My strokes videos

[Sir Shankalot]

The first proper videos I have uploaded to TTW. Would appreciate any comments and advice. I'm the chap in the dark shirt closest to the camera. Sorry about the terrible video quality, this was made on a Blackberry.

Cross Court Backhands and Forehands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhQXuJJyTeA

Rallying in the half court

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFdjM7fRFXE

Volleys (please don't watch this if you are squeamish)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gUQyGmWGVs


And finally some point play, me serving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJC0CVWVjCE

 

[mrpeterman]

You have a case of "happy feet" when you hit your backhand. Try and keep both feet set and on the ground when you stroke the ball. I can see you're trying to hit low to high but try and get lower on the ball.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you've been playing for less than a year? Looks good for a beginner.. I like the fact that you don't try and smash the ball. Hitting the ball harder will come naturally. Trying to hit too hard is one of the biggest reasons that rec players rarely advance beyond a 3.5. They try and smash everything before they have developed their shots.

 

[TimeSpiral]

The first proper videos I have uploaded to TTW. Would appreciate any comments and advice. I'm the chap in the dark shirt closest to the camera. Sorry about the terrible video quality, this was made on a Blackberry.

Cross Court Backhands and Forehands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhQXuJJyTeA

Rallying in the half court

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFdjM7fRFXE

Volleys (please don't watch this if you are squeamish)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gUQyGmWGVs


And finally some point play, me serving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJC0CVWVjCE

Good for you, getting some videos up! Hopefully you get some good feedback. From a technical perspective, I have nothing to offer.

I've never seen the term "half court" used to describe down the line shots. It's interesting to see the different terminology people use.

Here are some common abbreviations you will see here a lot:

Forehand = FH
Backhand = BH
Down the Line = DTL
Change of Direction = COD
Crosscourt = CC
Topspin = TS
On the run = OTR
Recovery Position (RP) = the spot on the court you run to right after you hit your shot.
Forecourt = space inbetween the net and service line.
No man's land (NML) = space inbetween the baseline and the service line.

Enjoy the game!

 

[dominikk1985]

the positive thing is that you have good racket head control and stability. you make hard and flush contact a lot and you are not having a lot of weak flares and glances.

the bad thing is your movement and use of your body. the arm actions are not all that bad (people will tell you about pronation and wrist movement and while there is room for improvement it is OK for now).

what you really need to do is improving footwork. stay on the ball of foot and try to move with sidesteps or short crossover steps. while you do that stay lower. don't try to jump up for now.

learn to properly load the right leg for both strokes. leg should be bent at 90 degrees with FH in a semi open to open stance and BH closed stance (which you both do correctly).

you are not really sitting down on that right leg and thus losing balance too early. try to really sit down on the bent right leg till the swing starts.

also do a full shoulder turn and don't open up too early. for a FH the left arm should point across the body to the fence on the chest side and on a BH the left arm should point to the back fence after pulling the racket back. you are opening up too soon.

try that and then report back later we can work on other things.

 

[Sir Shankalot]

the positive thing is that you have good racket head control and stability. you make hard and flush contact a lot and you are not having a lot of weak flares and glances.

the bad thing is your movement and use of your body. the arm actions are not all that bad (people will tell you about pronation and wrist movement and while there is room for improvement it is OK for now).

what you really need to do is improving footwork. stay on the ball of foot and try to move with sidesteps or short crossover steps. while you do that stay lower. don't try to jump up for now.

learn to properly load the right leg for both strokes. leg should be bent at 90 degrees with FH in a semi open to open stance and BH closed stance (which you both do correctly).

you are not really sitting down on that right leg and thus losing balance too early. try to really sit down on the bent right leg till the swing starts.

also do a full shoulder turn and don't open up too early. for a FH the left arm should point across the body to the fence on the chest side and on a BH the left arm should point to the back fence after pulling the racket back. you are opening up too soon.

try that and then report back later we can work on other things.

Thanks for the detailed feedback Dominic. Just a point of clarification: I'm a lefty so I assume you mean I should be bending my left leg more and pointing my right arm to the side / back fence on FH / BH.

How should I practise this? Most of my tennis practice is live ball drills (basically the ones I put up on the videos) and maybe not conducive for refining something like footwork and technique. Should I be asking my partner to hand feed balls to me while I work on this?

When I looked at the videos - which are the first I have ever made of live hitting - it was quite instructive to see the gulf between what I think I do and what I really do! I'm interested in your comment about my movement... my movement between shots was the one thing I thought was better than I expected in that I am bouncing around on the balls of my feet, doing a split step of sorts. So I don't quite get what you are saying there.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you've been playing for less than a year? Looks good for a beginner.. I like the fact that you don't try and smash the ball. Hitting the ball harder will come naturally. Trying to hit too hard is one of the biggest reasons that rec players rarely advance beyond a 3.5. They try and smash everything before they have developed their shots.

Wrong: I have been at this for four years :neutral: To get my excuses in: first I am 49 and I guess it is hard for old wrecks like myself to learn new skills; second I have been off all sports for the last month with achilles tendonitis and this was only my third hitting session after resuming, so I am very rusty and my timing is way off.

 

[Sir Shankalot]

Good for you, getting some videos up! Hopefully you get some good feedback. From a technical perspective, I have nothing to offer.

I've never seen the term "half court" used to describe down the line shots. It's interesting to see the different terminology people use.
.....

Enjoy the game!

Thanks TimeSpiral. In the "half court" drill we are not focussing on hitting DTL as such, more just using a smaller court to focus on accuracy and consistency. In this version, anything that bounces outside the centre line is out. The alley is in, but frowned upon!

What would be the best way to practise DTL? I'm thinking of a drill where we rally cross court and wait for a short ball and then hit it DTL. I don't think the above half court drill is very good for DTL since basically all the balls are coming straight at you and there is no major change of direction as such.

 

[dominikk1985]

yes. left leg. I did not notice you are a lefty, although I'm a lefty myself. when I instruct someone I always convert to righty by default.

practice at the wall or even dry swings.

 

[TimeSpiral]

Thanks TimeSpiral. In the "half court" drill we are not focussing on hitting DTL as such, more just using a smaller court to focus on accuracy and consistency. In this version, anything that bounces outside the centre line is out. The alley is in, but frowned upon!

What would be the best way to practise DTL? I'm thinking of a drill where we rally cross court and wait for a short ball and then hit it DTL. I don't think the above half court drill is very good for DTL since basically all the balls are coming straight at you and there is no major change of direction as such.

So many drills, man!
You can really just make up whatever you want. But here are some fun ones. I'm sure others here have a bunch they can share with you.

DTL Drill (1):
Player (a) hit all FH's DTL from the deuce court, and Player (b) hits all BH's DTL from the ad court. If you mess up, and player (a) has to hit a BH, or player (b) has to hit a FH, start over. Try to keep this rally going for as long as you can.​

DTL Drill (2):
Same as drill one, but reversed. Player (a) hit all BH's DTL from the ad court, and Player (b) hits all FH's DTL from the deuce court. If you mess up, and player (a) has to hit a FH, or player (b) has to hit a BH, start over. Try to keep this rally going for as long as you can.

DTL drills (3) and (4)
Same as drills (1) and (2) respectively, except the FHs are hit from the ad court and the BH's are hit from the deuce court.

DTL Drill (5) - Changing Direction (CoDs).
This is the one, two, three, four, change! drill. Player (a) starts a FH CC rally. As player (a) strikes the first ball, he calls "one." Player (b) strikes a CC FH and calls "two." The fifth ball must be hit DTL, and call "change!" Then the pattern switch to CC BH's. The fifth ball must be hit DTL. Repeat until you mess up.

DTL Drill (6)
Same as (5) but player (b) starts the drill, meaning he will have to hit the COD every time.

DTL Drill (7) and ( 8 ) - The X-box.
Play (a) hits a CC FH > player (b) hits a FH DTL > player (a) hits a BH CC > player (b) hits a BH DTL. Repeat this for as long as you can. Drill ( 8 ) is the same, but player (b) starts the CC FH rally.
​

 

[Sir Shankalot]

Thanks for that, TS. We will try these out. Fortunately my hitting partner Nelson, who I only started hitting with a month ago, just loves doing drills. He is a young guy (24) and only picked up a racquet for the first time 3 years ago and has dreams of becoming a teaching pro one day. He is working very hard to improve and because we are both at around the same level it is great to have a like minded person to hit with.

 

[TimeSpiral]

Thanks for that, TS. We will try these out. Fortunately my hitting partner Nelson, who I only started hitting with a month ago, just loves doing drills. He is a young guy (24) and only picked up a racquet for the first time 3 years ago and has dreams of becoming a teaching pro one day. He is working very hard to improve and because we are both at around the same level it is great to have a like minded person to hit with.

That's great! Best of luck to you both.

 

[Sir Shankalot]

That's great! Best of luck to you both.

Thanks. My hitting partner is a great guy from a very humble background and I really hope that he can improve and get his game to the level where he can achieve his ambition to become a qualified teaching pro. He certainly has the athletic abilities, at an age of 24 he has the time, and his job as a court attendant gives him the opportunity to hit every day, so why not?

Based on the video I have seen his major issue is his movement. While he can be very fast and he slides beautifully (he makes 6'+ footmarks, trust me) at the moment he never split steps and he just stands there admiring his shots. If he were to learn to recover to the centre of the available angles and stay out of NML that would immediately take him onto a higher level. At the moment he is letting far too many easy shots past him simply because he is in the wrong place. With his speed and huge wingspan he could become a wall.

The other thing I think he needs to address is his inability to return a low slice. At the moment these throw him off his rhythm and he either sends back a short mid court ball or just dumps it in the net. But I don't know what to tell him here, so all I can do is send him lots of slices in the hope that he eventually figures it out for himself.

Is this good feedback to be giving him? I don't want to mess up his game by giving wrong advice.

Next time I hit with him I think I will make a video from his side of the court and post it here and see if some of the experienced coaches here can give him some good advice.