O
OSD
Guest
Some backgrounds (it might explain something I think, not sure, skip first paragraph if you guys wants XD). I have been lurking around some forums for a while hoping I can pick up some info, but there's none that I can find on some of these shots/technique (if they qualifies as one)
I had a compound fracture down my arm that have effective destroy a few of my ligament in my wrist and after it was considered fully healed (that was a few years ago), I was unable to do a lot of stuff I was once able to and pain cause more problem, I was (still am, lol) an extremely effective as a weather forecaster from the degree of dull pain I feel in my arm. In any case, my family doctor recommended me and later in university, a physiotherapist, tell me to pick up recreation tennis. I didn't really considered it until around last year and didn't make any real commitment until I was "stuck" in the UK for a couple of months just after the holiday seasons. I took 4 coached sessions and have disappeared for vacation for a few months following, so my consistency is kind of funky to say the least. My "pace" or "drive" or whatever you call it is nonexistent (am I what you considered a pusher?
) since I had/have no upper body strength (I struggle with 20lbs set of free weight) so I tend to try the keep the ball in play with whatever spin I can put into it, most of the times, meaning almost none.
Now onto the question ^^
There are a tons of "weird hits" I tend to hit that is well... weird and drives my opponents crazy and when my coach saw it, didn't know what to tell me, except that my form was bad or I was pressured when I hit it.
I'm a Western forehand and anything backhand (I have yet to decide which one is best, but my bh is very, very terrible unless I'm doing shots I practiced). The following are shots that I can do at will, also I can't "set them up" (since I don't understand how it works, at all, trust me, I've tried to practice some of these shots and it makes no difference, and my coach adviced me stop consciously hitting some of them, but keep note and never forget them).
Weird Hit #1
When a fastball comes toward the rightside of my body and I don't have time to move (since I rush the net quite a bit), I tend to a slice (is it even the case?), even with my western grip. So it will be like, tucking your elbow in with palm face upward when hitting the ball. The resultant shot is where the weird part lies, sometimes if I pop it up, it kind of hangs in the air like a lob shot but it would drift to the left and bounce shoulder height to the right. I did a ton of tests with my bro yesterday, and this part we thought we could attribute to the wind, but the wind was coming from left to right so it can't be the case. I also did this a few time against my coach, I don't know what to call this shot since there's simply no reference for it in any of the books I've read. Also the so called "Snake" from Prince of Tennis is not helpful (since it's both fictional and the motion doesn't come close - I'm a firm believer of every fiction contains a grain of truth), I have read on this forum that some people can hit similar shots to it with ease, but I don't see elaboration nor reference to specific players that does it. So I'm pretty much scratching my head as "wtf is this shot" :mrgreen:
Weird Hit #2
Same as #1, but this usually happens when I try to move back knowing a groundstroke is coming but doesn't make it in time. The ball goes over the net and hops once in the same spot about 1 feet off the ground or just simply die and rollback as soon as it touch the floor. My coach and friends tells me that this is just a forehand dropshot effectively having no power and way too much backspin/sidespin (left to right). But when I do a proper forehand dropshot, it looks nothing like this nor is it anywhere as effective.
Weird Hit #3
Due to the low quality court and walls in the area (the tennis court I play at has uneven grounds, same with the walls, and are nowhere near the size of regulation courts T_T), sometimes balls bounce to us at weird directions and height (and believe it or not, it helps with my footwork and "last second judgements" XD). So it forced me to hit some of my groundstroke (specifically topspin in this case) weird. In this case, once I hit the ball, it would curve left in the air and bounce right on impact. This has happened only once before when I was on a quality court in the UK, so we assumed that these hits are due to the low quality of the court I was playing on. But a few days ago, me and my friends went to an indoor court, and the shot came out about 7 or 8 times (muscle memory maybe? I didn't even realized what I hit until I see my friends jokingly give me the finger after chasing the ball). When I hit the ball, it's a western fh hit that's about 45 degree to the frontright of me that requires me almost a straight arm/fuyll extension reach to get it. When I try to practice this shot, it just gives me crosscourt balls and it never feels "right". When me and my brother was experimenting with this, I could tell him when it's coming since I can tell by feel of it, but for some reason I can never "will it" to come out or "set it up".
Weird hit/technique? #1
When we are rallying for a while, I would sometimes, out of instinct (as in, I don't think to hit it, my body just run like hell and hit it on its own) hit a slice on a topspin made by my opponent. The stroke is consisent (point of impact, feel, etc... ), but the resultant shot is well, all over the place. Some would go left or right after impact, once a while the ball jump almost straight up after impact (and I ate some smash as a result). There was a few time where the ball would come back over the net onto my side (how do we call this anyways? we just normally redo the point or I run up and eh... return my own hit), but the ball bouncing back I wouldn't put any bets on since it "can" be due to the floor (until I get a chance to test it in a regulation court, in about... a month or two ><). The main concern I have with this is that, sometimes my entire right arm will go "tingly" or numb from this, other time it's like a normal stroke. What I would like to know... is this a legit technique, if it is, should this be learn at the beginner/intermediate level?
Weird hit/technique #2
This is something I've picked up when I was in the UK playing against better servers (so in short, everyone that ever played me there... lol), but this holds specially true for hard servers. Whenever I see a hard serve coming, I just rush to about 3 feet behind the service line and chop it down as soon as I could with moderate strength. I can't really control the ball in this case, but it just "goes in" and "goes all over the place" and it doesn't take as much from my arms as I would from receiving the shot normally (and some of these guys have ridiculously hard serves, I remember seeing a racquet with broken string kinda contorted in a counterclockwise style resulting from one of these serves, but it was probably just a bad racquet ^^). My coach obviously told me to abandon this and try a rising shot instead (with a open stance and semi-closed face and hit as low as possible since eh.. well, I have no pace
). I also tried the move a few feet behind the baseline, which involved me hitting back crapballs that I end up eating almost everytime (and one time I almost literally ate the ball if I haven't fall on my ass at the last second >.<). And I found that statistically, I don't do as well, should I go back to the "hack it as they come?" method. I know it's uncontrolable (aside from going in 90% of the time, just don't ask how it was bounce and which way it will go), but it gives me a better odd of "keeping the game going".
Weird hit/technique #3.
Recently, I found that I can hit as hard as I can with absolute control (unfortunately, only for a forehand XD). But to do it, I have to abandon my footwork for tennis and look well... stupid. What I do is just start hopping in one spot in a semi-close/open stance, toes barely leaving the floor while keeping my arm stiffer than usual (I picked this from another sport XD). When I swing into the ball, 1 of 2 things usually happens. Either I'm airborne (going up or down doesn't matter, but I found that when I make contact on the way down, the ball feels "heavier) or when I'm done my hit, my back is almost facing the net. This tires me out faster, but it just feel so freaking awesome hitting it with this much power (it's hard to understand without being a weak hitter, just imagine riding your bike normally everyday, and then one day, with a little more effort, you are speeding pass cars on the highway, overexaggerated, but that's the feeling). What I'm concerned with is, will this lead to injury since this isn't a proper tennis technique (afaik that is, I'm seen similar "split step", but my friends told me that it looks and feels different from what I'm doing since I am constantly hopping and even move with the hop). The thing is that it's just so natural to move around in, just lean your body to which ever way you want to go and you will feel like "falling" until your toes hit the floor at which point your leg will just catch up with you (and pushing faster).
I had a compound fracture down my arm that have effective destroy a few of my ligament in my wrist and after it was considered fully healed (that was a few years ago), I was unable to do a lot of stuff I was once able to and pain cause more problem, I was (still am, lol) an extremely effective as a weather forecaster from the degree of dull pain I feel in my arm. In any case, my family doctor recommended me and later in university, a physiotherapist, tell me to pick up recreation tennis. I didn't really considered it until around last year and didn't make any real commitment until I was "stuck" in the UK for a couple of months just after the holiday seasons. I took 4 coached sessions and have disappeared for vacation for a few months following, so my consistency is kind of funky to say the least. My "pace" or "drive" or whatever you call it is nonexistent (am I what you considered a pusher?
) since I had/have no upper body strength (I struggle with 20lbs set of free weight) so I tend to try the keep the ball in play with whatever spin I can put into it, most of the times, meaning almost none. Now onto the question ^^
There are a tons of "weird hits" I tend to hit that is well... weird and drives my opponents crazy and when my coach saw it, didn't know what to tell me, except that my form was bad or I was pressured when I hit it.
I'm a Western forehand and anything backhand (I have yet to decide which one is best, but my bh is very, very terrible unless I'm doing shots I practiced). The following are shots that I can do at will, also I can't "set them up" (since I don't understand how it works, at all, trust me, I've tried to practice some of these shots and it makes no difference, and my coach adviced me stop consciously hitting some of them, but keep note and never forget them).
Weird Hit #1
When a fastball comes toward the rightside of my body and I don't have time to move (since I rush the net quite a bit), I tend to a slice (is it even the case?), even with my western grip. So it will be like, tucking your elbow in with palm face upward when hitting the ball. The resultant shot is where the weird part lies, sometimes if I pop it up, it kind of hangs in the air like a lob shot but it would drift to the left and bounce shoulder height to the right. I did a ton of tests with my bro yesterday, and this part we thought we could attribute to the wind, but the wind was coming from left to right so it can't be the case. I also did this a few time against my coach, I don't know what to call this shot since there's simply no reference for it in any of the books I've read. Also the so called "Snake" from Prince of Tennis is not helpful (since it's both fictional and the motion doesn't come close - I'm a firm believer of every fiction contains a grain of truth), I have read on this forum that some people can hit similar shots to it with ease, but I don't see elaboration nor reference to specific players that does it. So I'm pretty much scratching my head as "wtf is this shot" :mrgreen:
Weird Hit #2
Same as #1, but this usually happens when I try to move back knowing a groundstroke is coming but doesn't make it in time. The ball goes over the net and hops once in the same spot about 1 feet off the ground or just simply die and rollback as soon as it touch the floor. My coach and friends tells me that this is just a forehand dropshot effectively having no power and way too much backspin/sidespin (left to right). But when I do a proper forehand dropshot, it looks nothing like this nor is it anywhere as effective.
Weird Hit #3
Due to the low quality court and walls in the area (the tennis court I play at has uneven grounds, same with the walls, and are nowhere near the size of regulation courts T_T), sometimes balls bounce to us at weird directions and height (and believe it or not, it helps with my footwork and "last second judgements" XD). So it forced me to hit some of my groundstroke (specifically topspin in this case) weird. In this case, once I hit the ball, it would curve left in the air and bounce right on impact. This has happened only once before when I was on a quality court in the UK, so we assumed that these hits are due to the low quality of the court I was playing on. But a few days ago, me and my friends went to an indoor court, and the shot came out about 7 or 8 times (muscle memory maybe? I didn't even realized what I hit until I see my friends jokingly give me the finger after chasing the ball). When I hit the ball, it's a western fh hit that's about 45 degree to the frontright of me that requires me almost a straight arm/fuyll extension reach to get it. When I try to practice this shot, it just gives me crosscourt balls and it never feels "right". When me and my brother was experimenting with this, I could tell him when it's coming since I can tell by feel of it, but for some reason I can never "will it" to come out or "set it up".
Weird hit/technique? #1
When we are rallying for a while, I would sometimes, out of instinct (as in, I don't think to hit it, my body just run like hell and hit it on its own) hit a slice on a topspin made by my opponent. The stroke is consisent (point of impact, feel, etc... ), but the resultant shot is well, all over the place. Some would go left or right after impact, once a while the ball jump almost straight up after impact (and I ate some smash as a result). There was a few time where the ball would come back over the net onto my side (how do we call this anyways? we just normally redo the point or I run up and eh... return my own hit), but the ball bouncing back I wouldn't put any bets on since it "can" be due to the floor (until I get a chance to test it in a regulation court, in about... a month or two ><). The main concern I have with this is that, sometimes my entire right arm will go "tingly" or numb from this, other time it's like a normal stroke. What I would like to know... is this a legit technique, if it is, should this be learn at the beginner/intermediate level?
Weird hit/technique #2
This is something I've picked up when I was in the UK playing against better servers (so in short, everyone that ever played me there... lol), but this holds specially true for hard servers. Whenever I see a hard serve coming, I just rush to about 3 feet behind the service line and chop it down as soon as I could with moderate strength. I can't really control the ball in this case, but it just "goes in" and "goes all over the place" and it doesn't take as much from my arms as I would from receiving the shot normally (and some of these guys have ridiculously hard serves, I remember seeing a racquet with broken string kinda contorted in a counterclockwise style resulting from one of these serves, but it was probably just a bad racquet ^^). My coach obviously told me to abandon this and try a rising shot instead (with a open stance and semi-closed face and hit as low as possible since eh.. well, I have no pace
). I also tried the move a few feet behind the baseline, which involved me hitting back crapballs that I end up eating almost everytime (and one time I almost literally ate the ball if I haven't fall on my ass at the last second >.<). And I found that statistically, I don't do as well, should I go back to the "hack it as they come?" method. I know it's uncontrolable (aside from going in 90% of the time, just don't ask how it was bounce and which way it will go), but it gives me a better odd of "keeping the game going". Weird hit/technique #3.
Recently, I found that I can hit as hard as I can with absolute control (unfortunately, only for a forehand XD). But to do it, I have to abandon my footwork for tennis and look well... stupid. What I do is just start hopping in one spot in a semi-close/open stance, toes barely leaving the floor while keeping my arm stiffer than usual (I picked this from another sport XD). When I swing into the ball, 1 of 2 things usually happens. Either I'm airborne (going up or down doesn't matter, but I found that when I make contact on the way down, the ball feels "heavier) or when I'm done my hit, my back is almost facing the net. This tires me out faster, but it just feel so freaking awesome hitting it with this much power (it's hard to understand without being a weak hitter, just imagine riding your bike normally everyday, and then one day, with a little more effort, you are speeding pass cars on the highway, overexaggerated, but that's the feeling). What I'm concerned with is, will this lead to injury since this isn't a proper tennis technique (afaik that is, I'm seen similar "split step", but my friends told me that it looks and feels different from what I'm doing since I am constantly hopping and even move with the hop). The thing is that it's just so natural to move around in, just lean your body to which ever way you want to go and you will feel like "falling" until your toes hit the floor at which point your leg will just catch up with you (and pushing faster).
