Racquetball/tennis conundrum

[banter]

I play racquetball and tennis equally and I have noticed that I play better in racquetball than in tennis. My issue is not the ball size, racquet type, court size or any other variable, but rather a constant: MY FEET.

I don't know what the deal is but I move way better in racquetball. While my feet/footwork seem to be a hinderance to me in tennis. Maybe it's a mental thing... I'm sure it is, but I don't know what to do. I'm in despair.

Does anyone play racquetball and tennis and have come across this problem?

What tips do you have that can help me?

Thanks

 

[Wes_Loves_Dunlop]

I play both ping pong and tennis and I am far better in ping pong.
My worst shot is my backhand in tennis, but my backhand is my best in ping pong. Although the backhands in both are different, I know what you are saying.

I think its more of a mental thing because you see the racketball court is smaller, so you feel that you can get to every ball even if it is out of reach.

 

[dozu]

I don't play racket ball, but I think I know where the issue maybe.

the racketball swing is somewhat similar with badminton waist high shot, a flat to slightly downward slap... where as the tennis shot is a low to high brush.

this is where the key difference is.

a flat/downward stroke does not have to go against gravity, so player is freer to fire the shot at anytime, and does not need the feet to leverage against the ground, so player can move around better.

a low to high shot goes against gravity, so it requires player to coordinate that swing with weight transfer, so that the feet can be free.

otherwise, player will need leverage from the feet pushing against the ground to move the hitting arm upwards, and therefore the feet cannot push and move at the same time, resulting in awkward 'shackled' footwork.

A big difference, between beginners and good players, is how they hit the ball when they are on the move. Beginners often looked off balance, off tempo, with their feet seemingly very heavy.... good players do the opposite.. they look like they are floating like a butterfly when they hit on the run.

A drill to feel this, is to swing your hitting arm back and forth without stopping, while running all over the court.. and you will realize that you can only swing it forward at certain rhythm, in order to stay in balance, 'in beat' with the weight transfer while you move around.

live ball hitting is the same. the arm is 15-20 lbs, you cannot just fire it at any random time.... there is a rhythm you have to fire with.... you watch the pros, they all have this rhythm.

hope the above makes sense.

 

[dennis10is]

I play racquetball and tennis equally and I have noticed that I play better in racquetball than in tennis. My issue is not the ball size, racquet type, court size or any other variable, but rather a constant: MY FEET.

I don't know what the deal is but I move way better in racquetball. While my feet/footwork seem to be a hinderance to me in tennis. Maybe it's a mental thing... I'm sure it is, but I don't know what to do. I'm in despair.

Does anyone play racquetball and tennis and have come across this problem?

What tips do you have that can help me?

Thanks

I play both seriously when I was serious about racquetball and tennis and footwork have some similarity but a good player in racquetball would have equivalent effective footwork in tennis (that is a given).

How good do you think you are in racquetball? A lot of people believe that they are good in racquetball because they can hit the ball back and have rallies in racquetball but rball has a different way of measuring skill level. Do you let balls bounce off the backwall so that you can swivel. track the ball as it rebound toward the front and hit it when it is below your knees? That's proper racquetball, so if you don't do this as "the preferred" method of killing the ball then you are pretty much at the beginner level in rball and to compare your rball footwork with tennis isn't a fair comparison.

If you are at this level than you would know that rball is about tracking the ball and hitting the ball when it is optimally low so the footwork is quite different than in tennis. In terms of balance, using your legs, trunk, etc... the physics involved in hitting are very similar. So, a good rballer can see and quickly compute where and when they need to be in order to hit the ball at the best height (low) so that they can hit a kill shot or a low power passing shot. So, "seeing" the path of the ball, and knowing when and where you will hit it, and then getting there on time are all commonality but the computation of the tennis ball and rball differs.

 

[86golf]

Couple things to consider...net clearance, wall push, size and traction

Because there is no net clearance to worry about, it is more natural to be in an athletic position in racquetball with knees bent all the time. Also, you want a ball about knee height to roll out for a winner in racquetball. Take a video of you playing tennis and see if you are in that athletic position all the time to push off after a split step.

Also, I find it common to push off walls to get back to center (back wall too). In tennis, you need to learn the proper footwork to reset after every shot. The size of the court helps those with quick bursts.

If you play tennis on clay, then obviously traction is an issue and not as much in racquetball, plus I'm more apt to dive in racquetball, but never in tennis.

 

[Angle Queen]

I really, really struggled with the transition between the two sports. While they both use a racket and ball, they're way, way different.

In rball, I felt I had a good day if my legs (mostly my thighs) were sore. If my arm (mostly my forearm) was sore, that meant I hadn't been 'gettin down' enough on the ball.

Tennis is another matter altogether. As I'm fond of telling my partners (both doubles and hitting)...'That darn Net Guy. He wins too many points'. Between the net, the environment (sun, wind, temp extremes), different surfaces, even the ball (as the fuzz comes off). It just seems to require so much more on-the-fly adaptability.

Back in the day (ok, the mid/late 80s...when rball was kind of a new thing), I considered myself a decent rball player, esp for a gurl (sic). I played it for over a decade, during which I transitioned back into tennis (which I'd played, marginally, in HS). These days, I've completely foregone the rball in favor of the tennis...but only because our club doesn't have any rball courts. Would love to give a good go these days.

Good luck with playing both. Well.

 

[SuperDuy]

Racquetball will throw off your tennis as it is more wristy actions.