Often Mishit rkt sweetspot !!how to improve??

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fish

Rookie
Hi,nice guys here in this board.
Want to search for useful advice from u .:)
My problem is :

Mostly i have several wilson and yy tennis rkt to play.
I found that my hitting habit is that, i often like to hit the ball at 12'clock ( quite higher than the middle of the rtk(sweetspot)of the rkt ( just like the serving spot ), why i know that ?
because i found much of ball hair stay on there, rather than the middle. (middle has comparatively less hair on that ). And the string i often break at rtk 12'clock (9 time out of 10) , rather than most of my friends break at the middle( ie , sweetspot).
Might be due to that bad habit, i break the string quite fast , (8-15 court hrs for multi string). and found quite shocky feel for that habit, especially my semi-western forehand stroke. And yy rkt has a more comfortable play feel than wilson rkt, might be yy has a larger and topper sweetspot.
:-?

Could u suggest some ways to let me improve the hitting habit to hit balls lower and closer to the middle sweetspot ??:confused:
Many thanks.
 
I suggest watching the ball more, like how federer does it, watch the ball after it cross the net all the way until it enters your strike zone and only allow your eyes to leave the the ball after you see a racquet blur pass by the striking zone.
 
phoenicks said:
I suggest watching the ball more, like how federer does it, watch the ball after it cross the net all the way until it enters your strike zone and only allow your eyes to leave the the ball after you see a racquet blur pass by the striking zone.
Click to expand...
If you can really tell where the ball hits on the racket by sight i suggest you have babies with every woman on earth so your godlike eye genetics will be passed down. But in reality, watching the ball like federer has little affect on hitting the sweetspot because i have yet to see a picture of agassi looking at the ball while hitting and agassi hit the sweetspot like hell (like every other pro). Just practice and focus on hitting the sweetspot for a while until it becomes natural. Cant do much more than that
 
jasoncho92 said:
If you can really tell where the ball hits on the racket by sight i suggest you have babies with every woman on earth so your godlike eye genetics will be passed down. But in reality, watching the ball like federer has little affect on hitting the sweetspot because i have yet to see a picture of agassi looking at the ball while hitting and agassi hit the sweetspot like hell (like every other pro). Just practice and focus on hitting the sweetspot for a while until it becomes natural. Cant do much more than that
Click to expand...

where and when on earth did I say you can tell exactly where the ball hit the stringbed by watching the ball , I am merely saying that watching the ball more clearly will help you better in your hand-eye coordination and improving the chances of nailing the sweetspot. no doubt about that !!!
 
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jasoncho92 said:
But in reality, watching the ball like federer has little affect on hitting the sweetspot because i have yet to see a picture of agassi looking at the ball while hitting and agassi hit the sweetspot like hell (like every other pro). Just practice and focus on hitting the sweetspot for a while until it becomes natural. Cant do much more than that
Click to expand...

Can't agree with this. You will have a tough time convincing folks that all or most pros hit the ball cleanly as Fed.
Even with the pros there are levels on how well things are done. Fed hits cleaner with his 90 in frame than Agassi did with a 107 frame. Agassi even commented on how he was amazed by how cleanly Fed hit the ball, suggesting that it was better than he did by the way he said it.

IMO, keeping the head still and focused on the contact point is the #1 thing to do to hit the ball clean.
Don't be fooled by what the eyes can or cannot do. The brain is still getting loads of info to process when your focus is in this area, even if it is not the type data we are accustomed to scientifically analyzing.
 
I suggest you to evaluate (take pictures or film yourself) more and find what your problem is. Problems caused by habbits are really hard to fix unless you exactly know what habbit is creating the problem. Here are some possibilites that I think mgiht cause your problem.
Balls hitting 12 position of the racket might be due to your hitting point. Generally, it's said the hitting point should be one foot in front of your body. But this is a possibility only when you have the right form.
One other habbit that I see, when I coach people (mostly 2.5 level) is "not moving their feet." If you don't move your feet enough, what happens is, many times you have to reach for the ball resulting in hitting the ball at the top of your racket.
I hope this helps and hope you could fix your problem.
 
5263 said:
IMO, keeping the head still and focused on the contact point is the #1 thing to do to hit the ball clean.
Don't be fooled by what the eyes can or cannot do. The brain is still getting loads of info to process when your focus is in this area, even if it is not the type data we are accustomed to scientifically analyzing.
Click to expand...


Can't agree more!
 
I really cant say anything to people who arent open to any other ideas other than what is fed to them. Before i say anything, id just like to state that i am a federer fan and im not just ragging on him. When i say that looking at the ball doesnt do much, i go by what i comprehend from watching other pros. It could just be that federer has better hand-eye coordination than most other pros which is why he is able to do so, so the ball watching theory is flawed. I rarely ever see a pro watching the ball like federer because it is such an unnatural action to add to your game, and im pretty damn sure that if they couldnt hit the sweetspot almost every time, they wouldnt be consistent enough to be pros. Whenever i see something like what 5263 typed, that its the "#1 thing to do" i say to myself ******** because there are so many people who hit it cleanly who face forward during their stroke (the majority of pros). I doubt itll hurt to add it to your game, but saying that watching the ball is more important than practice really irks me.
 
jasoncho92 said:
I really cant say anything to people who arent open to any other ideas other than what is fed to them. Before i say anything, id just like to state that i am a federer fan and im not just ragging on him. When i say that looking at the ball doesnt do much, i go by what i comprehend from watching other pros. It could just be that federer has better hand-eye coordination than most other pros which is why he is able to do so, so the ball watching theory is flawed. I rarely ever see a pro watching the ball like federer because it is such an unnatural action to add to your game, and im pretty damn sure that if they couldnt hit the sweetspot almost every time, they wouldnt be consistent enough to be pros. Whenever i see something like what 5263 typed, that its the "#1 thing to do" i say to myself ******** because there are so many people who hit it cleanly who face forward during their stroke (the majority of pros). I doubt itll hurt to add it to your game, but saying that watching the ball is more important than practice really irks me.
Click to expand...

And can you please enlighten us on what you found out from watching the pros???

Of course those pros face forward, even when Federer is watching the balls he's still facing forward !!!

and again when did we say watching the ball more is more important than practice, both watching the ball and practice goes hand in hand of course !!!
 
jasoncho92 said:
I really cant say anything to people who arent open to any other ideas other than what is fed to them. Before i say anything, id just like to state that i am a federer fan and im not just ragging on him. When i say that looking at the ball doesnt do much, i go by what i comprehend from watching other pros. It could just be that federer has better hand-eye coordination than most other pros which is why he is able to do so, so the ball watching theory is flawed. I rarely ever see a pro watching the ball like federer because it is such an unnatural action to add to your game, and im pretty damn sure that if they couldnt hit the sweetspot almost every time, they wouldnt be consistent enough to be pros. Whenever i see something like what 5263 typed, that its the "#1 thing to do" i say to myself ******** because there are so many people who hit it cleanly who face forward during their stroke (the majority of pros). I doubt itll hurt to add it to your game, but saying that watching the ball is more important than practice really irks me.
Click to expand...

I think you're misunderstanding this concept a bit. The most important thing is to keep you head still through contact, not necessarily looking straight at the contact point. What causes players to mishit is when they jerk their head around as they hit to see where the ball is going.

You obviously have to watch the ball to a certain point, or you wouldn't be able to get in the proper position to hit the ball. But, there is a certain point where the eyes can no longer track the ball and become legally blind, as Bungalo Bill has said many times.
 
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phoenicks said:
And can you please enlighten us on what you found out from watching the pros???

Of course those pros face forward, even when Federer is watching the balls he's still facing forward !!!

and again when did we say watching the ball more is more important than practice, both watching the ball and practice goes hand in hand of course !!!
Click to expand...
Guess this is what i get for going against the majority's opinion. Enlighten you? I already stated that what i saw was that most pros dont look at the ball. And please dont twist what i meant by using what i wrote in a literal fashion. I obviously meant that the head of the player is facing forward and not at the ball. And 5623 stated that watching the ball is the "#1 thing" for hitting the ball cleanly which basically is stating that no matter how much you practice, if you dont look at the ball, you cant hit it cleanly.
And for the post below, i do know that keeping your head still is good. It allows you to keep your strokes consistent. But not keeping your head down doesnt mean that this cant happen. When people dont look at the ball, they still keep their heads still, its just that they are looking more in a forward direction. My argument is not that people should move their heads while hitting, but that people dont have to look at the ball like federer to hit a clean shot
 
jasoncho92 said:
Guess this is what i get for going against the majority's opinion. Enlighten you? I already stated that what i saw was that most pros dont look at the ball. And please dont twist what i meant by using what i wrote in a literal fashion. I obviously meant that the head of the player is facing forward and not at the ball. And 5623 stated that watching the ball is the "#1 thing" for hitting the ball cleanly which basically is stating that no matter how much you practice, if you dont look at the ball, you cant hit it cleanly.
And for the post below, i do know that keeping your head still is good. It allows you to keep your strokes consistent. But not keeping your head down doesnt mean that this cant happen. When people dont look at the ball, they still keep their heads still, its just that they are looking more in a forward direction. My argument is not that people should move their heads while hitting, but that people dont have to look at the ball like federer to hit a clean shot
Click to expand...

So in essence you're saying that they don't have to look exactly at the contact point? If that's the case then we're in agreement. When most people talk about watching the ball they don't mean right up to the contact point.
 
jasoncho92 said:
Guess this is what i get for going against the majority's opinion. Enlighten you? I already stated that what i saw was that most pros dont look at the ball. And please dont twist what i meant by using what i wrote in a literal fashion. I obviously meant that the head of the player is facing forward and not at the ball. And 5623 stated that watching the ball is the "#1 thing" for hitting the ball cleanly which basically is stating that no matter how much you practice, if you dont look at the ball, you cant hit it cleanly.
Click to expand...

We can disagree, thats fine. And I never said you can't hit the ball cleanly, but that you won't do it as consistently as someone who watches like Fed. I don't know that you are even in the minority on this. I have been teaching this before Fed even came on the scene. Back then, most agreed with you on this, then Fed came along and played a few years losing only 3-4 matches a year, schooling those other pros you cite doing this and people started to take notice more.

You also seem to think that just becuase they are pros that they hit nearly every shot cleanly, but that's just not the case. Thats just like saying all pro basketball players can hit free throws. I don't know how many matches you've been to or maybe you just don't have the ear to hear the difference. How else would some like Agassi become known as such clean ball strikers? And as I pointed out earlier, Fed is known to be even cleaner than Andre, even with a much small head size.

Also many other pros do much the same as Fed, but with a CP more out front. With this, the head turn is not so pronounced as it is with Fed and not as noticeable. With his more conservative grip, Fed lets the ball get a little deeper into the strike zone, and then holds the head still a split sec after the ball is gone. Most others don't wait till the ball is gone.

In the end, I'm just giving tips that have worked for over a decade and are backed up with my other experiences with keeping the head on the target, like golf, place kicking, batting, and carrier landings. You are clearly entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to disagree.
 
Djokovicfan4life said:
So in essence you're saying that they don't have to look exactly at the contact point? If that's the case then we're in agreement. When most people talk about watching the ball they don't mean right up to the contact point.
Click to expand...

You may be right about most people, but I'm talking about watching it right into the contact point and seeing (or sensing it) disappear on contact. Whether you are legally blind at that point or not, it works. Legally blind is only stating that you don't see clearly; not that things go dark. You don't need to see the ball crisply to hit it.
 
5263 said:
We can disagree, thats fine. And I never said you can't hit the ball cleanly, but that you won't do it as consistently as someone who watches like Fed. I don't know that you are even in the minority on this. I have been teaching this before Fed even came on the scene. Back then, most agreed with you on this, then Fed came along and played a few years losing only 3-4 matches a year, schooling those other pros you cite doing this and people started to take notice more.

You also seem to think that just becuase they are pros that they hit nearly every shot cleanly, but that's just not the case. Thats just like saying all pro basketball players can hit free throws. I don't know how many matches you've been to or maybe you just don't have the ear to hear the difference. How else would some like Agassi become known as such clean ball strikers? And as I pointed out earlier, Fed is known to be even cleaner than Andre, even with a much small head size.

Also many other pros do much the same as Fed, but with a CP more out front. With this, the head turn is not so pronounced as it is with Fed and not as noticeable. With his more conservative grip, Fed lets the ball get a little deeper into the strike zone, and then holds the head still a split sec after the ball is gone. Most others don't wait till the ball is gone.

In the end, I'm just giving tips that have worked for over a decade and are backed up with my other experiences with keeping the head on the target, like golf, place kicking, batting, and carrier landings. You are clearly entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to disagree.
Click to expand...

You nail it 5263, this has gotta be the most insightful post in this thread !!! even when on the decline now, fed still shank less than majority of the player on tour, and he shank not because of hand-eye coordination, but because his footwork, well it's just 1 or half step slower sometimes, and we know the consequence this can have when wielding a 90 inch stick like federer.
 
5263 said:
You may be right about most people, but I'm talking about watching it right into the contact point and seeing (or sensing it) disappear on contact. Whether you are legally blind at that point or not, it works. Legally blind is only stating that you don't see clearly; not that things go dark. You don't need to see the ball crisply to hit it.
Click to expand...

yeah, some people really take it literally and think we can see where exactly the ball hit on the stringbed, but in fact, we only need to see a racquet blur passing by.
 
phoenicks said:
You nail it 5263, this has gotta be the most insightful post in this thread !!! even when on the decline now, fed still shank less than majority of the player on tour, and he shank not because of hand-eye coordination, but because his footwork, well it's just 1 or half step slower sometimes, and we know the consequence this can have when wielding a 90 inch stick like federer.
Click to expand...

Thanks,
Yes, a step slow this year at times, but mostly bad bounces for one reason or another. Seems it's usually a ball that skids.

I think he will get that half step back this year as he completes his recovery from mono. Interesting to see if that will translate into the dominance of 06?
 
I did not have time to read the previous answers. I am sure that many have good ideas that may make mine unnecessary.

One thing that may not have been mentioned, that you might try- is to go out to a second hand shop or a yard sale and find an old wooden racket.

The reason for this is that old wood rackets tend to be very unforgiving of balls hit outside the sweetspot. Not only will the effect be jarring, but the ball will, most likely just bounce off your foot and roll of in the shrubbery, unless you hit it properly.

So, find a wood racket, have someone hit, or toss, you nice, easy, practice balls. Try to hit them at a medium speed- with a smooth, easy swing. Watch the ball intently, get into position early-- nothing should be rushed. Nothing should feel off balance or awkward.

Think only about hitting the ball in the center of the strings. Gradually, as you improve, try to place your shots to one side of the court, or the other- mix them up.

When, eventually, you get the feel of the ball on the strings and can actually hit the ball over the net and move it around effortlessly on a regular basis, then try the same thing with your modern racket.

Hopefully, you will notice an improvement.
 
5263 said:
Thanks,
Yes, a step slow this year at times, but mostly bad bounces for one reason or another. Seems it's usually a ball that skids.

I think he will get that half step back this year as he completes his recovery from mono. Interesting to see if that will translate into the dominance of 06?
Click to expand...

yeah, i admire his his stroke and elegance footwork ( had a lot of his slow-motion vid ), hope he can recover from mono and back to his best.

But no, I don't want to see an utter dominance of 06 years again, just let me see him back to his vintage self. I want to see all the youngster ( Del potro, Cilic, Gulbis, Nishikori, Simon, Tsonga... ) gearing up themselves and challenge the top 10, I really like these youngsters explosive stroke ( even though they are not as consistent ).

And lastly, I am a Nadal fans, LOL:)

sorry for the off-topic:p
 
Bagumbawalla said:
I did not have time to read the previous answers. I am sure that many have good ideas that may make mine unnecessary.

One thing that may not have been mentioned, that you might try- is to go out to a second hand shop or a yard sale and find an old wooden racket.

The reason for this is that old wood rackets tend to be very unforgiving of balls hit outside the sweetspot. Not only will the effect be jarring, but the ball will, most likely just bounce off your foot and roll of in the shrubbery, unless you hit it properly.

So, find a wood racket, have someone hit, or toss, you nice, easy, practice balls. Try to hit them at a medium speed- with a smooth, easy swing. Watch the ball intently, get into position early-- nothing should be rushed. Nothing should feel off balance or awkward.

Think only about hitting the ball in the center of the strings. Gradually, as you improve, try to place your shots to one side of the court, or the other- mix them up.

When, eventually, you get the feel of the ball on the strings and can actually hit the ball over the net and move it around effortlessly on a regular basis, then try the same thing with your modern racket.

Hopefully, you will notice an improvement.
Click to expand...

Wow, I like that 1, and I think that's the main reason why old folks find that even midsize racquet is very forgiving, considering that they are coming from damn small head woodies era.

I've long been wanting to try hitting with a wood racquet long time ago. Unfortunately, don't think it can be bought in my country, I am seriously thinking of asking my coach who's going back next month to US to get 1 for me !!!
 
5263 said:
You may be right about most people, but I'm talking about watching it right into the contact point and seeing (or sensing it) disappear on contact. Whether you are legally blind at that point or not, it works. Legally blind is only stating that you don't see clearly; not that things go dark. You don't need to see the ball crisply to hit it.
Click to expand...

I know what legally blind means. I wouldn't use it in a sentence if I didn't know what it meant.
 
5263 said:
I didn't intend to offend you, just to make it clear for those who don't. It just sounds so drastic, but doesn't really mean much in this situation.
Click to expand...

No worries, I wasn't offended at all. :)

I agree that the term does sound a little extreme, I just remembered that BB used it once or twice in that epic argument with Stormholloway. I didn't know how else to address that concept, so I used that term.
 
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I have to agree with the people saying that you should watch the ball.

The thing is that pros practice ALOT. Well, tennis is their job. Since they practice soo much, I think their strokes comes from muscle memory so they don't have to look at the ball when contacting.

From my experience, I know I hit better when I keep my head still and watch the ball contact.

But IMO, its all preference. Try out many things and find what you do best at.
 
Differences in opinion that cant be proved i guess. But id just like to know others opinions on the topic of cleanly striking the ball. Do people like agassi and federer become known for cleanly hitting the ball because they actually do? Or do they get known for it because they are so good at tennis. I havent watched too many pros play in real life, but from what ive seen, they almost always hit it on the sweetspot which really kills my insight on the clean hitting thing. Can you explain to me what your definition of clean hitting is?
 
jasoncho92 said:
Differences in opinion that cant be proved i guess. But id just like to know others opinions on the topic of cleanly striking the ball. Do people like agassi and federer become known for cleanly hitting the ball because they actually do? Or do they get known for it because they are so good at tennis. I havent watched too many pros play in real life, but from what ive seen, they almost always hit it on the sweetspot which really kills my insight on the clean hitting thing. Can you explain to me what your definition of clean hitting is?
Click to expand...

When you are there in person, you can hear balls that are not cleanly hit. This does not mean they hit the frame, but are slightly off the sweet spot for that frame and string tension. Most often I see it when they hit slightly long on the stringbed. You can believe it or not, but the pros very often (relative term for sure) miss the sweet spot on their stick. They even whiff now and again. If it makes you feel any better, is is mostly because they are under sooo much pressure from the tactics and placements of the other Pro they are facing.
 
Easy and temporal solution:
Add some lead at 12 o'clock, thus moving the sweetspot a bit closer to that zone ;)
 
jasoncho92 said:
Differences in opinion that cant be proved i guess. But id just like to know others opinions on the topic of cleanly striking the ball. Do people like agassi and federer become known for cleanly hitting the ball because they actually do? Or do they get known for it because they are so good at tennis. I havent watched too many pros play in real life, but from what ive seen, they almost always hit it on the sweetspot which really kills my insight on the clean hitting thing. Can you explain to me what your definition of clean hitting is?
Click to expand...

Clean hitting would be on the sweetspot, which is much smaller than the whole string bed, with the sweetest area being not much bigger than a quarter. Many pros do not almost always hit the sweetspot.

from an article relating to how Pro tennis players could improve their contact:

In brief,
strokes could be better executed by most players simply if they know where to fix their gaze
efficiently. Hence, it is evident that the importance of the old advice ‘keep your eye on the
ball’ still cannot be over-emphasized and can be replaced by the ultimate advices ‘keep your
head still,’ ‘keep your eye on the contact zone’ (Ford et al. 2002) or even by “keep your eye
off the ball’ (Ford, 1984; Horne, 2000).
 
Bagumbawalla said:
I did not have time to read the previous answers. I am sure that many have good ideas that may make mine unnecessary.

One thing that may not have been mentioned, that you might try- is to go out to a second hand shop or a yard sale and find an old wooden racket.

The reason for this is that old wood rackets tend to be very unforgiving of balls hit outside the sweetspot. Not only will the effect be jarring, but the ball will, most likely just bounce off your foot and roll of in the shrubbery, unless you hit it properly.

So, find a wood racket, have someone hit, or toss, you nice, easy, practice balls. Try to hit them at a medium speed- with a smooth, easy swing. Watch the ball intently, get into position early-- nothing should be rushed. Nothing should feel off balance or awkward.

Think only about hitting the ball in the center of the strings. Gradually, as you improve, try to place your shots to one side of the court, or the other- mix them up.

When, eventually, you get the feel of the ball on the strings and can actually hit the ball over the net and move it around effortlessly on a regular basis, then try the same thing with your modern racket.

Hopefully, you will notice an improvement.
Click to expand...

Great tip! Somehow this reminded me of what Roddick used to do before practices when he was still with Gilbert. Roddick would hold the racket by the head and try to hit the ball with the grip. It was Roddick and it was before practices, right? My memory has been failing me these days.
 
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