First 4.0 tourney, suggestion would be appreciated

[webbeing]

Hello,

Would greatly appreciated your suggestion to the kid who just played in his first 4.0 tourney. He didn't do too bad (6-4, 6-4) in the 1st round, the man (6'4"") first serve is about 70% probably over 100mph. He lost 8-1 in the consol round, 2nd video.

Is there anything fundamental/obvious to work on, or just get faster and more stick time?

Many thanks and have a great Holiday season.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLU98bp1aC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugnYxZzurM4

 

[jdubbs]

Lots of unforced errors. Work on getting the ball in more, and not going for quite as much. Seems like most points were 3-4 shots max.

Work on creating more topspin so you can hit hard, but still get the ball in, and don't try to paint the lines so much, it wasn't working out for you.

Beautiful serve though.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Hello,

Would greatly appreciated your suggestion to the kid who just played in his first 4.0 tourney. He didn't do too bad (6-4, 6-4) in the 1st round, the man (6'4"") first serve is about 70% probably over 100mph. He lost 8-1 in the consol round, 2nd video.

Is there anything fundamental/obvious to work on, or just get faster and more stick time?

Many thanks and have a great Holiday season.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLU98bp1aC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugnYxZzurM4

From what I can see, you've got decent looking form. But, you don't consistently set up well for your shots. You tend to be flat footed when you need to be getting in to position and loading up. Also, your shot selection seems arbitrary, you go for low percentage shots and make a lot of tactical errors.

Practice putting more focus on getting set up well for each shot - like a batter in a batter's box. And, as a general strategy, hit all groundstrokes cross court, and all approach shots down the line. If a short ball sits up, then you can go for a winner in the open court.

 

[tennismonkey]

i play 4.0 leagues and thought you have a nice game. my comments are similar to jdubbs. you give up too many points on unforced errors. i think you hit with plenty of topspin - you just need to give yourself more margin of error. if you want to hit deep - you don't have to aim for the baseline - and if you want to pull him wide - you don't have to aim for the sidelines.

i don't care if the rallies last only a few shots or whether it lasts 20 shots -- don't be the one making more unforced errors. there was a point early in the video where you hit 3 or 4 deep balls with pretty heavy topspin and your opponent blasted a forehand long. i think you'd find if you give your opponent rope to hang themselves -- they will. patience.

you cut the unforced errors and the handful of double faults -- i think you win 6-3, 6-3. my 2 cents.

 

[5263]

His rally from the baseline area looks pretty good, and if he can learn to attack with power and spin instead of hitting near the lines during the rally, the rally game would be even better and he can cut the unforced errors greatly.

Where he really needs to make some big improvements is in attacking Mid court balls where he can move inside the baseline and raise the pressure on his opponents game. He got tons of mid to short balls in the vid I watched, but didn't seem to win points there with any consistency. My charting suggest that you need to win about 70% of point ending exchanges that start with you attacking a mid court ball, when you are facing a solid opponent. This takes focused practice in this area. I look at it similar to 1st and 2ond serves.
Mid court attacks are much like 1st serves, in that you are more aggressive with placement, BUT the rally baseline shots being more like a second serve, where you should attack with spinning power, but less pinpoint placements.

 

[fuzz nation]

Yahoo, keep up the good work!!!

Thanks for posting video, too.

As far as that patience factor that some of our pals mentioned, I certainly agree. In one point around the 1:20 mark (1st video), you simply keep a few shots nice and deep and the other guy sails one. Avoiding the panic button and keeping more of your shots deep in the far end is a significant step in the road to playing a 4.5 level. Even in neutral rallies, steady deep shots will keep opponents "out of your kitchen" more often.

It looks like at around 1:49 you decide to rush the net, but you go about a half-second too late and you catch a ball in your socks. If you pursue the development of some serve and volley skills (I highly recommend it for just about everyone), it's important to explode forward toward the net immediately after your serve. One more thing to practice, right?

While we're talking about going to the net, you've got another attempt at 2:22 where you move in behind a topspin drive. Before you can cover any ground, the ball is already coming back and passing you. Problem? Unless that drive had sent your opponent scrambling big-time, you would have been better off with a slower, low skidding slice approach placed deep. That would give you extra time to get closer to the net. If you don't have that shot (the slice), get busy. You also need it for defense or hitting change of pace while back at the baseline.

A number of your returns of serve are a bit lifeless and landing too short - up around the service line - and server dude is having too much fun with those short balls. Even if you're not crushing them, you've got to punch the ball deep enough to at least start the rally in a neutral posture. Looking at your set position when you return, you're rather stationary. My recommendation is to work on carrying a little forward momentum into your split-step so that you can more easily move through the ball and punch it deeper to your opponents. Fed is one player who does that really well on his returns.

 

[fuzz nation]

Wow, night-and-day difference at the 9:00 point!!! (yep, 1st video)

You hit a nice deep slice approach that lands maybe four feet inside the baseline, set up at net in plenty of time, and own him. Textbook! None of that rock star slashing at the ball like you do with a few of the other short balls you get along the way in other points. That deep sliced approach won you the point here.

Your serve... Nice motion, but you've got to think seriously about landing a lot more of your first serves. Although I'm happy to compliment your mechanics along with our pals here, you miss with enough of your first serve attempts that it's definitely more of a liability for you than an asset in this match. Crank up the spin and land that first ball, mah bruthuh!

 

[panache5]

keep the ball in that's all he was doing!!! he wasn't even fast on his feet because when you hit it side to side he lobs it back. just stay more consistent your not gonna overpower the guy with your strokes, and even if you did hit a good fast ball that isn't enough and very low %. And get those returns back in!!!