Critique my Strokes (VIDS)

[carazymcmahon]

OK so last summer I started working on my serve, I found a motion I liked and stuck with it. Weather got bad and baseball happened, and the first time I've been out since was just a couple weeks ago.

Here's my serve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KegLML6l4SQ

Some rallying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbKESmYC3Mk

and 2 games of match play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg1F9yHRkpQ

I noticed that when my hitting partner got lazy my footwork did too but I don't know enough to pick out anything else.

Critique hard please, I want to improve.
Thanks.

 

[dunlop kid]

Shorten your forehand backswing.Its way to high and long.

Your serve is alright except your ball toss is probably to far out in front and thats why your reaching for the ball.

Good Luck

 

[wyutani]

Under the rallying vid, the only advise i can give is the knees. bend ur knees when hitting the ball. the power is in the knees i think. yeah.

 

[tricky]

Footwork looks pretty good on the FH side. On your gravity steps, you tend to turn your torso too far away from the net, which cuts off your ability to properly retrieve the shot. You do a lot of extra hoping in order to faciliate weight transfer. Lowering your base significantly (think squat position) will improve both aspects for you (try coordinating your hips with the step pattrerns), and you'll also move quicker and lighter.

On the BH side, you want to try stepping out with the left foot even though most 1H BHs are generated from a closed stance. Right now, you're crossing over with the right, and then you're leaning on top of the right foot (rather than through the right foot) in order to provide linear weight transfer into the ball. You still want to step out with the left foot and then plant off it to drive the shot. Even a very small step makes a very big difference.

In terms of your service form, you ideally want to move your center of gravity into the court as you initiate the toss. This can be done by taking your back or right hip and moving that into the court right before you initiate the toss. You'll notice that you'll be able to hit the ball at a higher place, and that the first half of your backswing will feel more loaded.

 

[Joe Average]

I'm going to start with the backhand, because I've been working on improving my own one-hander, and so I can spot what you're doing wrong. You need more shoulder tuck (tucked under the chin). As it stands, you have very little shoulder rotation. You need to get your trunk muscles involved. That's where the power is coming from. Right now it's just arm and wrist, which may explain the exaggerated finish.

About the forehand: the problem with such a loopy backswing is that the racquet head has to go from very high (over your head) to low, under the ball. And, with such a loopy swing, it takes a while to do that. Because of such a long path, the racquet isn't really getting under the ball (bending the knees would help). So your swing looks pretty level through contact (good for baseball). You can compact it a little more by using your left hand to bring the racquet back in position. This will give you more time to frame the ball properly (frame in a good way). Right now it's just see the ball, hit the ball.

 

[carazymcmahon]

thanks for the replies guys

im a little confused about the 1hbh rotation. I thought the shoulders weren't supposed to open up until after contact?

and for the forehand back swing
should i keep it loopy but just move it down or should i compact the whole thing?

also, anything on improving my serve consistency would be great

btw, how do you edit posts? i cant figure it out

 

[Rafael_Nadal_6257]

You can't until you get like 50 posts.

On the vids, nice effort on the footwork, but it kinda seems like you are still rushed on some of the shots, especially the shorter balls you got. As others have said, some extraneous motion on the forehand backswing. You should both move it down and make it a little more compact.

 

[BullDogTennis]

your whole body isnt supose to open up, but your shoulders should, then leg follows.

1 thing i saw in your rallying video is you run around your backhand alot, i dont recomend doing that in practice, even if your partner was pretty bad.

 

[5263]

your whole body isnt supose to open up, but your shoulders should, then leg follows.

1 thing i saw in your rallying video is you run around your backhand alot, i dont recomend doing that in practice, even if your partner was pretty bad.

I'm not sure I'm following the BH shld comment here and others, but I don't agree that the shlds should open until after the arm has run completely out of travel, then the follow thru will start to open shlders and lift head, well after shot is complete and ball is long gone. Most all shoulder turn should be to the back as u coil to prepare for the BH, then stop at neutral till the arm travel runs out.

 

[carazymcmahon]

bump......

 

[Nellie]

On both sides, your left arm is doing nothing. On the backhand, the left arm supports the racquet until the swing and then should be moving up and backwards to balance the stroke,

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/backhand/backhand.aspx?id=38286

and on the forehand, your left arm should be tucked up and in to add balance and rotational force

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/forehand/forehand.aspx?id=6860

Also, in general, you are often not fully rotating your shoulders on the groundstrokes, thereby arming the ball. (i.e., your shoulders and torso do not move to provide power)

Another comment I have on the forehand is that you have loop, but hit flat through contact zone (the motion looks kind of like a P/D on its side). With more low to high, you could hit more aggressively and safely.

Serve looks good!

 

[Macdaddy1129]

x

 

[willgonase10]

Your forehand's take back is WAY too high, loopy, and long. Shorten up on it. You don't need to take such a big swing.

Backhand from the looks of it, has some footing problems. The use of the right leg is crucial!

Toss on the serve is WAY too far upfront. Your snatching at it.

 

[carazymcmahon]

im confused now, some people are saying that i should toss more into the court and some are saying im tossing too far into the court.

macdaddy said it would help with hitting into the net but my usual problem is missing long.

Im guessing its too far into the court?

 

[Rafael_Nadal_6257]

im confused now, some people are saying that i should toss more into the court and some are saying im tossing too far into the court.

macdaddy said it would help with hitting into the net but my usual problem is missing long.

Im guessing its too far into the court?

Well...its kinda hard to tell from a back view so I'm not really sure. If your missing long, you probably are either not throwing the ball high enough (so you can hit down on it more...in reality, hit up on it less, giving you a better angle (because it is impossible to hit down on the ball during the serve if you are below like 6 and a half feet tall or don't have a really good vertical jump)) or throwing the ball too far into the court.

You could also have not enough topspin and too much pace on your serve. You just have to experiment.

 

[Nellie]

I cannot really see how you toss much further in the court without foot faulting or hitting at wierd angle.