how do you become more consitent?
- Thread starter pe3brain
- Start date
MaratSafin_fan
Rookie
I got rid of that when I really improved my technique for real. You proberly doing something wrong technically in your strokes when you miss.
One tip for you is to improve your topspin on forehand and backhand. Improve your windshieldwiper so you can brush up on the backside of the ball and get a safe game. One other thing could be that you moving wrong to the ball. In that case you have to improve your moving and fitness.
Good luck mate!
thebuffman
Professional
i have mulled this over in my mind a lot about consistency. the first thing that must be established is the answer to this question: consistency at what? we know that we can't work at consistently winning. we also know that we cannot consistently put the ball exactly where we wish in the opposite court. so we must determine the aspect of our games that we CAN be consistent at as well as tirelessly and repetitively practice. therefore i have determined that the components of our game which we can become eXtremely consistent at are these (1) footwork (2) balance (3) contact point (4) follow through
for the sake of time i will pick on #3 - contact point. every good player should know exactly where the contact point is for a waist high ground stroke. it CANNOT be guess work. it CANNOT be by feel. it CANNOT be ambiguous. it must be a constant for any developed stroke. it is not the ball that a person is playing, it is the contact point. the feet work to get the body to the perfect contact point. the player remains in balance when stroking the contact point. their balance is typified as a person being placed inside of a perfect cylinder while executing a shot. they are never leaning or falling but remain inside the invisible cylinder when stroking the contact point. then they don't control the shot by creating different unorthodox follow through motions. they trust their stroke mechanics.
so no a person cannot consistently hit the same depth or the same angles or the same pace during the course of a point but they can consistently execute the fundamentals.
masterxfob
Semi-Pro
consistency comes from repetition. if you practice, you need to practice while on the move. too many people that 'practice' or take 'lessons' do not move to the ball. they have the balls fed directly to them and when they actually have to move to a ball, they wonder why they can't hit it.
that's horrible advice to give to anyone. juniors learn to hit a normal topspin shot with lots of net clearance and they do not employ the windshield wiper motion. the windshield wiper is just ONE shot that should be used situationaly, not over and over for a rally ball.
that's horrible advice to give to anyone. juniors learn to hit a normal topspin shot with lots of net clearance and they do not employ the windshield wiper motion. the windshield wiper is just ONE shot that should be used situationaly, not over and over for a rally ball.
make sure your technique is good (video, lessons, whatever) then just hit lots and lots of balls...over n over...consistently balanced, consistent footwork, consistent follow thru, consistent recovery.
People think their one or two well hit balls is their baseline stroke...well it's not...all those unforced errors is your regular stroke. It's incredibly hard and takes a lot of work, good luck.
last year in a lesson, a pro exposed this same weakness in my game, he showed me in a practice rally session how after 3-4 shots of a particular stroke, my technique and footwork completely breakdown and I inevitably produce and error or a misplaced shot. He did this over and over in almost all of my strokes. 4hd, bh, slice, volley, etc.
It really opened my eyes b/c I thought I was getting pretty good and it reinforced just how much I sucked.
One thing that he said that helped me was to try to reset my brain, footwork, balance by changing up the rally, like if you are in a crosscourt topspin battle and don't feel it's time to go dtl, then loop the next one, or slice, or run around the bh and hit an inside out 4hd. I'm not quite sure why it works for me, maybe my brain just gets bored and lazy and it just wakes me up to refocus.
People think their one or two well hit balls is their baseline stroke...well it's not...all those unforced errors is your regular stroke. It's incredibly hard and takes a lot of work, good luck.
last year in a lesson, a pro exposed this same weakness in my game, he showed me in a practice rally session how after 3-4 shots of a particular stroke, my technique and footwork completely breakdown and I inevitably produce and error or a misplaced shot. He did this over and over in almost all of my strokes. 4hd, bh, slice, volley, etc.
It really opened my eyes b/c I thought I was getting pretty good and it reinforced just how much I sucked.
One thing that he said that helped me was to try to reset my brain, footwork, balance by changing up the rally, like if you are in a crosscourt topspin battle and don't feel it's time to go dtl, then loop the next one, or slice, or run around the bh and hit an inside out 4hd. I'm not quite sure why it works for me, maybe my brain just gets bored and lazy and it just wakes me up to refocus.
ReopeningWed
Professional
Is there any reason why I shouldn't use the windshield wiper motion for every rally ball?
masterxfob
Semi-Pro
you won't get as much depth or pace as you would with a conventional swing through the ball. so when you leave that ball short nearly every shot, don't be surprised when your opponents jump all over it.
HunterST
Hall of Fame
This is a little off. Most Pros and good juniors DO use the windshiled wiper forehand as their typical rally ball. That's pretty well established and obvious.
masterxfob has a bit of a point, though. Most of us aren't pros or top juniors. What's best for them isn't always best for us. A lesser player could very likely drop their WW fh short even though pros don't.
masterxfob
Semi-Pro
uh what? i was not making that point at all. please show me the pros consistently using that shot in a real match. for those that are confused, here's what a ww motion is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuTHsFlfGg
here's a clip of federer vs nalbandian where i don't really see them using that shot at all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJN2NKfY8eU&feature=related
Consistency tips:
1.Footwork. Everyone needs to get into position to hit good shots consistently.
2. Good, repeatable technique. Flaws in technique can cause errors, obviously.
3. A good and smooth swing path. All good players have a solid swing path they can go through to keep the ball in. Important elements of a good swing path is going from low to high, and going through contact. I personally also like swingpaths that go up, through the ball, and across then followthrough.
4. Timing/point of contact. Contact should be in front of you. Timing your swing to meet the ball in front of you is a key element in being consistent and hitting hard too. You should try to move to a ball so that you hit the ball at your optimal contact height (usually around hip level or a bit higher).
5. Leading your stroke with your core/legs. This is more of a personal tip I use. Your legs and core rotate the least, compared to your shoulder and arms. Leading your stroke with it helps me keep my stroke under control, yet hit hard and efficient because of the use of the whole body.
6. Topspin. Hitting topspin gives you more margin for error, although too much brushing up isn't the best way to hit it. If you like to hit the slow loopers, then try to hit through the ball more and get a heavy topspin ball instead to improve your tennis.
7. Keep your head still. Jerking your head around will cause you to shank/mis hit tons of balls. The prefered method would be to keep your eye on contact like federer does, although not necessary.
8. Use of the nondominant arm (applies to everything but the 2hbh). On serve, 1hbh, slice, forehand, and volleys the pro's use their nondominant arm. It actually helps a lot. The nondominant arm helps keep balance, hit through the ball, transfer your weight, control your body movement so you don't open up too early on the forehand, and space yourself from the ball.
9. Staying loose. Tightening up can cause everyone, including the pro's to miss. On the other hand being too loose and spraying balls everywhere isn't good either. Stay loose to keep your form and swing smoothly.
10. Accelerate through contact. Slowing down your racket head speed before you hit the ball will cause you to hit uncontrollable shots. Also, maintaining the same swing speed throughout will cause you to not hit with enough spin. No matter how fast or slow you swing, you need to be accelerating through contact.
1.Footwork. Everyone needs to get into position to hit good shots consistently.
2. Good, repeatable technique. Flaws in technique can cause errors, obviously.
3. A good and smooth swing path. All good players have a solid swing path they can go through to keep the ball in. Important elements of a good swing path is going from low to high, and going through contact. I personally also like swingpaths that go up, through the ball, and across then followthrough.
4. Timing/point of contact. Contact should be in front of you. Timing your swing to meet the ball in front of you is a key element in being consistent and hitting hard too. You should try to move to a ball so that you hit the ball at your optimal contact height (usually around hip level or a bit higher).
5. Leading your stroke with your core/legs. This is more of a personal tip I use. Your legs and core rotate the least, compared to your shoulder and arms. Leading your stroke with it helps me keep my stroke under control, yet hit hard and efficient because of the use of the whole body.
6. Topspin. Hitting topspin gives you more margin for error, although too much brushing up isn't the best way to hit it. If you like to hit the slow loopers, then try to hit through the ball more and get a heavy topspin ball instead to improve your tennis.
7. Keep your head still. Jerking your head around will cause you to shank/mis hit tons of balls. The prefered method would be to keep your eye on contact like federer does, although not necessary.
8. Use of the nondominant arm (applies to everything but the 2hbh). On serve, 1hbh, slice, forehand, and volleys the pro's use their nondominant arm. It actually helps a lot. The nondominant arm helps keep balance, hit through the ball, transfer your weight, control your body movement so you don't open up too early on the forehand, and space yourself from the ball.
9. Staying loose. Tightening up can cause everyone, including the pro's to miss. On the other hand being too loose and spraying balls everywhere isn't good either. Stay loose to keep your form and swing smoothly.
10. Accelerate through contact. Slowing down your racket head speed before you hit the ball will cause you to hit uncontrollable shots. Also, maintaining the same swing speed throughout will cause you to not hit with enough spin. No matter how fast or slow you swing, you need to be accelerating through contact.
First off, there are different kinds of WW motions you can use. That's just one, basic way. Even FYB has mentioned that..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6EY7FxgUg - Nadal WW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPOaOiHbyTc&feature=channel - Federer WW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYljDi3CxlE - Nalbandian WW
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