Lets hear your thoughts on my rally video

[aurablaze]

I've edited out the downtime (miss hits on the feed and gathering balls) so hopefully it doesn't bother people too much.

Anyways I'm the guy in the blue shorts, and if you want to see it from my back that starts at 2:30 in the video. We do change positions a few times throughout the video though.

Any critique is welcome! I also have match play although it's mostly doubles. I do have some singles matches from last year though.

 

[heninfan99]

Looks good. Nice foot works.

 

[atp2015]

Nice courts. Is this at MIT?

 

[ptuanminh]

forehand, footwork look great.
Your BH is like a hybrid between OHBH and 2HBH. Its odd. not in a very good way. the take back can use some simplificiation. Feel like you are never committed to hitting your 2HBH, u prefer to slice.

 

[FiReFTW]

forehand, footwork look great.
Your BH is like a hybrid between OHBH and 2HBH. Its odd. not in a very good way. the take back can use some simplificiation. Feel like you are never committed to hitting your 2HBH, u prefer to slice.

Hybrid? You do realize the OP is in blue shorts right?

OP technically your strokes are much better than your friends.

Backhand is technically your most sound shot.

On the FH side your elbow is too close to ur body and you have little levarage, you also use excessive windshield wiper to brush around too much sometimes and don't really extend your shot into the court, so you are not getting any pace on your FH side apart from a few shots here and there, Djokovic has a similar FH as you with a bent arm, you can check here how his elbow is much more away and how he extends forward aswell as windshield wipering around, but you are wiping around before even extending fully forward and getting little pace.

 

[ptuanminh]

Backhand is technically your most sound shot.

Yes, i am talking about OP in blue shorts.
His BH is nice for sure but it can't be better than his FH. you see that OP starts the takeback from high, then low, then go up again. Thats how i think its resemble his slice. I personally think its redundant. Check out 7:27, 7:36. If somebody is attacking your BH, you won't have time to do all that.
Your Novak video shows the difference. He turn his body, racquet head is already low. He mixes in some slices but thats a different story.

 

[meltphace 6]

Very, very, very late preparation which seems to be tied to ball bounce. Your lack of time causes all kinds of problems.

Interesting that nobody commented on this.

 

[FiReFTW]

Yes, i am talking about OP in blue shorts.
His BH is nice for sure but it can't be better than his FH. you see that OP starts the takeback from high, then low, then go up again. Thats how i think its resemble his slice. I personally think its redundant. Check out 7:27, 7:36. If somebody is attacking your BH, you won't have time to do all that.
Your Novak video shows the difference. He turn his body, racquet head is already low. He mixes in some slices but thats a different story.

Thats true, he does seem to take his BH very high, then drop it and swing, I agree he could improve this like Novak in the video.

 

[aurablaze]

Thanks for the replies, I did notice I was too close to the forehand after comparing it to other pros. My backhand is also definitely a little late in the prep and I'm going to try and simplify it more next hit.

Nice courts. Is this at MIT?

No this is in Edmonton.

 

[Tennisanity]

all arm

 

[ChaelAZ]

Need to load and earlier prep doing it. Add legs and body rotation.

Backhand is nice.


Probably posting from the court between sets.

 

[TennisCJC]

Yes, i am talking about OP in blue shorts.
His BH is nice for sure but it can't be better than his FH. you see that OP starts the takeback from high, then low, then go up again. Thats how i think its resemble his slice. I personally think its redundant. Check out 7:27, 7:36. If somebody is attacking your BH, you won't have time to do all that.
Your Novak video shows the difference. He turn his body, racquet head is already low. He mixes in some slices but thats a different story.

No. It is preferred to have the racket head up on the prep for 2hbh. Watch Agassi video. Djoko actually has the racket head up during the take back but he does sometimes start prep with low racket head. Racket head up, then the loop back, down and up to contact is all one continuous motion is preferred.

 

[TennisCJC]

Op, your stroke patterns look good. Looks like your prep is a little slow as you sometimes wait on the ball to bounce on your side of net before you turn your shoulders. Try turning your shoulders and adjusting grips before the ball crosses the net. Also, try to get the shoulders fully rotated during the take back regardless if you are using semi-open, neutral or closed stance. Sometimes your shoulders are a little open at end of take back. watch a pro match on TV and see how their shoulders are very close to a full 90 degree angle to the net on every groundstroke. you are a little shy of 90 degrees fairly often.

Also, tennis matches require all the shots. hit lots of serves, returns, approaches, volleys and overheads.

 

[ptuanminh]

No. It is preferred to have the racket head up on the prep for 2hbh. Watch Agassi video. Djoko actually has the racket head up during the take back but he does sometimes start prep with low racket head. Racket head up, then the loop back, down and up to contact is all one continuous motion is preferred.

Of course, the pros have different ways of doing it. Nishikori and Nalbandian go up and down. Novak and Davydenko have more simpler take back. so did soderling. But do you see OP had to cut short his takeback a few times because he didn't have enough time???? If thats the case, why use a complicated prep????

 

[esprits4s]

Of course, the pros have different ways of doing it. Nishikori and Nalbandian go up and down. Novak and Davydenko have more simpler take back. so did soderling. But do you see OP had to cut short his takeback a few times because he didn't have enough time???? If thats the case, why use a complicated prep????

Backhand loop is often recommended just as with the forehand vs. a low take back where the stroke stops and then swings forward. A low take back is simpler, but you give up some power potential. The backhand looks like the more sound shot to me. As mentioned, preparation could use some work. OP, which stroke do you consider to be stronger, your forehand or backhand?

The forehand seems to lack shoulder turn at times resulting in a shot that is all arm and whips across the body.

 

[aurablaze]

My forehand is my stronger shot I feel, but that could just be a comfort thing. I definitely feel more comfortable with it. I have been adjusting my backhand technique since late summer of last year (which you can see on my channel) since I'm definitely not happy with it. I'm probably slow on the unit turn because I still have to think about it instead of it coming naturally.

 

[Kamono]

Hello aurablaze.You relax very much when you play tennis.good.
I think You over-rotate when you hits slice backhand.You should stay sideways.
There is a good article below Link about slice backhand.

https://www.feeltennis.net/backhand-slice-technique/

 

[gmatheis]

That wrist is way too stiff, you're trying to control the racquet but you are losing range of motion on the stroke which will significantly reduce power and spin.

Not sure I agree with everything he says, he gets a little too specific with racquet angles etc. but the overall idea of what he's explaining should help you.

 

[aurablaze]

Here's a link of a recent doubles match for those curious what my match play is like. This isn't every point and is more of a highlights video. It's edited by my friend though since he records the doubles matches. Since there's 5 of us we rotate every game. I'm the one in the blue shorts again.

 

[eelhc]

I mentioned for another guy who posted a video... and I can spot this easy since I used to have this problem... Your left side is restricting your your stroke.

Get your left hand/arm shoulder out of the way on the follow-through so you are not restricting the right side from coming through and really applying the power. Could finish a little higher too. Catch the grip of the racquet with your left hand above your left shoulder and tuck the racquer in the "backpack" behind your back. Try it... you'll be surprised how much more power and consistency you get.

 

[ptuanminh]

Here's a link of a recent doubles match for those curious what my match play is like. This isn't every point and is more of a highlights video. It's edited by my friend though since he records the doubles matches. Since there's 5 of us we rotate every game. I'm the one in the blue shorts again.

Aye, you have to practice your backhand.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

to red shoe guy, are you a gulbis fan?

 

[esprits4s]

Here's a link of a recent doubles match for those curious what my match play is like. This isn't every point and is more of a highlights video. It's edited by my friend though since he records the doubles matches. Since there's 5 of us we rotate every game. I'm the one in the blue shorts again.

Yeah, in this video, your forehand looks substantially better than your backhand. I didn't see you hit a single backhand drive in this whole clip. No evidence of the backhand that I was admiring in your first clip. Maybe a simpler back swing would be better for you so that you don't default to your slice every time. Your slice is a very defensive shot with little drive. On the other hand, you hit some nice serves and volleys.

 

[movdqa]

I'd suggest getting a good coach or mentor or advisor and then practicing a lot.

 

[esprits4s]

I'd suggest getting a good coach or mentor or advisor and then practicing a lot.

Yeah, the problem here is that you will get a million different suggestions with no sense of what to prioritize. A good coach, if you can find one, can help to focus on which areas which need the most immediate work and simplify things so that your brain isn't trying to focus on too many things every time you hit the ball.

 

[aurablaze]

to red shoe guy, are you a gulbis fan?

No he probably doesn't even know who Gulbis is, that's a technique he naturally developed.

Anyways I have tried 2 coaches but they did mostly drills with me and didn't comment on my technique too much. I enjoyed my time with them but I'm not sure what a good coach entails.

I definitely didn't use my backhand at all that game and saw several opportunities I could have. I'm just not comfortable enough with it since that's the main thing I'm changing.

 

[movdqa]

No he probably doesn't even know who Gulbis is, that's a technique he naturally developed.

Anyways I have tried 2 coaches but they did mostly drills with me and didn't comment on my technique too much. I enjoyed my time with them but I'm not sure what a good coach entails.

I definitely didn't use my backhand at all that game and saw several opportunities I could have. I'm just not comfortable enough with it since that's the main thing I'm changing.

A great coach can teach you in two hours more than your parents can in a year.

 

[esprits4s]

No he probably doesn't even know who Gulbis is, that's a technique he naturally developed.

Anyways I have tried 2 coaches but they did mostly drills with me and didn't comment on my technique too much. I enjoyed my time with them but I'm not sure what a good coach entails.

I definitely didn't use my backhand at all that game and saw several opportunities I could have. I'm just not comfortable enough with it since that's the main thing I'm changing.

Yeah, that's why I emphasized "good". It can be hard to find someone who will really diagnose your strokes. A lot of them want to just hit with you like you described. There are entire threads here about that topic. Maybe if you are very explicit about what you want before taking any lessons...

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

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