Help Me Understand Mini-Tennis (warm up)

[dannyslicer]

Wrong.
I hit very flat from the baseline. Still working on my topspin.
But I can hit exactly like Brady is doing here in mini-tennis. Does anyone consider this topspin???

That is not real mini-tennis
He is bunting the ball
Watch a 5.0+ do mini-tennis
They mega-spin the ball into an egg shape

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Mini tennis has been around for ages..... Well before the 90s.... They were doing it in the 70s when I was a kid and I am sure that wasn't when it started.

As a kid I didn't get it as I just wanted to head to the baseline and bash balls. As an adult I appreciate it as it helps me feel the ball in the strings and I think I play better when we move back after. Perhaps it is because I am not playing several times a day like I did as a kid.

Interesting. What part of the US / world were you seeing this? At private clubs?

I played quite a lot in the 70s -- mostly public courts, parks & rec classes and college classes. Never saw it. Back in those days, the topspin that most of us, including most pros, was mild compared to the topspin in the past 25 years or so. So mini-tennis must have looked quite a bit different back then.

Was playing mostly badminton in the 80s but started getting back to tennis in the late 80s. Still didn't see it til, perhaps, the mid 90s. At first, I only saw a version of it with one college coach. Didn't see anyone else doing it outside of his classes until the late 90s.

 

[johnmccabe]

i've been hitting with some ex-atp guys in their 60's, and for whatever reason, they are not a fan of mini (maybe mini wasn't popular back in the day? or maybe because their strokes are not "modern" - eg flattish, not brushy, not much wrist lag in the swing)... so we just move back... and often only use 1 ball for like 5m straight

Interesting story. I would never have guessed that.

 

[socallefty]

When I was a kid in the 70s/80s, coach-supervised sessions started with warmups where players stood in no man’s land first and then moved back to the baseline. Even now if it is a warmup that has to be completed in 5-10 mins before match, this is a good place to start. I think it is when topspin swings changed to more of a modern style (less linear, more coiling) that I think coaches started seeing the value of making their students stand inside the box and control their initial shots with full swings at a slow pace which also made it mandatory to get footwork active quickly to get proper spacing. So, I think I saw coaches starting lessons this way maybe sometime in the mid-late Nineties - might have started earlier and I missed it because I didn’t play much in the early Nineties.

I still think mini-tennis is better before practices and lessons where you have a chance to take an extended warmup of more than 10 minutes. If you are trying to get in a quick warmup before a match, starting at 3/4 depth and then moving back is fine.

 

[Bill Lobsalot]

Not a fan of the mini tennis warmup. I'll be on the baseline, if the opponent wants to stand at the service line, that's up to him. There'll be some volley practice coming soon enough.

 

[bitcoinoperated]

I can't deal with mini tennis no matter how many years I try. If you have amazing ability to take a super thin cut at the ball to get the extact amount of mega top spin to have it go in each shot, more power to you but I'm not sure what relevence that really has. Most racquets and strings these days need a certain amount of racquet head speed to work properly, it is like trying to ski a race ski at walking pace.

 

[johnmccabe]

I can't deal with mini tennis no matter how many years I try. If you have amazing ability to take a super thin cut at the ball to get the extact amount of mega top spin to have it go in each shot, more power to you but I'm not sure what relevence that really has.

Used to think exactly like that. If you can't calculate the right combination of swing speed and cut to place the ball in mini, it is a deficiency that should be worked out. I change from topspin to no spin to back spin in mini on both wings. You can try to warm up eyes by reading the spin on the incoming ball. You can also calibrate swing path. I used to hate it. Now I enjoy it very much.

 

[Happi]

Amazing "mini-tennis" rally | Dustin Brown και Yannick Born το πήγαν σε άλλο επίπεδο! (Source: www.instagram.com/dreddy_ja/) | By tennisnews.gr | Facebook

Dustin Brown και Yannick Born το πήγαν σε άλλο επίπεδο! (Source: www.instagram.com/dreddy_ja/)

www.facebook.com

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

That is not real mini-tennis
He is bunting the ball
Watch a 5.0+ do mini-tennis
They mega-spin the ball into an egg shape

Anyone have a video link to 5.0+ players mega-spinning the ball into an egg shape during mini tennis?
Can't find one.

I do like this Haas mini tennis warm up. Stand well outside the box, in No Man's Land, and hit a nice bounce groundstroke.
I believe one of the goals of mini tennis is to swing at well under 50% speed.

 

[Honza]

Btw, noone wants you guys to play mini tennis before a match (and if, he/she is stupid). There are official rules for 5 minutes warm up, where you play baseline, few volleys each and some serves.

Mini tennis is used in practice and maybe warm up before you go an the court for a real match.
But for that occasions its state of the art at least since the 90s in competetive tennis.

 

[Morch Us]

Yeah. Being at a lower level I usually give the benefit of the doubt that it's just random shots, but there are times when people do that to me on purpose. Stuff like that bothers me, it's either clueless or classless, one is excusable, the other is trash.

I can agree that at lower levels of tennis, if you find that most of your opponents does not understand the concept of mini-tennis warm up, you maybe better off hitting on a wall "before" stepping into the court, and then skip mini tennis. As your level increase you will find more opponents who actually understand the concept, and being co-operative to have a meaningful and effective warm-up.

 

[nyta2]

It's great practice for the inevitable day when all tennis courts are converted to pickleball courts

would be amazing if all pb courts get converted to touch tennis...

 

[nyta2]

Wrong.
I hit very flat from the baseline. Still working on my topspin.
But I can hit exactly like Brady is doing here in mini-tennis. Does anyone consider this topspin???

that's how do mini... try to gradually add more and more topspin without losing control (eg. more brush, or more lag&squeeze, etc...)

That is not real mini-tennis
He is bunting the ball
Watch a 5.0+ do mini-tennis
They mega-spin the ball into an egg shape

i agree, i try to add more and more topspin, but not "mega-spin"... well i can't anyway, without losing control...
i don't think he's bunting

 

[PKorda]

would be amazing if all pb courts get converted to touch tennis...

would be more amazing if this sport took off and people started playing on pickle ball courts and pissed off people wanting to play pickle ball, see how they like it when someone repurposes their courts.

 

[dannyslicer]

would be amazing if all pb courts get converted to touch tennis...

Never seen TT until this video.
Where does one even play this ?
Must be a super small niche
Have never even seen a court

 

[nyta2]

Never seen TT until this video.
Where does one even play this ?
Must be a super small niche
Have never even seen a court

never tried it, but imagine if grammar schools and hs adopted this as a gym sport,... vs. pb..
and seems fun...
i have done a similar mini tennis game with red ball on a tennis court... its' fun, and strokes are same as tennis

 

[Happi]

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[nyta2]

Anyone have a video link to 5.0+ players mega-spinning the ball into an egg shape during mini tennis?
Can't find one.

I do like this Haas mini tennis warm up. Stand well outside the box, in No Man's Land, and hit a nice bounce groundstroke.
I believe one of the goals of mini tennis is to swing at well under 50% speed.

hard to quantify what mega spin is... but i do try to hit as much topspin as i can while also getting the ball to bounce in the middle of service box... really focusing on hand speed during the brush/contact (and limiting arm speed)
i've occasionally played with folks that can "egg" the ball (not sure it was quite an egg, but it was alot of top), but it was usually at the end of of the mini rally, and we're goofing to see who can hit the most dipping topspin with control... but often one of us (me?) loses control, and we giggle, and move back to the baseline...

this is probably one of the earliest vids (of my idol) that influenced me to do do mini

 

[dannyslicer]

this is probably one of the earliest vids (of my idol)

If you're an Agassi fan, did you watch his Udemy course?
Who am I kidding, of course you did.

https://www.udemy.com/course/andreagassi