Mini tennis help

[EddieBrock]

I'm a 4.0 or 4.5 player depending on who you ask and one glaring weakness that I have is with mini tennis. Whenever I can I start warming up from the baseline hitting down the middle because it gives me a chance to loosen up and get a feel for timing and gets my feet moving. Unfortunately when I go to tennis clinics and sometimes when I play matches they insist on mini tennis and I'm just atrocious at it so I'd like some tips on how to improve.

My forehand grip is semi western and I hit with a lot of topspin. With mini-tennis I either hit the ball in the net or I hit it high and deep past the service line. Especially since I'm not warmed up yet I just feel like I have no control of the shot and can't swing out without missing. Once I'm warmed up in a match I'm great with touch shots, but some reason the ball just flies on me in the mini tennis warmup. My backhand is flatter, but I usually end up slicing in mini-tennis since I just don't have any control when I try to go over it.

As I said, once I move to the baseline I can dial in my shots and get a rhythm going and feel much better. I'm just so embarrassingly bad at mini-tennis and often in these clinics the pros watch the warm up to decide what court to put you so I need to fix this. What can I do?

 

[LeeD]

You can change you mindset.
The idea of mini tennis is to get your feet moving and get your prep early, so you have time to swing slowly-controllably, keep it 2' above the net, and inside the service line. Take your time, move the feet, get the racket back, and learn from your mistakes.
OR, since you're standing nearly atop the service line, use mini tennis to warmup your net game, using conti grip slice and sidespin, hit firm 1' above the net, move your feet, get your racket back early.

 

[Shroud]

I'm a 4.0 or 4.5 player depending on who you ask and one glaring weakness that I have is with mini tennis. Whenever I can I start warming up from the baseline hitting down the middle because it gives me a chance to loosen up and get a feel for timing and gets my feet moving. Unfortunately when I go to tennis clinics and sometimes when I play matches they insist on mini tennis and I'm just atrocious at it so I'd like some tips on how to improve.

My forehand grip is semi western and I hit with a lot of topspin. With mini-tennis I either hit the ball in the net or I hit it high and deep past the service line. Especially since I'm not warmed up yet I just feel like I have no control of the shot and can't swing out without missing. Once I'm warmed up in a match I'm great with touch shots, but some reason the ball just flies on me in the mini tennis warmup. My backhand is flatter, but I usually end up slicing in mini-tennis since I just don't have any control when I try to go over it.

As I said, once I move to the baseline I can dial in my shots and get a rhythm going and feel much better. I'm just so embarrassingly bad at mini-tennis and often in these clinics the pros watch the warm up to decide what court to put you so I need to fix this. What can I do?

Been there! I hated mini tennis and sucked at it. Just kept at it and worked to hit softly. Now I am fine with it so hang in there and you will eventually get the hang of it. LeeD is right about changing the attitude. Its what it took for me.

I STILL think its stupid but its what people expect for a warm up.

You could just hit slices or as Brad Gilbert mentions hit volleys not ground strokes.

 

[ByeByePoly]

I'm a 4.0 or 4.5 player depending on who you ask and one glaring weakness that I have is with mini tennis. Whenever I can I start warming up from the baseline hitting down the middle because it gives me a chance to loosen up and get a feel for timing and gets my feet moving. Unfortunately when I go to tennis clinics and sometimes when I play matches they insist on mini tennis and I'm just atrocious at it so I'd like some tips on how to improve.

My forehand grip is semi western and I hit with a lot of topspin. With mini-tennis I either hit the ball in the net or I hit it high and deep past the service line. Especially since I'm not warmed up yet I just feel like I have no control of the shot and can't swing out without missing. Once I'm warmed up in a match I'm great with touch shots, but some reason the ball just flies on me in the mini tennis warmup. My backhand is flatter, but I usually end up slicing in mini-tennis since I just don't have any control when I try to go over it.

As I said, once I move to the baseline I can dial in my shots and get a rhythm going and feel much better. I'm just so embarrassingly bad at mini-tennis and often in these clinics the pros watch the warm up to decide what court to put you so I need to fix this. What can I do?

I rank mini-tennis right up there with jello and iceberg lettuce ... no reason it should exist.

 

[ByeByePoly]

just probably not got the skills, yet practice it. try get rallies of 20 or 30 or 100 without a miss in the service box, its not a massive deal but the skills might transfer over into the full court game

 

[EddieBrock]

You can change you mindset.
The idea of mini tennis is to get your feet moving and get your prep early, so you have time to swing slowly-controllably, keep it 2' above the net, and inside the service line. Take your time, move the feet, get the racket back, and learn from your mistakes.
OR, since you're standing nearly atop the service line, use mini tennis to warmup your net game, using conti grip slice and sidespin, hit firm 1' above the net, move your feet, get your racket back early.

When you say to swing slowly, does that mean to hit flatter? My topspin forehand just doesn't work without racket speed. For some reason my backhand slice works fine. I never thought of moving in and taking volleys. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Been there! I hated mini tennis and sucked at it. Just kept at it and worked to hit softly. Now I am fine with it so hang in there and you will eventually get the hang of it. LeeD is right about changing the attitude. Its what it took for me.

I STILL think its stupid but its what people expect for a warm up.

You could just hit slices or as Brad Gilbert mentions hit volleys not ground strokes.

Both of you are mentioning hitting softly. Do you almost exaggerate a flat follow through?

 

[Shroud]

When you say to swing slowly, does that mean to hit flatter? My topspin forehand just doesn't work without racket speed. For some reason my backhand slice works fine. I never thought of moving in and taking volleys. Maybe I'll try that next time.



Both of you are mentioning hitting softly. Do you almost exaggerate a flat follow through?

I seem to need to brush up a bit to get the ball in. I just swing slower than I would.

 

[rkelley]

I love mini tennis to start a hit. Use your real set-up and a very slow and deliberate stroke. It really helps me find some timing, some basic form, and my contact point on both sides. The ball is going slower so it's just easier to make the adjustments. Then I like to back up a bit and increase the pace until I get back to the baseline and I'm hitting slow, controlled shots with good set-up, balance and swing, that result in a slow, spiny ball with good net clearance. Then I can just flatten out the swing plane, put a bit more into the swing, and be hitting very solid shots with good consistency. For me, it's way faster than warming up starting at the baseline unless I've been hitting for many days in a row.

 

[Yaz]

I never, ever did mini tennis to warm up when I was a junior. Sometime between my 15+ year hiatus and when I got back into tennis it became popular. I sucked at it for a long time, but I started standing a little further back in no-man's land instead of right on the service line like Henin does in the beginning of this vid and I found it a little easier:

 

[rkelley]

Love that vid. I'm way more intentional about my footwork than she is in that video, because I don't have her talent.

 

[Dolgopolov85]

I love mini tennis to start a hit. Use your real set-up and a very slow and deliberate stroke. It really helps me find some timing, some basic form, and my contact point on both sides. The ball is going slower so it's just easier to make the adjustments. Then I like to back up a bit and increase the pace until I get back to the baseline and I'm hitting slow, controlled shots with good set-up, balance and swing, that result in a slow, spiny ball with good net clearance. Then I can just flatten out the swing plane, put a bit more into the swing, and be hitting very solid shots with good consistency. For me, it's way faster than warming up starting at the baseline unless I've been hitting for many days in a row.

Yeah, I always hit better in 'actual' hitting after a little bit of mini tennis, get a smoother, more 'automatic' swing. Not everyone who hits with me thinks so. But I observe that the biggest hitters who come to our court always start off with mini tennis and they patiently give themselves a good 10-15 minutes of it before they move on to baseline rallying.

 

[The Unknown]

I'm a 4.0 or 4.5 player depending on who you ask and one glaring weakness that I have is with mini tennis. Whenever I can I start warming up from the baseline hitting down the middle because it gives me a chance to loosen up and get a feel for timing and gets my feet moving. Unfortunately when I go to tennis clinics and sometimes when I play matches they insist on mini tennis and I'm just atrocious at it so I'd like some tips on how to improve.

My forehand grip is semi western and I hit with a lot of topspin. With mini-tennis I either hit the ball in the net or I hit it high and deep past the service line. Especially since I'm not warmed up yet I just feel like I have no control of the shot and can't swing out without missing. Once I'm warmed up in a match I'm great with touch shots, but some reason the ball just flies on me in the mini tennis warmup. My backhand is flatter, but I usually end up slicing in mini-tennis since I just don't have any control when I try to go over it.

As I said, once I move to the baseline I can dial in my shots and get a rhythm going and feel much better. I'm just so embarrassingly bad at mini-tennis and often in these clinics the pros watch the warm up to decide what court to put you so I need to fix this. What can I do?

I love mini tennis. I can rally playing mini tennis all day long by using slices and volleys. I was on holiday with friends earlier this year at a beach house that had a mini tennis court, and we had some epic matches. Almost more fun than real tennis! Scratch that - it was more fun (beers might have had something to do with that too).

I think mini tennis is so valuable in developing control and touch. I have quite a few hitting partners who cant play mini tennis because they have this instinctive need to try and smack the ball. The fine motor skills required to slow the racket head down without muscling the ball , and "give" with the ball as it makes contact with the racket just haven't been developed. That "giving" with the ball helps promote a loose(r) arm and wrist at contact = less muscling.

Also, I have found a high correlation with players who arm their groundstrokes and cant play mini tennis. If you initiate hip rotation correctly in your groundstrokes then control of the racket head is easier IMO.

 

[ByeByePoly]

I love mini tennis. I can rally playing mini tennis all day long by using slices and volleys. I was on holiday with friends earlier this year at a beach house that had a mini tennis court, and we had some epic matches. Almost more fun than real tennis! Scratch that - it was more fun (beers might have had something to do with that too).

I think mini tennis is so valuable in developing control and touch. I have quite a few hitting partners who cant play mini tennis because they have this instinctive need to try and smack the ball. The fine motor skills required to slow the racket head down without muscling the ball , and "give" with the ball as it makes contact with the racket just haven't been developed. That "giving" with the ball helps promote a loose(r) arm and wrist at contact = less muscling.

Also, I have found a high correlation with players who arm their groundstrokes and cant play mini tennis. If you initiate hip rotation correctly in your groundstrokes then control of the racket head is easier IMO.

Beer made me realize I had been unfair to jello equating it with usta bunt mini-tennis. Jello can be used as an efficient achohol delivery mechanism.

 

[The Unknown]

Beer made me realize I had been unfair to jello equating it with usta bunt mini-tennis. Jello can be used as an efficient achohol delivery mechanism.

You don't appreciate mini tennis probably cos you suck at it

 

[ByeByePoly]

You don't appreciate mini tennis probably cos you suck at it

Hey Australia ... I have been fond of Australians since my days in college. My roommate in college was good friends with the Australians on the college team (we both played high school tennis but not college). They would go out and drink Fosters until morning, and show up for an afternoon match and play great. My roommate would take 2 days to recover from trying to keep up.

"cos you suck at it"

hahaha ... I am going to put you down as a Kyrgios mannered Australian, and not a Laver or Newcomb. That works ... I enjoy Kyrgios.

I refer you to the video above:

"I said I never had much use for it, I never said I didn't know how to use one."

Ironically no, that is not the area of the court where I show my maximum suckness. I won several 4.5 singles tournaments where at least 50% of the field were equal or better than me from the baseline. I will let you work that out from there.

Tennis warm ups are just that ... warm ups (i.e. not a drill group or skills improvement). Believe it or not we had all this worked out long before usta came along.

Here is how it works:
1) warm up from the baseline
2) take your volleys
3) take your overheads
4) take your serves

Done ... warmed up, good to go. How on earth did competitive tennis players ever survive before the genius of usta showed up? I guess if you consider how many tennis frienships have been wrecked because of usta, it isn't a big surprise they would wreck warm ups.

Did your hear what usta is tackling next? They are visiting all the golf driving ranges and teaching golfers how to warm up with 20 yard drives. A lot of golfers are struggling with it, but the ones who already had short drives are using the opportunity to tell the long drivers they suck at the 20 yard drive because they don't have control of their small muscles ... no touch.

 

[ByeByePoly]

btw ... as much as I like to see any video of Henin hitting a ball from anywhere, she is not doing usta bunting between the service lines. She is being fed apparently from the baseline, and she is hitting controlled strokes back toward the baseline. She is not doing some kind of zen full shoulder / hip kinetic stroke to magically deliver the ball inside your opponents service line.

And what if she was? She is a pro with her own coach on her own time. What does that have to do usta match warm ups?

It really is fine if you like jello ... but it is not ok for the jello eaters demand we eat jello with them.

Somebody stop the madness

I have a friend I have played singles with for several years. He has been playing a lot of usta tennis, and shows up enamored with this usta bunt warmup. That's fine ... really like my friend and a few minutes of bunting is what a friend should do. But then he announces he is playing so much, and it's been so hot ... let's just play 1 good hour of tennis. That is good for me until I realize he is counting the 20 minutes of bunting in that "good" hour. We finally had to compromise on 1 hr tennis + bunting time.

Really hate jello.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

love me some mini tennis.
most folks who don't like it,... can't do it.
IMO, they usually can't do it because they don't really have an idea of what's happening at contact, and/or they tend to drive the ball flat (vs. getting topspin).

many times, i've literally spent a full hour just playing mini (topspin) tennis, working on footwork/contact points for down the center and cc (fh/bh) mini tennis.
while it's possible to be a decent player without having the feel to do mini tennis, if you spend the time, i think it will broaden your game, especially hititing towards side-T from the baseline, and touch shots between the net and service line.

i can also diagnose mostly intermediate/beginner strokes in 2m based on what i see them doing (or not doing) in mini tennis.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

I love mini tennis. I can rally playing mini tennis all day long by using slices and volleys.

I think the "mini tennis" that folks have trouble with is topspin mini tennis... slicing/volleying is what folks usually resort to when they don't have the feel to hit topspin in mini tennis (and still keep it under control, and have the ball land 2-3ft from the service line).

 

[sureshs]

Mini tennis is great for warm up and prevents injuries

 

[Deleted member 23235]

Yeah, I always hit better in 'actual' hitting after a little bit of mini tennis, get a smoother, more 'automatic' swing. Not everyone who hits with me thinks so. But I observe that the biggest hitters who come to our court always start off with mini tennis and they patiently give themselves a good 10-15 minutes of it before they move on to baseline rallying.

for me it solidifies, and helps me find/establish my contact point spacing... from there i can move to the baseline and start bashing as usual.

 

[Dolgopolov85]

for me it solidifies, and helps me find/establish my contact point spacing..

Exactly.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Mini tennis is great for warm up and prevents injuries

Have you seen people get hurt in warm up? I guess I saw one in 40 years of tennis. I good friend was warming up before a tournament match and his Achilles popped like a piano wire. I don't think the mini-tennis would have saved his Achilles ... it's time had come.

 

[ByeByePoly]

love me some mini tennis.
most folks who don't like it,... can't do it.
IMO, they usually can't do it because they don't really have an idea of what's happening at contact, and/or they tend to drive the ball flat (vs. getting topspin).

many times, i've literally spent a full hour just playing mini (topspin) tennis, working on footwork/contact points for down the center and cc (fh/bh) mini tennis.
while it's possible to be a decent player without having the feel to do mini tennis, if you spend the time, i think it will broaden your game, especially hititing towards side-T from the baseline, and touch shots between the net and service line.

i can also diagnose mostly intermediate/beginner strokes in 2m based on what i see them doing (or not doing) in mini tennis.

"most folks who don't like it,... can't do it. "

hahaha ... seems to be the go-to defense on this thread ... this thread is the wrong place for mini-tennis atheists and agnostics.

Just to offer friendly opposing views:
- whatever mini you like to do, should not be part of usta warm up
- I don't think mini-topspin has any teaching value (20 yard drive) ... you don't hit that shot, and it doesn't have anything to do with your full swing... bunt timing/spacing has nothing to do with 50mph+ timing/spacing
- I think volley drill between the service lines... don't let the ball drop ... is awesome (mainly for doubles)
- I think touch drop shot practice from within the service lines is great... off the volley or bounce ... I can hit my BH slice dropper at will ... so I just do this until the mini-nightmare is over

I offer this video clip in honor of the mini-skilled:

 

[Deleted member 23235]

"most folks who don't like it,... can't do it. "
hahaha ... seems to be the go-to defense on this thread ... this thread is the wrong place for mini-tennis atheists and agnostics.

almost everyone i've talked to, that spent some time figuring out how to do (nobunt-topspin) mini tennis properly, usually have an aha moment, and realize they should have been practicing/warming up this way all along.

it's cool that you can't/don't like/want to do mini tennis... let's talk again when you decide to take the mini-tennis-red-pill

 

[ByeByePoly]

almost everyone i've talked to, that spent some time figuring out how to do (nobunt-topspin) mini tennis properly, usually have an aha moment, and realize they should have been practicing/warming up this way all along.

it's cool that you can't/don't like/want to do mini tennis... let's talk again when you decide to take the mini-tennis-red-pill

" let's talk again when you decide to take the mini-tennis-red-pill "

hahahaha ... great reply. If I come seeking the red-pill ... I will have had some kind of mid/late-life tennis crisis. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go work on my 20 yard mini-drive.

btw ... if you had been trying to do that 2m evaluation watching me warm up before a 4.5 singles match when I was in my 20s ... you would have missed something rather important. Speed ... of the foot variety ... speed kills a lot of "skills".

 

[ByeByePoly]

almost everyone i've talked to, that spent some time figuring out how to do (nobunt-topspin) mini tennis properly, usually have an aha moment, and realize they should have been practicing/warming up this way all along.

it's cool that you can't/don't like/want to do mini tennis... let's talk again when you decide to take the mini-tennis-red-pill

Question ... were you the one in another thread that was talking about teaching tennis ... engineers, etc? If so, I meant to mention video being a great (although humbling) tool. I never had any formal teaching ... i.e. grips and stroke mechanics, but years of doing drills. I think back on how valuable video would have been even with drills. You don't need the "teaching or technique" videos as much, tons of quality video already available. I posted my 2hbh DIY self-teaching project where I relied heavily on videos a Google away... in particular one of John Yandell's. The added piece is seeing yourself ... you are often not doing what you think you are. This was really the case with golf.

Which reminds me ... I should have the wife video me hitting the new 2hbh against the ball machine with her fancy iPhone. But what if it's still ugly after working so hard on it?

 

[Deleted member 23235]

Question ... were you the one in another thread that was talking about teaching tennis ... engineers, etc? If so, I meant to mention video being a great (although humbling) tool. I never had any formal teaching ... i.e. grips and stroke mechanics, but years of doing drills. I think back on how valuable video would have been even with drills. You don't need the "teaching or technique" videos as much, tons of quality video already available. I posted my 2hbh DIY self-teaching project where I relied heavily on videos a Google away... in particular one of John Yandell's. The added piece is seeing yourself ... you are often not doing what you think you are. This was really the case with golf.

Which reminds me ... I should have the wife video me hitting the new 2hbh against the ball machine with her fancy iPhone. But what if it's still ugly after working so hard on it?

yup, i video as well... slowmo on iphone is particular helpful, especially on serve... but honestly, it's faster to say the adjustments, than to stop, video, etc... i only break out the iphone/video if they are really not understanding the adjustment I'm asking them to make (rare)

 

[The Unknown]

" let's talk again when you decide to take the mini-tennis-red-pill "

hahahaha ... great reply. If I come seeking the red-pill ... I will have had some kind of mid/late-life tennis crisis. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go work on my 20 yard mini-drive.

btw ... if you had been trying to do that 2m evaluation watching me warm up before a 4.5 singles match when I was in my 20s ... you would have missed something rather important. Speed ... of the foot variety ... speed kills a lot of "skills".

I get the feeling youd struggle to maintain a 5 ball rally from the baseline, yet alone play 4.5.

 

[Moveforwardalways]

OP, if you can't do mini tennis, I would recommend not using mini tennis as a strategy in matches. Otherwise, you are good to go.

 

[ByeByePoly]

I get the feeling youd struggle to maintain a 5 ball rally from the baseline, yet alone play 4.5.

I get the feeling we aren't going to bond.

 

[toth]

I do not understand the idea of the mini tennis: my opponent stay on the service line?!
I have heavy topspin shots with 3-4 foot net clearance. In mini tennis are this shots useless.