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I have a preference for tossing with my palm facing the fence. It is similar to me holding a glass using the tip of my index, middle finger and thumb while having the bottom rest on my ring finger. I have tried to work on it palm up over the summer following a suggestion, but it didn't work too...

That's what I was told. The service line is a sort of balance between defensive and offensive position, but if the return finds the serve you need to come in fast to be able to put some pressure on the server to respond cleanly to the return. If they leave the ball too slow and/or too much down...

In my doubles league, some players struggle more with volleys. No one told them it was a good idea, but they seem to have all figured out they're way more dangerous closer to the net and it's kind of a pain when returning better servers. Inches from the net, you can hit pancake volleys for...

Correction: most of them are justifiably afraid of getting hit by the serve. :-D

The idea behind standing at the service line is that you're ideally situated to intercept most responses from the net player and you're close enough to the net that you can close in immediately if the return reaches the server. I can see the justification for moving forward: if the returner is...

It definitely feels different in the string bed, but I usually can tell either just squeezing the ball in my hand or dropping it and looking at its bounce. I'll know immediately whether a ball will be playable or not for my liking.

The absolute best tennis experience you can have on a court is when you're using brand new balls. Their pressure is at their peak, so you get the highest bounces and the felt is in perfect condition so it grips your strings and the surface the most at that moment. When you open a can of balls...

MEP being a 4.5 player, I'd imagine the average 5.0 player could win comfortably, but the double bagel is a really tall order. The difference in playing skill isn't so huge that the 5.0 could afford to have lapses in focus or be nonchalant to finish with a double bagel. Maybe some D1 players...

I was having some issues with my toss over the summer, but it has improved considerably lately. I had a hitting session over the weekend where all we did was playing points where we'd each serve a few points. I hit well over 100 serves that day and I think I caught the ball to toss it again...

It depends on the conditions in which you use them and how many you use at a time. I usually can keep balls around for about 2-3 weeks depending on how often I play and I'll usually stop when the bounce is no longer satisfactory. I tend to spare opening up cans for matches and more serious...

I was working from the assumption they were both rated 4.5 players. My bad.

I played with all sorts of tennis players this year. One of them sends me a lot of junk and I see it as an opportunity to learn how to best handle all sorts of balls inside the court. The challenge here is twofold: (1) you need to keep playing at high intensity so that you keep those feet moving...

They probably could win some matches, but they wouldn't be able to sustain that level of play. That's pretty clear since they're 4.5 players.

That's much easier on your body than hard courts. I knew some people who did some coaching with kids during the summer and most would complain about knee pain from time to time. There was nothing wrong with them and they were in the late teens and early 20s, but they were spending like 30 hours...

The kind of health issue he could be having would be some damage to tendons and ligaments. Still, he's describing a situation where inflammation only shows up if he plays an absurd amount of tennis and where simply cutting down on playing time resolves the issue. What the doctor might have to...

Of course, this is real tennis. However, it is impossibly dull because you're looking at two purely defensive players. They trade incredibly safe junk balls all over the tennis court, they leave almost every opportunity to open up the play on the table and you eventually see one of them caught...

How many matches did he play? Are we talking he's undefeated because he never played, undefeated after one match or we're looking at something crazy like 10-0?

He's saying that he's playing singles 6-7 times a week, so we're talking really high intensity for a ridiculous amount of time without resting days few and far between. The only people I know who play more than 5 days a week are playing almost of it in doubles.

People suggesting that you loose weight probably did not bother reading. I'd don't know what's your muscle mass situation, but I'm 5'10'' and I'd be under 15% body fat if I came down to 170 lbs: when I was at 180 lbs, you could start to see my abs. Also, while you probably do not have the...

It's not just that it is much riskier for you as an amateur to play that kind of shot. It's also that it is not clear that it offers the same advantages. I'd argue that it is often (but not always) a cost without a gain: since you're not playing Djokovic, you rarely need to swing all that hard...

The Master is gone and his shoes will be almost impossible to fill.

He barely played in the last three years because of injuries. So, even if he can still play amazing tennis, it's pretty clear he isn't in a condition to sustain that level over several weeks. I don't think Federer would have stopped playing if he thought he could win a few more titles. But...

You basically can't hit the first one where he runs around his backhand without a hop. That's how you keep the open stance and make space for yourself. The second one, I wouldn't recommend to most amateurs. The ball barely is short and he takes the mother of all cuts at the ball from 6 feet...

When hitting a jumping forehand, the stroke is not divorced from the jump: the jump is how you initiate the stroke. For example, there's a footwork pattern where you step forward with your racket side foot, load on it and step forward as you hit. If you do that, but you push way harder, then...

After the last few years, it's pretty clear that he is running a high risk of further injuries if he keeps playing. He still has the skill set to play great tennis, but stringing matches is just going to end with him being forced to retire after forfeiting a second round match or something like...

I do it on occasion when I get a high ball that I feel I can attack. It seems to help me hit harder than I normally do without loosing control. It also gives me a few inches so that ball ends up in a more comfortable spot to hit. I am not sure I see how I'd manage to do it more often because...

I think Roddick nailed it when he said Federer wouldn't want his last match to be a stunning defeat in first round at Wimbledon or a forfeit over an injurry. Alcarez or not, he probably felt like his body wouldn't be able to sustain playing on the tour anymore. He stretched it as much as he...

Well, he clearly hits better than Kyrgios. Sure, he can't attack Isner's sissy serve with it, but then he's not taking advice on TT so it is not a surprise.

It's a good general advice to just send the ball deep if you're in trouble. It's much harder to attack from behind the baseline, they have less of an ability to angle balls wide, etc.

That's because Djokovic has a 4.0 backhand.