NTRP Rate My Game...

[Lsmkenpo]

Yea, I know my dad was taking it easy on me. I mean, he tries to play his hardest, but i can tell when he's holding back. Especially when i see him play other 4.5's... But, I'll accept that for what it is. Uhmm... if you do want to see a vid of him playing against the number 5 guy in the 45's in the Mid-Atlantic, i'd be happy to post it.

In the mean time though. I wanted to post this other video that I just taped yesterday. I tried to make some changes on my footwork and court positioning and noticed a real difference. So, yea, here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_87ee9E1x0

Looks better than your first video, your court positioning after your shot is still incorrect, unfortunately Bulldog gave you the wrong advice, you don't want to recover to the middle of the court after every shot.

Read my post above on proper court positioning.

 

[BullDogTennis]

What? you should only recover to the middle of the court if you hit down the center, hitting cross court he should stay cross court not run to the middle, hitting down the line he should recover crosscourt.

so if he hits crosscourt, maybe shade a little that way from the center...but still center of the court...have you never done lessons where you RECOVER every shot? have you ever played a match where a player is capable is taking a crosscourt shot DTL, you'll never get it if you don't recover to the middle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8L7UIeru-s

video quality blows, but you can still clearly see them hitting CC, and STILL recovering to the middle of the court...

 

[BullDogTennis]

Looks better than your first video, your court positioning after your shot is still incorrect, unfortunately Bulldog gave you the wrong advice, you don't want to recover to the middle of the court after every shot.

Read my post above on proper court positioning.

oh my, look what i found....another video of 2 top 5 players recovering to the center every time (unless there going for winners)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE

so, i thought maybe that was just a fluke...then i found this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh30WN3toHg

oh my. another one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZhQi8aDcg

notice how every shot, federer recovers till 1 foot is on the line...that IS recovering to the center of the court...

don't tell me i'm giving bad advice until you learn how to play yourself. if you don't recover to the center (or daggum close) you leave the WHOLE court open.

when you hit a crosscourt shot, you should immediately take 2-3 'bounce steps' toward the center of the court, and for most of us, that will get you pretty close to the center, that way, your on your toes and you can get another one if it goes crosscourt again, and you can get to the shot in plenty of time if they go dtl.

 

[tennisspeedster]

uh I don't think you need to recover in the dead center check out FYB's mini series on strategy court positioning and you'll see what I mean its better to cover all angles than just recover to the dead center all the time.

 

[Bilbo]

oh my, look what i found....another video of 2 top 5 players recovering to the center every time (unless there going for winners)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE

so, i thought maybe that was just a fluke...then i found this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh30WN3toHg

oh my. another one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZhQi8aDcg

notice how every shot, federer recovers till 1 foot is on the line...that IS recovering to the center of the court...

don't tell me i'm giving bad advice until you learn how to play yourself. if you don't recover to the center (or daggum close) you leave the WHOLE court open.

when you hit a crosscourt shot, you should immediately take 2-3 'bounce steps' toward the center of the court, and for most of us, that will get you pretty close to the center, that way, your on your toes and you can get another one if it goes crosscourt again, and you can get to the shot in plenty of time if they go dtl.

yea, in my second video, i did my best to execute what you've just explained above. I thought it made a huge difference in the balls i could get to and take a full swing on

 

[FLA10s]

Watching your second video you were pushing your dad around kid!

Looks like that inside out forehand is gonna be your money maker good footwork on the shot in the second vid, idk how long you have been playing or how old you are but you got potential for sure, keep it up.

 

[nicuo]

re:

soory if I'm repeating what's already been said. didn't get to see the second vid but here's my two c on the first:

please stop doing that let go kind of follow-through on your backhands; I think you do that when you start getting tired. Otherwise your backhands are pretty solid, you do turn your hips and shoulders as you should. To help with the swing/condition problem it may help to re-adjust into the exact grip you will be hitting with just before you hit the bh. Watch roddick's game more closely, who I can tell from your serve is an influence, and you'll see what I mean - he has a very visible way of doing that.

the reason why you hit better forehands when you're hitting them on the run is this: you naturally get into a position where your body faces the fences (i.e. face about 90 degrees to the net) and therefore do not forget that you need to prep to the shot by turning your body so that the tip of your foot would be pointing at a 50-60 degree etc. to the net. now this does not mean that you should run the way you do across the baseline - no, you should get there in small side steps executed facing the net and then get into position. but it's a mistake you can learn from, which is cool. remember: we generate power when hitting in the last instance through shoulder movement.

I agree with what's been said about your serve but also keep in mind that to generate power you need to really turn it and pace it behind. sorry again if that repeats anything that's already been said. btw, oldies used to teach serving with a pair of old racquets which they would encourage you to throw away as if they were supposed to land on the opponent's court. very fun practice if you have a stick to spare.

anyways, good luck and my best.

 

[lonux]

I'm having so much difficulty comparing the NTRP grades to the system in Belgium. We have 20+ grades here, and it seems our lowest grade is really different than the lowest grade in America. I always thought 4.5 would be pretty high in our system, but this way around, it doesn't seem like that. If anybody knows how I should compare the grades of Belgium and America, any advice? Please?

 

[bowlcutah]

I'd say 3.5 is right on
You have gotten better, your forehand shows flashes of brilliance but is not consistent enough, same with your backhand to a lesser degree
Your serve needs work, it could be a real weapon for you.
BTW you look mighty scrawny, and trust me I know scrawny, I'm 6'1 135 LBS

 

[High Roller]

For one reason or another... it seems many in SoCal play down at least a half-level in order to be successful.

I play in non-USTA leagues where solid 4.0's are playing at the C level... instead of upper B or lower A. They constantly win C's (or make the finals against another 4.0) and really frustrate the lower level players... who then play down a level to compensate.

You don't see me in this neck of the woods much anymore because I got tired of seeing the same topics day after day after day. However, if you run a search you'll understand I don't spend 24x7 worshiping Nadal :lol:

Yes, sandbagging out here is the norm. Nothing like the satisfaction of false accomplishment. The recent bump of a lot of SoCal USTA players will hopefully shake this out a bit. If you listen carefully, you can hear the whining and sniveling.

 

[BullDogTennis]

uh I don't think you need to recover in the dead center check out FYB's mini series on strategy court positioning and you'll see what I mean its better to cover all angles than just recover to the dead center all the time.

read my post above this. i didn't mean to say dead center, and if i did thats not what i meant...you have to recover to the center, that doesn't mean turn and sprint and get there everytime. it means, if you hit a ball crosscourt, work your way back to the center.

and bilbo, you did a lot better in your video of doing this, still some bad flashes but hey they didn't build rome overnight! and i'm glad to hear its helping you. sounds like these people saying i'm wrong are the ones that complain about people hitting winners, because they don't want to leave there little corners...

 

[psYcon]

I think you're a 4.0
You probably are also holding back that's why it looks like a 3.5 kind of display.

 

[BullDogTennis]

I think you're a 4.0
You probably are also holding back that's why it looks like a 3.5 kind of display.

why would he be holding back against his father, whose a 4.5...

idk botu him, but when i played my dad, i did NOT want to lose!

 

[Z-Man]

Nobody on this message board has any idea where you rate because nobody has ever played you. It's not about forehands, backhands or even court positioning. It's about finding a way to win. You can only know where you stand if you play people who know where they stand.

That said, you're off to a great start with some nice looking strokes, and you've got something even better than good strokes--a better player who can help you with your game. I have no idea where you would rate now, but I can tell that you could improve rapidly if you worked on your game. With some time and effort, you'd be a great player.

 

[BullDogTennis]

Nobody on this message board has any idea where you rate because nobody has ever played you. It's not about forehands, backhands or even court positioning. It's about finding a way to win. You can only know where you stand if you play people who know where they stand.

That said, you're off to a great start with some nice looking strokes, and you've got something even better than good strokes--a better player who can help you with your game. I have no idea where you would rate now, but I can tell that you could improve rapidly if you worked on your game. With some time and effort, you'd be a great player.

did you watch the video? we know where his dad stands, 4.5, and we know where his scores reach on his dad...

i will say, the only true way we can't see where he is, is because his dad isn't playing all out.

 

[Bud]

did you watch the video? we know where his dad stands, 4.5, and we know where his scores reach on his dad...

i will say, the only true way we can't see where he is, is because his dad isn't playing all out.

This!

His dad looks like a typical solid 4.5 (even though he's playing at about 60%) of his potential. Everything from his strokes, serve, point construction etc. screams 4.5

Bilbo never answered my question on whether his dad was taking it easy on him during their match

 

[Bilbo]

This!

His dad looks like a typical solid 4.5 (even though he's playing at about 60%) of his potential. Everything from his strokes, serve, point construction etc. screams 4.5

Bilbo never answered my question on whether his dad was taking it easy on him during their match

Yea, I know my dad was taking it easy on me. I mean, he tries to play his hardest, but i can tell when he's holding back. Especially when i see him play other 4.5's... But, I'll accept that for what it is. Uhmm... if you do want to see a vid of him playing against the number 5 guy in the 45's in the Mid-Atlantic, i'd be happy to post it.

In the mean time though. I wanted to post this other video that I just taped yesterday. I tried to make some changes on my footwork and court positioning and noticed a real difference. So, yea, here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_87ee9E1x0

yea... he was taking it easy on me... he may not have meant too, but he most of the time does

 

[xinunix]

My advice, forget about your NTRP rating and focus on your game. NTRP ratings are for us over 30's who know that a .5 higher rating is the only thing we have left to aspire to in our tennis careers (before everyone flames me note I include myself in that group). As a junior with a tremendous amount of athletic ability and potential you shouldn't waste a minute contemplating your NTRP rating.

You need to focus on your game, work at the fundamentals, footwork, positioning, timing, shot placement, pace and in the near future you should start to work on your match play strategy. Mastering the mental aspects of the game is much more difficult than mastering the physical aspects of the game, start now and you will have many years to reap the rewards. Learn from your wins and your losses, when you lose to someone that shouldn't have beat you spend time thinking about why you lost and make sure you don't make those mistakes again. When you beat people you shouldn't be able to beat, spend your time figuring out how and why you beat them and build on those experiences. Focus on controlling every point, master how to dictate the flow of a match from point to point, game to game and set to set. Develop versatility, don't fall victim to the over hyped need to categorize your playing style, learn to play all styles and be agile enough to adapt your game to the style that is most likely to give your current opponent problems. Even the dreaded push shot (or high floating slice in your case) can be used as a strategy if you are mentally strong enough to prevent it from becoming a crutch.

You may even want to consider attending a tennis camp like Chuck Kriese's Total Tennis Training. I attended his camps as a junior when he was still the head coach at Clemson and I attribute most of my success throughout my tennis career to the things I learned there. It was a great mix of physical conditioning, stroke/shot fundamentals and most importantly tennis strategy. I vividly remember having to play "shadow matches" against myself (we were required to play a full set every night after dinner without a ball or an opponent on the other side of the court). I hated that exercise as a junior, it was so boring... but looking back I realize it ultimately taught me how to visualize shots, how to plan points and how to strategize constantly throughout the course of a match.

If you really want to know where you stand from a ratings perspective, start playing tournaments, lots of them if you can. There is no better way to know where you stand than to play others in competitive situations. And there is no better way to improve your game than to focus your time and energy on ways to improve your game everytime you step on the court.

Do those things and you will quickly realize that the one thing you don't need is to have someone else rate or categorize your game, your game will rate itself.

 

[new_tennis_player]

Ah, to be young again.

Somebody throw a beer on this guy's head next time he plays in a tournament.

I kid, I kid!

My advice, forget about your NTRP rating and focus on your game. NTRP ratings are for us over 30's who know that a .5 higher rating is the only thing we have left to aspire to in our tennis careers (before everyone flames me note I include myself in that group). As a junior with a tremendous amount of athletic ability and potential you shouldn't waste a minute contemplating your NTRP rating.

 

[Bud]

yea... he was taking it easy on me... he may not have meant too, but he most of the time does

Thanks, I didn't see it.

"Uhmm... if you do want to see a vid of him playing against the number 5 guy in the 45's in the Mid-Atlantic, i'd be happy to post it."

Post your dad's video.

 

[Bilbo]

Thanks, I didn't see it.

"Uhmm... if you do want to see a vid of him playing against the number 5 guy in the 45's in the Mid-Atlantic, i'd be happy to post it."

Post your dad's video.

What's the magic word?????

nah im kiddin man, ok, ill post it when i get a chance this evening. The angle's different tho

 

[WBF]

Good to see someone post a video and listen to the feedback without bickering over everyone's critiques.

That said, you're off to a great start with some nice looking strokes, and you've got something even better than good strokes--a better player who can help you with your game. I have no idea where you would rate now, but I can tell that you could improve rapidly if you worked on your game. With some time and effort, you'd be a great player.

Agreed. I had similar good fortune.

Don't worry about NTRP at this point. Keep working on your game and get some match experience against a variety of different players.

Also, at your age... It would be good to understand that while hitting hard is fun, fitness and footwork are a far more important aspect of the game. These will help improve your timing, positioning and balance. With decent fundamentals, and the fitness and footwork to back them up, you will find it quite easy to dismantle flashier players who are more focused on hitting hard. Oh... and I suppose they also help if you need to hit hard

 

[Lsmkenpo]

oh my, look what i found....another video of 2 top 5 players recovering to the center every time (unless there going for winners)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE

so, i thought maybe that was just a fluke...then i found this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh30WN3toHg

oh my. another one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZhQi8aDcg

notice how every shot, federer recovers till 1 foot is on the line...that IS recovering to the center of the court...

don't tell me i'm giving bad advice until you learn how to play yourself. if you don't recover to the center (or daggum close) you leave the WHOLE court open.

when you hit a crosscourt shot, you should immediately take 2-3 'bounce steps' toward the center of the court, and for most of us, that will get you pretty close to the center, that way, your on your toes and you can get another one if it goes crosscourt again, and you can get to the shot in plenty of time if they go dtl.

The part in bold is absolutely ignorant and unfortunately is how many inexperienced recreational players view the court, as if the playable court remains static regardless of shot. They think they have to always guard the entire court and as a result they get ran around and passed left and right.

I don't care what videos you find on youtube that you think support your incorrect view, it is simply wrong to recover back to the middle "T" after every shot. That is the advice you gave this kid and it is flat out wrong and anyone who is an advanced player knows better.

Court positioning changes according to the direction you hit the ball. You want to position yourself between the 2 maximum angles the opposing player can potentially hit the ball, and this is never directly in the center of the court "T" unless your shot was hit down the middle.

If you hit crosscourt you never ever want to recover all the way back to the "T" the opponent has more of an angle to hit crosscourt, than down the line, from this position. You don't need to worry about the DTL shot you want them to try this lower percentage shot. The proper recovery point is in between the opponents max angle of shot crosscourt and the possible DTL shot, not back to the center "T"

This is a common mistake of recreational players, and if we view the OP's second video after you told him to recover to the middle every shot, we will see he is taking himself needlessly out of position in some of these crosscourt rallies recovering too far back to the middle.

But don't take my word for it here is a video
you can watch on proper court positioning and get back to me.http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/strategy-miniseries-part-two-court-positioning/

Hope you learn something yourself.

 

[BullDogTennis]

The part in bold is absolutely ignorant and unfortunately is how many inexperienced recreational players view the court, as if the playable court remains static regardless of shot. They think they have to always guard the entire court and as a result they get ran around and passed left and right.

I don't care what videos you find on youtube that you think support your incorrect view, it is simply wrong to recover back to the middle "T" after every shot. That is the advice you gave this kid and it is flat out wrong and anyone who is an advanced player knows better.

Court positioning changes according to the direction you hit the ball. You want to position yourself between the 2 maximum angles the opposing player can potentially hit the ball, and this is never directly in the center of the court "T" unless your shot was hit down the middle.

If you hit crosscourt you never ever want to recover all the way back to the "T" the opponent has more of an angle to hit crosscourt, than down the line, from this position. You don't need to worry about the DTL shot you want them to try this lower percentage shot. The proper recovery point is in between the opponents max angle of shot crosscourt and the possible DTL shot, not back to the center "T"

This is a common mistake of recreational players, and if we view the OP's second video after you told him to recover to the middle every shot, we will see he is taking himself needlessly out of position in some of these crosscourt rallies recovering too far back to the middle.

But don't take my word for it here is a video
you can watch on proper court positioning and get back to me.http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/strategy-miniseries-part-two-court-positioning/



Hope you learn something yourself.

i respect the guys at FYB, and think what they do is wonderful, but when i can watch countless video of actual pro players, like ATP pros...and disect there games, the people playing at the highest level of the game, i'm gonna go by more on what i see...

and i'm not saying recover ALL the way back to the T, like where one leg is over, and the other leg is on the other side, but one foot should be pretty daggum close.

i'm sticking by what i've learned from watching ATP players, and that has helped my game to get to a pretty high level...more people agree with me, than don't. and it seems to be working for me...and even bilbo said after he tried he got to more balls in better time, and had a better shot at the ball. I would say that speaks more than anything you've said at all...

 

[WBF]

Recovery is important, but I don't think the focus should be on the middle of the court. Lsmkenpo makes a good point... Your opponent has a range of angles he can hit based on a given shot. It makes the most sense to try to position yourself between these angles somewhat, taking into account the opponents strengths and weaknesses, the difficulty of the different angles, etc.

 

[Lsmkenpo]

i respect the guys at FYB, and think what they do is wonderful, but when i can watch countless video of actual pro players, like ATP pros...and disect there games, the people playing at the highest level of the game, i'm gonna go by more on what i see...

Sorry, but your understanding of how pro players position themselves is wrong. They position themselves exactly how I stated earlier. They don't run back to the "T" after every shot.

 

[onehandbh]

You should bisect the angle of the available court based on where the opponent
is hitting the ball from. This is adjusted slightly to account for the opponent's
tendencies toward a particular shot/strength and your own strengths, etc.

 

[Big bag of squirrels]

I commend you on your video. It's great! So nice to see actual match play. Thanks for taking the time to edit out all the downtime as well. Great job.

I want to know a little more about the court. It looks fantastic. Is that your backyard?

I'm impressed with your dad. His game looks really solid. Would love to see the video of him playing in the 45's.

I'm impressed with your play in video#2. I have no idea what your NTRP is, but you're clearly on your way to becoming a good player. Good luck!

 

[wihamilton]

oh my, look what i found....another video of 2 top 5 players recovering to the center every time (unless there going for winners)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE

so, i thought maybe that was just a fluke...then i found this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh30WN3toHg

oh my. another one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZhQi8aDcg

notice how every shot, federer recovers till 1 foot is on the line...that IS recovering to the center of the court...

don't tell me i'm giving bad advice until you learn how to play yourself. if you don't recover to the center (or daggum close) you leave the WHOLE court open.

The advice we give in our strategy miniseries is sound and it's supported by what the pros are doing. There are several factors at play in these videos that explain why the pros recover to where they do from shot to shot.

In this first clip Rafa hits a backhand cross court and recovers a few steps to the right of the T. Murray then rips a forehand DTL for a winner. That's an EXTREMELY low-percentage shot and Rafa was right to give that part of the court away to cover the safer CC reply.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE#t=8s

In this next point, Murray hits a service return that is sorta CC but he still recovers to the middle. Why? Because his return is way less potent than his normal groundstrokes. His ability to anticipate the direction Rafa is going to hit is significantly diminished as a result. Rafa elects to go inside-out w/his forehand and recovers several steps to the left of the T (from our perspective). Murray uncorks another DTL shot to win the point. Again, a low-percentage play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE#t=37s

In this point, Murray's first backhand is DTL and he recovers to the T (vs several steps to the right of the T). He's probably anticipating that Rafa goes back DTL (which he does) given the match up -- Rafa is trying to work the ball over to his forehand side. Murray's next BH is ripped CC. Now he recovers a few steps to the left of the T, awaiting a short ball in the middle of the court (which he gets). He leaves DTL completely uncovered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE#t=53s

Finally, we need to consider the fact that when a pro goes DTL they often won't get to the proper recovery position (they have further to go than if they had gone CC) -- they might end up in the middle of the court. Why does this happen? Because of the speed of the pro game. They simply don't have time to move to the correct position. They need to be in their split step when their opponent is making contact w/the tennis ball and often that happens before they reach ideal positioning.

ASIDE: This is why hitting DTL is a low-percentage play. Not only do you have less leverage on outside groundstrokes but also you'll often be a little bit out of position for your opponent's reply.

If you watched our strategy miniseries you've probably realized from these videos / discussion that pros position themselves where they do for a number of reasons -- Directionals, "vanilla" court positioning, SWOT, DNO, etc. But at the rec level it's VERY HARD to go wrong by adhering to the simply concept that you need to be at one of three positioning points during a rally.

 

[West Coast Ace]

It's not about forehands, backhands or even court positioning. It's about finding a way to win.

Have you read the NTRP criteria lately? It's not until you get to the advanced level where the word 'competition' is even mentioned. For someone who doesn't know where to rate himself - like the OP (although I would think having a Dad playing tournaments would help) coming here asking for guidance.

... is because his dad isn't playing all out.

I agree. He's playing down just enough to make it interesting - and still win. I assume a 4.5 could hit winners off the OPs 2nd serve.

And High Roller, ain't that the truth. The leagues out here are full of ex-college players playing on 4.0 teams. And apparently it's not just here. Go to the Adult Tennis board for the sniveling/whining from the NY/NJ area, sprinkled with guys bragging about their buddies winning little plastic trophies by playing people well below their level. Pretty amusing.

 

[BullDogTennis]

The advice we give in our strategy miniseries is sound and it's supported by what the pros are doing. There are several factors at play in these videos that explain why the pros recover to where they do from shot to shot.

In this first clip Rafa hits a backhand cross court and recovers a few steps to the right of the T. Murray then rips a forehand DTL for a winner. That's an EXTREMELY low-percentage shot and Rafa was right to give that part of the court away to cover the safer CC reply.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE#t=8s

In this next point, Murray hits a service return that is sorta CC but he still recovers to the middle. Why? Because his return is way less potent than his normal groundstrokes. His ability to anticipate the direction Rafa is going to hit is significantly diminished as a result. Rafa elects to go inside-out w/his forehand and recovers several steps to the left of the T (from our perspective). Murray uncorks another DTL shot to win the point. Again, a low-percentage play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE#t=37s

In this point, Murray's first backhand is DTL and he recovers to the T (vs several steps to the right of the T). He's probably anticipating that Rafa goes back DTL (which he does) given the match up -- Rafa is trying to work the ball over to his forehand side. Murray's next BH is ripped CC. Now he recovers a few steps to the left of the T, awaiting a short ball in the middle of the court (which he gets). He leaves DTL completely uncovered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8jdpmCaVE#t=53s

Finally, we need to consider the fact that when a pro goes DTL they often won't get to the proper recovery position (they have further to go than if they had gone CC) -- they might end up in the middle of the court. Why does this happen? Because of the speed of the pro game. They simply don't have time to move to the correct position. They need to be in their split step when their opponent is making contact w/the tennis ball and often that happens before they reach ideal positioning.

ASIDE: This is why hitting DTL is a low-percentage play. Not only do you have less leverage on outside groundstrokes but also you'll often be a little bit out of position for your opponent's reply.

If you watched our strategy miniseries you've probably realized from these videos / discussion that pros position themselves where they do for a number of reasons -- Directionals, "vanilla" court positioning, SWOT, DNO, etc. But at the rec level it's VERY HARD to go wrong by adhering to the simply concept that you need to be at one of three positioning points during a rally.

i agree, hitting DTL is a difficult shot, IF your hitting hard deep heavy balls like pros do. these guys arn't exactly pros, so its a lot easier to turn a slow crosscourt rally ball of a 4.0-4.5 into a dtl shot than a nadal crosscourt backhand into a down the line shot. pros are creating much better angles with there shots also.

 

[BullDogTennis]

And High Roller, ain't that the truth. The leagues out here are full of ex-college players playing on 4.0 teams. And apparently it's not just here. Go to the Adult Tennis board for the sniveling/whining from the NY/NJ area, sprinkled with guys bragging about their buddies winning little plastic trophies by playing people well below their level. Pretty amusing.

i don't understand the mentality of playing down...it would hurt my ego more than anything...i mean, even if was a 3.5, i don't think i'd be happy winning a 3.5 knowing that there were easily much better competition at the 4.5 level and such...(it would go away after about the 4.5-5.0 level since there really arn't leagues above that)

 

[Bud]

What's the magic word?????

nah im kiddin man, ok, ill post it when i get a chance this evening. The angle's different tho

Ummmm... NOW! :evil:

 

[TheOneHander]

A couple of things I noticed:

1) You seem to receive serve with your left hand on the throat. You might find your backhand being picked on during returns, so assuming you receive serve with your topspin two-hander, I'd put both hands on the handle in a hybrid of your forehand and backhand grips-i.e., use your normal forehand grip for your right hand and your normal left hand backhand grip so that you can rotate your hands quickly for either return situation.

2) You don't follow through over your shoulder all of the time on the backhand (not that you have to or anything). When you do this instead of taking off your left hand midway through the stroke, the shot is much more potent. It also encourages a fuller torso rotation for more pace.

But boy have you improved! You really seem to want to work hard at your game-good job my chap. Hope my tips help

 

[Mike2228]

I agree with with most every one else. Probably a 3.5. I think you and i would play some good competitive matches. I think my serve may be slightly better but the rest of your strokes apear slightly more consistant than mine and you may be more rangey than me.

 

[West Coast Ace]

i don't understand the mentality of playing down...

My guess is it's the 'big fish, little pond' syndrome. They like being a big man at their club/facility. E.g. "look there goes Bob. He won a plastic trophy at the District tournament the last 3 years in a row." And they justify it by assuming 'everyone else is doing it' (sandbagging) - they are just better at it.