Hit with a 5.5 yesturday

[SuperDuy]

Yesturday I hit with a 5.5 d1 player. Got so many tips its unreal. Hits with so much pace, so much spin. I said hit a few flat forehands, he did and the "pop" was quite loud. Serve, amazing couldnt even see it lol. He said his average first serve is 125 mph, I told him to hit a few, I saw maybe 3 of the 6 he hit. Others went right past me and bounced in the middle or even higher on the fence. Kick serve... About as high as my head, american twist serve was AMAZING, lots of kick. Backhand, tons of pace, topspin etc. Awesome how he can take the pace right off one of my harder forehands and hit a low dropshot. Inside out forehand passing right by me. Hes #1 singles on his team, so he is one of the best players in the college maybe the best. All the tips he gave me are great, I just need to work on them all.

Hitting again next week, going to see how I do. If we played a match I probably would only get a few points, not even one game. I hit a few first serves which I thought were good, he blasts them back inside out or down the line for winners. Amount of topspin on the forehands was amazing too, volleys etc. first time I ever hit with a player this good. gave me 10 minute lesson each on every part of the game, volleys, serves, backhands, all that stuff.

how do you guys hit with players of this calibre, do you just hit or play matches or what?

 

[LeeD]

After a good warmup, best to play tiebreakers, but you can make them first to 11, so you can get a few points.
Only thing I can say is....turn shoulders early. The rest will follow.

 

[Cup8489]

Yesturday I hit with a 5.5 d1 player. Got so many tips its unreal. Hits with so much pace, so much spin. I said hit a few flat forehands, he did and the "pop" was quite loud. Serve, amazing couldnt even see it lol. He said his average first serve is 125 mph, I told him to hit a few, I saw maybe 3 of the 6 he hit. Others went right past me and bounced in the middle or even higher on the fence. Kick serve... About as high as my head, american twist serve was AMAZING, lots of kick. Backhand, tons of pace, topspin etc. Awesome how he can take the pace right off one of my harder forehands and hit a low dropshot. Inside out forehand passing right by me. Hes #1 singles on his team, so he is one of the best players in the college maybe the best. All the tips he gave me are great, I just need to work on them all.

Hitting again next week, going to see how I do. If we played a match I probably would only get a few points, not even one game. I hit a few first serves which I thought were good, he blasts them back inside out or down the line for winners. Amount of topspin on the forehands was amazing too, volleys etc. first time I ever hit with a player this good. gave me 10 minute lesson each on every part of the game, volleys, serves, backhands, all that stuff.

how do you guys hit with players of this calibre, do you just hit or play matches or what?

out of curiosity, what's your level?

 

[Donny0627]

This doesnt really answer the question but ther is a young pro at our club that hits 135 mph average on first serves. I was in about the same boat as you. He hit me 3, I got a racket on 1 and hit it into the net.

 

[BullDogTennis]

out of curiosity, what's your level?

and age?

and year of player?

and school?

 

[IceNineTX]

how do you guys hit with players of this calibre, do you just hit or play matches or what?

The pros I take lessons from are all recent ex DI players. I would suggest tiebreakers or "to 11" off feeds like LeeD said. Depending on your level, they can adjust to make it fun. My expectation from them is to keep it in play and make me work for my shots. For me, it's less about how many points I get, but more about how well I hit shots in the rallies. I rarely can hit winners past them, but will occasionally force an error or get lucky on an ace.

You need to be mentally strong though, as 90% of the points will end in your error. Realize that and don't get discouraged by the outcome of the point.

 

[supineAnimation]

If memory serves you said you were about a 3.5, so it's been a while since I played with anyone 2 pts. higher than I am (and since I'm a 4.5, I doubt any 6.5 players will be asking me to hit anytime soon), but when I used to work as a hitting partner for players at that level or higher I didn't have all that much trouble just hitting with them. Playing points was another matter. I rarely returned their serves with anything other than a duck, and there wasn't much I could do to improve that since the guys I was playing with didn't serve nearly as big as the semi-pro guys did. 3.5 vs. 5.5 is tough because, no offense intended, the difference between the two levels isn't just about point construction or weaponry; the difference is much more fundamental and you likely don't have the technique to deal with what he's hitting at you. But having said that, try not to let the pace or spin intimidate you. It's still a tennis ball and if you can focus just on hitting it when it's at the right spot in front of you and the right height, you should be able to hit your strokes the same way you would if you were hitting with another 3.5. He's gonna destroy you in point play; nothing you can do about that. But I know when I hit with the semi-pro guys, getting past the intimidation factor and realizing that I could still go through my mechanics the same way regardless of how good the other guy was across the net was a really helpful realization. Also, and again, no offense intended, it might not be all that beneficial for you to hit with someone that much better than you. Hitting and playing with a 4.5 would likely be a great help to your development, whereas hitting with someone 2 full points better than you may be less be beneficial.

 

[SuperDuy]

I just felt so rushed when I played him, balls coming at me at a pace I have not seen before. After we warmed up he said to play a tiebreaker to 11, so we did, He took it easy when I was serving but his serves, I only got one back by blocking it. 125 mph last year he hit a few serves and had measured, average was 125. Im assuming its more now, guy is a freshman 18-19 years old, now getting some good coaching from d1 coach.

For the forehand, the main three things he said was, Contact ball infront of you, move into the shot not fall back when hitting, a little more shoulder turn. For balls with alot of pace just half swing, no takeback, use their power.

Backhand he said same things, Contact infront, moving into the court as you hit, KEEP UPPER BODY FIRM and not shaky when hitting. Good follow through. For short low balls he said to get their with your feet then bend your knees ALOT then upward motion for topspin. For balls with high pace and no time , just no take back half swing then use their power. that notakeback worked great, he hit some hard flat shots and it gave me no time to react.

Volleys, just some basic things, keep wrist firm, little 'punch' on the ball. and few other things.

serves, he gave me some good tips for the serve, flat serve, throw ball higher, stand much more sideways, throw ball more infront, on trophy pose have it like you are shooting a bow(like LeeD said before). Left arm up longer than I did before. Snap wrist into the ball. On windup VERY relaxed body. He said there is two things that causes you to hit into the net, your head/upper body is facing down much to quickly right after serve or you are snaping wrist too early/late(forget what is was). Good pronation required. Said that most important for power is to have very relaxed body untill just about to pop the ball and snap wrist into it. also mentioned more of a 90 degree angle on trophy position. For the slice Some of the same things, kick serve he siad to have racquet after hit pronate OUT racquet facing down after serve to pronation, what I was doing wrong was protating in causing me to hit a slice serve.

He said my footwork was good, and one of the most important he told me was as SOON as I see the person contact the ball, start the racquet take back, (racquet up in the air) he said that takes quite awhile to master. Noticed I was ALWAYS late on the racquet takeback, and getting back into position. Deeplow balls right at base like, just use their power and notakeback hit it flatter. For balls I have more time THEN back up windup drive into the ball with some topspin.

Said I was shanking lots because of two reasons: Trying to hit too hard and taking my eye off the ball. AND way to shaky when I try to hit, what I want to do is nice and relaxed, Keep PRACTICE and the pace will come over time, more picvot shoulder turn needed also.


I play at a high 3.5(win quite easily) low 4.0(lose maybe 6-4 6-3). Been playing since I was 11 but not competitively since last year maybe the year before. Play 3-4 times a week for 3+ hours each time. gotta play tons in the summer because winter the snow.... indoor too expensive.

What I noticed is last year I was maybe a LOW 3.0 and when I was playing against people who were HIGH 4.0 low 4.5 players my wrist would get very sore. But now that I have improved I can sometimes ever outrally(not in match) the older guys who cant run as good. But first time since early last year my wrist is sore today as it was when I was playing against the players last year. I guess my wrist gets used to the pace over time.

amything else?

 

[SirSweetSpot]

Just pay the dude the 20 bucks you owe him.

 

[SuperDuy]

hes my friend dude, havnt hit with him for 2 years, but then he was maybe a 5.0 and a few times.

 

[GetBetterer]

SuperDuy:

serves, he gave me some good tips for the serve, flat serve, throw ball higher, stand much more sideways, throw ball more infront, on trophy pose have it like you are shooting a bow(like LeeD said before). Left arm up longer than I did before. Snap wrist into the ball. On windup VERY relaxed body. He said there is two things that causes you to hit into the net, your head/upper body is facing down much to quickly right after serve or you are snaping wrist too early/late(forget what is was). Good pronation required. Said that most important for power is to have very relaxed body untill just about to pop the ball and snap wrist into it. also mentioned more of a 90 degree angle on trophy position. For the slice Some of the same things, kick serve he siad to have racquet after hit pronate OUT racquet facing down after serve to pronation, what I was doing wrong was protating in causing me to hit a slice serve.

That was a very good tip. The serve came naturally to me, so I've never had problems with it, but the arrow shooting analogy is very good. Left arm (if you're a righty) high, and right arm low. Don't let your hitting arm flap down, keep it firm enough to hold the racket perpendicular to the ground, while not so firm enough that you can pronate almost naturally with it.

 

[ProgressoR]

Also, and again, no offense intended, it might not be all that beneficial for you to hit with someone that much better than you. Hitting and playing with a 4.5 would likely be a great help to your development, whereas hitting with someone 2 full points better than you may be less be beneficial.

not too sure about that, hitting with a much better player you would have to get in position quicker, deal with heavy well placed balls, work really really hard to win a point etc, those are all good. The downside would be you could totally fall apart and lose confidence, but looks like this guy is willing to give tips and probably tone it down a bit so as not to rip OP to shreds. So it could be similar to hitting with a 4.5, but if this guy is willing to spend time on court with you i would always do it.

 

[AMD64]

thanks for sharing those tips! I will try to incorporate them into my game.

 

[cesarmo03]

Hitting and playing with a 4.5 would likely be a great help to your development, whereas hitting with someone 2 full points better than you may be less be beneficial.

This is the "tip", you will try to rush the strokes you dont master and you will develop some really bad habits.

What I noticed is last year I was maybe a LOW 3.0 and when I was playing against people who were HIGH 4.0 low 4.5 players my wrist would get very sore. But now that I have improved I can sometimes ever outrally(not in match) the older guys who cant run as good. But first time since early last year my wrist is sore today as it was when I was playing against the players last year. I guess my wrist gets used to the pace over time.

amything else?

Your problem here is the same as i said above, when you try to rush your strokes you feel you dont accelerate faster so you to use your wrist to hit the ball making that your wrist tend to hurt.

 

[deluxe]

For the slice Some of the same things, kick serve he siad to have racquet after hit pronate OUT racquet facing down after serve to pronation, what I was doing wrong was protating in causing me to hit a slice serve.

What direction are you saying to pronate in for the slice? I've had a great kick serve for ages, but I've never been able to adjust to get a really wicked slice serve.

 

[aphex]

many people have hit with Jolly...so what?

 

[mike84]

were you playing with Igal Mostkov by any chance?

 

[MNPlayer]

What direction are you saying to pronate in for the slice? I've had a great kick serve for ages, but I've never been able to adjust to get a really wicked slice serve.

For me the slice (and all the other serves) is all about the toss. Toss to your right a little and you will be forced to hit across the ball, creating that sidespin. If you try to do these different spins just by moving your arm differently, I don't think it works - too awkward and inefficient mechanically. Really good players can supposedly toss in the same spot and move their body to create the desired orientation, but I don't think there is any way around the basic physics.

 

[EikelBeiter]

He said his average first serve is 125 mph, I told him to hit a few, I saw maybe 3 of the 6 he hit.

This doesnt really answer the question but ther is a young pro at our club that hits 135 mph average on first serves. I was in about the same boat as you.

Very impressive! Especially because Federer has an average first serve of about 120 mph! And enough for me to stop reading this thread!

 

[SuperDuy]

were you playing with Igal Mostkov by any chance?

Nope, Igals a good player too though.

 

[SuperDuy]

Very impressive! Especially because Federer has an average first serve of about 120 mph! And enough for me to stop reading this thread!

Think what you want dude but thats what I thought I heard him say. Maybe was just a good day and he had a good warmup.

 

[Davis937]

Yesturday I hit with a 5.5 d1 player. Got so many tips its unreal. Hits with so much pace, so much spin. I said hit a few flat forehands, he did and the "pop" was quite loud. Serve, amazing couldnt even see it lol. He said his average first serve is 125 mph, I told him to hit a few, I saw maybe 3 of the 6 he hit. do you just hit or play matches or what?

Hey SD ...thanks for taking the time to provide all of the helpful tips ... what a wonderful experience ... would have loved being in your shoes ... I was thinking (... and this can be a dangerous thing for me), this kid was really good at 5.5 ... that's scary ... can you imagine how strong these players are on the tour ... no, not just the top 50 ... how about the top 500 ... these guys all have the strokes ... must be the mental/emotional aspects that help separate the men from the boys ... I suppose watching on TV is one thing (make it look so easy ... hmmm, they don't seem to be hitting that hard) ... actually hitting with them is something else ... we just don't realize the pace and spin of the ball and how little time we have to react ... well, for sure, continue to enjoy the experience ... we're living vicariously through you ... good hitting!

 

[SuperDuy]

Hey SD ...thanks for taking the time to provide all of the helpful tips ... what a wonderful experience ... would have loved being in your shoes ... I was thinking (... and this can be a dangerous thing for me), this kid was really good at 5.5 ... that's scary ... can you imagine how strong these players are on the tour ... no, not just the top 50 ... how about the top 500 ... these guys all have the strokes ... must be the mental/emotional aspects that help separate the men from the boys ... I suppose watching on TV is one thing (make it look so easy ... hmmm, they don't seem to be hitting that hard) ... actually hitting with them is something else ... we just don't realize the pace and spin of the ball and how little time we have to react ... well, for sure, continue to enjoy the experience ... we're living vicariously through you ... good hitting!

Hey no problem, it was a great experience, and yes even the top 1000 pros are great players. We just don't know how good of a player these guys are untill we see them live or hit with them. Theres a big gap between even the top 1000 players and top 100.

And for the guys who said it will throw off my strokes, this guy was obviusly taking it easy on me, but I just wasnt used to the pace and spin of even the lighter rally shots. Then he hit a few with quite a bit of pace and **** to work on just no takeback hitting, just redirecting the ball with their power and THAT made my wrist a little sore. But then after maybe 10 minutes after I was tired from running, went back to normal pace I like to play against.

His serves were just amazing though, american twist, hits the side line then hits the side fence with tons of spin and jump to the ball. Slice, crazy slice down the T. First serve, like I said unreturnable for someone of my level, I couldnt even see the ball for few of them. Its just, "pop" then the balls right by you and at the back fence. He was obiously picking hitting away from me, I couldnt see the ball and it would of hurt if I got hit suprisely.

 

[athiker]

Thanks for the tip write up as well. Sounds like a cool hitting session.

Reminds me of hitting with the guy I was taking weekly group clinics with for a while, ex-college player but in his 30's now. No one else showed up so we worked on my singles game and played a few different point games instead of the normal doubles related stuff. Felt like my arm was going to fall off by the end but it helped me a lot. Preparing early was a big lesson I learned that evening to give me more time like you mentioned, I had forgotten that.

 

[10ACE]

Yesturday I hit with a 5.5 d1 player. Got so many tips its unreal. Hits with so much pace, so much spin. I said hit a few flat forehands, he did and the "pop" was quite loud. Serve, amazing couldnt even see it lol. He said his average first serve is 125 mph, I told him to hit a few, I saw maybe 3 of the 6 he hit. Others went right past me and bounced in the middle or even higher on the fence. Kick serve... About as high as my head, american twist serve was AMAZING, lots of kick. Backhand, tons of pace, topspin etc. Awesome how he can take the pace right off one of my harder forehands and hit a low dropshot. Inside out forehand passing right by me. Hes #1 singles on his team, so he is one of the best players in the college maybe the best. All the tips he gave me are great, I just need to work on them all.

Hitting again next week, going to see how I do. If we played a match I probably would only get a few points, not even one game. I hit a few first serves which I thought were good, he blasts them back inside out or down the line for winners. Amount of topspin on the forehands was amazing too, volleys etc. first time I ever hit with a player this good. gave me 10 minute lesson each on every part of the game, volleys, serves, backhands, all that stuff.

how do you guys hit with players of this calibre, do you just hit or play matches or what?

I hit with a 5.5 Female a bunch- one thing I like is I can swing out and she will return everything with pace- she is extremely consistent and makes me run a heck of a lot more then when I hit with 3.5-4.0 men.

When we play- she will smoke anything I leave short for winners- and she moves the points around very well.-- It's fun I like it

When I play a 5.0 men- They will come out swinging and this sometimes makes me swing harder until I relies I will just use the pace-- goes for more shots and will make them- It's fun- I get tired

 

[SuperDuy]

I hit with a 5.5 Female a bunch- one thing I like is I can swing out and she will return everything with pace- she is extremely consistent and makes me run a heck of a lot more then when I hit with 3.5-4.0 men.

When we play- she will smoke anything I leave short for winners- and she moves the points around very well.-- It's fun I like it

When I play a 5.0 men- They will come out swinging and this sometimes makes me swing harder until I relies I will just use the pace-- goes for more shots and will make them- It's fun- I get tired

This guy I hit with was also extremely consistent, and ran good too.
I would hit a shot with quite a bit of pace right down the line for a would be winner against anyone else I played, but this guy just ran around it and would hit an insideout shot or just back down my line behind me. I'd hit a low dropshot, he would just run up place it perfectly in the corner of my court. Id hit hard, hed get it back and take pace off it easlily.

 

[mike84]

Nope, Igals a good player too though.

ah okay. noticed your location is winnipeg so.

have you played with any of the top 10 players in manitoba. i have seen doug devirendt (sp?) play and he pretty much crushes everyone.

 

[NLBwell]

Some good tips in this thread. Especially the keys to hitting against pace - feet quick, shoulders turned, little to no backswing, lean into the ball.

 

[athiker]

For short low balls he said to get their with your feet then bend your knees A LOT then upward motion for topspin.

He said my footwork was good, and one of the most important he told me was as SOON as I see the person contact the ball, start the racquet take back, (racquet up in the air) he said that takes quite awhile to master. Noticed I was ALWAYS late on the racquet takeback, and getting back into position.

I remembered these two things today and had good results, thx. Especially beneficial was the short ball tip, I have a tendency to hit these long due to the shortened court when I try to be aggressive. This helped me get more spin on the ball; even on balls that weren't that low it helped. I seemed to also be able to hit more through the ball instead of just bending over and lifting the ball up w/ my racquet.

The prepare early part I worked on in warmups, but I really need to get that down more when playing points, it does make you feel like you have a lot more time.

 

[SuperDuy]

ah okay. noticed your location is winnipeg so.

have you played with any of the top 10 players in manitoba. i have seen doug devirendt (sp?) play and he pretty much crushes everyone.

Doug can crush anyone in the Provence, he beat Julian Bennetau a few years ago, and took monfils to a third set. Could of easily turned pro, but doesnt like traveleing I heard.

 

[Power Player]

I hit with a top 500 girl. She made me run a lot, but did not hit as hard as I expected. I hit some clean winners on her, but her consistency and placement was awesome.

She also had a lethal drop shot that was tough to get to on clay.

 

[SuperDuy]

I hit with a top 500 girl. She made me run a lot, but did not hit as hard as I expected. I hit some clean winners on her, but her consistency and placement was awesome.

She also had a lethal drop shot that was tough to get to on clay.

Thats cool, top 500 in the world. The men hit muuch harder you can tell right away. Consistancy is good at high levels.

 

[Davis937]

Thats cool, top 500 in the world. The men hit muuch harder you can tell right away. Consistancy is good at high levels.

Hey SD ... let us know how your next hitting "session" goes ... give us all the details ... and ... maybe how your game has adjusted to this player ... possibly we can learn some things, albeit vicariously, from your sessions ... I still say you're pretty fortunate ... I would give half of my good eye (... and my glass eye) to have an opportunity to hit with a true 5.5 ... enjoy!

 

[Power Player]

Thats cool, top 500 in the world. The men hit muuch harder you can tell right away. Consistancy is good at high levels.

Yeah guys hit way harder. I hit harder then her, but she can handle it. Thats the first thing I noticed. I dialed a heavy topspin forehand to see if the kick bugged her like it does a lot of players, and she had no problem with it. The only thing that she had problems with was clean winners..lol. She did not make errors or miss. That was the key thing I took away. I made errors and missed more. So she could corner to corner me with accuracy. I corner to corenered her sometimes, but was not as conisistent.

She basically could run a player back and forth all day long and not even sweat. So it was a nice test of my footwork and ability to get back into a point by not just running and stabbing at shots, but running and hitting them to a place where the point could be reset.

 

[LeeD]

I was consistently practicing with top 100 women by my 3rd season. They practice with guys for the serve and volley game, the extra quickness, and the power they don't see in women's games short of the William's. They can handle.
As far as 5.5 guys, that's close to top 10 women, so they won't be bothering to hit with 3.5's, 4.5's or lower 5.5's.

 

[BobFL]

I was consistently practicing with top 100 women by my 3rd season. They practice with guys for the serve and volley game, the extra quickness, and the power they don't see in women's games short of the William's. They can handle.
As far as 5.5 guys, that's close to top 10 women, so they won't be bothering to hit with 3.5's, 4.5's or lower 5.5's.

What is your ntrp level if you can offer all of this?

 

[Nanshiki]

You must have either payed the guy or he's your cousin's boyfriend or something. Haha.

(On another note, I played with a D1 lady the other day... brick wall consistency but I don't see much power. I felt like she was holding back though. I did manage to force an error with my forehand, at least)

 

[LeeD]

BobFl....
When Pea and Marcie's mom first ask me to hit with them, I never played a tournament, was on my third year of tennis. Couple months later, I got to finals of my first C tourney, then two months later, won the SFCity C's, with a 128 draw.
Following spring, I went 4 rounds in the men's pro Q of the TransAmerica tourney, losing to #1 Pepperdine, JoaroSoares in that round. He made first round, losing badly to EddyDibbs.
Obviously, I had some potential by my third year of tennis.
By end of '78, I took up motocross full time.

 

[hfmf]

my .02 cents.

He said my footwork was good, and one of the most important he told me was as SOON as I see the person contact the ball, start the racquet take back, (racquet up in the air) he said that takes quite awhile to master. Noticed I was ALWAYS late on the racquet takeback, and getting back into position. Deeplow balls right at base like, just use their power and notakeback hit it flatter. For balls I have more time THEN back up windup drive into the ball with some topspin.

Said I was shanking lots because of two reasons: Trying to hit too hard and taking my eye off the ball. AND way to shaky when I try to hit, what I want to do is nice and relaxed, Keep PRACTICE and the pace will come over time, more picvot shoulder turn needed also.

amything else?

If I could add a thing or two to selections from his tips...

Quick racquet takeback is important, you want to be curled up like a rubberband BEFORE the ball gets to you so you can have a full, fluid swing and not be rushed. However, I noticed you said "racquet UP IN THE AIR" for your early takeback. I find it simpler and more compact to keep the racquet even with my hip level on my takeback on both sides. When you take the racquet back high and loop it back down to start your swing, that's just more time to mess up the level of the strings to the contact zone, in my opinion.

To fix this.
1. I would hold your racquet out from your belly button at the ready position.

2. Then I would move your feet to close your stance either way (right over left or left over right), keeping your racquet at your bellybutton, straight out of your abdomen, but now facing to your left or right side.

3. start curling your shoulders. Pretend you have a baseball jersey on and you want your opponent to read the name on the back of your shirt. It feels goofy when you start doing it, but if you get a lot of time to turn your shoulders fully, you can get a LOT more power and spin on your shots. Keep the racquet at your hip level (this ESPECIALLY goes for your 2 handed backhand) keep things as simple as possible. You want as little wasted motion in your shot. You want to take it back simply and then...

4. POW! release simply into your shot so that you hit as clean as possible. Think about the split second examinations of federer and nadal as they're swinging and how their eyes move. The frame where the ball contacts the racquet is awesome. You could draw a line from their eyes to the ball on their racquet and it is RIGHT THERE. That's what you want on every shot.

5. Keep your eye on the ball, just like you were hitting in baseball. Trust your muscles to make the minute adjustments to get the center of the racquet to the ball on their own, but they don't get the chance if you don't keep your eye on the ball all the time.

If you do these 5 things every time, you will hit cleaner and more solid, which means you have to hit WAY less hard. Both the ball and the strings are bouncy, so do you really have to add a TON of muscle? Nope. Just hit clean and keep it simple.

 

[ttbrowne]

It's always good to read these things where you play a real good player.

Arnau Bruges-Davi, who is currently ranked 226, hit with me once for an hour. I did not touch one serve. Stand and hold your hand in the air and that is where you had better try to hit his kicker because it just goes higher after that.
These people aren't real!

 

[LeeD]

I actually like the idea of taking the racket back thru shoulder turn with the "racket up in the air". To me, it's not the racket hand that's up in the air, it's the head of the racket!
With the head of the racket up, backward rotation is quicker, and it creates a looping stroke that starts quicker and gives a more flowing forward stroke. Mostly used in Men's pro tennis, less stressed in the WTA game.

 

[SuperDuy]

It's always good to read these things where you play a real good player.

Arnau Bruges-Davi, who is currently ranked 226, hit with me once for an hour. I did not touch one serve. Stand and hold your hand in the air and that is where you had better try to hit his kicker because it just goes higher after that.
These people aren't real!

Yeah kickers are amazing, guy had them over my head yesturday. Got some more tips too but I forgot to write them down

Forehand, start with closed stance then while you hit move your feet to an openstance then move forward into the ball. He really stressed hitting infront at a whole arms length infront. More racquet head speed and momentum I guess.

Slices, closed stance then while you hit it turn your left leg over for an open stance and sorta like you are "walking" into the court after you hit. Same with forehand like you are "walking" in the court.

Could see the balls better yesturday as it was not as dark outside, had a racquet on most second serves, FEW first serves. Maybe 1 or 2 returned, although the guy hadn't warmed up yet either. I was switching between two racquets. Guy let me try his after and I gave him my PD and he said that stick has TONS of power. He tried a few serves and they were blasts. Gues because of the higher power level of the PD.

Played some points usually. maybe 2 tie breakers to 11, no serving though because of the fact I couldn't return well. Although just hitting the guy rushed the net and I made an amazing passing shot which he thought was pretty good, perfect amount of topspin and depth. Though that was probably the only thing the guy didn't get the whole hour of hitting. I think I miss hitted it out 7-8 feet and the guy got to it and looped it really high for a topspin shot. He was trying a bit harder yesturday though so I had no chance in any good rallys, running me side to side lol.

I have a lot of practice to do.

 

[shazbot]

The pro at my club (was ranked 360 or so on the ATP tour in 2008-2009) hits with incredible pace.

When we are doing drills in my clinic he will go "ok guys I'm going to start giving you a little more pace to deal with now". Little does he realize that his not hitting so hard was harder than anything we ever deal with.

 

[SuperDuy]

How do I deal with high bouncing kickers? The guy said to hit like I usually do, but the people I usually hit with are not even close to that height. Same with high topspin. Im guessing just take them on the rise with a notakeback swing? Anyone wanna help please?

 

[goran_ace]

How do I deal with high bouncing kickers? The guy said to hit like I usually do, but the people I usually hit with are not even close to that height. Same with high topspin. Im guessing just take them on the rise with a notakeback swing? Anyone wanna help please?

You really have to take them as early as possible. You have to move towards the ball; step in with your feet. Think minimal backswing and just try to get good contact. If you back off of it you'll end up letting the ball get up on you and it'll just push you back and widen the court.

Also, it's not just about the mechanics of the stroke, it takes a lot of experience and practice to be able to anticipate where its going. At first you're basically just going to be guessing where the ball is going. If you have a practice partner who can hit a big kicker ask if he can just keep putting them in the same corner so you can work on the mechanics and then later on after you've got a rhythm going ask him to start mixing it up.

 

[goran_ace]

Oh, also keep the ball in front of you.

 

[SuperDuy]

Thanks, will try that. Yeah its sometimes hard to anticipate where the ball is going to go.

 

[LeeD]

Gotta visualize the main two spots the ball is going, at your strikezone.
Second serves and twists, somewhere around top of head, so get yourself away from the ball, use high prep, and expect EVERY spin serve to get that level every time.
Guy I used to play against, a former CalPoly #1, at 6'6" and 225lbs., could kick it about almost a foot over my head. I'm 5'11". I'd slice it, moving forward and using a high volley stroke, to his service line.
Fun when I could twist one up around HIS forehead, as he didn't think anyone short of his level could do. He'd punish anything lower.

 

[mike84]

Doug can crush anyone in manitoba, he beat Julian Bennetau a few years ago, and took monfils to a third set. Could of easily turned pro, but doesnt like traveleing I heard. Saw mostkov play today with bailey, cool to see them hit, serve. Hit with maybe 2 in the top 10 before. u in wpg?

yep in wpg. are you member of any club? i am looking for club to join now that u of m court is going to be taken down.

 

[SuperDuy]

yep in wpg. are you member of any club? i am looking for club to join now that u of m court is going to be taken down.

Hey turn on your email accept setings please. and yeah u of m is only for the winter though ey. Play there in the winter sometimes