Need feedback on my rally video

G

guang2024

Rookie
Hey everyone,

I recorded a video of me rallying and would love some advice on how to improve.
Here’s the video:
Some things I’m working on:
  • Timing: I feel like I’m hitting the ball late sometimes.
  • Weight transfer: Am I using my legs and body effectively?
  • Footwork: Is my movement and positioning good, or could it be more efficient?
  • Shot quality: How’s my depth and consistency?
Any feedback would be great—thanks so much for taking a look!
 
Backhand good, maybe need to look on how you play low balls, can you get down with your body and adjust for balls? Quite upright on all your shots.

FH needs technical work. No loading on the back leg, too many closed stances, not enough uncoiling — too much arming.

Also your grip is a question, it looks weak. I see you not very confident to rip it, and that’s understandable. So you end up guiding it and caressing it…

FH will be much better if you are willing to put in due work and make changes.
 
Dragy said:
Backhand good, maybe need to look on how you play low balls, can you get down with your body and adjust for balls? Quite upright on all your shots.

FH needs technical work. No loading on the back leg, too many closed stances, not enough uncoiling — too much arming.

Also your grip is a question, it looks weak. I see you not very confident to rip it, and that’s understandable. So you end up guiding it and caressing it…

FH will be much better if you are willing to put in due work and make changes.
Click to expand...
Yes, I need to get down more for sure!

I also agree with you on the forehand, I feel like I use the arm a lot instead of using my body rotation and shifting center of gravity, can you give me some advice how to fix it?
Also I am used to closed stance with short movements, I only use open stance on super wide shots because I have to, is this a problem?

I am not sure what you meant by a weak grip, did you mean I should hold the racquet tighter? I'm using an Eastern forehand grip...but I do agree with you, I feel like I'm jammed a lot by the ball, I hardly get into position to rip the ball..
 
guang2024 said:
Hey everyone,

I recorded a video of me rallying and would love some advice on how to improve.
Here’s the video:
Some things I’m working on:
  • Timing: I feel like I’m hitting the ball late sometimes.
  • Weight transfer: Am I using my legs and body effectively?
  • Footwork: Is my movement and positioning good, or could it be more efficient?
  • Shot quality: How’s my depth and consistency?
Any feedback would be great—thanks so much for taking a look!
Click to expand...

lol it feels like your fh is in slow mo. Bh is good.
 
guang2024 said:
I'm using an Eastern forehand grip
Click to expand...
I mean exactly this, and it might be limiting in your case — you play enough of high balls and have mental picture of looping them decently, rather than hitting everything flat. Though it’s a legit grip, switching to SW or at least half-way may make your tennis life so much easier. I’d definitely try.

Also watch Essential tennis videos on uncoiling (they are headed like “hitting out in front?”) or something like this. And use semi-open stance to practice uncoiling + film yourself from the side.

Stance — for forehand, you need to load on your back foot for best results. Hitting with closed stance works differently, it relies on stepping and pivoting around front foot — good for low and short balls, not very suitable for higher balls you want to apply pace and shape to, all vertical action duty goes to arm, hence arming…

I would first work on semi-open forehands off the back foot with strong uncoiling and laid-back wrist for impact — maybe, with slightly changed grip. Then look if you are still getting jammed and whether you need some dedicated effort there.

You shall be looking like this at contact from the side camera (chest orientation towards the net, wrist laid back, racquet face slightly tilted):
k4cea6jfvunjhyzsyx91.jpg
 
You look heavy on your feet. Taking too many little awkward steps instead of longer more fluid ones. Maybe work on flexibility and overall cardio.

Shot wise you don't seem to figured out extension yet causing your forehands to be too short.
 
ShinMezame said:
You look heavy on your feet. Taking too many little awkward steps instead of longer more fluid ones. Maybe work on flexibility and overall cardio.

Shot wise you don't seem to figured out extension yet causing your forehands to be too short.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. I have a hard time figuring out where the ball is going to be..also quite out of shape overall. Agree with the lack of extension too, but I'm not sure how to fix it...I feel like im always late even if I prepare early
 
Btw I see pro level early take back/unit turn on your forehand. As soon as the opponent hits the ball your perfectly timed smooth take back starts, rarely seen in rec tennis. The norm is all that happening after the bounce!
 
guang2024 said:
Hey everyone,

I recorded a video of me rallying and would love some advice on how to improve.
Here’s the video:
Some things I’m working on:
  • Timing: I feel like I’m hitting the ball late sometimes.
  • Weight transfer: Am I using my legs and body effectively?
  • Footwork: Is my movement and positioning good, or could it be more efficient?
  • Shot quality: How’s my depth and consistency?
Any feedback would be great—thanks so much for taking a look!
Click to expand...
You look pretty smooth on both sides but you look afraid of using some racket head speed. Especially on the forehand you are just barely swinging, looks like you are just love tapping the ball. I would definitely suggest to let it rip some and quit holding back.
 
Curious said:
I think everything looks very good. All you need is lose weight, increase intensity, lower your center of gravity.
Click to expand...

The worst part is all red gear, white socks all the way up, and black shoes.

Strokes look fine to me. OP is a big boy and is hitting hard.
 
johnmccabe said:
The warm up is warm up. Looking at later part of the cross court hitting, I think his racquet head speed is completely appropriate for his level. He is probably a 2-3 year old player.
Click to expand...
I watched the end of video and he still seems to be guiding the ball and not swing out. Has he only been playing for 2-3 years?
 
tlm said:
I watched the end of video and he still seems to be guiding the ball and not swing out. Has he only been playing for 2-3 years?
Click to expand...

His strokes aren't whippy but whippy has crippled me

I could have done with a little bit of this "slo-mo" vibe. Listen to the contact bro
 
Rosstour said:
We could all do with a bit of that.

i rush through my shots and I'm sure I'm not the only one
Click to expand...
I think rushing through the shot and swinging slowly and guiding the ball are different problems. I do know that it easy to swing too fast and take crazy fast cuts at the ball, but he definitely doesn’t have to worry about that.
 
Man this guy already got more replies than I did. I thought making a separate thread would be too attention-whorish but it's obviously the way to go if you want feedback.
 
Rosstour said:
Man this guy already got more replies than I did. I thought making a separate thread would be too attention-whorish but it's obviously the way to go if you want feedback.
Click to expand...
Not everyone has the will of steel to hang all the old videos in a single thread like Curious
 
Rosstour said:
Don't be an aswhole in someone else's thread sir. And you obviously saw the video which is why you insulted my game...shrug
Click to expand...
I did not see the video. Every time somebody posts a video, I get blocked asking if I am a bot. I insulted your game from video you posted a few years ago.
 
I'm gonna make a new thread for my own video so we can get back to discussing OP's fashion choices. I tried to go find my video in the matchvids thread but my phone is too Apple to handle that bandwidth effectively and just goes into terminal refreshing.
 
tlm said:
You look pretty smooth on both sides but you look afraid of using some racket head speed. Especially on the forehand you are just barely swinging, looks like you are just love tapping the ball. I would definitely suggest to let it rip some and quit holding back.
Click to expand...
Thank you thank you, I feel like I try to rip at the ball but its always too close to me so I end up having to swing up to compensate..
 
Pretty good strokes mechanics but I notice a lack of bite and depth.

You look to be using a Pro Staff, I'm guessing its the lighter version. Consider the heavier one.
 
guang2024 said:
Thank you! I am 31 year old, 180cm tall, 105kg...Quite fat but im trying to cut down to about 80kg, should help me a lot with intensity and just overall fitness for tennis
Click to expand...

Wow, you don't look that fat on camera. Like I didn't get the impression you were fat from watching your vid.
 
zill said:
Wow, you don't look that fat on camera. Like I didn't get the impression you were fat from watching your vid.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your kind words haha, I used to go to gym alot maybe I have some muscle mass left in there too, but still I have a big belly that im working to reduce
 
guang2024 said:
Thank you! I am 31 year old, 180cm tall, 105kg...Quite fat but im trying to cut down to about 80kg, should help me a lot with intensity and just overall fitness for tennis
Click to expand...
Do you get knee pain or any physical issues when/if you play singles? Aside from expected fatigue.

At 77 kg, I already feel stiffness in my knees. I would love to be more bouncy or lower my center of gravity for better strokes but it's just very tough for me. You're good at your weight.
 
user92626 said:
Do you get knee pain or any physical issues when/if you play singles? Aside from expected fatigue.

At 77 kg, I already feel stiffness in my knees. I would love to be more bouncy or lower my center of gravity for better strokes but it's just very tough for me. You're good at your weight.
Click to expand...
How tall are you?
 
user92626 said:
Do you get knee pain or any physical issues when/if you play singles? Aside from expected fatigue.

At 77 kg, I already feel stiffness in my knees. I would love to be more bouncy or lower my center of gravity for better strokes but it's just very tough for me. You're good at your weight.
Click to expand...
I apparently have my Anterior Talofibular Ligament (ATFL) on my left ankle completely broken from years ago but I didn't notice until I got a MRI scan earlier this year, I did a micro surgery to have it fixed. I am not sure if you can tell, I was playing pretty up right the entire time without much knee bend...it's not ideal, but I know I can't be bending my knees that much at this weight plus I'm lazy so it maybe saved me from injury, at least for my current situation

May I ask how old you are and how tall you are, and how much you play?
 
guang2024 said:
Hey everyone,

I recorded a video of me rallying and would love some advice on how to improve.
Here’s the video:
Some things I’m working on:
  • Timing: I feel like I’m hitting the ball late sometimes.
  • Weight transfer: Am I using my legs and body effectively?
  • Footwork: Is my movement and positioning good, or could it be more efficient?
  • Shot quality: How’s my depth and consistency?
Any feedback would be great—thanks so much for taking a look!
Click to expand...
Pelvis Angle at Impact.

To view single frame on Youtube, stop video, use the period & comma keys.

You have a straight elbow forehand and so does Federer. You should pick a reference ATP forehand and 2HBH backhand as similar to yours as you can find plus from as similar camera angles as you can find.

I looked at most of the Federer forehands. And concentrated on just one thing, Federer's pelvis angle at the frame closest to impact. I stopped closest to the frames of impact. I was surprised that most of Federer's hits were with somewhat similar pelvis angles.

Very roughly the pelvis is at about 45 degrees to the ball's incoming trajectory. That may be done so that the torso muscles operate over a favorable range of motion. ?

Go to Federer's forehand impacts and find a similar court location for your forehands. Disregard high & low incoming balls, balls with a lot of running, pressure. Compare apples to apples with typical forehands with no pressure.

How does your pelvis angle at impact compare?

You could also compare the lines between the 2 shoulders at impact.

Note anything else that you see.

To identify the forehands, you can list the video time.
 
Last edited:

Trying to improve one thing at a time, for the most recent hitting session, I tried to focus on loading the back leg...

For higher bouncing balls, I am starting to realize I have to hit balls on the rise, by the time it reaches apex it's already over my shoulder and I can't extend through the ball. This probably means I have to read my opponents swing path, and ball flight better, accompany it with an attacking mindset, I should be preparing sooner and be faster on my feet to get to the ball.

I've seen videos online where coaches toss the ball and have people hit it in mid air, is this a good drill in this case?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

V
Rally pace
Replies
28
Views
4K
kevhen
K
S
Advice on improving form? Refining strokes
Replies
6
Views
534
tennishabit
T
richardc-s
Tips and advise for my groundstrokes
Replies
10
Views
1K
Jamesm182
J
C
[Video] Critique my technique: fh/bh/serve/return/volley/overhead
Replies
3
Views
843
Lukhas
Lukhas
X
Please Fix My Serve – I Need Criticism!
Replies
23
Views
931
Morch Us
Morch Us
Back
Top