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So should we consciously try to make this shoulder tilt/angle steeper? Or is it just a side effect of "patting the dog" to get the racket beneath the level of the ball?

Hey guys, On the modern forehand should you consciously try to tilt your torso (the torso pointing slightly upwards instead of directly at the opponent) and shoulder angle so that your hitting shoulder is lower than your non-hitting shoulder? I can see how that might promote more topspin, but...

Ryan Chung and ZPTennis both hit this serve perfectly.

Over the last few months, I worked hard on developing a heavy topspin serve. I'm finally happy with the results: high bounce, hits the back fence on the second bounce, and I can direct it to my opponent's backhands (and at the beginning it was ugly: no bounce, slow, landed deep, no directional...

Hey tofast4u05, I am in a similar situation. I'm a good 4.5 player singles player in Norcal, and I win most of my matches at 4.5 comfortably. I was bumped up to 5.0. Having seen your videos, it's interesting because I see a lot of parallels. Like you, I move pretty well and feel like I can get...

I got bumped to 5.0 as well, but in my area I see very few bump ups this year compared to last year.

How do we know when ratings get released? does the USTA send an e-mail?

I'll take leagues over tournaments. 1. Leagues are usually in your area, so less driving. I usually have to drive at least one hour or more to get to a tournament. 2. Tournaments can and will schedule you at awful times, leagues have to make it work for everyone. 3. At the very least 50$ a...

Playing your music at the courts is poor form: you could put headphones on if the music is that important to you. Regardless of the situation (people playing a match, or just hitting), not everyone in the world enjoys the same music as you. What sounds great to you might be really annoying to...

If you are frustrated by pushers, I suggest you incorporate some of this style of play in your practices. One drill I like to do with a practice partner is to play some points where one player plays the role of the pusher. Moonballing, high topspin, slices, dinks, are all allowed and...

I'm in a similar situation as you. I play 4.5/5.0 and I slice about 90% of my backhands. That slice wins me a lot of matches: when going backhand to backhand, I'm rarely the one who breaks down or makes the mistake. I go to the topspin backhand when I have a lot of time to set up, or when I...

I think it has little or nothing to do with "American Social Comparison". It has to do with winning and losing and how we feel about that. Most people simply aren't willing to risk losing a bunch of matches even if it means improvement in the long run, or a higher level in the long run. Losing...

I got to see him practice up close at Indian Wells this year. He has no weaknesses. He can't handle low slice? seriously? That's ridiculous. His movement and his return of serve are amazing and stand out to me. His ability to hit with power on the dead run (those shots where he stretches out...

It looks like you aren't getting full extension/follow through on some of your returns, and then they land short/with no pace. It also looks like sometimes you're afraid of overhitting and you kind of baby the ball back. When facing weak serves like these, I think you could be more aggressive...

I have always hit my volleys with a continental grip, which I have always pictured as heel pad and base knuckle both on bevel 2 (for right-handed players). Recently, I took a lesson with a teaching pro, and he suggested I move my heel pad to bevel 1 on the volleys. He says it provides greater...

This is a tough one, both guys have pretty similar resumes. They both had pretty nice flair and style (serve and volley, all-courters to some degree) too. Pioline does have 2 Davis Cups, and 2 slam finals, so for me that pushes him ever so slightly above Henman. They both ran into Pete...

In an article I really like about the kick serve, Chris Lewit suggests using a "strong continental" grip. That could be what you're describing. See: http://www.tennisplayer.net/public/classiclessons/chris_lewit/keys_to_the_kick/keys_to_the_kick_page1.html for more details.

Does anybody else get the feeling that they bumped up very liberally this year? I'm seeing people getting bumped up with records like 4-3 on the year, no spectacular results, but just happened to play a sectional/district match?

Yes it happens in Davis Cup, but not to Roger Federer. The guy is beloved in France and a lot of the time gets more support than even the French players.

Federer getting boo'ed like that? I've never seen that before. And Monfils aced him right after that, wow!

I've been working on the modern Forehand and my results are mixed so far. I'm seeing a lot more racket head speed, and pace on my shots, but I can't seem to get a lot of net clearance/heavy topspin. I'm hitting the net a lot more. The shots that do go in are hard and flat. Anyone have any...

So basically, you are just here to do some advertising for Heath Waters. Thanks for bringing so much to the conversation!

Tenniscoachga, would you care to elaborate on that?

I personally like unsolicited advice. If something is obviously not working on the court, better to point it out and try to fix it. None of us is perfect out there. A couple of weeks ago, during a match, my partner was hitting all his serves into the net. At the changeover, I simply mentioned...

Annoying? People who give you crappy warmups: going for winners during the warmup, not being able to feed you a proper overhead, etc. People who curse/scream excessively. You're a grown man/woman playing in a recreational league. I have no problem with people being competitive but you shouldn't...

I think if you went for broke on every single shot, you would win a point here and there. No way any of us gets anywhere close to getting a game though.

I have played mostly 4.5 and 5.0 leagues and haven't seen too much sandbagging. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist: I have seen score cards modified by USTA captains to prevent their players from being bumped up/down (example: a 6-1 6-2 win is reported as 6-4 6-2). Surprisingly for me, in the...

I feel like I have made some minor progress on my service returns, mainly thanks to Maximagq's suggestions which are mainly the following: - split step, and get forward momentum - take a short swing, get a basic shoulder turn/pivot - try to hit directly through the ball, make clean contact...

Davydenko was 1-7 vs James Blake. I can't explain that. Maybe his game didn't match up well vs power/flatter hitters.

To me, Davydenko wasn't very likeable overall (not to mention possible betting scandal involvement, tanking, obsession with money). But man his ball striking was a thing of beauty. I love how simple and effective his game/movement was. There's nothing superfluous in his style. I'm surprised he...