I have a theory

[Curious]

Well, not quite original but I recently realised it's very very important. You know the feeling, when you're practicing you hit great shots, one after the other, backhand, forehand, everything, you're sort of in the zone. Come match play, every third ball goes into the net or long!
WHY??
Here's the theory. Your stroke, your swing changes significantly during a match and the reason is the 'perceived need for control' which comes from fear of making an error. So, fear of error causes error! Your solution to be in control and making the shot is to be more careful, meaning unfortunately tensing up in the arm and grip. Here's the thing. With a tense arm and grip it's very hard to judge the amount of swing speed and being too careful, you tend to push rather than swing/throw the racket.
The real solution: no matter what, maintain the relaxed arm and grip and always throw the racket at the ball freely.

 

[JackSockIsTheBest]

That does seem quite good, I think I need to use this in my matches, Thank you!

 

[tonylg]

What you say is true, but it could also be simply perception.

There are no consequences to missing during practice, hence you don't notice the misses like you do in match play?

 

[ptuanminh]

How about practice a lot?

 

[Curious]

How about practice a lot?

Well, the next thing I was going to say was you need to practice being loose to master being loose as it doesn’t happen naturally unfortunately. I guess you didn’t mean this by practice.

 

[MaxTennis]

Well, not quite original but I recently realised it's very very important. You know the feeling, when you're practicing you hit great shots, one after the other, backhand, forehand, everything, you're sort of in the zone. Come match play, every third ball goes into the net or long!
WHY??
Here's the theory. Your stroke, your swing changes significantly during a match and the reason is the 'perceived need for control' which comes from fear of making an error. So, fear of error causes error! Your solution to be in control and making the shot is to be more careful, meaning unfortunately tensing up in the arm and grip. Here's the thing. With a tense arm and grip it's very hard to judge the amount of swing speed and being too careful, you tend to push rather than swing/throw the racket.
The real solution: no matter what, maintain the relaxed arm and grip and always throw the racket at the ball freely.

This makes a lot of sense. I actually play my best tennis when I'm loose and relaxed and trying to hit as hard as possible.

I figure if I'm gonna miss, might as well miss on my own terms.

 

[socallefty]

You have to be in an optimal range of stimulation to play well. If you are under stimulated as happens when you are bored, sick, tired, overconfident, thinking of work/family issues, have a big lead, just after breaking serve, just after winning a long game etc., it is tough to play well. If you are overstimulated as happens when you are stressed, tight late in a set or on a big game point, lacking confidence, angry, upset, choking on the threshold of victory etc., you don’t play well either.

Sports psychologists recommend using breathing techniques, routines between points, jumping up/down, taking your time before serving etc. to try and stay in the optimal stimulation range. For instance if I am stressed, I do deep-breathing, think of calming mantras, visualize peaceful images, play slower between points etc. to settle back down into optimal stimulation where I am back to being relaxed. If I am under-stimulated, I jump up/down (like Nadal), take fast, shallow breaths, walk faster between points etc. to get back into a more urgent rhythm.

It is easy in practice to be in the right stimulation/relaxation range especially when you have a good drilling partner. The trick is to replicate that feeling in matches. When you feel confident, it is easier to stay relaxed and play well.

 

[Curious]

You have to be in an optimal range of stimulation to play well. If you are under stimulated as happens when you are bored, sick, tired, overconfident, thinking of work/family issues, have a big lead, just after breaking serve, just after winning a long game etc., it is tough to play well. If you are overstimulated as happens when you are stressed, tight late in a set or on a big game point, lacking confidence, angry, upset, choking on the threshold of victory etc., you don’t play well either.

Sports psychologists recommend using breathing techniques, routines between points, jumping up/down, taking your time before serving etc. to try and stay in the optimal stimulation range. For instance if I am stressed, I do deep-breathing, think of calming mantras, visualize peaceful images, play slower between points etc. to settle back down into optimal stimulation where I am back to being relaxed. If I am under-stimulated, I jump up/down (like Nadal), take fast, shallow breaths, walk faster between points etc. to get back into a more urgent rhythm.

It is easy in practice to be in the right stimulation/relaxation range especially when you have a good drilling partner. The trick is to replicate that feeling in matches. When you feel confident, it is easier to stay relaxed and play well.

Very good points but I must say I was mostly referring to physical looseness and swinging freely physically. But mental state is clearly very relevant as well, as you explained very well.

 

[Curious]

You know some coaches say you should feel the weight of your racket head in your hand during the take back. I’m talking about that sort of looseness.

 

[socallefty]

Very good points but I must say I was mostly referring to physical looseness and swinging freely physically. But mental state is clearly very relevant as well, as you explained very well.

You body is controlled by your mind. When you feel relaxed and think confident, your body will be loose. Try to be physically loose on court when your mind is stressed or distracted or you are afraid and low in confidence - it is not possible.

 

[socallefty]

You know some coaches say you should feel the weight of your racket head in your hand during the take back. I’m talking about that sort of looseness.

I’ve never had any coaches mention that and don’t understand what this tip means. When I take back my racquet, I’m just thinking about where I’m going to hit the ball, how hard and with how much spin. I don’t think it’s a good idea to think about anything else. The problem often is that it is not easy to be so pure in concentration and think only about the target, pace and spin.

I don‘t mind thinking about technique, feel etc. before or after a point, but I certainly don’t want to be thinking of those things when I am hitting a shot. Even in practice, the best performance happens when you are in a state of flow (in the zone) where you are mindlessly executing your shots just thinking about target location, pace and spin.

 

[ptuanminh]

Well, the next thing I was going to say was you need to practice being loose to master being loose as it doesn’t happen naturally unfortunately. I guess you didn’t mean this by practice.

No, i meant practice literally. My theory is : your theory only works for advanced players and above, those guys/gals who have pretty much every aspect of their game developed.
For suckers like us, being loose is not going to help my forehand if my forehand really sucks. what helps is learning the right technique and practice that A LOT.

 

[Curious]

I’ve never had any coaches mention that and don’t understand what this tip means. When I take back my racquet, I’m just thinking about where I’m going to hit the ball, how hard and with how much spin. I don’t think it’s a good idea to think about anything else. The problem often is that it is not easy to be so pure in concentration and think only about the target, pace and spin.

I don‘t mind thinking about technique, feel etc. before or after a point, but I certainly don’t want to be thinking of those things when I am hitting a shot. Even in practice, the best performance happens when you are in a state of flow (in the zone) where you are mindlessly executing your shots just thinking about target location, pace and spin.

I don’t think the coaches mean you should keep thinking about looseness all the time and during strokes. It’s a tip, a learning cue. You can practice it until you get it automatically, maybe. Close your eyes and hold the racket tightly and see if you can feel the racket head’s weight in a forehand take back. Now do the same with a loose grip that allows you to feel the weight.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

No, i meant practice literally. My theory is : your theory only works for advanced players and above, those guys/gals who have pretty much every aspect of their game developed.
For suckers like us, being loose is not going to help my forehand if my forehand really sucks. what helps is learning the right technique and practice that A LOT.

I don't think it's a black and white issue that the idea only benefits advanced players and is completely inapplicable to non-advanced players. Everyone exists on a continuum and non-advanced players might very well benefit from loosening up.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

You have to be in an optimal range of stimulation to play well. If you are under stimulated as happens when you are bored, sick, tired, overconfident, thinking of work/family issues, have a big lead, just after breaking serve, just after winning a long game etc., it is tough to play well. If you are overstimulated as happens when you are stressed, tight late in a set or on a big game point, lacking confidence, angry, upset, choking on the threshold of victory etc., you don’t play well either.

Sports psychologists recommend using breathing techniques, routines between points, jumping up/down, taking your time before serving etc. to try and stay in the optimal stimulation range. For instance if I am stressed, I do deep-breathing, think of calming mantras, visualize peaceful images, play slower between points etc. to settle back down into optimal stimulation where I am back to being relaxed. If I am under-stimulated, I jump up/down (like Nadal), take fast, shallow breaths, walk faster between points etc. to get back into a more urgent rhythm.

It is easy in practice to be in the right stimulation/relaxation range especially when you have a good drilling partner. The trick is to replicate that feeling in matches. When you feel confident, it is easier to stay relaxed and play well.

Breathing exercises, however, are addressing the symptom rather than the underlying cause. That's not to say that they can't be effective. But even better is getting at the root cause: nerves, pressure, tension, etc. And eliminating or suppressing them is probably not the answer; I have to learn how to deal with them. One path is acceptance.

 

[ptuanminh]

I don't think it's a black and white issue that the idea only benefits advanced players and is completely inapplicable to non-advanced players. Everyone exists on a continuum and non-advanced players might very well benefit from loosening up.

sure, it benefits everyone. But if my serving technique sucks, being loose won't help me too much. i am speaking for low level rec players.

 

[socallefty]

I don’t think the coaches mean you should keep thinking about looseness all the time and during strokes. It’s a tip, a learning cue. You can practice it until you get it automatically, maybe. Close your eyes and hold the racket tightly and see if you can feel the racket head’s weight in a forehand take back. Now do the same with a loose grip that allows you to feel the weight.

Are these tips for someone learning tennis within the first two years after they started taking lessons? I can’t relate as I’ve been playing tennis since I was a little kid and don’t know if my coaches mentioned things like this forty years ago. For me, tennis is all about ‘See the ball, move to the ball, decide where and how to hit the ball while moving, stop and hit the ball’. I don’t think I am focusing on anything else. I think about strategy and tactics in between points and games and definitely before I serve. My level doesn’t vary that much in terms of good days and bad days and I rarely have to think about technique during a match - usually I play worse against better quality or above-level opponents and in that case, I have to think about what to do differently to stop the bleeding.

When I take lessons these days, my coach and I are focusing on either better footwork, hitting the ball harder or with more spin to smaller and smaller targets. Sometimes, hitting the ball harder or with more spin requires some technique tweaks, but we are not trying to re-invent the wheel and change shots I learned how to hit many decades ago.

 

[Curious]

Are these tips for someone learning tennis within the first two years after they started taking lessons? I can’t relate as I’ve been playing tennis since I was a little kid and don’t know if my coaches mentioned things like this forty years ago. For me, tennis is all about ‘See the ball, move to the ball, decide where and how to hit the ball while moving, stop and hit the ball’. I don’t think I am focusing on anything else. I think about strategy and tactics in between points and games and definitely before I serve. My level doesn’t vary that much in terms of good days and bad days and I rarely have to think about technique during a match - usually I play worse against better quality or above-level opponents and in that case, I have to think about what to do differently to stop the bleeding.

When I take lessons these days, my coach and I are focusing on either better footwork, hitting the ball harder or with more spin to smaller and smaller targets. Sometimes, hitting the ball harder or with more spin requires some technique tweaks, but we are not trying to re-invent the wheel and change shots I learned how to hit many decades ago.

I believe kids learning tennis is quite different from adults learning.

 

[travlerajm]

Well, not quite original but I recently realised it's very very important. You know the feeling, when you're practicing you hit great shots, one after the other, backhand, forehand, everything, you're sort of in the zone. Come match play, every third ball goes into the net or long!
WHY??
Here's the theory. Your stroke, your swing changes significantly during a match and the reason is the 'perceived need for control' which comes from fear of making an error. So, fear of error causes error! Your solution to be in control and making the shot is to be more careful, meaning unfortunately tensing up in the arm and grip. Here's the thing. With a tense arm and grip it's very hard to judge the amount of swing speed and being too careful, you tend to push rather than swing/throw the racket.
The real solution: no matter what, maintain the relaxed arm and grip and always throw the racket at the ball freely.

I suppose that works great if you don't care about the score.

 

[mad dog1]

sure, it benefits everyone. But if my serving technique sucks, being loose won't help me too much. i am speaking for low level rec players.

You do realize that in the past, OP scoffed at the notion that one should be relaxed while hitting when others pointed out that he was stiff, tight and arming the ball in his videos. He even posted many pics of Nadal and other pros hitting groundstrokes pointing out their bulging muscles and how there was no way they were relaxed. And hence the arm generated much of the power. Now many years later, he’s got this “theory” about being relaxed.

 

[Curious]

I suppose that works great if you don't care about the score.

Maybe that can be practiced, too. One way I can think of is playing points without keeping a score.

 

[travlerajm]

Maybe that can be practiced, too. One way I can think of is playing points without keeping a score.

I was playing poorly today. So I tried your suggested approach. The result was I lost badly to my friend 6-2, 6-1, who I almost never lose to.

 

[Curious]

I was playing poorly today. So I tried your suggested approach. The result was I lost badly to my friend 6-2, 6-1, who I almost never lose to.

End of the thread then!

 

[Raul_SJ]

You know some coaches say you should feel the weight of your racket head in your hand during the take back. I’m talking about that sort of looseness.

Relaxed loose grip really cannot be overemphasized. Just saw a Salzy video where he says he was gripping too tight even while playing as an ATP pro. Says he almost wants to congratulate a rec player who loses his racquet because it shows that he is very loose.

He is slightly exaggerating but the point is that over 90 percent of rec players are gripping too tight. There is particularly a tendency to grip tighter as the rally goes longer. Humans are also evolutionary wired from caveman days to grip a club tightly.

Have never ever ever come close to having the racquet fly out of the hands which probably indicates that my grip is too tight... Jeff wants grip tightness it at 3/10.

Will often check myself after a long rally and it is at 8/10.

 

[ByeByePoly]

You should count sheep on changeovers.

 

[socallefty]

You can have a loose grip only if you lag your wrist (wrist extension) properly so that your wrist doesn‘t get pushed back at contact as that would cause your racquet to twist. The reason that red players have a death grip is because they have their wrist in a weak position at contact and they need to find a way to prevent the racquet from twisting in their hand - this is also why they get elbow injuries at higher rates.

 

[Clay lover]

True but you also can't teach yourself a relaxed mindset if you aren't used to being relaxed in matches. Get what I mean?

Part of it is teaching yourself to be relaxed, but more importantly you need match play experience to get used to how playing a match feels and adapt accordingly. Also having strong fundamentals serves as a safety net so that you don't underperform too much even when you're tight.

One related point which people falsely attribute to the mental aspect is the inconsistency of the bounces and placement of the incoming ball in match play. People think it's tightness causing them to miss when it's their poor adjustment to the greater variety of shots and bounces in matches. Just gotta work on fundamentals on all types of balls and also practise by exposing yourself to a lot of them by playing matches.

 

[Dragy]

The theory is legit. I think one having those issues (sign me in ) may approach it by practicing full strokes which have solid margins for error, and having reasonable expectations (not expecting one shot to win the point). Following this approach one will get satisfactory results and feedback going for those shots in match, instead of dealing with mental challenge of going for shots, missing, and not choking but continuing to try. One must be very confident and have positive experience of actually winning with first strike tennis to not get afraid and tight after missing several attempts. Whole different story if your shots are designed to not miss a lot before doing damage. Making your shots and being beaten leaves you room to try to adjust, either by running and grinding more or going riskier, more aggressive.

 

[Wurm]

You know the feeling, when you're practicing you hit great shots, one after the other, backhand, forehand, everything, you're sort of in the zone. Come match play, every third ball goes into the net or long!

If by practicing you mean during warm up or just doing drills with someone then the big, obvious difference is that the person on the other side of the court is trying to beat you in match play! A good practice partner will nicely plop the ball into/around your strike zone, for a start, and also your target for your shot is fixed (usually straight back to them) so there's no second thoughts about where you're trying to hit it, there's no worrying about what your opponent's doing out of the corner of your eye and no pressure to hit a shot of sufficient quality that it won't come back.

When I'm struggling with my timing during match play it almost certainly means one thing - I'm rushing. Rushing because I want to see the result of my shot as soon as possible and be prepared for the response as early as possible. The end result is I'll struggle to hit the ball convincingly, I'll shank the occasional shot, I'll dump a few tamely into the net and I'll send a few others sailing a foot or two long, all because I'm lifting my head that split second too soon out of an over-eagerness to be moving onto the next thing...

In the same games where this is catching me out it will rarely be an issue if I'm hitting a defensive shot on the stretch/run because I'm 100% focused on getting to the ball (and just doing with it whatever I can), and it's rare that it has an effect on passing shots because I'm typically fully committed to an all or nothing shot... the biggest impact is with neutral or dominant positions in rallies. Exactly this happened at the start of a set last night - at 2-2 I was struggling with a player I know fine well I'm capable of comfortably beating 6-0, then I forced myself to really focus on the ball on one of his second serves, give the thing a bloody good thump and trust the outcome... from there on in my ballstriking massively improved and he only won a few more points.

The other issue that will crop up on me is if I've got enough time to register several options for an attacking shot but none of them stick out as the obvious choice and I end up half watching my opponent hoping they'll make the decision for me...

 

[ChaelAZ]

Well, not quite original but I recently realised it's very very important. You know the feeling, when you're practicing you hit great shots, one after the other, backhand, forehand, everything, you're sort of in the zone. Come match play, every third ball goes into the net or long!
WHY??
Here's the theory. Your stroke, your swing changes significantly during a match and the reason is the 'perceived need for control' which comes from fear of making an error. So, fear of error causes error! Your solution to be in control and making the shot is to be more careful, meaning unfortunately tensing up in the arm and grip. Here's the thing. With a tense arm and grip it's very hard to judge the amount of swing speed and being too careful, you tend to push rather than swing/throw the racket.
The real solution: no matter what, maintain the relaxed arm and grip and always throw the racket at the ball freely.

Definitely a great focus point for match play. Most the time I hear it framed as analysis paralysis, or plain ol' overthinking. Happens from rec to pro level and there hasn't been any concrete fix-all solution I have found. There are mental coaches and performance experts alike that have written so many books on it. No cliche phrase, like "practice like you play, then play like you practice" or such changes the habit, but small incremental mental queues, physical rituals, and breathing seem to be talked about keys to getting to that more relaxed state to play more free.

 

[fuzz nation]

Well, not quite original but I recently realised it's very very important. You know the feeling, when you're practicing you hit great shots, one after the other, backhand, forehand, everything, you're sort of in the zone. Come match play, every third ball goes into the net or long!
WHY??
Here's the theory. Your stroke, your swing changes significantly during a match and the reason is the 'perceived need for control' which comes from fear of making an error. So, fear of error causes error! Your solution to be in control and making the shot is to be more careful, meaning unfortunately tensing up in the arm and grip. Here's the thing. With a tense arm and grip it's very hard to judge the amount of swing speed and being too careful, you tend to push rather than swing/throw the racket.
The real solution: no matter what, maintain the relaxed arm and grip and always throw the racket at the ball freely.

I think you're onto something in terms of that fear of making an error. Many players get into a competitive setting and suddenly look like they're trying to shepherd the ball using a snow shovel instead of a racquet. Anything to not miss. Another big piece of this puzzle seems to boil down to practicing on cruise control instead of always making the effort to take a quick first step and use early stroke preparation.

When I'm coaching my high school teams, I have to routinely keep after the troops about being deliberate during practice time - using good footwork and early stroke prep. When they're too lazy on the practice court, that's generally all they can recall on match day and too often they'll be out of position, off balance for a stroke, or rushing to catch up to a faster incoming ball if they're lazy during practice. Convincing them to do more than the bare minimum to hit a shot is a constant challenge.

Aside from learning to routinely use more than than minimum effort to prepare for a stroke, I think there's also a big difference in terms of our focus when we switch to match mode from the practice court. Practice time gives us a lot more freedom to focus on ourselves - what we're doing with our feet, how we're setting up to hit a ball, etc. But when we change to point play, most of our focus has to shift to what our opponents are doing. Our own shots have to happen much more on auto-pilot. That's why practicing lazy habits comes back to bite us in a match. If we practice urgency with our stroke preparation all the time, we can recall it while focusing on the what's happening on the other side of the net.

I suppose that works great if you don't care about the score.

I get what you're saying, but it's funny that I actually encourage some of the kids I coach to play practice tiebreaks when they're trying to learn to trust a new stroke or a different tactic. I tell them to lose on purpose.

Actually what I coax them to do is to embrace that new stroke or tactic no matter what, even if they lose a few practice tiebreaks that don't count for anything. The idea is to learn to default to that new habit regardless of the situation. This can be a big help with learning to trust something new in a match setting instead of abandoning it and reverting to the bad habits we're trying to replace.

 

[Curious]

Definitely a great focus point for match play. Most the time I hear it framed as analysis paralysis, or plain ol' overthinking. Happens from rec to pro level and there hasn't been any concrete fix-all solution I have found. There are mental coaches and performance experts alike that have written so many books on it. No cliche phrase, like "practice like you play, then play like you practice" or such changes the habit, but small incremental mental queues, physical rituals, and breathing seem to be talked about keys to getting to that more relaxed state to play more free.

I can deliberately relax and loosen my arm and the grip when I’m about to serve during a match but not with other strokes. So I can serve in the match exactly the same way as in practice but I’m almost like someone else playing when I’m hitting forehands, backhands during a match.

 

[travlerajm]

Curious actually has a good point.

I’ve been gradually trying to adopt a new forehand.
My new fh is semiwestern and seems to work best with a head-heavy racquet with high sw and light handle so that the racquet naturally lags back against the wrist’s naturally anatomical stop in the hitting zone.

To execute it best, I need to extend my arm forward though the contact zone. I seem to be able to do this in practice, but then once I’m playing points, my arm wants turtle up closer to my body. It’s tough to figure out how to fix it.

One thing that helped yesterday (after playing a miserable 2 sets of error-prone racquet-switching ugly spray-fest tennis), was that we played a couple of baseline games to 11 afterward.
The larger amount of points in the game made me feel better able to take risk, so that I was more apt to extend my arm and go for it on the forehand. I might try this approach when I get back to the red clay next week.

(Before anyone asks, I briefly attempted to switch back to a hardcourt spec racquet and my old eastern grip for 2 days in Atlanta last week. Then tried to switch to head-heavy clay court racquet mid-match, but forgot to also switch my grip to semiwestern).

 

[zipplock]

This makes a lot of sense. I actually play my best tennis when I'm loose and relaxed and trying to hit as hard as possible.

I figure if I'm gonna miss, might as well miss on my own terms.

Exactly. Go big. I tell my son when he is missing shots to go bigger. Faster racquet speed, more spin, etc. Saying is "swing aggressive to a conservative target".

 

[travlerajm]

Exactly. Go big. I tell my son when he is missing shots to go bigger. Faster racquet speed, more spin, etc. Saying is "swing aggressive to a conservative target".

No one taught me that when I was a young lad.

 

[joe sch]

Very good points but I must say I was mostly referring to physical looseness and swinging freely physically. But mental state is clearly very relevant as well, as you explained very well.

Understanding the mind-body connection and what @socallefty states is necessary for your physical advice.

 

[zipplock]

No one taught me that when I was a young lad.

Most of his misses come from deceleration, then he can mentally spiral. Quick fix is to have him go aggro. Helps with acceleration and attitude. It's like magic. He may still lose, but he at least loses putting up a good fight.

 

[Curious]

Exactly. Go big. I tell my son when he is missing shots to go bigger. Faster racquet speed, more spin, etc. Saying is "swing aggressive to a conservative target".

That’s interesting and I had thought about that as one solution ie swing freely. Then I thought it should actually be possible to be able to swing freely and slowly as well. As long as there’s no tension in the arm and grip and you throw the racket at the ball instead of pushing tightly you can control the ball without swinging fast.

 

[travlerajm]

Most of his misses come from deceleration, then he can mentally spiral. Quick fix is to have him go aggro. Helps with acceleration and attitude. It's like magic. He may still lose, but he at least loses putting up a good fight.

I have that problem a little too.

A lot of my forehand misses happen because I don’t extend enough into the ball. This causes the racquet to rotate forward and come unpinned from the lag, leading to a shank. Usually happens on crosscourt attempt. Less likely when hitting DTL or inside-out.

 

[zipplock]

I have that problem a little too.

A lot of my forehand misses happen because I don’t extend enough into the ball. This causes the racquet to rotate forward and come unpinned from the lag, leading to a shank. Usually happens on crosscourt attempt. Less likely when hitting DTL or inside-out.

It can be tough to accelerate when your racquet has a SW of 1000

 

[chetrbox]

This sounds very similar to @schmke 's recent "aggressive swing to conservative target" tip. I've been using it as a mantra before a point starts, and it's helped me bridge the swing speed gap between practice and point play.

 

[sureshs]

What you say is true, but it could also be simply perception.

There are no consequences to missing during practice, hence you don't notice the misses like you do in match play?

And in match play, balls are not politely returned your way - they keep showing up in awkward places.

 

[AnyPUG]

I have that problem a little too.

A lot of my forehand misses happen because I don’t extend enough into the ball. This causes the racquet to rotate forward and come unpinned from the lag, leading to a shank. Usually happens on crosscourt attempt. Less likely when hitting DTL or inside-out.

It's 4 things on easy forehands that is different between your shot and an "advanced forehand".
1 the stance that you use (open vs neutral)
2 the muscle that's powering the shot (elbow vs shoulder and chest) which also changes the racket face angle making you miss the shot often
3 weight transfer from back leg to the front (very little vs a lot)
4 and the finish employed (pocket finish vs above the shoulder )

Compare frame by frame these two videos at the provided start time - almost the identical position in the court and both using the forehand.

 

[travlerajm]

It's 4 things on easy forehands that is different between your shot and an "advanced forehand".
1 the stance that you use (open vs neutral)
2 the muscle that's powering the shot (elbow vs shoulder and chest)
3 weight transfer from back leg to the front (very little vs a lot)
4 and the finish employed (above the shoulder vs pocket finish)

Compare frame by frame these two videos at the provided start time - almost the identical position in the court and both using the forehand.

That’s the point of this thread. How to trust attempts to apply more advanced technique, when you know that the only way not to miss is to turtle the arm into contracted ugly twig.

 

[zipplock]

That’s the point of this thread. How to trust attempts to apply more advanced technique, when you know that the only way not to miss is to turtle the arm into contracted ugly twig.

T-Rex tennis is the best

 

[ChaelAZ]

This sounds very similar to @schmke 's recent "aggressive swing to conservative target" tip. I've been using it as a mantra before a point starts, and it's helped me bridge the swing speed gap between practice and point play.

This is the Paul Annacone adage, "Aggressive shots to conservative spots", and it is probably one of the best pieces of advice rec players can follow. But in that, I disagree that everything is a bigger swing needed. The adage is really talking about NOT overhitting, but playing that paced shot to larger spots above hitting hard or painting lines.

 

[AnyPUG]

That’s the point of this thread. How to trust attempts to apply more advanced technique, when you know that the only way not to miss is to turtle the arm into contracted ugly twig.

How do you trust? imo, eliminating the trust out of the equation - building muscle memory by step-by-step drills over weeks/months. So there's only one way to execute the selected shot - it's not the question of trust anymore, but whether I can get to the ball.

 

[zipplock]

How do you trust? imo, eliminating the trust out of the equation - building muscle memory by step-by-step drills over weeks/months. So there's only one way to execute the selected shot - it's not the question of trust anymore, but whether I can get to the ball.

You have to be willing to suffer through losing until it clicks, then your game will take a huge surge forward.

 

[AnyPUG]

You have to be willing to suffer through losing until it clicks, then your game will take a huge surge forward.

That's not a problem for me - I lose all the time.

 

[travlerajm]

You have to be willing to suffer through losing until it clicks, then your game will take a huge surge forward.

But what if your age window shrinks faster than you reach the huge surge forward?