Excellent forehand hitting, very smooth and good pace..
Backhand - you seem to be getting to close to the ball at the point of contact.. I play 1hb, so don't know it too well, but on the whole, looked like you were not in position for most backhands..
Cheers about the forehand, I've always though of my backhand as a much more steady and technically sound shot. When I expect to hit it. The machine was set up for a forehand drill and I occasionally got surprised by how far left it would hit them
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What court is this? Grass??
Astroturf. It plays a lot like a grass court in terms of speed, but it is much more consistent unless the sand piles up (it is used for grit in the wet). It gives much more of an advantage to players who slice and approach the net than the hard courts I am used to!
relax your grip. hold the racquet just enough to keep it from falling out of your hand. that might relax the rest of the body
early relaxed preparation baby
great video
My upper arm does tend to tense up in points, while I usually tend to be more successful in keeping my forearm loose. That said, my overgrip was in dire need of replacement that day, I remember the racquet slipping grip on a few of the earlier drills so I might have been holding tighter than normal.
Cool - is that that people mean when they say they play on "carpet"? I haven't seen anything like that here.
"Short balls" makes more sense. I couldn't see the height over the net but they seemed to be coming in low. I would venture a guess (having never played that surface) that they don't sit up very high either, so short ball practice is probably wise. I see way too many guys at my club that use the machine to groove a shot and never have to move. Those drills you're doing are much more effective in my opinion.
I believe astroturf is a carpet, but carpet doesn't always mean astroturf. It's a pity that it isn't generally very popular outside the UK, as it is better for varied attacking play, it can be played on in the wet, and it is softer on the joints than hard courts. The shorter points and softer floor have been very useful for helping me recover from a peroneal injury (part of the reason my lower body is a bit inflexible).
I would say bending your legs and exploding off them a bit more would help a lot. You seem to be relying on upper body strength to generate power, this can be tiring. Using your legs can help you last longer on court as they are stronger.
I have to be careful not to over strain my leg muscles as I am on the comeback from a Peroneal ligament injury, so I've been focusing on trying to generate power from the glutes and core at the moment. That said it's probably about time that I started to incorporate more leg action into my shots again.
1. Head on the ball at all times
2. Shorten up the backswing..even if you're "hitting big"
3. A little bit late on every single shot..seems like you compensate with muscling that ball a bit.
A few tweaks and i see a bright forehand in your future!
1. Is there a particular point where I look up or something? I couldn't work out where I was going wrong from the video.
2. In actual play my take back is less exaggerated, I tend to emphasize things like that when practising to make sure I get a good enough take back under pressure. In matches I tend to block the ball fairly often, and some of my better opponents take advantage of that.
3. Yeah I noticed that too :-?
Cheers everyone for the feedback
