My Tennis Videos

S

SlapShot

Hall of Fame
So after much work and sweat and tears, I've got my tennis videos up for your critiques.

Forehands:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902387

Backhands:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902472

Serves:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902509

Footwork/Strokes:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902514

I have volleys on video as well but I was so winded by that point that they really don't do much good. And I know that the camera adds 10 lbs - I actually ate 3 of them for lunch that day.

....oh, and I'm going to e-slap the first person who brings up NTRP. I know what mine is, and it's not going to shrink or grow my johnson having people inflate/deflate it.

Things I've noticed/have worked on lately:

Taking the ball further out front on my forehand side to avoid getting jammed
Tossing the ball further into the court on my serve to get my body into the court further

Some of you might recognize the fella hitting balls on the other side of the court - I can post the video we got of him with his consent.
 
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Only looked at the serve vid. Not a bad looking motion for the most part. Decent trophy position except for the orientation of your feet. When you slide your back foot up to set your pinpoint stance, both of your feet are pointing toward the net (or at least pointing toward the intersection of the singles sideline & the net).

This is probably opening up your hips too soon. When you slide that foot up, try to keep it pointing more to the side. You don't want those hips to start to rotate forward until (after) your racket drop behind your back.
 
SystemicAnomaly said:
Only looked at the serve vid. Not a bad looking motion for the most part. Decent trophy position except for the orientation of your feet. When you slide your back foot up to set your pinpoint stance, both of your feet are pointing toward the net (or at least pointing toward the intersection of the singles sideline & the net).

This is probably opening up your hips too soon. When you slide that foot up, try to keep it pointing more to the side. You don't want those hips to start to rotate forward until (after) your racket drop behind your back.
Click to expand...

Thanks SA. I'll have to work on that before it snows - bad timing of getting a video up for me. Soon, it'll be too cold to work on little stuff outdoors and I'll be paying $30/hour for indoor court time. :?

I really wish that my serves had come out better - I was pretty well winded from hitting hard for ~45 minutes before we took the vid. I have a feeling that fresh, my motion is a little cleaner.
 
I like the compact strokes. The two handed backhand stroke looks solid (you don't look confident in your slice 1 hander though). On the forehand side, I get the feeling that you are not getting good extention. Instead, your elbow seems to stay very close into your body, and you seem to be finishing off and following through during the contact. This will rob a lot of your power and cause you to have a lot of inconsistency. Do you ever have any elbow/arm problems?

I also thought the serve was okay, except from the side view you can see that the toss is right over your head on the first serves (I assume first serves because there is not a lot of action on the ball on these serves.)
 
Nellie said:
I like the compact strokes. The two handed backhand stroke looks solid (you don't look confident in your slice 1 hander though). On the forehand side, I get the feeling that you are not getting good extention. Instead, your elbow seems to stay very close into your body, and you seem to be finishing off and following through during the contact. This will rob a lot of your power and cause you to have a lot of inconsistency. Do you ever have any elbow/arm problems?
Click to expand...

I've actually worked on the FH side - I noticed that right away when I watched the video (this was taken ~3 weeks ago, and I've been watching and tweaking stuff since then). It definitely caused some serious consistency issues.

As far as arm pain, I only get minor tricep/bicep soreness when I overdo it (more than ~3 hours of tennis/day more than 2 days in a row).
 
SlapShot said:
....oh, and I'm going to e-slap the first person who brings up NTRP. I know what mine is, and it's not going to shrink or grow my johnson having people inflate/deflate it.

Things I've noticed/have worked on lately:

Taking the ball further out front on my forehand side to avoid getting jammed
Tossing the ball further into the court on my serve to get my body into the court further

Some of you might recognize the fella hitting balls on the other side of the court - I can post the video we got of him with his consent.
Click to expand...

Lol nice! Cool videos, looks like it turned out pretty well on vimeo. I agree with your observations. I definitely think from the last couple times Ive seen you play, your consistency has improved and you obviously have great speed on your shots. Outside of technique talk, I just think if you play a little more patient and safe rather than trying to hit every ball very hard, it will give you more success. You can post any video you like of me hitting that day. Id actually be interested in seeing it since its close up and at a front angle.
SlapShot said:
I really wish that my serves had come out better - I was pretty well winded from hitting hard for ~45 minutes before we took the vid. I have a feeling that fresh, my motion is a little cleaner.
Click to expand...

Its true. When Slapshot is fresh, he can serve up some very big ones. Probably 120 on the very best. Not trying to grow your johnson though or anything
 
TonLars said:
Lol nice! Cool videos, looks like it turned out pretty well on vimeo. I agree with your observations. I definitely think from the last couple times Ive seen you play, your consistency has improved and you obviously have great speed on your shots. Outside of technique talk, I just think if you play a little more patient and safe rather than trying to hit every ball very hard, it will give you more success. You can post any video you like of me hitting that day. Id actually be interested in seeing it since its close up and at a front angle.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but that takes all of the fun out of it. :) I actually was going to ask you to come catch a singles match if I have one soon and critique my play. I'll gladly pay for some tips.

I'll get your video posted tonight. You look so calm - it angers the Hulk.
 
rbq4h4 said:
wow thats really neat seein you hit with tonslars. are you guys just friends or ar you his coach?
Click to expand...

Well, I pay to hit with him, but we were going to go see High School Musical 3. :lol:

He teaches at the place that I do drills. I am their best customer. :)
 
Nice service motion.. though I think you may need more shoulder turn.

This will help with your 2nd serve getting more spin/consistency and uncoiling from the turn will give you more power on your first.
 
tennisdad65 said:
Nice service motion.. though I think you may need more shoulder turn.

This will help with your 2nd serve getting more spin/consistency and uncoiling from the turn will give you more power on your first.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to post some newer serve videos - I think that these give a bad impression of my serve. I rarely double fault, and I think that my second serve may actually be more effective than my first.

I'm going to work on the shoulder turn, though, as there is always something to be improved. Hopefully, the videos will be a running thing and I'll be able to track my progress.
 
Good vids Slapshot.

On the serve, It seemed as you kept serving, you started to get tired, and then started squaring up a little bit early- hense, the less shoulder turn is available of course. When you started out serving you weren't doing that much. Looks like you were just getting fatigued. That is some nice pop on your serve!

Just a question for you. This is not a critique, only a question. Your backhand looks slightly tight and uncomfortable, maybe a little muscled. That doesn't mean it is of course. I just wanted to ask how fluid that shot feels to you? I am a one hander, and of course two handed BHands look a little less smooth to me. Just wondering what your take is on your own 2HBH.

And how cool is that? You get to hit with TonLars.
 
SlapShot said:
...

I'm going to work on the shoulder turn, though, as there is always something to be improved. Hopefully, the videos will be a running thing and I'll be able to track my progress.
Click to expand...

I believe that you will automatically get a much better shoulder turn if you fix the orientation of your feet and your hips at the trophy position. I was actually very surprised that you got as much shoulder turn as you did with that orientation of the lower body = the differential between your torso and hips is actually quite decent.

.
 
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smoothtennis said:
Good vids Slapshot.

On the serve, It seemed as you kept serving, you started to get tired, and then started squaring up a little bit early- hense, the less shoulder turn is available of course. When you started out serving you weren't doing that much. Looks like you were just getting fatigued. That is some nice pop on your serve!

Just a question for you. This is not a critique, only a question. Your backhand looks slightly tight and uncomfortable, maybe a little muscled. That doesn't mean it is of course. I just wanted to ask how fluid that shot feels to you? I am a one hander, and of course two handed BHands look a little less smooth to me. Just wondering what your take is on your own 2HBH.

And how cool is that? You get to hit with TonLars.
Click to expand...

I was very tired when I finished serving - we had a good 20 minute warmup with another solid player that hits there (the guy on the bench to the left if you watch the FH video), and then Tony and I hit for probably 20 minutes before I was serving.

My BH is actually my more consistent groundstroke - it doesn't feel fluid per se, but it's definitely easy for me to create power and I'm able to direct it relatively well. I hit more winners off of the FH side, but also make more errors. Some days feel better than others, as I bet most people below 5.0 will say.

I'm going to give Tony most of the credit for my improvement over the past year - I feel like my game has grown leaps and bounds since I became a regular at his facility. Simply hitting with a high level player has shown me what it takes to play at that level, that's for sure.
 
Nice videos, I live in St. Paul and I have never heard of that place, I should swing by and check it out. $30 an hour for court time? I know of a couple cheaper places in the cities to hit but not sure how hard it is to get court time there, that seems steep, I pay $14
 
Lejanius said:
Nice videos, I live in St. Paul and I have never heard of that place, I should swing by and check it out. $30 an hour for court time? I know of a couple cheaper places in the cities to hit but not sure how hard it is to get court time there, that seems steep, I pay $14
Click to expand...

I was making it into a sob story. :)

Thankfully, drills with Tony aren't $30/hour, and are tremendously valuable. I usually play league at Baseline, and have played at pretty much every indoor facility in the Twin Cities - one crappy part about living in a state that's too cold for outdoor tennis 6 months out of the year.
 
I figured as much when I looked at court time, then checked my sarcasm detector.

I have played at a lot of places but just never heard of the one in St. Louis Park for some reason, looks like a nice place I will have to swing by and check it out!.
 
SlapShot said:
Tossing the ball further into the court on my serve to get my body into the court further
Click to expand...

You've already spotted it, but that's definitely the thing that stands out. When the camera moves to the side-view, it almost looks like you're going backwards when you make contact. You'll be able to hit it at a frightening pace when you get some forward momentum going into it.
 
Dags said:
You've already spotted it, but that's definitely the thing that stands out. When the camera moves to the side-view, it almost looks like you're going backwards when you make contact. You'll be able to hit it at a frightening pace when you get some forward momentum going into it.
Click to expand...

It's something that I've worked on "feeling" for the past year or so - it seems like on days that my serve is clicking, my toss is further out front and I'm really driving through it. I'm going to buy a cheap digicam and try and videotape my serve sessions so that I can really see what I'm feeling on my serve on the good days.


Now I'm just hoping that Bungalo Bill or Coaching Mastery pop in here. :)
 
SlapShot said:
I actually was going to ask you to come catch a singles match if I have one soon and critique my play. I'll gladly pay for some tips.
I'll get your video posted tonight. You look so calm - it angers the Hulk.
Click to expand...
Definitely, just let me know. I actually think that some match notes and stats could help alot for improving your match play. Also, again my offer stands for hitting sometime for free if you want sometime, especially in the spring summer. It can be tough in the winter but Im sure we could make it happen sometime if you want.
SlapShot said:
I'm going to give Tony most of the credit for my improvement over the past year - I feel like my game has grown leaps and bounds since I became a regular at his facility. Simply hitting with a high level player has shown me what it takes to play at that level, that's for sure.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, thats a big compliment and Im glad that the drills and hitting have helped you. Youve definitely improved a fair amount since I first saw you in February. Keep working hard and theres no reason you cant keep moving up
Lejanius said:
I have played at a lot of places but just never heard of the one in St. Louis Park for some reason, looks like a nice place I will have to swing by and check it out!.
Click to expand...
Would love to have you come by, if you have any questions just let me know, or see our website. We are in Spring Lake Park actually near Fridley.
 
TonLars said:
Definitely, just let me know. I actually think that some match notes and stats could help alot for improving your match play. Also, again my offer stands for hitting sometime for free if you want sometime, especially in the spring summer. It can be tough in the winter but Im sure we could make it happen sometime if you want.
Click to expand...

It's not that I want to know how often I miss the green of the court, but it's probably something I need to know. Maybe I could hire Anh. :)

Careful about that offer for free - I just might take you up on it.

TonLars said:
Thanks man, thats a big compliment and Im glad that the drills and hitting have helped you. Youve definitely improved a fair amount since I first saw you in February. Keep working hard and theres no reason you cant keep moving up
Click to expand...

I feel like I'm just starting to hit my stride tennis-wise, and provided my knees hold out (which is starting to worry me - I am only 25), I think I've got a long way that I can go. Now I really wish I'd played in college instead of just trying to chase girls.
 
Did you happen to get that video up last night? No rush if you didnt, I was just curious to see what it looked like.
 
TonLars said:
Did you happen to get that video up last night? No rush if you didnt, I was just curious to see what it looked like.
Click to expand...

I tried, but Vimeo was working at a crawl - it hung up at 1% uploaded for like 10 minutes.

I won't have access to my laptop until the weekend again, so it'll be a while, but I should be able to get it uploaded by Saturday.
 
SlapShot said:
It's something that I've worked on "feeling" for the past year or so - it seems like on days that my serve is clicking, my toss is further out front and I'm really driving through it. I'm going to buy a cheap digicam and try and videotape my serve sessions so that I can really see what I'm feeling on my serve on the good days.


Now I'm just hoping that Bungalo Bill or Coaching Mastery pop in here. :)
Click to expand...

Hi Slapshot,

Sort of want to take a different approach with you in viewing your strokes. Obviously, based on your responses before, you have read the information I have provided to various individuals on what good technique constitutes.

So, to help you "own" your improvement path, I want to ask you, what do you see?

Why don't we start with the Serve. We can work on the others as we progress. However, starting with the serve, and working from the ground up, what issues do you see with your serve?

You need to look at your feet, your entire motion, where you land, your tossing arm and hitting arm motion and pause positions. We also need to look at your overall flexibility and relaxation throughout the motion.

No worries, I and others will help as we move through the serve motion. The goal for the serve motion is to improve speed, accuracy, and spin. In order to do this, we want to have the serve motion be efficient and effective.

We have some very knowledgable people here and some who are going after teaching certifications that can practice viewing strokes and offering solutions. Keep in mind, your serve motion is not that bad. Again, we are trying to improve the motion to squeeze out more pace, accuracy, and spin.
 
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Bungalo Bill said:
Hi Slapshot,

Sort of want to take a different approach with you in viewing your stroke.s Obviously based on your responses before you have read the information I have provided to various individuals and in general on what good technique constitutes.

So, not to be mean, but to help you "own" your improvement path, I want to ask you, what do you see?

Why dont we start with the Serve. We can work on the others as we progress. However, starting with the serve, and working from the ground up, what issues do you see with your serve.

You need to look at your feet, your entire motion, where you land, your tossing arm and hitting arm motion and pause positions. As well as your overall flexibility and relaxation aspects.

No worries, I will help as we move through the serve motion.
Click to expand...

Do these count as billable hours? :)

On my serve, what I see and what I see in my head as I make the motion aren't drastically different, but there are a few areas that I need to be very conscious of to improve.

Feet/Lower Body: In the video, I see my feet too straight on (as SA mentioned, and as I watched back with a critical eye, I saw the same thing), which is forcing my hips more open than I'd like. I "feel" that my motion is a bit forced when serving when I'm a bit tired, and this may be why - my hips are moving left to right rather than my front hip pushing into the court. I think that this is also causing me to move backward rather than forward on my follow through - I'm finishing my motion barely ahead of where I start my motion.

Upper Body: Tossing hand drop. Something I've worked on before, and when I'm conscious of it, do a good job of, but I did see my toss hand drop before I began my swing, which I know is a no-no. I had this mentioned to me by the pro I was working with last summer, and for a while, it was better, but now the drop is too soon again.

I also feel that my toss has moved too far back to compensate for definiciencies elsewhere, and needs to get worked back out front (which will come from moving my hips more square to the net, and then making the archer's bow motion with the front hip).

Let me know if you see more, or if I'm off base here at all.
 
pushing_wins said:
tonlars,

OT, do you ever hit with 5.0 player at your club just for fun? no charge.
Click to expand...

Definitely, and usually. Problem is, theres not many good players around here, and even the 4.0-4.5 kids and adults I offer it to dont really take me up on it. Hence why I havent been hitting at all more or less since my last tournament in August:cry:

I had been hitting once a week with our sections best junior player, so thats been nice. He is 16 and plays national and international events. At this point though, he is still getting alot more out of it than I am since I usually win about 6-1 or 6-2 in a set, but its about the best hitting I can get unless I can somehow get some of the better open players to come hit with me.
 
TonLars said:
Definitely, and usually. Problem is, theres not many good players around here, and even the 4.0-4.5 kids and adults I offer it to dont really take me up on it. Hence why I havent been hitting at all more or less since my last tournament in August:cry:

I had been hitting once a week with our sections best junior player, so thats been nice. He is 16 and plays national and international events. At this point though, he is still getting alot more out of it than I am since I usually win about 6-1 or 6-2 in a set, but its about the best hitting I can get unless I can somehow get some of the better open players to come hit with me.
Click to expand...

then where do you draw the line?

if members see that certain members are getting free hits, they may stop paying for lessons.

how do the other open players get hits?
 
pushing_wins said:
then where do you draw the line?

if members see that certain members are getting free hits, they may stop paying for lessons.

how do the other open players get hits?
Click to expand...

Good point. But I only offer that to friends or good players that can give me some hitting benefit. I also focus on my own playing rather than the other person for instruction during a hitting session for free. People I give lessons to are generally from beginners to 3.5 players and get lessons from me not for hitting, but rather for instruction. Other good players around here are also teaching tennis like myself and work with each other, which would make it easy to hit. Im the only person working at my facility.

Bottom line is I am still a tennis player first and teacher second at this point in my life, and so since im in a huge shortage of hitting, especially in this part of the year, I am very open to hitting and if I can convince some people to get out here for me then thats great. I cant charge them if Im asking them to play I dont think. I do hitting lessons however with some other good junior players, and they receive instruction as well, but since they are advanced players they benefit from the hitting aspect, whereas the less skilled juniors getting lessons need more time spent on technique by feeding balls.
 
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on a side note Tonlars, what is your rate?

I ask because I am a 3.5-4.0 player despite never having a tennis lesson in my life and I was preparing to sign up for a lesson at my club where i play, but I am curious what you charge since your in my area.

Sorry to hijack the thread
 
Lejanius said:
on a side note Tonlars, what is your rate?

I ask because I am a 3.5-4.0 player despite never having a tennis lesson in my life and I was preparing to sign up for a lesson at my club where i play, but I am curious what you charge since your in my area.

Sorry to hijack the thread
Click to expand...

Lol i feel like im hijacking this thread, I apologize

We charge $52 for an hour lesson. In the summer it is $45. This compares to what the Lifetime Fitness clubs charge at about $68 per hour.
 
pushing_wins said:
SS

on your forehand, do u get the feeling you are pulling up from the ball too soon?
Click to expand...

At the point that this video was taken, I do feel that my forehand had a ways to improve. Lately, it's been much more mechanically sound, though, as I had 2 weeks to watch this video before I posted it. I'm taking it further from my body, which is helping me stay down on the ball better.
 
Lejanius said:
on a side note Tonlars, what is your rate?

I ask because I am a 3.5-4.0 player despite never having a tennis lesson in my life and I was preparing to sign up for a lesson at my club where i play, but I am curious what you charge since your in my area.

Sorry to hijack the thread
Click to expand...

You realize that if you left-click on TonLars' user name (on the left), you have the option of sending him an email. No hijacking needed.
 
SlapShot said:
So after much work and sweat and tears, I've got my tennis videos up for your critiques.

Forehands:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902387

Backhands:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902472

Serves:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902509

Footwork/Strokes:

http://www.vimeo.com/1902514

I have volleys on video as well but I was so winded by that point that they really don't do much good. And I know that the camera adds 10 lbs - I actually ate 3 of them for lunch that day.

....oh, and I'm going to e-slap the first person who brings up NTRP. I know what mine is, and it's not going to shrink or grow my johnson having people inflate/deflate it.

Things I've noticed/have worked on lately:

Taking the ball further out front on my forehand side to avoid getting jammed
Tossing the ball further into the court on my serve to get my body into the court further

Some of you might recognize the fella hitting balls on the other side of the court - I can post the video we got of him with his consent.
Click to expand...


To me it looked like you have a pretty solid game. Without seeing volleys it looks like you do everything pretty well.

I agree with the comment about opening up your hips a bit early on the serve - you might be giving up some power and spin both on the serve, and I bet when you miss, it tends to be long. I do really like the way that you practice getting into your ready position right after the serve, and I almost wonder if this has helped contribute to the hip thing - you're concious of being prepared for the reply, so are maybe a little anxious to have your torso squared to the net?

I liked your footwork on the groundstrokes - you are light on your feet, and take nice small adjustment steps the closer you get to the ball.

I wouldn't mind seeing you take your raquet back just a little bit earlier - a little earlier prep on groundstrokes. Most of the shots it wasn't an issue, but there were a few times on faster incoming balls that your stroke looked a little rushed, and you didn't get to transfer your body weight into it the way you want. One or two backhands you hit off the back foot. Overall not a lot to complain about, but I think if you could prep just a little bit earlier, then you could cut out a UFE or two.

Overall, nice looking game.

You should move to Atlanta - we have outdoor tennis year round down here :)
 
40lovebaby said:
To me it looked like you have a pretty solid game. Without seeing volleys it looks like you do everything pretty well.

I agree with the comment about opening up your hips a bit early on the serve - you might be giving up some power and spin both on the serve, and I bet when you miss, it tends to be long. I do really like the way that you practice getting into your ready position right after the serve, and I almost wonder if this has helped contribute to the hip thing - you're concious of being prepared for the reply, so are maybe a little anxious to have your torso squared to the net?

I liked your footwork on the groundstrokes - you are light on your feet, and take nice small adjustment steps the closer you get to the ball.

I wouldn't mind seeing you take your raquet back just a little bit earlier - a little earlier prep on groundstrokes. Most of the shots it wasn't an issue, but there were a few times on faster incoming balls that your stroke looked a little rushed, and you didn't get to transfer your body weight into it the way you want. One or two backhands you hit off the back foot. Overall not a lot to complain about, but I think if you could prep just a little bit earlier, then you could cut out a UFE or two.

Overall, nice looking game.

You should move to Atlanta - we have outdoor tennis year round down here :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments. I am actually looking at moving south for at least 9 months of outdoor tennis per year, but I don't know that I'll go south of the Mason-Dixon. :)

My footwork is actually feeling much much better in the past 4-5 months. Hitting with better players definitely helps things - I can't really get lazy when hitting with Tony. When we started hitting earlier this year, that was one thing that he pointed out - I was taking too many big steps and wasn't adjusting enough. I still feel like I've got more to learn when it comes to footwork patterns, at least I'm staying on my toes better now.
 
Lejanius said:
on a side note Tonlars, what is your rate?

I ask because I am a 3.5-4.0 player despite never having a tennis lesson in my life and I was preparing to sign up for a lesson at my club where i play, but I am curious what you charge since your in my area.

Sorry to hijack the thread
Click to expand...


why dont you just go to tonlars?
 
Slapshot, sorry again for taking over your thread!

El Pelele said:
I had already seen these. But since they're from 2005, 3 years ago, they don't help much. I don't know if he still hits like that or has improved or what.
Click to expand...
El Pelele said:
which one is tonlars in his video of the doubles final of arby manitoba? the one in red with black shorts?
Click to expand...
Difference in me from 2005 until now is a little better serve, and 2x more power on the forehand. Other than that Im basically the same technique wise. Slapshot said he would try to get the video of myself hitting with him up this weekend. Should be interesting to see since it will be from a front view. Im the red shirt black shorts in that doubles video. That and the singles tournament videos are very recent and pretty reflective of my game.
phucng_10 said:
That Tony Larson guy hits some very nice forehands and backhands!
Click to expand...
Thankyou!
 
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