My strokes on camera

[pushing_wins]

Well I don't what to say...for someone who respects people's privacy, why run around and gather info on peeps on face book.

I have Adam's number in my phone. I know RC's dad quite well and run into the whole family at KEW all the time. But I don't think that was the point, who cares?. I was just saying to Tennis Balla that he could find some good competition at KEW and in the GTA.

ALSO...did I say in my last post that I was 'friends' with them? (even though I know them quite well). Chillax dude. Go back to your 'Convince someone they stink post', you'll have a lot more to contribute there bro. No offense but it sure sounds like your trolling again. No one cares about me or who I know or who I don't. This isn't highschool nor is it the movie industry. Just leave it at that.

I'd rather be discussing the leveraged power balla seems to get on a relatively easy swing.

Do you lead up your frames at all Balla?

doesnt make sense

he was a sponsored junior. he plays ota. does he need someone to tell him about kew and adam?

mind if i call you by your name?

thats what pm's are for, btw

BT is a very private person. u should respect that. u shouldnt be talking about others behind their backs. that is my point. you could have said, i play at a club with a strong mens A1 team. we have some top open players. it would have accomplished the same result. do you not agree?

 

[pushing_wins]

Yea, because you're not truly friends with someone unless you're on their Facebook friends list

pushing_wins, do you have anything positive to contribute to this thread or are you just going to come here and harass people and push your opinions upon them? because if that is the case I suggest you make your own thread and do it there.

Have a nice day.

i have nothing else to go by.

friends on facebook are not necessary yoiur friends. friends not on facebook are definitely your frineds. generally speaking, u dont agree with that?

does anyone who is somewhat serious about tennis in ontario need to be told about kew and the baron?

 

[DavaiMarat]

Ahem...anyhow....

Where did you train Balla?

 

[Power Player]

i got the same offer from powerplayer

I'm thinking I may retract it because you are coming off as a little "out-there". Nothing personal, but everyone I have hit with from TT is cool and normal, and I'd like to keep that streak alive. Once again, nothing personal, but if you read your posts in this thread from a different perspective, you may hopefully see what I am getting at.

Balla, awesome consistency. Really nice to see that, because we all know how hard it is to do.

 

[pushing_wins]

I'm thinking I may retract it because you are coming off as a little "out-there". Nothing personal, but everyone I have hit with from TT is cool and normal, and I'd like to keep that streak alive. Once again, nothing personal, but if you read your posts in this thread from a different perspective, you may hopefully see what I am getting at.

Balla, awesome consistency. Really nice to see that, because we all know how hard it is to do.

lol

i was kidding. i m not coming to florida. if fed wanted to hit, i still wouldnt travel.

i didnt know you get together with fellow TT member. u are probably a pretty good player. i m not too curious about your game anymore.

 

[Power Player]

I'm not bad. Used to be a lot better when I was a junior ,didn't think so much about it and just played tennis.

 

[jgoldb]

Tennis_Balla
To be honest your shoot looks grea!
I can't see a huge difference between your video and this guy. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjBXVQyiwg

It is all about other part of the game: serve, return, strategy, volleys, movement, mental game, etc

 

[pushing_wins]

I'm not bad. Used to be a lot better when I was a junior ,didn't think so much about it and just played tennis.

thinking is the fun part for me

 

[tennis_balla]

Do you lead up your frames at all Balla?

Yes I do actually. My rackets right now weight 362 grams. Leather grip with a Yonex Super Grap over top. 362 is a tad high, or at least higher then I normally have. I'm usually around the 350-355 grams range but these feel great at this weight. One thing I love about Yonex rackets besides the feel is their quality. All my rackets are within 2 grams of each other so all have the exact same lead tape and pretty much the same swing weight as well so getting them all the same was a breeze.

Tennis_Balla
To be honest your shoot looks grea!
I can't see a huge difference between your video and this guy. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjBXVQyiwg

It is all about other part of the game: serve, return, strategy, volleys, movement, mental game, etc

Who is that guy? Never heard of him. Looks like a hack, barely moving his feet, looking lazy. Probably a 4.5 at best

Thanks for the compliment but honestly comparing me to Federer is a bit far fetched

 

[kuhdlie]

Tennis_Balla
To be honest your shoot looks grea!
I can't see a huge difference between your video and this guy. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjBXVQyiwg

It is all about other part of the game: serve, return, strategy, volleys, movement, mental game, etc

my god, the guy in this vid has the laziest most flat footed footwork ever, if he's lazy in practice he must be lazy in matches too. without seeing actual match play, i'm guessing he can probably get past the first round of some 3.0 tourneys in 2-3 years if his serves are not as lazy.

 

[LeeD]

Sure, slow swing, lazy feet, high top socks, white T, bandanna, and never once leaning back or late to the ball.

 

[zak425]

Good looking video my man, congrats.

 

[RoddickAce]

wow

so many active members from toronto.

where are those courts? i m looking for a winter club. looks very similar to tam, except different court layout

I don't want to reveal which city the OP is from, but if you're looking for a club, you could try Mayfair because the court the OP is hitting on is around 1.5-2 hours (drive) away from Toronto.

To the OP, I once saw someone hitting cannon overheads on court 7 or something. Now I think its YOU. Great strokes man, good luck in your tournaments.

 

[Consolation]

my god, the guy in this vid has the laziest most flat footed footwork ever, if he's lazy in practice he must be lazy in matches too. without seeing actual match play, i'm guessing he can probably get past the first round of some 3.0 tourneys in 2-3 years if his serves are not as lazy.

Federer is not lazy or flat footed at all in this video. This is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier in this thread. He's taking it easy, playing very casually at the beginning, but still gets balanced for each shot. He's late on some hard deep shots early on, but that's it. Compare his footwork, balance, and transfer to the OPs on shots within 5 feet.

Lots of blah blah. But this is what I was talking about. When I hit with someone for the first time, the guys that right from the get go manage to stay well balanced, that don't seem to even have to think about movement and balance, are the ones I know I have to buckle down for.

 

[tennis_balla]

I don't want to reveal which city the OP is from, but if you're looking for a club, you could try Mayfair because the court the OP is hitting on is around 1.5-2 hours (drive) away from Toronto.

To the OP, I once saw someone hitting cannon overheads on court 7 or something. Now I think its YOU. Great strokes man, good luck in your tournaments.

How long ago was this? may of been me.
Do you live close to the club?

 

[tennis_balla]

Federer is not lazy or flat footed at all in this video. This is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier in this thread. He's taking it easy, playing very casually at the beginning, but still gets balanced for each shot. He's late on some hard deep shots early on, but that's it. Compare his footwork, balance, and transfer to the OPs on shots within 5 feet.

Lots of blah blah. But this is what I was talking about. When I hit with someone for the first time, the guys that right from the get go manage to stay well balanced, that don't seem to even have to think about movement and balance, are the ones I know I have to buckle down for.

I'd really love to hear from you where all these off balance shots are in my video. Tell me the time such as for example the one at 4:34 and 4:40 which yea, were ugly and misread them. Federer completely whiffed on a forehand, obviously he was late, **** happens.

 

[RoddickAce]

How long ago was this? may of been me.
Do you live close to the club?

Probably around a month ago? Don't quite remember the date, but I remember someone who looked kind of like you hitting huge overheads lol.

I do live close to the club, but only for 8 of the 12 months XD.

 

[pushing_wins]

I don't want to reveal which city the OP is from, but if you're looking for a club, you could try Mayfair because the court the OP is hitting on is around 1.5-2 hours (drive) away from Toronto.

thanks
i was a member at mayfair when i was a junior. the baron was often on the court next to me, he will nodd at me asking for the ball. i also saw janecek, laureau, lablanc and nestor pratice there quite often (davai marat - they are pros , its like mentioning fed's name). i have to pay my own way now, cant afford mayfair. tam has nice courts , but too busy.

btw, what level are u? do u play ota?

 

[Consolation]

I'd really love to hear from you where all these off balance shots are in my video. Tell me the time such as for example the one at 4:34 and 4:40 which yea, were ugly and misread them. Federer completely whiffed on a forehand, obviously he was late, **** happens.

Every forehand in the last minute of video from behind (except the last put away).

The first several once you change to the first net view. Then a long string of good balance/transfer shots.

A lot of times on balls that are close, you take one large, late step. You don't stop your momentum before the shot, so you're still moving backwards when you swing, resulting in a pivot on the back leg, rather than being able to drive off it. If you were hitting a defensive shot from out wide, or against a particularly deep hard ball, fair enough, but a lot of those are easy balls within 5 feet. Your strokes are groved, so you hit some great shots despite being off balanced, but I'm sure you wouldn't let your students get away with that.

 

[tennis_balla]

One forehand at 3:33 is late and off balance cause I didn't move my feet and it got close to me.
So in your point of view when I raise my left food I'm off balance and making late contact cause thats all the other forehands were. Thats not being late or off balance, that my rotation going across the ball and is done of purpose. Sometimes that rotation pulls you back and across.
Oscar Wegner talked about this and made a video for people to train it and everyone here went nuts. I do believe its not something you'd train but rather something that just happens naturally. I've seen Federer do it but Nadal does this quite a bit actually and since we're comparing my strokes to the pro's, which I think is quite funny, why not add to it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6EY7FxgUg

The very first forehand he hits is a great example. Now he's hitting and moving much quicker then me of course, but the concept is the same.

Edit:

Also notice something in my video, I'm almost 6'4 and my friend is hitting pretty deep shots and I'm hitting my groundies around chest height most of the time. On the shorter ones I step in more into a neutral stance with my left foot. The other times I'm hitting open stance and hitting more across the ball.

 

[0d1n]

Every forehand in the last minute of video from behind (except the last put away).

The first several once you change to the first net view. Then a long string of good balance/transfer shots.

A lot of times on balls that are close, you take one large, late step. You don't stop your momentum before the shot, so you're still moving backwards when you swing, resulting in a pivot on the back leg, rather than being able to drive off it. If you were hitting a defensive shot from out wide, or against a particularly deep hard ball, fair enough, but a lot of those are easy balls within 5 feet. Your strokes are groved, so you hit some great shots despite being off balanced, but I'm sure you wouldn't let your students get away with that.

What a load of theoretical cr4p. Post a video of yourself. You better be top 500 or so (in the world that is ... not in your village).
The guy is warming up with some light-ish hitting !
Comparing him to Federer and Stich is obviously far fetched, but he DOES have very good technique and "looking a bit like Stich/Federer/other pro" doesn't mean people are saying he is as good as them or better.
Still, he is obviously at least a very high level amateur. Nobody said he is going to be a threat at the AO in 2011 and determining stuff like that can't be done from short videos anyway.

 

[DavaiMarat]

Yes I do actually. My rackets right now weight 362 grams. Leather grip with a Yonex Super Grap over top. 362 is a tad high, or at least higher then I normally have. I'm usually around the 350-355 grams range but these feel great at this weight. One thing I love about Yonex rackets besides the feel is their quality. All my rackets are within 2 grams of each other so all have the exact same lead tape and pretty much the same swing weight as well so getting them all the same was a breeze.

I must agree. Yonex does have great QC. I had a couple of RD7's back in the hayday....late 90's. Beautiful frames. I eventually gave them to a girl I was seeing in Ottawa. Lol I kinda regret it, they were so soft and spinny. Man I think I've given more frames to women then probably anyone else on this board. (my fiance is up to 6 frames now). Anyhow, back on track, the deviation between frames from Wilson, Head, Babolat is getting a bit much. For the years prior I'd buy two or three and always pick a favorite because there was always one that felt sweeter then the rest.

I didn't start using lead and matching my frames until 4-5 years ago. Since then I've forked out some big bucks for some pro stock TGK237.1's and modded them carefully to match. The QC coming out of Austria is much better, down to the paint job. Wish every racket company was like yonex.

I've currently modded my frames to Safin's old specs. 353g, 32cm, 347 sw. Lots of lead up at 12 and a little at the top of handle (7''). Very sweet plow through but a tad unforgiving if mistimed. Using a full bed RPM Blast 17 at 57lbs. It's a sweet combo. Use to have the alu power BB in there but the grip with RPM is unbelievable. Give it a try if you get your hands on some.

 

[5263]

.
The guy is warming up with some light-ish hitting !
Comparing him to Federer and Stich is obviously far fetched, but he DOES have very good technique and "looking a bit like Stich/Federer/other pro" doesn't mean people are saying he is as good as them.

I can really see the Stich thing. He sort of has that tall, baby deer legs thing, where the knees tend to get closer when the legs are bent, instead of them tracking more out over the toes. Looks much like many of the 6' 7" or so basketball players from Europe and Stich had that look too. I'm always amazed at how well players with this type build can more, because as athletes they are generally much quicker than you would expect.

I also can see where Oscar would comment on how your game is quite modern, as you have and strong crossing aspect to your strokes, along with not being extremely footwork dependent when receiving balls. I expect the hop in your step would pick up greatly if you were playing a point vs just having a rally with a guy hitting back to you down the middle.
Nice vid, thanks for posting

 

[Polaris]

What a wonderful game, OP!! That is mad consistency and you seem to be able to generate power without even trying. Beautiful strokes.

I wish I could play half as smoothly.

 

[Consolation]

One forehand at 3:33 is late and off balance cause I didn't move my feet and it got close to me.
So in your point of view when I raise my left food I'm off balance and making late contact cause thats all the other forehands were. Thats not being late or off balance, that my rotation going across the ball and is done of purpose. Sometimes that rotation pulls you back and across.
Oscar Wegner talked about this and made a video for people to train it and everyone here went nuts. I do believe its not something you'd train but rather something that just happens naturally. I've seen Federer do it but Nadal does this quite a bit actually and since we're comparing my strokes to the pro's, which I think is quite funny, why not add to it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6EY7FxgUg

The very first forehand he hits is a great example. Now he's hitting and moving much quicker then me of course, but the concept is the same.

Edit:

Also notice something in my video, I'm almost 6'4 and my friend is hitting pretty deep shots and I'm hitting my groundies around chest height most of the time. On the shorter ones I step in more into a neutral stance with my left foot. The other times I'm hitting open stance and hitting more across the ball.

It's not the lifting of the left foot, it's having your weight still on your outside leg well after impact. I understand hitting accross, if you look about 30 seconds after the view change, you have a bunch of great shots where you hit accross. In those your weight still shifts, in this case laterally. The forehands before the switch, and many earlier, and many later, you don't shift at all, you just pivot on your back leg.

Your right, the guy was hitting a lot of hard deep balls. But I still hold to my original thoughts (which are only mine...), that you have a 5.5+ game in all areas displayed except your footwork.

 

[chico9166]

It's not the lifting of the left foot, it's having your weight still on your outside leg well after impact. I understand hitting accross, if you look about 30 seconds after the view change, you have a bunch of great shots where you hit accross.

In those your weight still shifts, in this case laterally. The forehands before the switch, and many earlier, and many later, you don't shift at all, you just pivot on your back leg.

Your right, the guy was hitting a lot of hard deep balls. But I still hold to my original thoughts (which are only mine...), that you have a 5.5+ game in all areas displayed except your footwork.

I would just disagree that linear weight shift (at least in the forward/conventional sense) is of great importance. The weight is always being "shifted around", but to transfer it forward always, or place it high in importance, is a big mistake. Rest assured, a player like this, is always manipultating the center of mass in different directions to achieve the best results. Stance, and weight shift should always be viewed in situational context.

 

[equinox]

Strong with this one the force is



What do you want me to say? Yes I played Open tournaments, lots of them and yes I've won prize money but any knucklehead who pays the entry fee can play open tourneys, thats why its called Open

I avoided your question because I don't like answering it and people can make up their own minds what level they think I'm at, I have no problem with that. Though if I ever lose to a C player I'm selling my rackets

5.0+, you'd win a round in futures qualifying for sure.

 

[0d1n]

I can really see the Stich thing. He sort of has that tall, baby deer legs thing, where the knees tend to get closer when the legs are bent, instead of them tracking more out over the toes. Looks much like many of the 6' 7" or so basketball players from Europe and Stich had that look too. I'm always amazed at how well players with this type build can more, because as athletes they are generally much quicker than you would expect.

I also can see where Oscar would comment on how your game is quite modern, as you have and strong crossing aspect to your strokes, along with not being extremely footwork dependent when receiving balls. I expect the hop in your step would pick up greatly if you were playing a point vs just having a rally with a guy hitting back to you down the middle.
Nice vid, thanks for posting

Hmmm I think the previous poster was talking more about similarities in stroke production, and those are not really there IMO. Stich was and still is one of my favorite players and I can see some similarity in physical appearance (tall and thin) and movement...so I can agree with you there.

5.0+, you'd win a round in futures qualifying for sure.

You can't know that without seeing him play for points...and even then it's tough to tell.
I know some great players who are losing in first rounds of futures qualifying .
Guess it depends on what futures you try to qualify for as well...

 

[tennis_balla]

I don't see a resemblance to Stich's strokes at all but hey thats just me. I think he's taller as well but anyways, I should be able to post some more clips tomorrow as I'm hitting with my friend again after the xmas break. Depends what we do, if we play any points (I'm not gonna post another baseline hitting video :razz: ) but at the least I'll post a video of my serve.

 

[LeeD]

Futures Q's....
Most important to have the unknown X factor, something besides a righthanded medium serving baseline topspinner with 2hbh.
It can be breathtakingly fast movement, an ucannily accurate serve, eagle response eyes, or an unusually great volley, but it needs something better and different than the normal rightie baseline bashing medium serving 6'2" 2hbh grinder.

 

[tennis_balla]

LeeD, uhhh not sure what any of that had to do with my video lol but I agree the ones that excel at the Futures level and beyond have that little extra, something special about them and you can tell from the first ball you see them hit. Its different for everyone like you said, but its there though we can't always put our finger on it.
Even with someone like Federer people argue all the time what it is that he has that makes him so special and we've seen him countless number of times the past 10 years.
There are a lot of great players in college for example, but by the look of their games its all the same. Decent serve, 2 handed backhand, baseline basher, etc. I'm not knocking those type of players, or the 2 handed backhand and I don't wanna go as far as to say its all cookie cutter but its the ones that bring something different to the court and do it really well are the ones that not only stand out but go beyond that level.

I had a good chat with Charlie Pasarell a few years back about something similar and I asked him what type of player he'd want to produce as a coach and he told me "...jack of all trades, master of none."

 

[bad_call]

HGH maybe? haha said the Ode...

 

[LeeD]

I've talked to more than 10 top 50 players on the men's tour. "master of all, with ONE greatness is enough to crack the top 10".
Don't think "jack" can do jack s..t on the tour.

 

[tennis_balla]

You're misunderstanding what he meant Lee but its ok, we're pretty much talking about the same thing.

 

[shindemac]

I'd definitely like to see a vid of your serve. Even with the short amount of time I've put in, I'm already seeing a lot of positive results with improving both my first and second serve. Even though I don't consider it anything special, I feel my serve is above other's who are at my level and it will allow me to stay competitive with guys a level above me. In other words, my serve could become the strongest part of my game soon.

There is one nice shot that the OP hit at around 3:36. It's the last hit before he switches camera angle. He steps in, and hits an inside out forehand to the opponent's backhand. Notice that he is moving a lot faster to get into position and sets both his feet on the ground. His balance is centered in the middle, rather than on his back foot on some of his previous shots. This was talked about in previous posts, but I wouldn't consider it off-balance. His stance appears wider, and he bends his knees more. After his swing, his momentum is still moving forward so you can tell this has more juice on it compared to his rally shots. Notice how the shot went to his opponent's backhand, but it wasn't an angled shot at all. Despite the speed, there was enough control to hit it back to the opponent.

 

[0d1n]

I don't see a resemblance to Stich's strokes at all but hey thats just me. I think he's taller as well but anyways, I should be able to post some more clips tomorrow as I'm hitting with my friend again after the xmas break. Depends what we do, if we play any points (I'm not gonna post another baseline hitting video :razz: ) but at the least I'll post a video of my serve.

Me neither. Stich had a milder grip on the forehand and totally different take-back and follow-through on both fh and bh.
Different idiosyncrasies...different shots.

 

[pushing_wins]

Me neither. Stich had a milder grip on the forehand and totally different take-back and follow-through on both fh and bh.
Different idiosyncrasies...different shots.

facial resemblence. i concur with that

 

[tennis_balla]

Hmm I don't see the facial resemblance either however not sure if I could use that to my advantage in lets say a night club...

"Hello ladies, people tell me I look like Michael Stich "



















....unless of course I was living in Germany, in the early 90's

 

[DavaiMarat]

Lol. 10/10.

Better then telling the ladies you look like radek stepanek. He must have an awesome personality considering he still gets the ladies (hingis, vadisova).
















....unless of course I was living in Germany, in the early 90's[/QUOTE]

 

[tennis_balla]

Just a quick upload. Some people wanted to see my serve so here's a short clip, too short actually but I'll add a longer serving clip including playing points in the new year. I ran out of memory on my camera, sucks should of checked it beforehand and backed up. Anyways, here it is....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3oXjiBv5J4

 

[arche3]

Just a quick upload. Some people wanted to see my serve so here's a short clip, too short actually but I'll add a longer serving clip including playing points in the new year. I ran out of memory on my camera, sucks should of checked it beforehand and backed up. Anyways, here it is....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3oXjiBv5J4

lol! if you were serving against me that would of been... ace, ace, ace, fault...
I think you would hold serve

 

[LeeD]

Nice live arm, very little leg or forward movement, nice placement out wide on ad court, ='s ....you're a baseline player who wants to hit multiple groundstrokes to wear down your opponent and make him cry for an end to the match.
You can probably add easily 10-15mph on your serves with more legs, forward motion, trunk twist, archer's bow.
But then again, that's a lot of extra energy expended for a baseline game.
Certainly, one of the top 4-7 guys who post here.

 

[tennis_balla]

Wrong this time Lee, I'm not a baseliner I can play from the baseline if I have to but I'd much rather force the issue, make things happen and try and get to the net. Basically all court

 

[LeeD]

Then why not improve your serve. It's weak for your potential.
You don't use your legs, you don't end up inside the baseline much, so you're just basically serving thru the motions, not hitting a serve.
Now you're gonna tell me that once the games begin, your serve magically goes into "pro level" mode?
And don't bother saying your serve is good as is, we know it's not nearly fast enough for your skill level.

 

[tennis_balla]

Then why not improve your serve. It's weak for your potential.
You don't use your legs, you don't end up inside the baseline much, so you're just basically serving thru the motions, not hitting a serve.
Now you're gonna tell me that once the games begin, your serve magically goes into "pro level" mode?
And don't bother saying your serve is good as is, we know it's not nearly fast enough for your skill level.

lol this just gets better and better.....

 

[LeeD]

WTF?
Look, you're 6'4" or so, and should at least hit that first flat serve well into the 135's.
LOOK at your serve! You're hitting first flats out wide ad court, and the ball is going down before hitting the backboard. That's the first serve of a 60 year old, not one of a soon to be Open player.
Yes, I think you are that caliber.
Your serve stinks for your level of play. Much like TonLars, you don't employ all your god given talents and athleticism.

LOOK AT YOU SERVE! While it's great for 4.5 and 5.0 levels, maybe even good at 5.5's, your POTENTIAL is much higher. How can you be satisfied with that pathetic serve?
I'm serious here, complacentcy has cost many a player his dreams.

 

[LeeD]

..and just because I like your chances of going to the Q's, I looked again.
Your feet barely clear 3" off the ground.
Your left foot lands barely 6" inside the baseline.
That is the stuff of old men and hasbeens, not up and coming stars.
If you don't want to try, why should we bother looking at your vids?

 

[dak95_00]

Why do all great players have to serve 135 mph +/- 5 mph?

Agassi barely served 70 mph when he turned pro and later barely broke 100 mph. I suppose he could've been better....

I am tired of watching a professional match where these top 25 players are just banging serves as hard as they can straight up the middle w/o any thought of setting up a serve & volley game. Why are Federer and Nadal so much better than the rest? The move their serves around and hit w/ pace.

Balla,
Those serves are well placed and have plenty of smoke behind them. They are on their way up at the backscreen and are hitting w/ an obvious force that they bounce back all the way into the net. I would still serve and volley if I could place my serves like that still.

LeeD,
Where is your video? Could you demonstrate this technique you talk about. Even if you are old, I'd still expect a near 100 mph serve just in technique alone. It might help all of us get more out of our serves.

 

[LeeD]

You can't be so blind to see that TenisBalla is using only 90% of his god given talents on serves. Are you?
Why would an aspiring pro give up 10% of his strengths?
He doesn't serve anything compared to a pro player.
He beats US, me a good 3.5 at 61 years old, YES.
He can't beat 5.5's the way he's serving. They will get "up" for his serve, based on his youth, his height, and his potential. They'll rip it back, knowing they have little to fear.
The first flat serve doesn't win the game by itself. It's the THREAT of the fast hard one, placed anywhere on the court, at any time the server chooses, that gives you the edge in a close match.
You guys gotta expand your thinking. Don't be closed in by your little box you live in now. You just might get better someday, and play someone worth playing.

 

[HunterST]

You can't be so blind to see that TenisBalla is using only 90% of his god given talents on serves. Are you?
Why would an aspiring pro give up 10% of his strengths?
He doesn't serve anything compared to a pro player.
He beats US, me a good 3.5 at 61 years old, YES.
He can't beat 5.5's the way he's serving. They will get "up" for his serve, based on his youth, his height, and his potential. They'll rip it back, knowing they have little to fear.
The first flat serve doesn't win the game by itself. It's the THREAT of the fast hard one, placed anywhere on the court, at any time the server chooses, that gives you the edge in a close match.
You guys gotta expand your thinking. Don't be closed in by your little box you live in now. You just might get better someday, and play someone worth playing.

Really the only thing he's not using much of is his legs. He's getting very good rotation, in my opinion. He's still using a decent amount of leg bend, however. I'm not sure it's realistic to expect his serve to be on par with the pros in every regard.

I can't see anything wrong with his motion. Are there little things top coaches could have him tweak to get another 5mph? Maybe. But I'm not sure how much that would help his game.