Match play analysis (video clip)

[LeftSHBH]

Hello again,
Here is a video clip of my match play with a friend (I'm the guy with the brown shorts). I lost that match. You'll see all my errors and laziness lol. But please check it out and let me know how I can improve my game.
Thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaJqYrHFZA8

 

[Falloutjr]

From what I can see, you don't fully swing through the ball and you reach a lot. Don't be afraid to get to the ball and take a full swing. I saw a few shots where you were hitting while falling back instead of transferring your weight forward which made you hit long. When your opponent came to the net you got indecisive. You hit it right to him then tried to hit a lob. When he charges the net, hit a hard topspin ball, preferably crosscourt, and use that as a passer. You could recover a bit faster off of your serve as well. You serve into the court well, but you stay landed on one leg well after the serve has landed. You should land, jab with your opposite foot, then split step to get back in position to play the point. Also, for a leftie, you serve to the forehand a lot. Use your leftiness to serve to the opponent's backhand. I would also recommend you add the slice to your repertoire as the leftie slice is very unusual to deal with if you aren't used to it. The couple times I saw you come to the net, you hit good approach shots but left way too much court wide open; a stronger player would've passed you with the slow recovery. Your serve return is poor in that you position yourself to hit only backhand returns. Anyone with directional control on the serve would serve to your forehand and pick your return game to pieces. A bit flat-footed on the ground, you play as if your ball is not coming back. Assume EVERY ball you hit will come back, and be ready to hit it whether it come right to you or be a short ball. I would just suggest working on putting yourself in positions to do everything well and being a bit quicker on your feet, this will do you wonders.

 

[krizzle]

a few things that you could work on:

try to be more agressive on serve returns- if your friend's S+V'ing, you can see it out of the corner of your eye and either make him hit a low volley or try to pass him
more consistent backhand- you gave up some rather easy points into the net, swing up on it to create topspin
don't give up free points on second serve returns- a few times you missed it again; try to minimize this
anticipation- sometimes it seems that you don't know where the ball's going, but the only way to get better is to play!
good second serve- you double-faulted once but gave your friend some difficulty with it. Agreed, however, that you stay on one foot too long after serving.
Pretty good, though. What level do you play at?

 

[LeftSHBH]

Thanks for the replies.
After watching that video, I could tell that I look really lazy on recovering after the serve. I should serve and quickly get ready to hit the next shot. Same thing with hitting a groundstroke. It's like I sit there waiting for something when I should be in the ready position.

 

[Blake0]

On your forehand I'd like to see more arm extension through the ball. It'll help you get pace and spin if done correctly. Make sure to keep the hitting arm structure the same and to keep your wrist bent at contact.

On your backhand, you seem to open up your body too early. Try to keep your body sideways until you followthrough.

On your footwork, make sure to take the little adjustment steps to the ball. You seem to get caught too close or far from the ball, especially when you transition to net.

 

[LeftSHBH]

Thanks for the input guys. Next time I'll record from the side view.

 

[GetBetterer]

Problem: Your backhand is a critical deterrence in your game. It's preparation is a little short, and weak so you can't produce a strong one-handed backhand. In addition to that, you follow through more outwards than you do upwards for topspin which is what's causing your backhand to constantly go into the net.

The Fix: Practice swinging normally with the correct technique of a flat backhand UNTIL your contact point which should be out and in front of you. After you stop at contact, practice swinging upwards. Then, when you do this quickly your racket's contact will be a little higher but able to produce more topspin. For low balls you'll have to bend your knees a lot more. You'll see a lot of the Pro's doing this. I recommend watching Henin. She hits everything with a one-handed backhand except running shots which are usually sliced.

Also, what's up with your forehand? Is it a Western grip? Western grip gives nothing but topspin for the purpose of net clearance so when you swing the racket should be flat from contact all the way to the follow through, but in your case it seems to be opened up which causes the ball to lob a lot.

Also at 4:00 there's another watermark.

Your friend also forehand slices everything so...tell him to make some decent/better hits. Forehand slices except when running for the ball makes me sad.

 

[LeftSHBH]

Problem: Your backhand is a critical deterrence in your game. It's preparation is a little short, and weak so you can't produce a strong one-handed backhand. In addition to that, you follow through more outwards than you do upwards for topspin which is what's causing your backhand to constantly go into the net.

The Fix: Practice swinging normally with the correct technique of a flat backhand UNTIL your contact point which should be out and in front of you. After you stop at contact, practice swinging upwards. Then, when you do this quickly your racket's contact will be a little higher but able to produce more topspin. For low balls you'll have to bend your knees a lot more. You'll see a lot of the Pro's doing this. I recommend watching Henin. She hits everything with a one-handed backhand except running shots which are usually sliced.

Also, what's up with your forehand? Is it a Western grip? Western grip gives nothing but topspin for the purpose of net clearance so when you swing the racket should be flat from contact all the way to the follow through, but in your case it seems to be opened up which causes the ball to lob a lot.

Also at 4:00 there's another watermark.

Your friend also forehand slices everything so...tell him to make some decent/better hits. Forehand slices except when running for the ball makes me sad.

Yes I agree my backhand is not very reliable, but for some reason I have good days and bad days. I'm trying to get better at approaching because most of the times I get short balls and when I approach I hit it in the net or long.
My forehand is eastern/semi-western, depending on the shot I guess.
Yes my friend hits a lot of slice shots. He doesn't do it a lot when we practice but during the matches it's almost all his shots unless he has a really good opening to go for it. But when he does, it's 50/50 either long or in the net.

 

[LeeD]

As bad as you hit your backhand and groundies, it's your serve that looks really horrid for your 3.0 level. Work on all aspects, but don't be so darn lazy on your serves.

 

[5263]

Looking at your overall level of play, it all matches up pretty well for where you are so far.
I think you are doing pretty good for 3.0.

The thing that you can do to get immediate results is to improve your mid court ball attack.

It does not have to be awesome or even powerful (could be a drop shot or low angled slice),
but you need to have a couple of consistent ways of putting more pressure on your opponent when they give you an easy mid court ball. Is is also paramount that these methods of attack also give you the chance to transition back to the baseline or on into net. If your attack leaves you stuck in No Mans land, then you will be in trouble unless it was a winner or forced his error.

With your serve and rally shots, you earned plenty of these opportunities, but did very little with them. You often missed that shot, turning your opportunity into points for him!

I think working on this mid court game can lead to being stronger in other aspects of your game as well, like helping you to learn to rally better.

 

[LeftSHBH]

I don't think I'm a 3.0 level, I've played guys in 3.0 before and my game is definitely past that. I think I'm at least 3.5, if not 4.0.

 

[5263]

I don't think I'm a 3.0 level, I've played guys in 3.0 before and my game is definitely past that. I think I'm at least 3.5, if not 4.0.

I'm sorry, I mistakenly thought it was indicated you were 3.0.
At least I mentioned you were doing very well for 3.0, lol.

I could see 3.5 with no problem.
What did you think of the suggestion, despite the misunderstanding about your current level?

 

[GetBetterer]

I thought I would take the time in the world that I have to help you out with the preparation of your backhand in order to improve it.

This is for practice in order to get the correct form.

On the take back, your right hand needs to be on the throat while your left hand is on the grip. The first step is to bring the racket next to your face, almost as if you were taking a picture with it. During this racket turn, you use your right hand to turn the throat while your left hand is lightly on the racket in order to get into the correct grip.

Then the wind up begins, which is where you straighten your left hand as much as possible while keeping your racket on the throat. Also, make your racket perpendicular to where you want the ball to be hit. Don't focus on the perpendicularity too much, just take it back, and the point of this is to draw power.

Move your left foot forward in front of your back foot using the "heel to toe" transfer so that your body is drawn into the shot giving it power.

As your left foot heel touches the ground let go of the racket with your left hand and swing up to contact, and then directly upwards.

As previously stated, do this slowly so that your racket will be at contact. Stop at contact, and swing directly upwards.

When you do this in "real time" your body will automatically remember the follow through and attempt to do it on the swing with your hand straightened out so that you can still contact the ball with proper topspin. However, your contact point will be slightly higher than the flat backhand but a few practice shots will allow you to adjust easily.

Also, as a tip for more power, pull the racket back with your right hand, while attempting to swing. When you time proper contact (out and in front of you) you let go and your racket will swing quickly into the ball. The common problem is that a lot of people swing faster AFTER they hit because they attempt to swing fast during the swing instead of drawing up power before.

 

[heretoserve]

I would really try to focus on missing less.

 

[LeftSHBH]

I'm sorry, I mistakenly thought it was indicated you were 3.0.
At least I mentioned you were doing very well for 3.0, lol.

I could see 3.5 with no problem.
What did you think of the suggestion, despite the misunderstanding about your current level?

Good suggestions, I actually did use some drop shots and they've been very effective. In the past I could never get them to drop so close to the net as I can now. It definitely throws them off since I can disguise them very well at my backhand. The forehand drop shot I haven't tried very much but I would definitely like to practice them.

Thanks for your input