. I'm always baffled by the amount of things many players "won't do" because "that's not the way I do things" (like new ways to practice, going out to practice your serve 3 days a week for 20 minutes per session) or "I've never done it that way, and that's not changing."

Here is a list of things that I was willing to do in order to win:

1-Demoed a lot, lot of rackets and bought $1200 in rackets in order to find the right one.
2-I had a players black book where I listed players tendencies and strengths and notes.
3-I created a scrapbook of my accomplishments and pictures of pros doing what I wanted to do.
4-Read Tennis Mastery, Secrets of A True Tennis Master by Welby Van Horn, Winning Ugly. I wanted to learn from the masters instead of trying to learn it "my way". My way sucks, their way works.
5-I became an intense studied of pro matches, and why one player beat another.
6-I used to practice my serve 6 days a week for at least 20 minutes per session.
7-I have taken lessons at the rate of $75 per hour. I only work with coaches that have a competitive background, and current link to tournament play in some way.
8-I have a string log that has notes, tensions recorded.
9-I actually seek Holy Grail socks and shoes.
10-I bought custom orthotics to eliminate plantar fascitis.
11-When demoing rackets, I took notes to evaluate scores against the same consistent players to see how much the new racket was "worth" in games.
12-I purchased a few instructional DVDs. I really enjoyed the Tennis Guru DVD and Fearless Tennis by Jeff Greenwald.
13-Bought a tennis scoring watch by Winset. I no longer have to think about scoring much. Helps after a long rally and you don't know what the score is, now, I just look at my watch.

These are a few of mine. What are you willing to do to be successful that others won't do.

John

Click to expand...

lol wtf?

r u serious?

this made you a better tennis player?

http://www.winsetsports.com/Easy_To_Use.htm

BillyIdol said:

These are a few of mine. What are you willing to do to be successful that others won't do.

John

Click to expand...

Interesting thread. We were discussing similar on another thread, where I made these comments...

Moz said:

IMO the method of teaching is where it starts, because the teaching has to overcome players' natural tendencies.

Just take a look at the scorn poured on pushers everywhere. They are doing what is necessary to win at tennis - getting the ball in last on every point. Judging by peoples' attitudes to them you'd think they were cheating.

Tennis is not about hitting hard, it's not about hitting winners - it's about consistency, repeatable technique under duress (fitness), using the %'s and every now and again pressing the explode button.

Juniors don't want to hear that a low backhand slice hit deep 20 times in a point will win it every time, when they can win a 3rd of the points by hitting a topspin winner. They'll lose the match in the latter but they'll die like a hero.

IMO coaching doesn't emphasise enough what it takes to win, partly because it's not glamorous, partly because it's not perceived as "fun" and also because it's bloody hard work.

What's best for your tennis game?:

1) 15 mins warm-up, 15 minutes of footwork drills, 30 minutes of quality drilling, 15 minutes of serving target practice, 30 minutes of matchplay drills or a set, 15 minutes of cool down.

or

2) 2 hours of playing sets.

Obviously the former, most prefer the latter. Drilling is very intensive mentally and physically - it's bloody hard work. Footwork drills not hitting the ball isn't good fun - just damn hard work.

How many players out there have assessed their game on paper and come up with a comprehensive short, medium and long term plan for developing their game - with workouts and training sessions scheduled appropriately. How many people take ownership of the development of their game?

How many players are getting coaching and you don't know what they are doing at their next session or leave the session and the coach hasn't given them homework? How many people schedule the next lesson without scheduling anything in between to develop the themes of the last lesson?

Again it's being willing to do whatever it takes, having like minded people around you and the right sort of person planning and overlooking your training.

Incidentally, I suspect this is where the Spanish way of teaching is much stronger although that is purely conjecture.

(and I've made all of the above mistakes by the way, apart from getting carried away with hitting winners and hitting hard strangely enough)

Click to expand...

Thing is our lists are almost completely different, not to say one way is better than the other.

IMO your list is far too equipment focused. You are writing things down like a scoring watch rather than footwork drills for example. What mental training do you do? Why is there so little actual TENNIS stuff on there?

Unfortunately your "willing to do" list is more like a how to guide for people overly-obsessed with their equipment (perfect for this forum!). I'm not trolling - some of your list is very sensible, half of it is wrongly prioritised and there is so much missing....

Hope we can turn this into a constructive discussion.

Aphex

LOL!!!! Are you serious?

Have you used it? Do you even know how it works? (Probably not).

How does the Winset watch help me? OK.....(since you never used it)

1-Play the point. If I win, hit A. Opponent wins point, hit B.

2-Stops/cuts down on stupid arguing over what the score is after a long rally. I don't like big arguments during matches, to me, that is worth it all by itself, so YEAH, if a watch helps to cut down on distractions, it helps me play better.

3-Helps with accuracy. Helps solve disputes.

I have found that most people score incorrectly about 2-3 times per set on average.

Can I score without it? Hell yeah, its the opponent that often doesn't know how to score and always seems to give himself the point. I bring the watch to show the score. It provide a visual reminder of what it is. Why rely only on audio (calling out the score)? Oh yeah, some of these tennis opponents don't even do that, I have to call out the score even when he is serving!!!


John

Moz

Well, maybe our lists aren't all that different. My list that I showed was obviously not complete, there is much more, I just slapped out a few.

I guess I didn't include:

14-High Intensity intervals (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off) at the gym on the stair climber, bike, or elliptical.
15-Stretching before matches (dynamic)
16-Preset warmup routine before every match.
17-I list 3-7 things that I want to try to do to a given opponent. The plan is totally customized to defeat that opponent. "Hit deep up middle." "Hit to backhand" "Flatten out returns if he starts serving and volleying." "Only do dropshots if it is a sure winner (he is fast)." "Reflect hard serves back to middle of court." "No Free Points"

Too focused on equipment? I think that when you are a beginner, equipment doesn't matter that much. But when you move to the higher levels, it starts to matter because little differences matter a lot. Seems to me that is why we have: Nate Ferguson/Pete Sampras, ****, Priority One. The better you get, the more meticulous you become in general. I read an article on TW about how programmed and meticulous Lendl was about: everything.

I'm looking more into doing more footwork drills. (No equipment.) I know they suck to do, but I figure my opponents probably aren't doing them. I'm also looking at moving to the 2 hand back hand, so I'm looking to my books, videos, and maybe taking 2+ lessons. Or maybe enrolling in a tennis instructional website.

Trying to be constructive here. I like your ideas Moz. We share many similarities.

John

Hi John

That sounds better! It just sounded as though you had prioritised equipment over the things you didn't mention.

I'm a believer in getting the right set-up and sticking with it - but only as the icing on the cake after fitness, training and matchplay.

I'm starting to believe that you can't do enough footwork training. In matches strokes breakdown because the footwork breaks down, mainly due to fatigue and lack of concentration. Yet, people come away thinking they don't know how to hit a forehand anymore when the real problem is not maintaining good footwork..... and you can only get good footwork but making it a focus of every training session.

Keep up the good work. Any tournaments coming up?

BillyIdol said:

LOL!!!! Are you serious?

Have you used it? Do you even know how it works? (Probably not).

How does the Winset watch help me? OK.....(since you never used it)

1-Play the point. If I win, hit A. Opponent wins point, hit B.

2-Stops/cuts down on stupid arguing over what the score is after a long rally. I don't like big arguments during matches, to me, that is worth it all by itself, so YEAH, if a watch helps to cut down on distractions, it helps me play better.

3-Helps with accuracy. Helps solve disputes.

I have found that most people score incorrectly about 2-3 times per set on average.

Can I score without it? Hell yeah, its the opponent that often doesn't know how to score and always seems to give himself the point. I bring the watch to show the score. It provide a visual reminder of what it is. Why rely only on audio (calling out the score)? Oh yeah, some of these tennis opponents don't even do that, I have to call out the score even when he is serving!!!


John

Click to expand...

That all goes out the window if you forget to hit the button one time after playing a point.

#1, 8, 9, 11, 13 are not very helpful IMO.

Its very simple what people need to do to get better, which most will not do:

1) Learn to play with proper technique
2) Learn court positioning and shot selection guidelines
3) Practice fundamentals which includes stroke, footwork, and shot selection drills
4) Utilize what is learned in practice during your match play

Biggest obstacles are time and money. People don't do these things because they have limited time to spend playing tennis due to family obligations. They would rather spend that time having fun, which means playing matches, not drilling. Then there is money. People often don't have the aptitude to teach themselves the game, so they need to rely on private lessons, which typically cost from $50-100/hour. In addition, practice requires court time, which also can cost alot of money, depending on the area of course. It is not feasible for someone in NY City to try to become a good player where it costs from $70-100/hour just for court time at a tennis club.

wow, your list is... i thought you would've mentioned drills, endurance training, eating healthy, but it's just a bunch of BS.

i've got many friends that want to improve, but do nothing but rally. they don't drill cross court, down the line, inside out, approach, volley, smash, serve, return, lob, footwork, but they wonder why they have remained the same mediocre player. granted that they have the form, i feel a person can be more successful drilling with a friend, than spending copious amounts of money on lessons and equipment as you have.

My team coach told my friend and I that if we want to improve we should play people better than us. I took this to heart. My friend, who wants to improve, is playing people lower in rank than her. This had a consequence.

When I went to go take a lesson from my other coach, he asked me why me friend wasn't improving like me. I even noticed that when I would play her ( same rank at the time, but I was improving) she would be intimidated.


I have even adopted a motto: " I have a feeling that if you give 100%, everything will be alright in the end"

Hi Billy, I'm also a 4.5 trying to get to 5.0 level. Played a 5.0 USTA singles player today in SF and lost 2-6, 6-7, 3-6.I am hitting the ball well now I have to start focusing on hitting the ball well but also being more strategic..... I'm hitting with mostly 5.0's now. FYI, I once asked Federer if the best way to improve is to play better players and he said, "The best way to improve is to have confidence and find a good coach".

aphex said:

lol wtf?

r u serious?

this made you a better tennis player?

http://www.winsetsports.com/Easy_To_Use.htm

Click to expand...

It's $49.00.

Does it do Kobe tie breaks? Does it do first to 8 games for tournaments? Can you set the score as you wish? Does it keep track of your overall match wins and losses? Thanks.

Winset

Maj,

Not sure what Kobe tiebreaks are, but it probably doesn't. 1st to 8 games...no. It can do best of 3/5 sets with tiebreakers. You might be able to do 10 point tiebreakers, not sure.

It doe NOT keep track of match wins and losses. There is another more complex tennis computer/watch that does google "tennis computer" it is about $80. You can download 1st serve %, 2nd serve %, errors, scores, net approaches, and match histories. You can determine that usually, when playing player X, that if you get your 1st serve % above 60%, you win. And you can go back to old match statistics with Player X to back this up. Now you know what to do. I think that it might help figuring out important statistics that might not otherwise be apparent to you.

Actually, I have this other "tennis computer", but I never used it. Maybe I should pull it out and compare it along side the Winset. My girlfriend bought me the Winset. I don't know how in the world she found it. To me, the Winset is real easy to use, your point A, his point B. I think in one year of using I forgot to hit the buttons twice. Most people make 2-3 scoring errors per set, so with the Winset, the accuracy is at least 10 times better that just your memory alone.

John

BillyIdol said:

Maj,

Not sure what Kobe tiebreaks are, but it probably doesn't. 1st to 8 games...no. It can do best of 3/5 sets with tiebreakers. You might be able to do 10 point tiebreakers, not sure.

It doe NOT keep track of match wins and losses. There is another more complex tennis computer/watch that does google "tennis computer" it is about $80. You can download 1st serve %, 2nd serve %, errors, scores, net approaches, and match histories. You can determine that usually, when playing player X, that if you get your 1st serve % above 60%, you win. And you can go back to old match statistics with Player X to back this up. Now you know what to do. I think that it might help figuring out important statistics that might not otherwise be apparent to you.

Actually, I have this other "tennis computer", but I never used it. Maybe I should pull it out and compare it along side the Winset. My girlfriend bought me the Winset. I don't know how in the world she found it. To me, the Winset is real easy to use, your point A, his point B. I think in one year of using I forgot to hit the buttons twice. Most people make 2-3 scoring errors per set, so with the Winset, the accuracy is at least 10 times better that just your memory alone.

John

Click to expand...

I tried googling but couldn't find it. Can you provide a link? Thanks.

BillyIdol said:

Maj,

Not sure what Kobe tiebreaks are, but it probably doesn't.

Click to expand...

Oops! I meant Koman tiebreads, where you change side after 1, 5, 9, 13,... and play to either 7 points for game tiebreaks, or 10 points in stead of a third set.

Majik said:

Oops! I meant Koman tiebreads, where you change side after 1, 5, 9, 13,... and play to either 7 points for game tiebreaks, or 10 points in stead of a third set.

Click to expand...

Why would you play that kind of tiebreaker instead of a normal one

The biggest roadblock to success for most people is themselves. Access to proper technique and a quality racquet has never been better. Many know they have problems with their game that they could fix with some effort, but they either won’t take the time to change to a technique with their long term success in mind that doesn’t limit their future potential, or worse, think they don’t need to make changes when it is obvious to everyone else they need to make changes. We all know plenty of people like the latter. The bottom line is that generally speaking, people are just lazy, ignorant or both.

To me, the most important quality of someone who wants to improve their game (and is successful) is being willing to push and expand their comfort zone. That is it. If you will do that consistently, you will improve. For example, well over half of all recreational players serve with a forehand grip (and also volley with it but I digress). Serve 20 minutes a day 3 or 4 times a week or so and gradually work one bevel at a time in the right direction and you should be able to get to the right grip within a week or at most a month to make the change easier. But people won’t do it. Then they tell you “It is getting better” and the one they hit with you there may be better but in 10 more minutes it is back to the status quo. They are only fooling themselves.

If someone is willing to push out of his or her comfort zone, expand that zone and repeat, they can go as far as they please. It doesn’t take all the money in the world but it does take the ability to listen to your pro or friend helping you and be willing to suffer a bit in the short term for a great leap forward in a slightly longer period of time. Take a small short-term step backward to make a long stride forward. I believe it really is that simple if you break it down. But I didn't say it was easy.

Good tennis

TM

Ultra2HolyGrail said:

I think you failed at 1.

Click to expand...

I agree, sounds like you play tennis to because it was something to spend money on, and you started this thread to tell everyone how much you wasted. I'll give you 2 of the 13. congrats on making it to a 4.5 after 20 years. maybe another 3 grand and 20 years will get you to that 5 your struggaling for, assuming your holy grail gives you youth.

The only thing I hate about these forums is that when someone trying to suggest something new to help people. The idea and the person is crushed into a fine dust and set away with a bad taste in their mouth of talk tennis. Lighten up guys everything isn't for you, sometimes giving is what makes the difference between heros and legends...

Moz said:

Interesting thread. We were discussing similar on another thread, where I made these comments...



Thing is our lists are almost completely different, not to say one way is better than the other.

IMO your list is far too equipment focused. You are writing things down like a scoring watch rather than footwork drills for example. What mental training do you do? Why is there so little actual TENNIS stuff on there?

Unfortunately your "willing to do" list is more like a how to guide for people overly-obsessed with their equipment (perfect for this forum!). I'm not trolling - some of your list is very sensible, half of it is wrongly prioritised and there is so much missing....

Hope we can turn this into a constructive discussion.

Click to expand...

I prefer and follow your method. Yeah i may want to find a pair of sneakers that last and strings that are durable but have feel. But as Lance Armstrong said: "It's not about the bike"...............................
It's the intelligent hard work that you put into both physical and mental training that will help one get to a higher level, in my opinion. I also try to play with as many different levels and styles as possible, that way I get used to hitting all sorts of balls. I found that I can learn something about myself and tennis from just about ANY level of person I play or hit with. For example, if I hit with a weaker player, I focus on control, finesse, placement, footwork, and different tactics so I play pretty loose. Then when I play with more advanced players, I try to implement what I practiced with the weaker players. Aside from pace/timing adjustments, it works quite well.

Maj, here is the tennis computer link

Maj,

Here is the link for the Score It Tennis Computer.
I actually didn't use it. So I have no first hand knowledge. If I don't like it when I try it, maybe I'll sell mine. Keep in touch.

http://www.tennislifemagazine.com/TL-Store/score-it/scoreit-tenniscomp.html

Cheers!
John

BillyIdol said:

Here is a list of things that I was willing to do in order to win:

1-Demoed a lot, lot of rackets and bought $1200 in rackets in order to find the right one.
2-I had a players black book where I listed players tendencies and strengths and notes.
3-I created a scrapbook of my accomplishments and pictures of pros doing what I wanted to do.
4-Read Tennis Mastery, Secrets of A True Tennis Master by Welby Van Horn, Winning Ugly. I wanted to learn from the masters instead of trying to learn it "my way". My way sucks, their way works.
5-I became an intense studied of pro matches, and why one player beat another.
6-I used to practice my serve 6 days a week for at least 20 minutes per session.
7-I have taken lessons at the rate of $75 per hour. I only work with coaches that have a competitive background, and current link to tournament play in some way.
8-I have a string log that has notes, tensions recorded.
9-I actually seek Holy Grail socks and shoes.
10-I bought custom orthotics to eliminate plantar fascitis.
11-When demoing rackets, I took notes to evaluate scores against the same consistent players to see how much the new racket was "worth" in games.
12-I purchased a few instructional DVDs. I really enjoyed the Tennis Guru DVD and Fearless Tennis by Jeff Greenwald.
13-Bought a tennis scoring watch by Winset. I no longer have to think about scoring much. Helps after a long rally and you don't know what the score is, now, I just look at my watch.

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1, 3, 8, 9, 11, and 13 are completely pointless...

BillyIdol said:

Hey all,

I know a ton of tennis players in my 20 plus years of playing. I did a lot of tournaments from 1999-2004. I'm 4.5 moving to 5.0 now. I'm always baffled by the amount of things many players "won't do" because "that's not the way I do things" (like new ways to practice, going out to practice your serve 3 days a week for 20 minutes per session) or "I've never done it that way, and that's not changing."

Here is a list of things that I was willing to do in order to win:

1-Demoed a lot, lot of rackets and bought $1200 in rackets in order to find the right one.
2-I had a players black book where I listed players tendencies and strengths and notes.
3-I created a scrapbook of my accomplishments and pictures of pros doing what I wanted to do.
4-Read Tennis Mastery, Secrets of A True Tennis Master by Welby Van Horn, Winning Ugly. I wanted to learn from the masters instead of trying to learn it "my way". My way sucks, their way works.
5-I became an intense studied of pro matches, and why one player beat another.
6-I used to practice my serve 6 days a week for at least 20 minutes per session.
7-I have taken lessons at the rate of $75 per hour. I only work with coaches that have a competitive background, and current link to tournament play in some way.
8-I have a string log that has notes, tensions recorded.
9-I actually seek Holy Grail socks and shoes.
10-I bought custom orthotics to eliminate plantar fascitis.
11-When demoing rackets, I took notes to evaluate scores against the same consistent players to see how much the new racket was "worth" in games.
12-I purchased a few instructional DVDs. I really enjoyed the Tennis Guru DVD and Fearless Tennis by Jeff Greenwald.
13-Bought a tennis scoring watch by Winset. I no longer have to think about scoring much. Helps after a long rally and you don't know what the score is, now, I just look at my watch.

These are a few of mine. What are you willing to do to be successful that others won't do.

John

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You are really dedicated and I know now why I feel like **** against advanced players. LOL!

none of those