Fuzzy Yellow Balls - I love you! But...

wihamilton said:
No sweat bro.

How you step is partially determined by where the ball is. For wide balls you'd use the cross step. But you can't cross step if the ball is hit right at you... you have to step forward. The purpose of those first videos was to outline the basics of the shot. We left out a number of nuances such as the particulars of how you step.

We're probably talking past each other to some degree.
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Yeah, I think we are.At a formative level stepping into the shot can help to teach you to hit through the ball.I didn't realise that you were only giving the basics and thought you were saying this is the universal technique on all volleys.

Also, looking at your site, I have to say it has, by far, the best free instruction on the web, It has quality lessons based on the latest research which is actually a first for a free site.I Hope your site does well at the expense of Revolutionary tennis.com and Tennis.about.com, which , in stark contrast to your site, offer counterproductive, ill informed and in some cases actively harmful instruction to impressionable first timers who don't know better.

So well done you ;)
 
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Thank you so much for the volley videos and well... all the videos! These volley vids come at the perfect time. I've just started to work on my volleys, which are admittedly very terrible. I'll hit maybe 1/10 in.

I have a few questions, though. If I'm already at net, I hit OK volleys. Nothing spectacular. But my biggest problem is the transition between baseline to net play. I'll hit a pretty decent approach but then completely screw up the volley. Any tips here?

Also, I'm a pretty short guy. About 5'6 with shoes on a good day. I have a lot of trouble with high volleys. They always seem to sail on me. Help?
 
About messing up on the volley after hitting an approach and transitioning in from the net...What will really help is to not 'run through' the ball and instead do a SPLIT-STEP.

This should improve your consistency tremendously. If you already do this, then perhaps you just are not ready, because if you can hit volleys already at net, there should be no problem doing it right after an approach shot. You might just not be fast and have to hit volleys in no man's land, which is definitely harder or volley off your shoe-strings, just as hard.

On high volleys, be ready, because I often hit these shots late and consequently long as they are not volleys but also not overheads, especially if they have some pace. Seems to be your problem to, hit them early and just block if they are too fast. Aiming down might help too. :p
 
BeHappy said:
To FYB

2)Guess you had to wait for the latest issue of tennisplayer.net to do this huh?, ''keep the 'U shape' '', you gonna credit Yandell?
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THe U-shape has been around for years. I think Yandell buys into the instructional tip and uses it.

Braden used it when I coached with him and so did several other coaches.
 
Rafael_Nadal_6257 said:
About messing up on the volley after hitting an approach and transitioning in from the net...What will really help is to not 'run through' the ball and instead do a SPLIT-STEP.

This should improve your consistency tremendously. If you already do this, then perhaps you just are not ready, because if you can hit volleys already at net, there should be no problem doing it right after an approach shot. You might just not be fast and have to hit volleys in no man's land, which is definitely harder or volley off your shoe-strings, just as hard.

On high volleys, be ready, because I often hit these shots late and consequently long as they are not volleys but also not overheads, especially if they have some pace. Seems to be your problem to, hit them early and just block if they are too fast. Aiming down might help too. :p
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Yea, that might be the problem. I do sometimes run through the volley. I usually don't have the problem of hitting a volley from no man's land, as I usually get to the net pretty quickly. I guess I just need to split step and make sure to get solid contact.
 
BeHappy -- Thanks man, I appreciate it.

itss -- The transition game is always tough because it's not really practiced all that much. Nadal_6257 game some good advice: hit your split step. People have a tendency to rush to get to net (again, because the are uncomfortable in no-man's land) and end up running through the volley.

For high balls, drive the palm down on the forehand as you hit. That should cause you to hit down on the ball a little bit more. On the BH, the prep / swing will get closer to / resemble a slice backhand.

My advice is somewhat ancillary to what Nadal said -- good preparation (footwork-wise) / body control is by far more important.
 
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^^^This is an excellent site. And everyone should definitely applaude the time and effort of Will to give tennis fans and players free lessons. It is easily comparable to the other internet sites that do the same thing.

Will's explanations are great and the videos are extremely helpful.
 
btw, thanks for allowing us to download these videos. i'm going to put them on my ps3 to watch easily when my computer is taken up. Also, what does a split step do for your game? What is the purpose?
 
Mansewerz said:
btw, thanks for allowing us to download these videos. i'm going to put them on my ps3 to watch easily when my computer is taken up. Also, what does a split step do for your game? What is the purpose?
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A split step slows you down, allows you to regain your balance and keeps you on your toes so that you can quickly respond to the next ball.

Watch that video of Pete again and notice those little hops in which he spreads his feet, slows down his movement, assesses the situation and then goes for the ball. Sometimes he just gets there quickly without the split-step, but he normally split steps between his volleys.
 
Mansewerz said:
Also, what does a split step do for your game? What is the purpose?
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The purpose of the split-step is to unweight you over your feet (and stall your momentum for a very brief moment) so that you can change directions (left, right, or an angled direction) in preparation to move to the next ball.

When we are weighted over our feet (have pressure over them) and need to change directions, we will experience that we need more effort to get going in a given direction. The split-step is essential to good footwork and is usually a setup to other footwork patterns such as the step-out, gravity step, and others.

The split-step is not that hard to perform on its own because it is a lot like "hop-scotch". However, it needs to be practiced because it requires timing. For those that can't or will not practice their footwork training, a fix to the split-step is to use very quick short steps (squeeky shoes) to perform to help with the direction change.
 
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wihamilton said:
ML,

Thanks for the kind words. Funny you should mention this, we were filming the volleys yesterday but had what I would describe as "technical difficulties" so we're going to have to redo them =/. We'll probably have them up in a week (but the timing somewhat depends on how Davidson -- GO 'CATS! -- does in the NCAA tourney :)).



Thx Sentinel.
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hey i was watching some videos of your forehands on your site, just of frank and oliver, and i noticed that on the swing and contact, they both do not have their arm fully straight or almost straight, like federer's, instead they both have it bent in like almost 90 degrees when they hit the ball, just like when you're half way through doing some parallel bar dips and form a 90 degree angle with your arms, my question was that is it necessary to have your arm straight and with the wrist laid back like federer, or does it not matter or is that just some unnecessary habit that he has or what.
 
Bungalo Bill said:
The purpose of the split-step is to unweight you over your feet (and stall your momentum for a very brief moment) so that you can change directions (left, right, or an angled direction) in preparation to move to the next ball.

When we are weighted over our feet (have pressure over them) and need to change directions, we will experience that we need more effort to get going in a given direction. The split-step is essential to good footwork and is usually a setup to other footwork patterns such as the step-out, gravity step, and others.

The split-step is not that hard to perform on its own because it is a lot like "hop-scotch". However, it needs to be practiced because it requires timing. For those that can't or will not practice their footwork training, a fix to the split-step is to use very quick short steps (squeeky shoes) to perform to help with the direction change.
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Thanks BB, you've been answering a lot of my questions. Very helpful.


Btw Will, do you think FYB can come up with a Matrix like tool that downloads skills into the person like the way they taught Neo kung fu. That would help.

LOL j/k
 
Mansewerz said:
Thanks BB, you've been answering a lot of my questions. Very helpful.


Btw Will, do you think FYB can come up with a Matrix like tool that downloads skills into the person like the way they taught Neo kung fu. That would help.

LOL j/k
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hey man,where do you get these federer quotes? are they real? thanks
 
Kratos said:
hey man,where do you get these federer quotes? are they real? thanks
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The one in my sig? I heard it on the Tennis Channel. I think it was on "Open Access" with Murphy Jensen. It's real.
 
I just downloaded your forehand stances videos last night and I got a chance to watch them. I noticed you mention the neutral stance. I had the neutral stance mixed up with the closed stance. I sometimes use the neutral stance, not the closed. Also, you mentioned Roddick using a mild open stance, not quite open, not quite neutral, but in between. You said that "It's kind of pushing it." What did you mean by this? Did you mean your shots will turn into a pusher's shots, or just about being politically correct/correct about terminology?
 
Just got back from Detroit. Davidson lost in the Elite 8 to Kansas... we missed a buzzer beater :(. Didn't have internet access for the last 4 days so that's why I haven't been around.

Caladbolg said:
hey i was watching some videos of your forehands on your site, just of frank and oliver, and i noticed that on the swing and contact, they both do not have their arm fully straight or almost straight, like federer's, instead they both have it bent in like almost 90 degrees when they hit the ball, just like when you're half way through doing some parallel bar dips and form a 90 degree angle with your arms, my question was that is it necessary to have your arm straight and with the wrist laid back like federer, or does it not matter or is that just some unnecessary habit that he has or what.
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You can hit with either a straight arm or bent arm. Federer rotates between hitting-arm positions depending on the shot he is trying to hit.

Mansewerz said:
Btw Will, do you think FYB can come up with a Matrix like tool that downloads skills into the person like the way they taught Neo kung fu. That would help.
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We're working on it. Ballpark 2 - 3 months =p

Mansewerz said:
I just downloaded your forehand stances videos last night and I got a chance to watch them. I noticed you mention the neutral stance. I had the neutral stance mixed up with the closed stance. I sometimes use the neutral stance, not the closed. Also, you mentioned Roddick using a mild open stance, not quite open, not quite neutral, but in between. You said that "It's kind of pushing it." What did you mean by this? Did you mean your shots will turn into a pusher's shots, or just about being politically correct/correct about terminology?
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I said positioning your feet in between a neutral and an open stance made that stance a "push." In other words, it's neither a neutral stance nor an open stance. It's somewhere in between the two.
 
wihamilton said:
Just got back from Detroit. Davidson lost in the Elite 8 to Kansas... we missed a buzzer beater :(. Didn't have internet access for the last 4 days so that's why I haven't been around.



You can hit with either a straight arm or bent arm. Federer rotates between hitting-arm positions depending on the shot he is trying to hit.



We're working on it. Ballpark 2 - 3 months =p



I said positioning your feet in between a neutral and an open stance made that stance a "push." In other words, it's neither a neutral stance nor an open stance. It's somewhere in between the two.
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I sea, that makes a lot more sense. I've been converting and downloading FYB vids all day. Then I put them on my ps3 to study. I love these vids. Already I've noticed that when i hit a forehand, at contact I'm not fully rotated to face the net. When I'm making contact, i'm still turning to face the net. In the videos I've seen of you , Frank, and Oliver hitting, I noticed that you've already rotated to face the net.

Also, how bad is the inferiority complex brought upon you by Adam? :)
 
wihamilton said:
Heh. My Lego forts have never been the same... :(
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LOL. Also, by being full rotated to the net at contact it should increase my power and drive behind a shot, right? Right now i'm not fully rotated, unlike you guys.
 
wihamilton said:
Just got back from Detroit. Davidson lost in the Elite 8 to Kansas... we missed a buzzer beater :(. Didn't have internet access for the last 4 days so that's why I haven't been around.



You can hit with either a straight arm or bent arm. Federer rotates between hitting-arm positions depending on the shot he is trying to hit.



We're working on it. Ballpark 2 - 3 months =p



I said positioning your feet in between a neutral and an open stance made that stance a "push." In other words, it's neither a neutral stance nor an open stance. It's somewhere in between the two.
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Well, i've seen alot of videos of Federer, and have studied them closely, and i just don't get how come when he hits his forehand, his wrist starts laid back and even when he hits the ball his wrist is still laid back, and he also keeps his arm straight on most of them, i also heard somewhere that in the fh, you have to point the butt cap at the ball or in your swing the butt cap or the tip of the racquet must be leading the shot or something like that.

Also, i wanted to ask you if when you hit the ball with a forehand, does the racquet has to be in this position when it makes contact with the ball?(i think its called perpendicular to the ground):


or maybe a little more closed like this:


because i feel that most of the time when i contact the ball my racquet head might be like this:

slighty tilted upwards, that's bad right?
 
Mansewerz said:
LOL. Also, by being full rotated to the net at contact it should increase my power and drive behind a shot, right? Right now i'm not fully rotated, unlike you guys.
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Affirmative ghost rider.

Caladbolg said:
Well, i've seen alot of videos of Federer, and have studied them closely, and i just don't get how come when he hits his forehand, his wrist starts laid back and even when he hits the ball his wrist is still laid back, and he also keeps his arm straight on most of them, i also heard somewhere that in the fh, you have to point the butt cap at the ball or in your swing the butt cap or the tip of the racquet must be leading the shot or something like that.

Also, i wanted to ask you if when you hit the ball with a forehand, does the racquet has to be in this position when it makes contact with the ball?(i think its called perpendicular to the ground):


or maybe a little more closed like this:


because i feel that most of the time when i contact the ball my racquet head might be like this:

slighty tilted upwards, that's bad right?
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If you watch some of these forehand hitting clips, you'll notice the buttcap is facing the oncoming ball at the start of the forward swing. What happens is that we swing the arm and racket, as a unit, around to our contact point. The upper body rotation also plays a big part in getting the racket around. For the sake of clarity, let me be redundant: the arm position is the same the entire time... from the time the buttcap is facing the tennis ball to contact.

What you'll also see is that our strings are facing the net... perpendicular to the court... at contact. They aren't open, like your last picture... and you're right, in most cases slightly open is wrong. Try and copy our racket positions at contact (especially Frank and Oliver, they are better than me :)).
 
wihamilton said:
Affirmative ghost rider.



If you watch some of these forehand hitting clips, you'll notice the buttcap is facing the oncoming ball at the start of the forward swing. What happens is that we swing the arm and racket, as a unit, around to our contact point. The upper body rotation also plays a big part in getting the racket around. For the sake of clarity, let me be redundant: the arm position is the same the entire time... from the time the buttcap is facing the tennis ball to contact.

What you'll also see is that our strings are facing the net... perpendicular to the court... at contact. They aren't open, like your last picture... and you're right, in most cases slightly open is wrong. Try and copy our racket positions at contact (especially Frank and Oliver, they are better than me :)).
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Wow, that explains a lot. But even if they racquet is perpendicular to the ground and the strings are flat against the ball, topspin will still be produced by the down to up motion, right?

Also, today I was using more upper body rotation and the ball went pretty long. Could this be because i'm not used to it, or could it be that my racquet face is open or i'm just not used to the strength?

Btw, Ghost rider is alrite, but superman is the best!
 
Will...!

Way to go w/ the new footwork modules at the site; smart and long overlooked.

Hell of a good thing you've got going Mr. Hamilton.
 
Really liked the new advanced serve material, the footwork part and the commercials :-)

Keep up the great work.
 
Will,
If I may, I had 2 questions regarding your videos.

In the BH, on the role of the other arm, you mention keeping the right arm back to prevent your shoulders from turning. You also say that sometimes you'll want to turn your shoulders and in that case to let the right hand come forward a bit. Could you talk about when you'd want to rotate the shoulders a little? Is it for hitting a sharp crosscourt angle? For high balls?

Finally in your flat serve video #7, you have Marat Safin as an example. It sure looks like he's hitting a kick serve. The toss seems right for a kick and he seems more sideways. Am I right? I want to know if I'm seeing these things clearly?

Thanks.
 
Thanks for the kind words waves2ya / ananda.

Drona said:
Will,
If I may, I had 2 questions regarding your videos.

In the BH, on the role of the other arm, you mention keeping the right arm back to prevent your shoulders from turning. You also say that sometimes you'll want to turn your shoulders and in that case to let the right hand come forward a bit. Could you talk about when you'd want to rotate the shoulders a little? Is it for hitting a sharp crosscourt angle? For high balls?

Finally in your flat serve video #7, you have Marat Safin as an example. It sure looks like he's hitting a kick serve. The toss seems right for a kick and he seems more sideways. Am I right? I want to know if I'm seeing these things clearly?

Thanks.
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On the 1h backhand, the amount of upper body rotation back toward the net during the forward swing depends partially on your grip. The more extreme your grip is the more rotation you'll typically get (same thing applies to the FH btw). If you experiment with extreme vs. conservative grips you'll notice that you need to turn a little bit further around to get the strings facing the right direction w/an extreme grip. So someone like Gasquet, who has a relatively extreme grip, will have more rotation than Federer, who has a pretty classic / conservative grip.

From the back angle, ya, it does kind of look like a kick serve. Not 100% sure but it seems likely -- sometimes the angle of the camera distorts the ball location in relation to the body. The point in those series of shots was to show how the arm swings and forearm / wrist pronations -- basic motion is the same regardless of the serve (swing direction differs tho). I would have preferred to use a sequence that was clearly a first serve, but unfortunately that was the only one we had.
 
Mansewerz said:
Wow, that explains a lot. But even if they racquet is perpendicular to the ground and the strings are flat against the ball, topspin will still be produced by the down to up motion, right?
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Yes, you must think of it this way so you can relax about your ball having topspin and begin solely thinking of maintaining a relaxed and consistent swing.

General Rules for Topspin

1. The ball is only on the strings for about 4 milliseconds. This is faster than you can blink. It is real fast. Also, your sense of feeling the impact of the ball happens after the ball is already off the strings and heading back to your opponent. The sensation for the impact has to travel up to your brain which happens slower then 4 milliseconds. Obviously, there is some room for error (give or take), however, this shows you that you are way to slow to try and "do anything" to the ball so you might as well learn good technique.

2. Given the above, you can do nothing to cause more topspin by rolling your arm, trying to turn the ball more over by swinging up and over the ball, etc...and if you can it will be very minescule. In other words, the risk/reward is not worth trying.

3. The racquet strings coming from below the ball, hitting the ball, and then going up, creates topspin.

4. A perpendicular racquet face helps provide topspin but also allows the ball to travel at an appropriate trajectory.

5. You still need to hit through the ball going low to high. So you should extend toward the target before breaking off.

6. This advanced tip (after you have mastered a consistent predictable stroke) can help you add more topspin by using the low to high swing and also turning the racquet face upward in a windshield wiper fashion with your forearm. This together will increase the revolutions on the ball and make it more heavy. Timing is paramount and it is (for the most part) a part of the swing and is not to be the only thing you do in the swing. Take a look
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7596598793085616666&q=&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7596598793085616666&q=&hl=en

Also, today I was using more upper body rotation and the ball went pretty long. Could this be because i'm not used to it, or could it be that my racquet face is open or i'm just not used to the strength?
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Rotation is good. It is perhaps you were hitting leaning back some or did not make clean contact with your racquet with a perpendicular face or slightly closed. You could be out of position slightly and/or are lunging a bit and golfing the ball. Golfing the ball usually is because of a lack of knee bend.
 
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wihamilton said:
Thanks for the kind words waves2ya / ananda.



On the 1h backhand, the amount of upper body rotation back toward the net during the forward swing depends partially on your grip. The more extreme your grip is the more rotation you'll typically get (same thing applies to the FH btw). If you experiment with extreme vs. conservative grips you'll notice that you need to turn a little bit further around to get the strings facing the right direction w/an extreme grip. So someone like Gasquet, who has a relatively extreme grip, will have more rotation than Federer, who has a pretty classic / conservative grip.

From the back angle, ya, it does kind of look like a kick serve. Not 100% sure but it seems likely -- sometimes the angle of the camera distorts the ball location in relation to the body. The point in those series of shots was to show how the arm swings and forearm / wrist pronations -- basic motion is the same regardless of the serve (swing direction differs tho). I would have preferred to use a sequence that was clearly a first serve, but unfortunately that was the only one we had.
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Mr. Hamilton,

Could you point me to your footwork clips for review?
 
Bungalo Bill said:
Yes, you must think of it this way so you can relax about your ball having topspin and begin solely thinking of maintaining a relaxed and consistent swing.

General Rules for Topspin

1. The ball is only on the strings for about 4 milliseconds. This is faster than you can blink. It is real fast. Also, your sense of feeling the impact of the ball happens after the ball is already off the strings and heading back to your opponent. The sensation for the impact has to travel up to your brain which happens slower then 4 milliseconds. Obviously, there is some room for error (give or take), however, this shows you that you are way to slow to try and "do anything" to the ball so you might as well learn good technique.
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WHAAAAAT, but I thought that Fed watched the ball hit his strings? :wink:
 
Djokovicfan4life said:
WHAAAAAT, but I thought that Fed watched the ball hit his strings? :wink:
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I didnt say Federer cant watch the ball hit the strings. He sees every moment, in fact, he can see the little squished ant that is going around and around on the ball. He can here the nearby spider clapping. He is bionic. Really it is true. ;)
 
wihamilton said:
Mike / Bungalo,

Look forward to your thoughts on the videos. Call me Will... I'm 26 and deserve no respect :).
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Okay, here you go:

1. Introduction
a. Very well done. I liked how you explained that pretty strokes mean nothing without good footwork.

2. Ready Position
a. Athletic stance explanation was very good. I liked the explanation of weight over the balls of the feet.
b. Lowering your head a foot was good too. Could have explained a little more about how to do that or what is happening. For example, lowering the butt rather then bending at the waist. Also, by lowering the butt you place more pressure on the thighs which strengthens them.
c. Excellent shot of Tommy Haas with the athletic stance that he portrayed, I wonder if he worked with Dougherty some. It was also good to see the air space between the heel and the ground which is what I watch. In fact, when I watch a player, for the legs I look at several areas:
- The air space between the heel and the ground even during movement.
- The footspeed
- The footwork used to move to the ball and how efficienctly they are.
- The knee bend and how the butt sits over the thighs as they move.

There are several kinds of footwork and combinations thereof. Are you playing on discussion these? Although the step-out is used even at the pro level it isn't he only footwork pattern used to move laterally. There is the drop step as well. Are you playing to show this as well?
 
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It makes me feel young to call you Mr., so how about a compromise of Mr. Will? I remember some time ago you asking about what was missing or what tennis players would benefit from that the current sites don’t offer. What your team has put together defiantly filled the missing hole. Using a blue/green screen and overlaying narrations is great. Nice job..
Your introduction series on footwork is excellent. Hopefully you plan on expanding more on pro’s and con’s of footwork movements and combinations. As you mention in your introduction clip about poor foot work causes the player to set up to close, to far, to high, to low for the incoming ball resulting in poor execution, how about adding some clips that shows a player caught in these situations with narration of what happened and what part of the footwork caused this to happen. Not sure what level of player would work best for these illustrations. I know there are plenty of times I have found myself jammed and wondered what the heck happened; all setup for the stroke and during the forward movement of the stroke find myself jammed or off balance.

I have not had a chance to watch closely all your clips yet, but what I have seen looks great. The first time I heard terms like drop step and step out I thought I was hearing about ice skating footwork. Narration on the green screen helps folks to understand what these terms mean.
 
Bungalo / Mike,

Thanks for the input. The drop step is one way to start moving that we haven't addressed yet but we'll get there. We always end up leaving stuff out in the interest of creating a simple explanation of the basics of any shot / movement. We'll get to the drop step and other footwork -- hitting on the run, etc. -- in more advanced videos. Any suggestions on how to approach these shots would be much appreciated.

Bungalo, lowering at the butt rather than the waist is a good suggestion. I wish we had included it because a lot of beginners tend to bend over as opposed to sit down.

Mr. Cottril, Mr. Will can work as a compromise :). Clips of incorrect footwork... and incorrect strokes in general... is an area we'd like to get into. Getting the necessary clips is sometimes a pain because not many people want to look "bad" on camera, heh.
 
wihamilton said:
Bungalo / Mike,

Thanks for the input. The drop step is one way to start moving that we haven't addressed yet but we'll get there. We always end up leaving stuff out in the interest of creating a simple explanation of the basics of any shot / movement. We'll get to the drop step and other footwork -- hitting on the run, etc. -- in more advanced videos. Any suggestions on how to approach these shots would be much appreciated.

Bungalo, lowering at the butt rather than the waist is a good suggestion. I wish we had included it because a lot of beginners tend to bend over as opposed to sit down.

Mr. Cottril, Mr. Will can work as a compromise :). Clips of incorrect footwork... and incorrect strokes in general... is an area we'd like to get into. Getting the necessary clips is sometimes a pain because not many people want to look "bad" on camera, heh.
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Sounds good. You are doing a great job.
 
Bungalo Bill said:
Okay, here you go:

1. Introduction
a. Very well done. I liked how you explained that pretty strokes mean nothing without good footwork.

2. Ready Position
a. Athletic stance explanation was very good. I liked the explanation of weight over the balls of the feet.
b. Lowering your head a foot was good too. Could have explained a little more about how to do that or what is happening. For example, lowering the butt rather then bending at the waist. Also, by lowering the butt you place more pressure on the thighs which strengthens them.
c. Excellent shot of Tommy Haas with the athletic stance that he portrayed, I wonder if he worked with Dougherty some. It was also good to see the air space between the heel and the ground which is what I watch. In fact, when I watch a player, for the legs I look at several areas:
- The air space between the heel and the ground even during movement.
- The footspeed
- The footwork used to move to the ball and how efficienctly they are.
- The knee bend and how the butt sits over the thighs as they move.

There are several kinds of footwork and combinations thereof. Are you playing on discussion these? Although the step-out is used even at the pro level it isn't he only footwork pattern used to move laterally. There is the drop step as well. Are you playing to show this as well?
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Keeping a wide low base on groundies and returns is something I have been trying to do for what seems like forever. When I feel like I'm low on the ball it helps in a variety of ways. Even with nerves for some reason. Still, I get really tired doing this. I don't feel like I'm ever getting fitter in this area, but there is so much else to work on in tennis, maybe I am just not doing enough. Do you know happen to know of any exercises? I do a lot of lunges, yoga and plie type of stuff. Thanks in advance.
 
Will
I was skimming thru the site again. Not in detail, just to check what the 2 handed backhand grip was that you recommend (since other videos were conflicting in this issue).

The grips video said nothing of it. I saw various video titled "SW forehand grip" "classic one hand backhand" "1h bh Extreme backhand" but nothing on 2h.

I went to the 2H section under videos (it says "1H backhand" btw (a cut-paste error)). I went thru the intro, and looked at the other titles.

So where is the 2h grip mentioned ?
What have i overlooked ?
 
Sentinel said:
Will
I was skimming thru the site again. Not in detail, just to check what the 2 handed backhand grip was that you recommend (since other videos were conflicting in this issue).

The grips video said nothing of it. I saw various video titled "SW forehand grip" "classic one hand backhand" "1h bh Extreme backhand" but nothing on 2h.

I went to the 2H section under videos (it says "1H backhand" btw (a cut-paste error)). I went thru the intro, and looked at the other titles.

So where is the 2h grip mentioned ?
What have i overlooked ?
Click to expand...

Sentinel, you haven't overlooked anything... we're the ones that omitted it. I wasn't really pleased with the footage of the 2H backhand grip we shot way back when. We meant to re-shoot it but, as is sometimes typical with us, we got sidetracked with other videos. I'm going to try to get something up this week because this is a pretty glaring omission.
 
Will, I have been studying videos of 2 more coaches. I have some feedback - largely positive.

1. Will, I like the way you have made a separate section for "Advanced", so it does not clutter up the basic videos.

2. I also really like that you break up your instructions into small 5 minute videos, so we can review what we want. All the others have one-hour videos with everything in it. You need to search thru the whole thing just to revisit one section.

3. Your article section is also great, esp for reviewing after seeing video.


4. Perhaps you could have a video on the most important stretches and strengthening exercises for shoulder to prevent injury (esp wrt serving). Also what exercises to avoid.
There's a lot of scattered info on the net, but its usually general not very tennis specific.

I think injury prevention is important for us newbies (like me) who spend hours on serves and suddenly injure the rotator cuff.

5. I am not sure what your long-term focus and mission is, but are drills part of it. Others have clubbed interesting drills into their videos.
Are you also into talking about tactics? (or has that already been covered enough by other tennis sites?)
 
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It's always tempting to get free stuff, but I checked out that TennisTorrents site and it is loaded with material that is copyrighted and shouldn't be reposted--like the Bollettieri videos, etc

I hope they will respond request I sent to take down some of my stuff... but whether they do or not, you might ask yourself the question about whether that's the way to go.
 
I discovered Yellow Tennis Balls the other day and have been watching some of the videos. All I can say is WOW! I have never seen such a clear explanation on proper technique. Will, you are an amazing teacher. Plus you get additional props for being the DC area (I'm near Baltimore). Keep up the good work and I really hope your site takes off.
 
JohnYandell said:
It's always tempting to get free stuff, but I checked out that TennisTorrents site and it is loaded with material that is copyrighted and shouldn't be reposted--like the Bollettieri videos, etc

I hope they will respond request I sent to take down some of my stuff... but whether they do or not, you might ask yourself the question about whether that's the way to go.
Click to expand...
Mr Yandell, I did point this out to t3nnis.tv and they immediately removed all the retail material. I mistakenly assumed that since (almost) the same people are on both boards the same action would follow on torrents too. Perhaps I should raise a query there as well. I hope they heeded your request.
 
Sen,

Sure that would be great. They do make a point of saying their server is in Indonesia however, so that may be some type of subtle statement... Give it a try and let us know what happens.

I posted politely one more time, but still no response.

John
 
We got attacked by a bot. Downloaded our videos over a million times (don't know why a bot would want to download the same videos over and over). Harmless in the sense that we don't host our videos and don't have to pay for bandwidth (over 5 terabytes in this case), but it totally messes up our statistics.

We're going to look into some solutions and hopefully put that option back up soon.
 
Most likely trying to cause a DOS (Denial of Service). The program would not know about your bandwidth limitations but would try to cause an outage.
Some people get a kick out of such things -- if only they played tennis :-)
 
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