Have I improved/Comment or help? *Videos Included*

[sheets]

Hello fellow talk tennis posters. At the beginning of summer I posted a thread and asked fro advice and help and received an overwhelming rush of good advice and necessary criticism for which I am still grateful. I am posting recent videos now in a hope of receiving your comments, criticisms, advice, and if you so desire or see fit blatant put downs or compliments. I'm the closer player to the camera in all videos.

New Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX1r0z9oFzI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGUWIW4OpbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY_U-cnDAmo

Old Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM_iSx3z_Q0

A few side notes: Same hitting partner in all videos. I have a bad habit of pulling my leg out on my backhand that I've noticed. Also be interested at what you think i rate. 3.5? 4.0? (I hope)

As always thank you in advance I appreciate you all taking your precious time to help me.

 

[luthertn]

hmm your hitting partner dont seem like he believe in consitancy...but I pay attention to your backhand more because Im also a 1hander, I think it dont look very stable, some where good some was just okay...do you practice on your backhand alot?

 

[sheets]

Lutherin I practice everything as much as I can balance in with school, extracurriculars, as well as running and some other exercises.
In my partner's defense he was cramping up when we began hitting and had to play through it.

 

[ProStaffNewb]

Your backhand is looking good, but your forehand needs more balance. Sometimes I see your opposite arm pointed toward the ball and sometimes not. I also spot that your left foot tends to jump when you hit a lower forehand. Try to just step in to help keep the stability. When you're at the net, don't get flat footed and stay on your heels.

 

[sheets]

Thanks Prostaff. haha you're the first to really compliment my topspin backhand ever on these boards.

 

[luthertn]

Lutherin I practice everything as much as I can balance in with school, extracurriculars, as well as running and some other exercises.
In my partner's defense he was cramping up when we began hitting and had to play through it.

Ahaha okay I understand the cramping part . happen to everyone alot lol ...thats good that you balance it out...how bout your gaming(matches) are you confident in it like how you rally? overall I think you good enough, just keep practicing and find the basic concept of tennis

 

[Blake0]

You seem to have gotten better consistent wise, and your backhand is looking better too. Keep up the hard work!

 

[sheets]

Ahaha okay I understand the cramping part . happen to everyone alot lol ...thats good that you balance it out...how bout your gaming(matches) are you confident in it like how you rally? overall I think you good enough, just keep practicing and find the basic concept of tennis

Eh it varies. But I'd say i'm relatively confident, i'm aware i'm nothing special but i try hard, don't give up, try and stay tenacious and mix things up. I really don't have a big point ending shot, so it gets interesting at times.

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

To answer your first question, yes you have improved.

As for criticisms, those will have to wait as I'm heading out to practice myself.

 

[luthertn]

Eh it varies. But I'd say i'm relatively confident, i'm aware i'm nothing special but i try hard, don't give up, try and stay tenacious and mix things up. I really don't have a big point ending shot, so it gets interesting at times.

Nice I like your tennis attitude. Main goal "dont give up". I say that to myself all the time. You will improve better if you have that goal with in you...where you live?

 

[sheets]

Out in California.

 

[tricky]

Footwork suggestions:

When you move into court, step out with the foot closest to the ball (i.e. estimated strike point.) Generally, when you move into court, your torso won't turn that much until you prepare your stance for the stroke. If you move into court with the mindset that your torso must remain open to the net (until you prepare to hit the ball), generally you'll abide by step out with foot closest to ball.

For now, just work on moving into court when you can. It's also a good principle to reinforce taking balls early.

BH suggestion:

It looks like, in your 1H BH, you're swinging around your body, like a FH. There's some advanced 1H BH strokes that has FH-like elements, but ideally you still want to learn the classical style first.

The forward swing of the 1H BH is a down-to-up motion, When practicing, start with consciously finishing each swing with the racquet above your head and on the hitting side. Work on using a U/J/smile pattern, or alternately bring the racquet under the ball when you start your takeback.

Make sure your head stays down through the forward stroke.

Very important that you look at the footwork. You cross over a lot and unnecessarily on your BH wing, which is why you kinda hop on a lot of the strokes. Abiding by the step out with foot closest to ball will resolve that issue.

FH suggestion:

Besides the footwork issue, it's not that bad. There's sometimes an issue with the left arm kinda getting in the way, but that's improved a lot.

When you separate your left hand from the racquet, try to do this without "flipping" the racquet up with your hand. When you separate your left hand, imagine your left hand stroking the neck of the racquet as it separates. Or, make sure the left elbow still points to the ground as you separate the hand.

You will find that this leads to less of a loop in your takeback and a stronger WW swing.

Mostly, though, I would look at the footwork.

 

[Jonny S&V]

I don't have a whole lot of time to comment, but of the hitting that I saw, I would try to get the racquet back sooner on both sides, you tend to get rushed (especially on the backhand, which is nice when you connect well btw). Also, like tricky said, work on that footwork.

 

[sheets]

Much Appreciated all of you.
Any ideas what rating i might fall under?

 

[Jonny S&V]

Much Appreciated all of you.
Any ideas what rating i might fall under?

About my level, an upper 3.5 to 4.0. To truly get an accurate gauge, competition and tournament results would be the best.

 

[Cody]

When you move into court, step out with the foot closest to the ball (i.e. estimated strike point.

I heard you post this in another thread a couple of day ago and coudn't help but ponder it.

That day we did baseball in PE and the teacher mentioned when thowing in from the field to step out with the foot on the throwing side before steping out with the other foot.

I put this into action on the tennis court but added a pivot to my foot.

This seemed to aid my strokes by getting my body sidways and allow for nice body rotation in the stroke.

 

[tricky]

I heard you post this in another thread a couple of day ago and coudn't help but ponder it.

I'm a broken record about it here.

The check is really simple. If you eliminate or severely limit your takeback in your groundstrokes, could you still rally and hit the ball? Would your contact point be the same? If not, then there's an issue with footwork.

Footwork is the most important thing for me. Not in terms of mastering patterns, but in just having a correct, basic foundation. It solves a lot of the problems people develop with groundstrokes.

That day we did baseball in PE and the teacher mentioned when thowing in from the field to step out with the foot on the throwing side before steping out with the other foot.

And that's the thing. Stances and situations are different, but in principle, tennis footwork is similar to footwork associated with throwing a baseball or football. A QB is taught to aim with the feet. That applies to tennis as well.

Here's a drill that helps:

Practice throwing rolled socks to a partner or a target on a wall. Move around and then throw. As you do this, you want to abide by a few rules.

1) If you're throwing with your right hand, throw underhand. If you're throwing with your left hand, over a overhand motion. (This is a subtle thing for FHs and BHs.)
2) Your throws must come from an even number of steps. In other words, you can take 2 steps, 4 steps, 6 steps, etc. to throw the sock. You can't take one step, or 3s, 5s, etc.
3) Throw with good balance and accuracy.

Initially, you want to practice moving forward and then throwing. That simulates moving into court and stepping into shots. Observe what the feet do. Observe how your stances change according to your intended direction.

Then you want to practice moving backwards and then throwing. That simulates moving away from the court, and the footwork is more involved. You'll learn how to turn your tracking foot inwards and shift your weight, so that the other foot crosses over. The drop step.

I put this into action on the tennis court but added a pivot to my foot.

Yeah, when you're ready to prepare your stroke, the outside foot automatically transitions into the loading foot. You pivot into your intended stance, and you have your momentum providing easy power.

and allow for nice body rotation in the stroke.

The key thing is that, with correct footwork, your torso no longer turns away from the line of your shot. You'll find that the left arm automatically gets out of the way as well. Finally, you'll find that the unit turn really starts with the lower body, not by the left arm turning the trunk.

 

[Cody]

Thanks for all that info tricky.

So when i am stepping out to travel to the ball my foot doesn't pivot in the process intill i'm ready to prepare my stance.

 

[tricky]

So when i am stepping out to travel to the ball my foot doesn't pivot in the process intill i'm ready to prepare my stance.

Pretty much, and it should feel seamless. The act of you moving toward the ball with the correct foot already half prepares you to pivot and set up the unit turn. Whereas if you move with the wrong foot, then you might be "swiveling" your unit turn and your resulting shot. A lot of people do this especially on the BH wing and don't realize it.

This is not obvious unless a person severely restricts their takeback. Then they see the problem. Actually simply limiting or eliminating the takeback will eventually FORCE you to develop correct footwork, because you simply have no other means to generate power or to time your stroke. The power would have to come from the legs, and your torso would have to be correctly aligned to time the shot.

 

[Cody]

Do you have an example of eliminating takeback or is it as simple as starting at contact point.
I am looking to combine this with my new mini tennis routine but that might negate the reason which is to generate power with your legs and footwork.

 

[tricky]

Do you have an example of eliminating takeback or is it as simple as starting at contact point.

For example, once you've set up your unit turn, don't take the racquet back further. Or for a BH, don't let the hands go behind the hips that much. You know, almost no takeback.

In a stroke with correct footwork, regardless of the degree of takeback, your contact point should remain about the same. This is also a good test to see whether you set up your unit turn correctly.. If you set the unit turn incorrectly by turning your trunk with the right arm (i.e. right hand making a stop sign at the right side fence), then your contact point will float around with varying degrees of the takeback.

 

[sheets]

What about court coverage? Is it ok for me?

 

[jigar]

One line for you.
Prepare early on the forehand. You are using your wrist too much to get spin in some of the shots. It will work up to some level. You might also get injure in long run. Use your body weight to get power on your shots rather than wrist.
That is why I said, prepare little early.