any tips on getting better? (10 months later)

[Austin Wood]

I started playing tennis about a year and a half ago, and I fell in love with playing right away. I've played basketball and other sports my whole life but now tennis is my main sport. I'm a junior player from the US, and I just graduated high school. I've been working hard to perfect my technique and but in as many reps as I can, so that I can develop the right muscle memory. About 10 months ago, I posted a thread on here asking for you guys to critique my strokes and give me any tips, and it helped out so much so I decided I would post an update and get some more tips now that I've improved a little. Anything is appreciated, thank you!!!
(Sorry if the angle isn't the best I didn't have anyone to record for me)
10 months ago:

Today: forehand

backhand

 

[FRV]

Where's the serve?!?!?!

 

[Austin Wood]

Where's the serve?!?!?!

I only worked on my groundstrokes in this particular practice session so I didn't have a video of it. I will next time.

 

[FRV]

I only worked on my groundstrokes in this particular practice session so I didn't have a video of it. I will next time.

Well your groundstrokes look better, but I can't tell what to improve as I don't have a good eye for this stuff.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

What's with the fault line running through the court? Looks like an ankle-twister waiting to happen. At the very least, it should generate some interesting bounces.

 

[ptuanminh]

A bit late with timing . Move your but.

 

[tennishabit]

gr8 improvement man, 1 of very few adult could make dis much differences w/in 10 mths........keep up good work man.........

all good for time being n loose up ur grip a bit more gradually.............

as u said 'fell n love' which meant enjoyment from deep inside instead of being 'inspired' by external factors/variables n end up suffering aft many yrs trying.............

as logn as loose up n te/ge free, then simply increasing repetition more n more every day as much as u can, every thing will be set correctly along the way..................most ppl couldn't improve any more simply bcs got held up by their injuries, for rec-ers, 99% te/ge/wrist related...........................

 

[dgold44]

I started playing tennis about a year and a half ago, and I fell in love with playing right away. I've played basketball and other sports my whole life but now tennis is my main sport. I'm a junior player from the US, and I just graduated high school. I've been working hard to perfect my technique and but in as many reps as I can, so that I can develop the right muscle memory. About 10 months ago, I posted a thread on here asking for you guys to critique my strokes and give me any tips, and it helped out so much so I decided I would post an update and get some more tips now that I've improved a little. Anything is appreciated, thank you!!!
(Sorry if the angle isn't the best I didn't have anyone to record for me)
10 months ago:

Today: forehand

backhand

Good progress
You are still very young so don’t feel rushed
Find a good pro and spend $$$$

I noticed your feet are moving all over the place and should be stationary as you push off your back foot .
On your BH you really want to have the racket tip point to the ground to get the spin needed .
Just watch a clip of Djoker or Nadal as the racket goes from high to low and tip points to ground

Overall you jumped a level on your FH
Very impressive

 

[dgold44]

The first clip I cringed
The second clip on the FH looked 100 times better

 

[tennishabit]

btw u'v grown at least 5cm in 10 mths n dat's impressive too, man......................

 

[hurworld]

What's with the fault line running through the court? Looks like an ankle-twister waiting to happen. At the very least, it should generate some interesting bounces.

This. First thing I noticed. Should probably hit cross-court on deuce side instead (assuming court surface is fine on deuce side).

 

[Chas Tennis]

You turn the line between your two shoulders back and then forward too much together with the line between your two hips.

Imagine a line between your two shoulders, now imagine a line between you two hips. Picture those two lines as they would be viewed from above and the angle that they would form. That is called "separation angle" or just "separation". If those two lines move together then the trunk muscles are not stretched and there is less contribution to the forward rotation speed of your uppermost body. I have seen the separation angle for forehands estimated as about 20-30 degrees.

Both rotating the pelvis and rotating the spine/trunk can add to the rotation speed of the uppermost body.

Djokovic uses more separation than most players and he is very flexible. Probably he is not a good model to copy because of his unusually large range of motion for spine twisting. He uses separation when he is not pressed and wants to hit heavier pace, maybe not during slow warm up or slow practice.

In this video, you can see that Djokovic turns the line between his shoulder back farther than the line between his hips. The hips can also start forward before the uppermost body and that adds stretch to trunk muscles. Slow motion at end.

On Youtube use the "." and "," keys to do single frame.

If you watch TV broadcasts, higher camera views let you see separation.

Separation, with the same principles of stretching muscles, applies to backhands also.

The ITF seemed to discover 'separation' around 2000 and discussed it. It is discussed in the books by B. Elliott et al, for example, Technique Development for Tennis Stroke Production. Search: separation forehand ITF presentation

Separation has usually been discussed for forehands on this forum. I've posted many times with pictures and references.

Warning: Separation involves twisting the spine. Take care with your back and don't do if you have had back issues.


I just found this publication on separation while searching. I read the introduction and summary and it is on the topic of separation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3761808/

 

[VacationTennis]

Amazing progress, it's hard to do. For the fh looks like your take back is pretty solid so great starting base there. The finish seems like you are standing upright very tall on the tips of your toes, which you shouldn't necessarily need to do unless it's a weird ball. Watch that Djokovic video and see he does nothing like that on a normal forehand. It's actually more of a side to side transfer with your body like he shows in that video. Especially if you are doing open stance and loading on your outside foot.

 

[pencilcheck]

Wow, who taught you tennis? You have good fundamentals, just need a bit more training and better timing you can really hit really well.

1. Your timing is a bit too early, try to find a range of contact point to your body that get the best value to effort ratio, you should be feeling very comfortable hitting at a specific spot. For me, I like when the ball comes a bit closer to my body, that's when I can really hit through.
2. Your footwork is getting there, I see some good signs, however if you focus more on that you will get higher level quickly. e.g. step forward more, bend your knee more before contact. Feel the coil more, etc. Your forehand has the typical starting off the back leg style, which is popular among a lot of pros and high level player, but it is not the only way, try other ways and see which ones that suits you more. (Federer uses something different, he is starting off his front leg)
3. You are just starting out, don't limit yourself with one type of grip, try multiple grips, feel how they behave differently and find the ones that works for you in a given situation.
4. In my opinion, don't look at just one pros, Djokovic is awesome but he is unique, Federer is awesome but he has something that normal people can't do as well, same goes for other pros like Nadal, so don't copy 100% of what they do, they are there and at the top for a reason (not just hard training).

Just some 2 cents.