Tennis with YonexPureStorm

MarinaHighTennis · Dec 31, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFgWwCzUeQk
no edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosD3tgko5M
We played best out of 3 with a 3rd set 10 pt. tiebreak
7-5 2-6 10-7, If we played a 3rd set he would have won.

btw what should have been a recording of a full match ended up wasted bc of camera problems and the camera tilt in the 2nd set forward

Whats going on:
(me): Forehand down the line was good, backhand was solid, serve bad at first then warmed up to normal, approach shots good, backhand sliced failed me today (everytime he served to my backhand and I sliced it, I lost)
(him): Forehand good, backhand led to many short balls in which I attacked, serve bad at first then became normal, the forehand kept me in check.

The bad thing especially for both of us was the numerous double faults, we both got an ace but the double faults messed us up.

@yonex: do something similar to what I did (what you thought was good and bad from both of us)
@everyone: tips appreciated RATE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE

Nice hitting with yonex. Next week more

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

westcoast777 · Dec 31, 2011

Good hitting - more knee bend required, though.

MarinaHighTennis · Dec 31, 2011

Thanks heres the no edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosD3tgko5M

Xizel · Dec 31, 2011

First point seems like dude's not even moving

TonLars · Dec 31, 2011

Nice hitting guys, also nice camera view, and weather!

MarinaHighTennis · Dec 31, 2011

TonLars said:
Nice hitting guys, also nice camera view, and weather!

Thanks its means a lot when you say it

the weather was nice but the court on the far side was full of puddles and slippery. Whoever went on that side had a harder time. Its like playing on clay

BTW any tips? We both got tourneys coming soon in a week or two

willroc7 · Dec 31, 2011

Yonex,

I assume you start in the near court. You have a nice serve and good strokes. The good news is the technical aspects of your swings look pretty good to me. However, here are some things you can work on to improve.

Work on getting fully prepared to hit your groundstrokes. This includes court positioning, footwork, and body position when you are about to begin your swing. Keep your feet happy and make as many adjustment steps as possible to put yourself in the most ideal position possible to execute your best shot (forehand). While moving to the ball you also want to be setting up your body to unload the kinetic chain. Work on getting your hips and shoulders turned every time, and BEND THOSE KNEES, backhand and forehand. The swing starts with the legs. You get nice leg drive on your serves, bring that into the rest of your game. As a result of your positioning, you are often reaching for and/or arming the ball. See 0:05, 0:15, and 0:25. Maybe you are just warming up here but you also need to warm up your footwork and preparation. At 0:38 you hit a nice forehand but you are still so vertical when you hit it. Since you are mostly arming it, your opponent has the time to recover all the way from the doubles alley on the other side to retrieve it. You should also be moving in here when you see your opponent on the run go to the forehand chip shot, but that's a whole different can of worms. When you load up your legs and shoulders, you hit a good ball (0:55). Focus on doing this more consistently and you should be able to improve significantly. Look at the point at 2:16. You arm back the return, then slowly shuffle back to the middle. You need to be more explosive back to the middle to set up for your next shot. Your preparation on the next shot is very poor. The rest of your forehands in this point are better, with the second to last lacking a bit on kneebend. You win this point but a better opponent will take advantage of these opportunities. If you have more kneebend at 3:06, you will make this shot. When you do recruit your legs, like at 3:20, you hit a much better shot. Work to the point where this is your rally shot. Footwork drills will do you loads of good.

Don't watch your serves. They are strong and you should be looking to pounce on weak returns with your footwork and shot selection. This is your problem at 3:32 and 3:46.

Finally, work on hitting on the run, your forehand in particular. This ties into footwork and positioning somewhat. If you put some serious time into these things you should be able to improve your level around a half ntrp point, in my humble opinion.

Cheers and Happy New Year! If there is interest I will do a similar breakdown for your friend.

MarinaHighTennis · Dec 31, 2011

willroc7 said:
High Tennis,

I assume you start in the near court. You have a nice serve and good strokes. The good news is the technical aspects of your swings look pretty good to me. However, here are some things you can work on to improve.

Work on getting fully prepared to hit your groundstrokes. This includes court positioning, footwork, and body position when you are about to begin your swing. Keep your feet happy and make as many adjustment steps as possible to put yourself in the most ideal position possible to execute your best shot (forehand). While moving to the ball you also want to be setting up your body to unload the kinetic chain. Work on getting your hips and shoulders turned every time, and BEND THOSE KNEES, backhand and forehand. The swing starts with the legs. You get nice leg drive on your serves, bring that into the rest of your game. As a result of your positioning, you are often reaching for and/or arming the ball. See 0:05, 0:15, and 0:25. Maybe you are just warming up here but you also need to warm up your footwork and preparation. At 0:38 you hit a nice forehand but you are still so vertical when you hit it. Since you are mostly arming it, your opponent has the time to recover all the way from the doubles alley on the other side to retrieve it. You should also be moving in here when you see your opponent on the run go to the forehand chip shot, but that's a whole different can of worms. When you load up your legs and shoulders, you hit a good ball (0:55). Focus on doing this more consistently and you should be able to improve significantly. Look at the point at 2:16. You arm back the return, then slowly shuffle back to the middle. You need to be more explosive back to the middle to set up for your next shot. Your preparation on the next shot is very poor. The rest of your forehands in this point are better, with the second to last lacking a bit on kneebend. You win this point but a better opponent will take advantage of these opportunities. If you have more kneebend at 3:06, you will make this shot. When you do recruit your legs, like at 3:20, you hit a much better shot. Work to the point where this is your rally shot. Footwork drills will do you loads of good.

Don't watch your serves. They are strong and you should be looking to pounce on weak returns with your footwork and shot selection. This is your problem at 3:32 and 3:46.

Finally, work on hitting on the run, your forehand in particular. This ties into footwork and positioning somewhat. If you put some serious time into these things you should be able to improve your level around a half ntrp point, in my humble opinion.

Cheers and Happy New Year! If there is interest I will do a similar breakdown for your friend.

Thanks but I'm the one with the green shorts but yonex will certainly appreciate the tip

86golf · Jan 2, 2012

Nice hitting. Your foot speed really ticks me off. I wish I had played tennis at your age.

I wouldn't mind seeing some drop shots especially seeing how your friend likes to camp on the baseline and wait for the ball to get to him.

Good tennis and thanks for posting.

zapvor · Jan 2, 2012

MarinaHighTennis said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFgWwCzUeQk
no edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosD3tgko5M
We played best out of 3 with a 3rd set 10 pt. tiebreak
7-5 2-6 10-7, If we played a 3rd set he would have won.

btw what should have been a recording of a full match ended up wasted bc of camera problems and the camera tilt in the 2nd set forward

Whats going on:
(me): Forehand down the line was good, backhand was solid, serve bad at first then warmed up to normal, approach shots good, backhand sliced failed me today (everytime he served to my backhand and I sliced it, I lost)
(him): Forehand good, backhand led to many short balls in which I attacked, serve bad at first then became normal, the forehand kept me in check.

The bad thing especially for both of us was the numerous double faults, we both got an ace but the double faults messed us up.

@yonex: do something similar to what I did (what you thought was good and bad from both of us)
@everyone: tips appreciated RATE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE

Nice hitting with yonex. Next week more

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

love this! finally seeing some good tennis by TW members. i esp love the aggressive returns dtl, etc. yonex with a big fh. good kneebend taking the ball early. i guess teh only thing is i would like to see more consistency (too many errors), and why the doubles??? you guys obivously can play, so why the doubles?

willroc7 · Jan 2, 2012

High Tennis,

You have good foot speed and a nice split step. Your anticipation is also quite good and is not something that can be easily taught. Some of my advice here may be a little off base as you hit the ball significantly differently than I do. So if there is someone out there more versed in your style, feel free to step in. What I mean by this is you seem to slap at the ball and reverse finish as your rally stroke. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you might be robbing yourself of some drive through the court that comes with the regular finish across the body. My general advice about your strokes would be to slow down the motion a little bit in practice and try to add some fluidity. Think about hitting through the line of the ball and driving it forwards into the court rather than just brushing up behind it. Once you have the smoothness, you can add the swing speed back.

Starting from the first point, you have a nice split step, but from there your footwork bogs down. You take a reaching step-swing at the ball and don't put a lot on the return as a result. If you can, try to take one more small step to the ball after you split step to get yourself in better position. You are in better position for your next return and you play a better return. Work on getting yourself set into that hitting position as consistently as possible. See 0:23.

At 0:40 you probably could have hit a topspin forehand. This is when it's nice to use the reverse finish, as it will afford you the angle and topspin to get the ball back and crosscourt, even when you're not 100% set up. Good anticipation in any case. You made your opponent hit a difficult shot to win the point. You attempt to do this at 0:58, which is good. At 0:50, I feel like you need to do more with your return, and a traditional follow through could help you here. Your return is short and does not have enough topspin to bounce out of your opponent's strike zone on the forehand. If you're going to use the reverse finish, you really need to accelerate more to get more topspin and depth. When you follow through across your body, you hit a nice ball (1:37).

Don't approach on weak slices like at 3:05. Work on staying more grounded on your backhand. You jump as you hit it too much.

MarinaHighTennis · Jan 2, 2012

zapvor said:
love this! finally seeing some good tennis by TW members. i esp love the aggressive returns dtl, etc. yonex with a big fh. good kneebend taking the ball early. i guess teh only thing is i would like to see more consistency (too many errors), and why the doubles??? you guys obivously can play, so why the doubles?

Thanks unfortunatly have seen the first few games (again) BUT due to camera tilt and power save it left out the rest of the match and A LOT of good points. :-?But we can still see the front person hitting groundstrokes. I'm looking through this and picking parts you can critique.

MarinaHighTennis · Jan 2, 2012

willroc7 said:
High Tennis,

You have good foot speed and a nice split step. Your anticipation is also quite good and is not something that can be easily taught. Some of my advice here may be a little off base as you hit the ball significantly differently than I do. So if there is someone out there more versed in your style, feel free to step in. What I mean by this is you seem to slap at the ball and reverse finish as your rally stroke. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you might be robbing yourself of some drive through the court that comes with the regular finish across the body. My general advice about your strokes would be to slow down the motion a little bit in practice and try to add some fluidity. Think about hitting through the line of the ball and driving it forwards into the court rather than just brushing up behind it. Once you have the smoothness, you can add the swing speed back.

Starting from the first point, you have a nice split step, but from there your footwork bogs down. You take a reaching step-swing at the ball and don't put a lot on the return as a result. If you can, try to take one more small step to the ball after you split step to get yourself in better position. You are in better position for your next return and you play a better return. Work on getting yourself set into that hitting position as consistently as possible. See 0:23.

At 0:40 you probably could have hit a topspin forehand. This is when it's nice to use the reverse finish, as it will afford you the angle and topspin to get the ball back and crosscourt, even when you're not 100% set up. Good anticipation in any case. You made your opponent hit a difficult shot to win the point. You attempt to do this at 0:58, which is good. At 0:50, I feel like you need to do more with your return, and a traditional follow through could help you here. Your return is short and does not have enough topspin to bounce out of your opponent's strike zone on the forehand. If you're going to use the reverse finish, you really need to accelerate more to get more topspin and depth. When you follow through across your body, you hit a nice ball (1:37).

Don't approach on weak slices like at 3:05. Work on staying more grounded on your backhand. You jump as you hit it too much.

Thanks very much for the help. I usually don't hit reverse forehands but a big hitter like yonex forced me to. I do feel my footwork brings me down which I'm trying to improve

willroc7 · Jan 2, 2012

Use your footwork and your speed to set you up for your normal forehand, then. Against a hard hitter you just have to do this more aggressively. Try not to let his ball play you. It helps to concentrate on setting up to execute your personal "textbook" forehand every time. If the ball is coming faster just adjust the timing of your swing, ideally not the swing path. Emergency changes in the swing path are only ok if you are really out of position or something. I'm going to link myself here to illustrate. I'm getting a variety of depths, spins, and speeds from an inconsistent opponent here, yet my swing path remains consistent. This entire video I use only one reverse finish forehand, when I am stretched wide at 1:06.

Photoshop · Jan 2, 2012

Good hitting guys (although there will undoubtedly be people rating you 3.5's

)

My game is similar to yours in that 2-handed bh is better than bh slice... so I write a mental note to myself that if I can get into a position to hit a backhand, I'll hit a 2hbh every time instead of a slice. Slice is a good weapon to have but why hit it if it's failing on you.

Also I think your forehand take-back is too short. Have you tried taking a bigger backswing?

MarinaHighTennis · Jan 2, 2012

Photoshop said:
Good hitting guys (although there will undoubtedly be people rating you 3.5's )

My game is similar to yours in that 2-handed bh is better than bh slice... so I write a mental note to myself that if I can get into a position to hit a backhand, I'll hit a 2hbh every time instead of a slice. Slice is a good weapon to have but why hit it if it's failing on you.

Also I think your forehand take-back is too short. Have you tried taking a bigger backswing?

That's true I don't why I kept slicing when it failed me repeatedly but I feel I have to slice out his big forehands.

I have tried a bigger backswing but I feel it takes away time and I hit perfectly fine with my ugly looking forehand.

@willroc thanks for the tips. Ill try to get in better positions for my shots so I can hit through the ball.

Larrysümmers · Jan 2, 2012

i didnt see you try to get fancy and cute. thats good.

BaboFan · Jan 2, 2012

Its good to see a serious play this time. Nice hitting

dr325i · Jan 2, 2012

Photoshop said:
Good hitting guys (although there will undoubtedly be people rating you 3.5's )

My game is similar to yours in that 2-handed bh is better than bh slice... so I write a mental note to myself that if I can get into a position to hit a backhand, I'll hit a 2hbh every time instead of a slice. Slice is a good weapon to have but why hit it if it's failing on you.

Also I think your forehand take-back is too short. Have you tried taking a bigger backswing?

What level would you rate them at?

BaboFan · Jan 2, 2012

dr325i said:
What level would you rate them at?

They are without a doubt a 3.0. 3.5 is too high

Photoshop · Jan 2, 2012

dr325i said:
What level would you rate them at?

I'd rate yonexpurestorm 4.5 as he mainly plays 4.5 tournaments and has had success... his computer rating may be 5.0 though as he's won 4.5 tournaments. Same for Marinahigh.

zapvor · Jan 2, 2012

haha i feel you marina me and shcmad have camera battery issues too. always miss the best points

dr325i · Jan 3, 2012

Photoshop said:
I'd rate yonexpurestorm 4.5 as he mainly plays 4.5 tournaments and has had success... his computer rating may be 5.0 though as he's won 4.5 tournaments. Same for Marinahigh.

Good to hear that

dr325i · Jan 3, 2012

BaboFan said:
They are without a doubt a 3.0. 3.5 is too high

I assume that is supposed to be funny?
It is actually OLD...and NOT funy a bit.

BaboFan · Jan 3, 2012

dr325i said:
I assume that is supposed to be funny?
It is actually OLD...and NOT funy a bit.

Fair enough. I support people who post vids here. I'd say they are both high 4.5 or low 5.0. I've seen marina play and seen him beat a 3 star.

togood4u · Jan 3, 2012

Here's my two cents

Marina: your strokes are very Murray-like so I suggest you get bigger if you want to move to the next level. If you look at yonex, he hits a heavy ball with only his arm and that's where his mass is a good thing. Theres also magician of precision who can hit really hard without much effort. Look at you, you hit with a full rotation to get the same amount of power as yonex. You use your body well but what yonex did great was to move you where you are unable to rotate. Imagine if you worked out, you'll be hitting like that kevin young Guy in your vids. He pretty buff and only needs his arm to hit a heavy ball. BTW your backhand travels really weird. It doesn't go like a normal shot it skims, glances off your racket,looks like its moving midair? Must be BC its really flat. But don't slice always hit 2 hands since its a pretty good shot.

Yonex: a powerful serve and forehand indeed. Weapons you utilize well. Its good you try to cover the backhand but you need to improve your running forehand BC if someone hits an inside in. Backhand you need to hit through more. I haven't seen hit much backhands though but I looked at your other vids. Also don't miss the small points. Slow it down with a loop forehand if you must. BTW it looks as if you're doing a good job. Marina doesn't look too happy with your groundstrokes.

togood4u · Jan 3, 2012

Yonex I suggest you don't lose weight lol but instead adapt to it. It gives you a power advantage and over time with tennis, you will lose a bit making you a superman after playing.g well in your weight. So weight is a good thing!

MarinaHighTennis · Jan 3, 2012

togood4u said:
Here's my two cents

Marina: your strokes are very Murray-like so I suggest you get bigger if you want to move to the next level. If you look at yonex, he hits a heavy ball with only his arm and that's where his mass is a good thing. Theres also magician of precision who can hit really hard without much effort. Look at you, you hit with a full rotation to get the same amount of power as yonex. You use your body well but what yonex did great was to move you where you are unable to rotate. Imagine if you worked out, you'll be hitting like that kevin young Guy in your vids. He pretty buff and only needs his arm to hit a heavy ball. BTW your backhand travels really weird. It doesn't go like a normal shot it skims, glances off your racket,looks like its moving midair? Must be BC its really flat. But don't slice always hit 2 hands since its a pretty good shot.

Yonex: a powerful serve and forehand indeed. Weapons you utilize well. Its good you try to cover the backhand but you need to improve your running forehand BC if someone hits an inside in. Backhand you need to hit through more. I haven't seen hit much backhands though but I looked at your other vids. Also don't miss the small points. Slow it down with a loop forehand if you must. BTW it looks as if you're doing a good job. Marina doesn't look too happy with your groundstrokes.

Thanks for the input. Getting bigger is a necessary thing for me but I don't have that much time to work out and how. I don't want to lose my speed. I'm 130lbs btw and 5'10.

MyFearHand · Jan 3, 2012

Hey Marina High, I'm 5'11 and 135 so I'm pretty similar to your size and definitely gaining some muscle would be helpful for both of us. But I don't agree that hitting hard shots with only your arm is a good thing. Working on using your body more effectively (you already use it pretty effectively) is the key to power, not a stronger arm. At the very least you should do some running if you don't already, this has helped improve my game a tremendous amount. I do core exercises too but haven't noticed as much of an improvement with them.

Larrysümmers · Jan 3, 2012

just simple shoulder shrugs, curls, and tricept dips are good enough. and for lower body just some simple lunges. and i used to frog hop with them.

but its nothing major but if you keep at it you will tone some nice muscle and you will hit harder. just dont be lazy like me and quit after 2 weeks. haha

DavaiMarat · Jan 3, 2012

Lol I wish people would stop rating other people. The only persons who need or require NRTP ratings are people who are playing leagues or tournaments. Other then that, it's just some arbitrary opinion which they usual don't even reference the chart from which it's derived.

I'll ask anyone in this post what a 3.5 should be....they will go any google it and cut and paste it. They don't EVEN know!!! Fools fools and more fools.

You don't have a NRTP rating till you compete in USTA leagues. I wish everyone would get that in their thick skulls.

Venetian · Jan 3, 2012

DavaiMarat said:
Lol I wish people would stop rating other people. The only persons who need or require NRTP ratings are people who are playing leagues or tournaments. Other then that, it's just some arbitrary opinion which they usual don't even reference the chart from which it's derived.

I'll ask anyone in this post what a 3.5 should be....they will go any google it and cut and paste it. They don't EVEN know!!! Fools fools and more fools.

You don't have a NRTP rating till you compete in USTA leagues. I wish everyone would get that in their thick skulls.

What he said.

sabala · Jan 3, 2012

MarinaHighTennis said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFgWwCzUeQk
no edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosD3tgko5M
We played best out of 3 with a 3rd set 10 pt. tiebreak
7-5 2-6 10-7, If we played a 3rd set he would have won.

btw what should have been a recording of a full match ended up wasted bc of camera problems and the camera tilt in the 2nd set forward

Whats going on:
(me): Forehand down the line was good, backhand was solid, serve bad at first then warmed up to normal, approach shots good, backhand sliced failed me today (everytime he served to my backhand and I sliced it, I lost)
(him): Forehand good, backhand led to many short balls in which I attacked, serve bad at first then became normal, the forehand kept me in check.

The bad thing especially for both of us was the numerous double faults, we both got an ace but the double faults messed us up.

@yonex: do something similar to what I did (what you thought was good and bad from both of us)
@everyone: tips appreciated RATE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE

Nice hitting with yonex. Next week more

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Great vid, very enjoyable watching some good rec tennis!

*Small filming crit* I would make sure the sun is more behind the camera next time if possible, (like your hit with Peter vids) and go easier on those edit cuts though...more frame padding so the cuts are less jarring!

If you ever get a whole match recorded I would love to see the match "stats", unforced errors, winners, aces, double faults, etc. Always wondered how much rec level stats are compared to the pros. I think knowing would help out the players too, seeing more specifically what to work on in practice. Of course it'd be a pain to go through and count everything but I think it'd be cool to know!

I would suggest hitting the weights too. I have similar build and I don't see you getting "too big". I was 110 in high school, by end of senior year I got to 145lbs and benching 5 of 5 225lbs, squat 325 3 of 10...I still looked skinny as hell and still fast on the courts (at 5' 9"). Yonex would probably bulk up incredibly fast by lifting though - buddy of mine I hit with had exact build as he does - lifting weights didn't work out for him so focused on cardio.

That said if you're not into lifting, you're not into lifting - I think you really need to be *into it* to be of real benefit. I was almost obsessed with it as much as tennis at the time and it just became like a habit eventually. Fed proves there are other options of course, (plyometrics).

Hopefully there will be another L&R get together sometime and both you guys can make it out there! Sometimes I wish I was in OC - looks like a good tennis community down there! Looking forward to the next vid!

~Cheers~

MarinaHighTennis · Jan 3, 2012

Larrysümmers said:
just simple shoulder shrugs, curls, and tricept dips are good enough. and for lower body just some simple lunges. and i used to frog hop with them.

but its nothing major but if you keep at it you will tone some nice muscle and you will hit harder. just dont be lazy like me and quit after 2 weeks. haha

I've done several martial arts and I know I can pact a powerful punch/kick. However, I feel that I need to get bigger for less effort required. My muscles are pretty solid but small.

spaceman_spiff · Jan 4, 2012

One thing I would suggest for both of you is to work on serve placement and/or variety. I watched through the unedited video a couple of times, and I don't recall seeing a single serve that forced the returner to stretch. Most of your serves were right to the returner (though a few were obviously meant to be jammers).

No wide slice or flat/kick serves DTM from the deuce side. No slice DTM or wide flat/kick serves from the ad side. Everything was right to the returner; hence, the number of aggressive forehand returns.

Power Player · Jan 4, 2012

MarinaHighTennis said:
I've done several martial arts and I know I can pact a powerful punch/kick. However, I feel that I need to get bigger for less effort required. My muscles are pretty solid but small.

Lift weights then.

That is the best answer.

dr325i · Jan 4, 2012

BaboFan said:
Fair enough. I support people who post vids here. I'd say they are both high 4.5 or low 5.0. I've seen marina play and seen him beat a 3 star.

Fair enough, though, I think 5.0 is far from their reach now with the Consistency showed in the unedited video

dr325i · Jan 4, 2012

DavaiMarat said:
Lol I wish people would stop rating other people. The only persons who need or require NRTP ratings are people who are playing leagues or tournaments. Other then that, it's just some arbitrary opinion which they usual don't even reference the chart from which it's derived.

I'll ask anyone in this post what a 3.5 should be....they will go any google it and cut and paste it. They don't EVEN know!!! Fools fools and more fools.

You don't have a NRTP rating till you compete in USTA leagues. I wish everyone would get that in their thick skulls.

While I agree with the most said above, let me ask you a question (hypothetically): are you an A or B or C math student? Do you need to take the official test to know that or, you can use your brains and experience and visual skills to determine that???

When we discuss the rating here, we approximate, do not expect the official rating. I have seen a bread warmup partner fall apart in an actual match and would rate him 2.0 lower when playing points...

goober · Jan 4, 2012

dr325i said:
Fair enough, though, I think 5.0 is far from their reach now with the Consistency showed in the unedited video

Yonex has 4.5C rating. He probably is on the higher end of 4.5.
I think 5.0 is within reach, but the higher end of players who have 5.0 ratings is a much larger step.

86golf · Jan 5, 2012

MarinaHighTennis said:
Thanks for the input. Getting bigger is a necessary thing for me but I don't have that much time to work out and how. I don't want to lose my speed. I'm 130lbs btw and 5'10.

I know you are working on adding muscle mass and that's ok. However, have you ever been to any pro tournaments, or any Pro circuit events? If you have, you may have noticed how thin most of those players are. Much more thin in person than it shows on TV. Djokovic looks 20 lbs thinner in person. Some of the ladies/girls that play pro circuit are tiny, but they take the cover off the ball. Here is a video I shot last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIyva-lcV08

Maybe she's 120 lbs and she hits harder than any 5.0 male. So racquet head speed can be achieved with the proper fundamentals without a lot of muscle.

MarinaHighTennis · Jan 5, 2012

86golf said:
I know you are working on adding muscle mass and that's ok. However, have you ever been to any pro tournaments, or any Pro circuit events? If you have, you may have noticed how thin most of those players are. Much more thin in person than it shows on TV. Djokovic looks 20 lbs thinner in person. Some of the ladies/girls that play pro circuit are tiny, but they take the cover off the ball. Here is a video I shot last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIyva-lcV08

Maybe she's 120 lbs and she hits harder than any 5.0 male. So racquet head speed can be achieved with the proper fundamentals without a lot of muscle.

I go to the Farmer's Classic and saw Marcos Giron and hes as big as a football player :shock:. I just think I'm underweight (compared to guys) and need to bulk up to take on 18s and mens. Its working so far, I don't get pushed around to much but I've been working with resistance bands not weights.

spaceman_spiff · Jan 6, 2012

86golf said:
I know you are working on adding muscle mass and that's ok. However, have you ever been to any pro tournaments, or any Pro circuit events? If you have, you may have noticed how thin most of those players are. Much more thin in person than it shows on TV. Djokovic looks 20 lbs thinner in person. Some of the ladies/girls that play pro circuit are tiny, but they take the cover off the ball. Here is a video I shot last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIyva-lcV08

Maybe she's 120 lbs and she hits harder than any 5.0 male. So racquet head speed can be achieved with the proper fundamentals without a lot of muscle.

MarinaHighTennis said:
I go to the Farmer's Classic and saw Marcos Giron and hes as big as a football player :shock:. I just think I'm underweight (compared to guys) and need to bulk up to take on 18s and mens. Its working so far, I don't get pushed around to much but I've been working with resistance bands not weights.

The difference is in the legs. Check out the legs in the video above. Even though she doesn't weigh much overall, she's got powerful legs (nice to look at as well

). All of her power comes from getting her body in position (footspeed) and then using her whole body (starting from the legs) in the swing, rather than just arming the ball.

Yes, a bigger upper body will help, but first and foremost, you need to build up your legs.

NLBwell · Jan 6, 2012

I agree with SpacemanSpiff. The top pro players are all getting thinner. Tsonga has lost a lot of weight - as did Djokovic, Fish, Roddick, etc. Even Nadal thinned out a bit. Not only does it make them quicker, but they are less prone to injury.
In college I was 5-10 to 6' and weighed 130 to 145 lbs (I kept growing in college) and hit as hard or harder as anyone (ie. guys I played that turned pro). I had thighs that looked like Guillermo Vilas', though. I got those thighs from running stairs and playing basketball.
I've been campaigning against the "getting bigger is good for tennis" for a long while. Good to see the pros starting to understand that they went overboard on strength and that quickness and flexibility are more important. Upper body strength helps some on high volleys - other than that, the excess weight is a liability.
Arthur Ashe hit the ball as hard as anyone in the history of tennis, and if you look at old videos he looks rail thin. Monfils is very thin (though certainly strong and cut) and he can hit the ball as hard as anyone (wish he would do it more). Remember that TV makes people appear 20 lbs heavier than in person. Explosiveness and flexiblity are your friend - plyometrics, high rep weights - bulk is your enemy.

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