Hitting against the wall: easier with classical grips?

[Deleted member 25923]

I'm finding it tougher to hit against the wall with a SW grip and W grip since I don't want to hit with as much power, and the balls are getting quite low on me. Conversely, if I move to a more Eastern grip, hitting against the wall is much easier. Am I doing it wrong?

 

[rkelley]

Hitting against the wall is supposed to be practice for the real thing. If you hit with a SW or W grip, then use that against the wall.

You don't have to hit conservatively when you're hitting against the wall. Assuming you're using a concrete wall you should be able to wail on the ball with everything you have. You have to anticipate which side it will be coming back to so that you can set up in time for the next shot. You have half the amount of time that you normally would to set-up for the next shot.

The balls should not be getting low. If you're hitting with a typical TS forehand and the ball is hitting the wall at the height they would clear the net then you should be able to rally with yourself while only letting the ball bounce once. The spin on your shot affects the way the ball comes off the wall. TS will make the ball come up a bit off the wall.

Now if you're using something other than a solid concrete wall then that's different. A wood wall or anything similar is basically useless as far as I'm concerned. The ball loses most of its energy when it hits the wall and comes off with almost no speed.

Can you give any more detail?

 

[Fuji]

I practice my SW grip on the wall all the time, I actually find it easier to rally with opposed to classic grips because the spin gives me a bit extra time to set up and hit properly. With an Eastern grip, it goes fairly straight, and comes fairly straight right back. Albeit more difficult, it's still good practice.

-Fuji

 

[Limpinhitter]

I'm finding it tougher to hit against the wall with a SW grip and W grip since I don't want to hit with as much power, and the balls are getting quite low on me. Conversely, if I move to a more Eastern grip, hitting against the wall is much easier. Am I doing it wrong?

Practicing with a different grip than you play with makes no sense. Find a wall with a deep backcourt so you can stand the same distance from the wall that you would from the net on a real court. That way, you can hit the wall at about 6' high as you would on a court, with the same pace would on a court, and the ball will bounce up the way it would on a court, and it won't bounce at or behind you. Having said that, there's no reason you can't hit low balls with a sw grip. You just have to get down to the ball.

 

[GuyClinch]

I think it is harder. Some of this depends on what kind of wall you hit with. If you are hitting against a tennis specific wall - its not as hard and sometimes has an angle built in so it doesn't bounce as low.

But if you hit with heavy topspin and hit hard - it will bounce very low and fast and well beyond the skill range of most rec players.

This is why I have always said walls seem to be better for the advanced player. A bad player will end up either cheating their footwork to recover faster - altering their stroke/grip - or swinging less hard and hitting the ball higher up.

I think the real solution to this problem is to use a foam tennis ball like the dunlop speed ball. I feel I am getting something out of the wall when i use those. I can rally 100 balls in a row taking full cuts. It seems to actually bounce up a bit higher (maybe its harder to spin) and it flies like half the speed. Which is great because you have around half the time with a regular ball. Also you can practice on a squash court with a dunlop speed ball (and probably a racquet ball court too) and you feel like you have enough space.

Again that might be trivial for a good player using a real ball - but it wasn't for me.

 

[lethalfang]

I think it is harder. Some of this depends on what kind of wall you hit with. If you are hitting against a tennis specific wall - its not as hard and sometimes has an angle built in so it doesn't bounce as low.

But if you hit with heavy topspin and hit hard - it will bounce very low and fast and well beyond the skill range of most rec players.

This is why I have always said walls seem to be better for the advanced player. A bad player will end up either cheating their footwork to recover faster - altering their stroke/grip - or swinging less hard and hitting the ball higher up.

I think the real solution to this problem is to use a foam tennis ball like the dunlop speed ball. I feel I am getting something out of the wall when i use those. I can rally 100 balls in a row taking full cuts. It seems to actually bounce up a bit higher (maybe its harder to spin) and it flies like half the speed. Which is great because you have around half the time with a regular ball. Also you can practice on a squash court with a dunlop speed ball (and probably a racquet ball court too) and you feel like you have enough space.

Again that might be trivial for a good player using a real ball - but it wasn't for me.

Yeah, I can't do it.
The best I can do is to hit a shot and then push a shot, to alternate.