Rate of Improvement?

[Tikiman53]

What is your rate of improvement? How long did it take you to become a 3.5 or 4.0? I've had a background of tennis lessons, and I played seriously for almost 1.5 years. RIght now, I'm about 3.5-4.0, I think. And I finally feel comfortable enough with my level to enter tournaments for my age group, 14 and under.

But what about you guys?

 

[Swissv2]

it depends on person to person, but it really doesn't matter.

everyone learns at a different pace; so long as you continually improve is what should concern you the most.

 

[MasterTS]

Depends how often you play, how serious you are, and so on.

I play about 6 times a week a few hours a day. I hit around 700-800 serves a week, play 2-4 matches, hit around with various players, and hit with a coach...

My rate of improvement is higher then if I just took a social group class and hit around here and there..

Natural talent may give you a higher rate of improvement as well.

 

[tennis_hand]

I played about 1 year, 2-4 hours a week.
I didn't take any lessons, but now I am about 3.0. If I have a sunny day, I am 3.5.

 

[MasturB]

I've been playing for just about a month now, and I've been told by a 4.0 that I'm in between 3.0 and 3.5. Most of it is attributed from my baseball experience. I've been playing about 5-6 hours a day, 4-5 times a week for just about a month.

I obsess with mechanics and I work on it tell I get it right. I've gotten some useful advice on these forums. I guess you can call me one those guys that turn it up when the adrenaline is running. I do tend to lose focus at times and get frustrated. however when I actually give 100% concentration, I tend to do pretty well.

 

[tennis_hand]

wow. 1 month and you can reach 3.0. that is impressive.

 

[MasturB]

wow. 1 month and you can reach 3.0. that is impressive.

I guess it comes from playing other sports. When I play football, I use a sidearm throwing motion, and it's somewhat similar to a forehand in tennis when you use your body. The same applies to throwing a baseball from a side motion.

Baseball I was a switch hitter. For those who don't know what that is, it means to hit from both sides of the plate. This helped out my backhand tremendously. If you've ever heard of a baseball player named Ichiro Suzuki, alot of his swings are almost identical to tennis strokes.

My serve isn't where I want it to be right now, and I've gotten alot of helpful advice from this board. I plan on testing it out tomorrow for a few hours.

Not to mention I've watched alot of tennis over the years, watching the slow motion replays, etc. has help me transition it into my game. Baseball has been my passion since I was maybe 4, and now I can't stop playing tennis. I won't be playing baseball this upcoming spring for the first time in a long time, in part due to me wanting to play tennis for my school.

I should be writing my essay right now for school at 3:38 AM, but instead I'm watching youtube clips of Federer in slow motion.

 

[skuludo]

4 years to get to my current level. Maybe 4.0.

I had to lose all the stuff I practiced in the first 3 years before any results started to show up. The day my backhand went so out of control, I will never forget it. That was 2 months ago. My 2 handed backhand was at 1.5 level, so I changed to a 1 hander for temporary relief. Then I thought of something and the 2 hander is back with more consistancy since I started playing tennis. (A new/old change is being made again. A grip for my 2 hander that hasn't been used in 3 years. A grip that I had trouble hitting high balls, but is no longer true now.)

My forehand magicly came with the package too. My idea to improve my consitency turned my game into aggresive pushing style.

 

[boojay]

I've been playing for 3 full summers now and for a long stretch this summer I was playing 2-7 hours a day, 7 days a week, up to 58 out of 60 days playing (28 and 30 straight days, respectively. I took a couple days off cuz we had to go to Edmonton). I've cut back my playing time now that summer's over and I have to work, but I've been told by a level 3 coach that I'm around a 4.0. He actually hasn't seen me play well yet and I have hit toe-to-toe with 5.0s so that's how much I've progressed.

I've received plenty of useful tips from these boards as well as many other club members. I could see myself improving tremendously day after day, week after week for such a long time that it was a letdown when the progress wasn't so obvious anymore, but recently I've hit that stride again where I can see the results and I'm incredibly excited.

 

[Tikiman53]

Yeah, I have a friend who's about 3.5-4.0, and he's been playing for about 10 monthes to a year. But then again, he gets 2 hour private lessons everyday...

 

[FiveO]

Like others have said everyone's learning curve is different. Everyone's athletic development is different and merely reaching physical maturity varies widely.

If working hard and efficiently be happy with your improvement. As the modified adage goes "Practice doesn't make perfect, Perfect practice makes perfect."

It gets harder to jump levels as you go up the pyramid though. Be prepared for plateaus and some valleys if you are truly trying to expand your game and improve. Those psychological humps are the true tests. Stay mentally fresh and motivated each time you step on court. Don't go out on court just to go out on the court. Improvement isn't measured on a clock or by the quantity of work. Sure it takes time and commitment but your continued improvement will more and more be measured by the quality of the effort you put into it. If you can work through them as efficiently as you can you will give yourself the best chance to realize your potential.

 

[raiden031]

I have been a 3.0 for the past 6 years (minus 2 years off) and am very athletic. My strokes have improved dramatically, but I can't win matches because I'm too inconsistent. I have lost 7 matches against both 3.0 and 3.5 players since August and all of them were me beating myself. Almost all unforced errors.

They say anyone who is a competitive athlete in another sport should start at 3.0, because they can anticipate very quick improvement to the 3.0 level from the beginner level.

 

[kevhen]

It took me like 2 years to go from 3.0 to 3.5 and then about 4 years to go from 3.5 to 4.0 and now I am on pace to get to 4.5 in a year or two and that would make like 6 more years. It gets harder as you go up. I have no goals to get to 5.0 but will be happy with 4.5 and maintaining that as long as possible. Had I started playing seriously at your age, I would have tried for 5.0.

When I was 3.0 I played like once or twice a week in the summer. When I was 3.5, I played 3-4 times a week in the summer. Now I play 2-3 times a week year round. Good luck in moving up, it takes alot of match experience, and well-focused practices.

 

[Ripper]

I guess it comes from playing other sports...

MasturB (...lol), I don't want to say that I don't believe you, but I hope you're not like me, when I started playing. I used to think I was this greatly gifted player, that learnt to play so well so fast (and, in a way, I was). But, when I entered my first tournament, reality hit me like a speeding bullet train. Today, I have a, totally, different perspective. I can watch someone (anyone) play and, instead of thinking "I'm better than him", I see past that. I may have prettier strokes, but do I have the same level of directional control? I may have a stronger first serve, but what proportion of them are going in? Then, there's the mental part. Federer and Nadal, f.e., would be NOTHING if their ability to focus wasn't up there with their technical abilities.

Edit: Look, I'll tell you how you can really measure how good you REALLY are. All rookies, talented or not, have two playing personalities: the practice one and the match one. As you get better, the two will slowly merge into one. The day you start to play matches with close to the same looseness with which you can practice, you'll understand what I'm saying. In the meantime, remember this, your rating level is that with which you play matches... tournament matches

 

[Grandslam05]

guess it comes from playing other sports. When I play football, I use a sidearm throwing motion, and it's somewhat similar to a forehand in tennis when you use your body. The same applies to throwing a baseball from a side motion.

Baseball I was a switch hitter. For those who don't know what that is, it means to hit from both sides of the plate. This helped out my backhand tremendously. If you've ever heard of a baseball player named Ichiro Suzuki, alot of his swings are almost identical to tennis strokes.

My serve isn't where I want it to be right now, and I've gotten alot of helpful advice from this board. I plan on testing it out tomorrow for a few hours.

Not to mention I've watched alot of tennis over the years, watching the slow motion replays, etc. has help me transition it into my game. Baseball has been my passion since I was maybe 4, and now I can't stop playing tennis. I won't be playing baseball this upcoming spring for the first time in a long time, in part due to me wanting to play tennis for my school.

I should be writing my essay right now for school at 3:38 AM, but instead I'm watching youtube clips of Federer in slow motion.

Wow, you are a lot like me. The only difference is I'm still playing baseball this spring. Last year our varsity team won the states and this year I should be on varsity this year as a junior, so I gotta stick with it. I've been playing baseball my whole life, and really just started picking up tennis recently. I'm probably around a 3.0-3.5 too. The only thing is I find tennis a lot more fun than baseball is right now.

Good news though, we have to do an independent study project for english this year, so I chose tennis baby! This is giving me a good excuse for my parents to buy me some lessons, cause my game right now is all self taught.

I just wish boys tennis was in the fall or something.

 

[looseswing]

I am at 3.5-4.0 after three years of playing a lot of tennis. During the summer I felt like my level slipped a little, then rose, and now it has, as FiveO put it, vallyed. I am so frustrated right now, but as he said its a true test of skill. Hopefully I can get past it soon.