Please critique my ground strokes, thanks!

Biiru

Biiru

Rookie
Hi everyone,

Looking to improve my game. Please feel free to critique!
Obviously I had some lazy footwork, also I noticed my weight transfer probably isn't right. Please let me know anything I need to improve on.

Thanks in advance!



 
Do you hit ALL (or most of) your forehands with a fully open stance? If so, you might be asking for hip issues (especially right hip) and, possibly, other injuries somewhere down the line. You might get away with it for a while but the issues could crop up in a few years.

My advice is to hit more neutral stance and semi-open stance rather than so many fully-open stance Fh shots. I will usually only use a fully-open stance for very high contact points or when running out wide for a shot. In most situations I'm using a neutral stance or semi-open stance and only occasionally use a closed stance or a fully opened stance.

If you insist on using a fully-open stance more than this, it is important to strengthen / fortify your hips. Otherwise you may end up with significant hip issues like Gustavo Kuerten, Lleyton Hewitt and many others. Check out this TennisPlayer page to learn how to bulletproof your hips.

 
I'm not going to say too much about your Bh at this point. Like the fact that you are usually employing something close to a neutral stance. However, I would advise turning the front foot out more when you set up. Angle it a bit more toward the net... perhaps toward the net post (or more). This should help to put less stress on your R knee, ankle (& foot).

This foot orientation can also help with the opening up (uncoiling) of your hips / body. Would also like to see a little bit more knee bend in the R leg (& L leg). Put a little bit more weight on the front of the foot (ball of the foot) rather than pivoting on your heel.
 
I agree with Systemic Anomalies points. Particularly the footwork and using more semi open and neural stance for the Fh. And on the BH pointing your toes a little more towards the net on your leading foot in order to open up the hips; ie make it more easy for you to rotate your torso on the follow through.

I like the backhand swing path you use. Nice and compact and straight through the contact zone. Don’t change it. It’ll allow you to hit the ball fairly flat on that wing which is what you want on the BH side due to the fact we all generally have lower racquet head speed for a 2hbh.
 
SystemicAnomaly said:
Semi-open is often a good option as well. There are times when stepping in, for a neutral stance, might put you too close to the line of the incoming ball. A semi open stance in this situation will work just fine.
Click to expand...

I sometimes thought I was hitting semi-open but this is the first time I video myself and until you pointed out I haven't noticed my stance is so open.

Another thing is that when I hit my forehand trying to get more top spin, sometimes my racket face will get too closed and the ball will kind of fly out like a lob (not sure if you get this, it's like ball is hitting the bottom of the racket face), I'm not sure if my grip size is too small and cause the twist of racket, or it's my timing issue, or my swing trajectory?
 
Biiru said:
I sometimes thought I was hitting semi-open but this is the first time I video myself and until you pointed out I haven't noticed my stance is so open.

Another thing is that when I hit my forehand trying to get more top spin, sometimes my racket face will get too closed and the ball will kind of fly out like a lob (not sure if you get this, it's like ball is hitting the bottom of the racket face), I'm not sure if my grip size is too small and cause the twist of racket, or it's my timing issue, or my swing trajectory?
Click to expand...
Racket twist doesn't ordinary happen until after the ball has already left the strings. This would have no effect on the ball.

If you are hitting the bottom edge of the racket frame, it could be your swing path or it may be that you are not dropping the racket head enough on your takeback. Try letting the racket head drop below your hand before you start your forward swing. Perhaps a little more knee bend might help to get your racket head below the ball a bit more.
 
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SystemicAnomaly said:
Racket twist doesn't ordinary happen until after the ball has already left the strings. This would have no effect on the ball.

If you are hitting the bottom edge of the racket frame, it could be your swing path or it may be that you are not dropping the racket head enough on your takeback. Try letting the racket head drop below your hand before you start your forward swing. Perhaps a little bit more neaving might help to get your racket head below the ball a bit more
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip but what do you mean by neaving?
 
Racket twist as a result of hitting low in the stringbed in the image below. The green line represents the racket face orientation at contact (typically, 4ms in duration). For the red lines, the ball has already left the strings.

RF%2BRacket%2BPath%2B008.jpg
 
SystemicAnomaly said:
Racket twist as a result of hitting low in the stringbed in the image below. The green line represents the racket face orientation at contact (typically, 4ms in duration). For the red lines, the ball has already left the strings.

RF%2BRacket%2BPath%2B008.jpg
Click to expand...

Yea, so the ball I was describing it's like hitting the ball while my racket is traveling in the trajectory of the red part. The ball has a lot of spin but very high..

but sure I'll take note to bend more knee and take my racket lower, and perhaps open faster.
 
The number one thing that will help you right now isn't mechanical. It's attitudinal.

Stay on the balls of your feet, active and engaged, with your racquet held in a ready position in front of you between shots. Every shot, every time.

Pick any pro you've heard of, and type in his name followed by the word "practice" in youtube. You'll see the same thing time after time. Here's Tsitsipas.


Ignore the strokes. You can't do those yet. Just watch him between shots. Bouncing on the balls of the feet, in a ready position, physically taut and engaged and ready to do whatever the incoming shot demands. Every time.

Right now, you club at the ball like a guy with a stick in his hand, because you're not approaching it as a full-body, athletic endeavor. This is the first step to engaging the full body. Till you get your mind and body right, there's no point worrying about minutiae.
 
ZanderGoga said:
The number one thing that will help you right now isn't mechanical. It's attitudinal.

Stay on the balls of your feet, active and engaged, with your racquet held in a ready position in front of you between shots. Every shot, every time.

Pick any pro you've heard of, and type in his name followed by the word "practice" in youtube. You'll see the same thing time after time. Here's Tsitsipas.


Ignore the strokes. You can't do those yet. Just watch him between shots. Bouncing on the balls of the feet, in a ready position, physically taut and engaged and ready to do whatever the incoming shot demands. Every time.

Right now, you club at the ball like a guy with a stick in his hand, because you're not approaching it as a full-body, athletic endeavor. This is the first step to engaging the full body. Till you get your mind and body right, there's no point worrying about minutiae.
Click to expand...

Word. definitely trying to improving my physical attributes too. I get heel pain sometimes after I played because I stand too tall maybe
 
Biiru said:
Hi everyone,

Looking to improve my game. Please feel free to critique!
Obviously I had some lazy footwork, also I noticed my weight transfer probably isn't right. Please let me know anything I need to improve on.

Thanks in advance!



Click to expand...


FH - you need to step through and not hop - you are losing balance.
BH - Step into it for the swing a little more open.

Overall, to me it looks like you are trying to generate way more racquet head speed than you can control for consistent contact.
 
Biiru said:
Word. definitely trying to improving my physical attributes too. I get heel pain sometimes after I played because I stand too tall maybe
Click to expand...
Don't worry about your physical attributes. Tennis isn't full of Adonis types, and those who are mostly got there illegitimately. Worry about physical *actions*. The ones I describe above will put your body in ready position to do the very first things you have to do in order to begin the path to improvement. Until you do that stuff, the rest of the well-intended instructions are just blowing wind up your skirt. You literally *can't* do thing one until after you do thing zero. Thing zero is treating it like an athletic endeavor, because it is one.
 
ChaelAZ said:
FH - you need to step through and not hop - you are losing balance.
BH - Step into it for the swing a little more open.

Overall, to me it looks like you are trying to generate way more racquet head speed than you can control for consistent contact.
Click to expand...

so your suggestion would be hit a bit lower power, improve footwork, balance etc. first right?
 
There have already been many good observations and suggestions.
All I am going to suggest is-

In a match, you will seldom be hitting from the full open position, except when the ball is hit right back to you,
and you don't have time to get set up "properly".

So, rather than have someone hit the ball right to you (or have your ball machine do the same)- have the practice balls directed well to your forehand side, then well to your backhand side- this will force you to move, set up and redirect the ball in a more realistic way.

Also, I would suggest that once you get set up to hit the ball, keep your feet planted and "swivel" at the waist as you stroke through the ball. As is, you look a bit stiff.
 
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ZanderGoga said:
The number one thing that will help you right now isn't mechanical. It's attitudinal.

Stay on the balls of your feet, active and engaged, with your racquet held in a ready position in front of you between shots. Every shot, every time.

Pick any pro you've heard of, and type in his name followed by the word "practice" in youtube. You'll see the same thing time after time. Here's Tsitsipas.


Ignore the strokes. You can't do those yet. Just watch him between shots. Bouncing on the balls of the feet, in a ready position, physically taut and engaged and ready to do whatever the incoming shot demands. Every time.

Right now, you club at the ball like a guy with a stick in his hand, because you're not approaching it as a full-body, athletic endeavor. This is the first step to engaging the full body. Till you get your mind and body right, there's no point worrying about minutiae.
Click to expand...
ChaelAZ said:
FH - you need to step through and not hop - you are losing balance.
BH - Step into it for the swing a little more open.

Overall, to me it looks like you are trying to generate way more racquet head speed than you can control for consistent contact.
Click to expand...

I bolded what I think are the big take aways. Just get onto your toes, slow down and feel the ball on the strings. A bit of mini tennis to get warmed up probably wouldn't astray. In those videos you're clubbing away and hitting most with the frame. Until you fix that, nothing else matters.
 
Encinal? Damn.

First couple thing that might be obvious but is essential if you want to hit better
1. Lose your weight!
2. Get fit, your core is not fit enough, do ladders, run spider run, improve your sprint, stand on your toes and able to stay low, wider stances (or what other people like to call split step but I like to call it stagger steps).
3. Get better glasses, sometime some glasses really distort the light so further ball might appear faster than it really is or slower than it really is.
4. Get better shoes that allows more cushion when you run and skid around.

Cheers
 
Biiru said:
Hi everyone,

Looking to improve my game. Please feel free to critique!
Obviously I had some lazy footwork, also I noticed my weight transfer probably isn't right. Please let me know anything I need to improve on.

Thanks in advance!
(deleted videos - 5 video limit per post)
Click to expand...

Compare your strokes frame-by-frame in this post. To single frame on Youtube, use the period & arrow keys. Always select the video using the alt key + left mouse click, otherwise the video starts playing. Go to impacts and move back and forth comparing frames. Go full screen and back down and the video stays on the same frame. (You need high speed video for tennis strokes.)

If you have a model player for your backhand and forehand find and post video next to your stroke videos. For most accurate comparisons, use similar camera angles.

Love Tennis video

Love Tennis video

This is intended to start you viewing videos, observing differences side-by-side and considering the differences. In other words, this is about feedback and using side-by-side videos as a tool. It is not an instruction. It is not a very complete analysis.

Forehand off arm - when pros want to hit pace they often stick out the off arm, accelerate it before the stroke to high speed and pull it into the body. This transfers the angular momentum of the arm into the uppermost body (line between the shoulders) for added rotational speed of the uppermost body. Curiosity explained and posted on this subject a few years ago and I have posted on it. Compare your use of the off arm in your forehand video to pro forehands when pro players wish to hit pace (not for low intensity warm ups or practice forehands).

Forehand separation - the line between the two shoulders and the line between the two hips move independently. This allows twisting of the body between the hips and shoulders and the stretching of trunk muscles. Consider your flexibility and spine and do not stress your back. You appear to move the upper body (above the waist) more all together, with not much separation. Compare your separation angle vs time to the pro forehands particularly for separation. See Djokovic video. Djokovic is extremely flexible and his range of motion used for heavy paced shots is too much for most players. But he is an excellent model for displaying separation - watch him on TV when he wants to hit pace!

Position of feet and footwork. Pick your model forehand or study ATP footwork and observe position of the feet and footwork, hip turns, timing, etc. I believe but do not know that the Djokovic footwork for the forehand may be widely used. I have seen the 45 degree-ish angle for his feet prior to his stroke on other players. See then Djokovic thumbnail picture and its video. I don't have the percentages for footwork. You seem more open stance, feet more parallel to the base line.

List all forehand differences.

Two hand backhand. I have not studied the two hand backhand. The same separation considerations apply. Compare your 2HBh and note all differences.
 
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Chas Tennis said:
Forehand separation - the line between the two shoulders and the line between the two hips move independently. This allows twisting of the body between the hips and shoulders and the stretching of trunk muscles. Consider your flexibility and spine and do not stress your back. You appear to move the upper body (above the waist) more all together, with not much separation. Compare your separation angle vs time to the pro forehands particularly for separation. See Djokovic video. Djokovic is extremely flexible and his range of motion used for heavy paced shots is too much for most players. But he is an excellent model for displaying separation - watch him on TV when he wants to hit pace!
Click to expand...

So if I understand it correctly, it should be hip rotation first -> activate the core muscles to rotate and lead the shoulders? is that what separation means?
 
If you have had back issues don't do these things. Don't do anything in this demo with any force for acceleration or any speed. Do everything slowly and stay away from the end of your range of motion.

All of this slow, no high speed - Stand up and elevate your arms straight out to the sides. Keep your hips still. Easy rotate to right then left, not to full range of motion, no stress. If you hips are still, you are varying the separation angle between your shoulders line and hips line. Imagine looking down from above to see the separation angle. Your trunk and spine muscles are doing the motions. They twist. You may be using active muscle forces or forces from stretched muscles or both. You can time those forces in various ways that are too complicated for me to know or explain.

Your hips don't have to be still. Move hips and shoulders together and also independently. Use different timing for the shoulders and the hips. Legs rotate the pelvis and everything above it, and the trunk and spine rotates the angle from the pelvis to uppermost body (as seen by the line between the shoulders).

Now we can watch Djokovic use separation for his forehand and see his stroke technique in all detail of angles, timing, etc. (we can't directly see forces in videos but some things can be inferred from the motions that you and I can observe)

Go to the Djokovic video. Try working with just the 1st forehand shown in the video and go through it frame-by-frame, back and forth. Watch the shoulders line, watch the hips line, watch the timing, foot work....... Hips don't turn back as far as the shoulders line, they also start a little forward ahead of the uppermost body, the uppermost body starts the forward racket swing and catches up and passes the hips line........ Forget the word descriptions of tennis strokes and switch to video image descriptions.

Do that for a while and see how you do. Watch on TV how the ATP and WTA players are doing separation and how their shoulders lines move. Search separation forehand on Google and the forum.
 
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Biiru said:
So if I understand it correctly, it should be hip rotation first -> activate the core muscles to rotate and lead the shoulders? is that what separation means?
Click to expand...
Separation angle can be accomplished in a couple of different ways. One is to uncoil the hips before the upper torso. The other way is to preset your hips partially open. This will happen on a semi open stance... where the upper torso is coiled more than the hips are. This will already store some potential energy in the core.
 
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