Some Hitting With Ball Machine Video
- Thread starter tlm
- Start date
bubbatennis
Rookie
tlm
G.O.A.T.
stop looking at where the ball is going! causing you to jerk your head up before contact
That's a good point, I have to break that bad habit. I like to look and see if the shot is good to soon and end up pulling my head up early.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
Not sure what you mean by slowing it down a little? I need the racket speed to get enough spin on the ball to bring it down in the court.
bubbatennis
Rookie
What I mean is focusing on your technique and fh/bh form. You don't necessarily have to hit super hard/fast to achieve the down the line and sharp angles. Getting the ball in the court is what you want in practice so it translates into match play.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
Sometimes you’re still walking to the shot. Your BH looks best when you’re set.
I worked a bit on consistency when it was just being set, pushing off my back foot onto front with shadow swings. No rotation or feet needing to rotate around. If I want to hit cross court maybe a little open stance. Found it helped with consistency on shots a bit.
But you look great
I worked a bit on consistency when it was just being set, pushing off my back foot onto front with shadow swings. No rotation or feet needing to rotate around. If I want to hit cross court maybe a little open stance. Found it helped with consistency on shots a bit.
But you look great
tlm
G.O.A.T.
Sometimes you’re still walking to the shot. Your BH looks best when you’re set.
I worked a bit on consistency when it was just being set, pushing off my back foot onto front with shadow swings. No rotation or feet needing to rotate around. If I want to hit cross court maybe a little open stance. Found it helped with consistency on shots a bit.
But you look great
Ya footwork needs improvement. I have a hard time getting a good rhythm with ball machine. Your right when I get set good my shots are much better.
Tennisanity
Legend
Haven't had a brouhaha in a while. It's about time.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
I was focusing on my technique and form. I like to swing out and put a lot of spin on the ball.
I get your point though if I hit a little slower it would be easier to be more consistent. But my goal is to be able to swing fast and be consistent.
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
Resembles baseball little bit too. [emoji16]
But good job.
But good job.
ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
Sometimes you’re still walking to the shot. Your BH looks best when you’re set.
I worked a bit on consistency when it was just being set, pushing off my back foot onto front with shadow swings. No rotation or feet needing to rotate around. If I want to hit cross court maybe a little open stance. Found it helped with consistency on shots a bit.
But you look great
"If I want to hit cross court maybe a little open stance. "
You and Djokovic
... around @02:40ish"If I want to hit cross court maybe a little open stance. "
You and Djokovic
I think his two lines really says enough about why he’s successful with Bh.
Don’t involve wrists too much.
A little more open and yes, because more range of motion.
Raul_SJ
G.O.A.T.
Good hitting. Would be interested to know what brand of machine that is, settings, and how you like it.
It looks like it is feeding everything up the middle. If the machine is capable, I would consider setting it to feed to the corner and practice DTL and make a video with just DTL practice.
It looks like it is feeding everything up the middle. If the machine is capable, I would consider setting it to feed to the corner and practice DTL and make a video with just DTL practice.
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
I think it's MLB. [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
tlm
G.O.A.T.
It's an older Silent Partner machine and I have it set to feed slow sitters pretty much in this practice. But it can be set to do about anything you want. I'm very happy with it I bought it used years back and it's been good I've only had to put a new battery in it
tlm
G.O.A.T.
I think it's more of a UGLY style forehand.
ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
To the corner is good because you can practice DTL, cc and cc passing shot. But there are some days I know I just want to hit 3 hoppers of FHs and 3 hoppers of BHs ... and then I just leave it down the middle. On those days, I will just alternate shots to corners and down the middle. Also ... down the middle is fine for dropshots and ts lobs. You are right about videoing DTL practice. Yesterday I set the camera behind me on the BH line ... and it was a good angle.
ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
lol I wish. My technique is pretty funky looking but my forehand is fairly effective when I'm timing it well.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
Those are good suggestions, but right now I'm really trying to groove the backhand. I need a dependable backhand that I can attack with instead of being a one sided player like most guys are. Most can get the ball back from backhand side but rarely if ever can attack with it, it's a game changer if you can attack off both wings.
I mean it seems like you have some pace on your BH. I’d probably just work on footwork and being set and ready for a good shot. Also a little more open stance if you want to hit cross court did wonders for me. Like Djokovic says, it gives more range for motion.
I practiced a lot of standing on right corner, running to mid for a BH shot, running back to right corner, repeat. Just to practice if I’m on the run I can still hit a decent Bh shot.
ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
Agree ... on both bh offense potential, and grooving a stroke. I don't use the ball machine for footwork (or lack of
). I don't use it for exercise, but you get some when you hit 300+ balls. I use it for stroke production.... stance, swing mechanics, timing, muscle memory, hitting to targets, and yes ... working on pace (or lack of).That's what a ball machine is best at. It's not good at replicating match conditions, and movement requirements. Play matches and do hitting drills for that.
JMO
tlm
G.O.A.T.
Agree ... on both bh offense potential, and grooving a stroke. I don't use the ball machine for footwork (or lack of
That's what a ball machine is best at. It's not good at replicating match conditions, and movement requirements. Play matches and do hitting drills for that.
JMO
Thats what I found also. You can do a lot with a ball machine, but I prefer to mostly use it to develop better strokes.
Wise one
Hall of Fame
The way you have the ball machine positioned, the balls are landing just past the service line and bounding relatively high. On such balls you should be slicing the ball hard and low, straight towards the baseline, and approaching the net, not hitting cross-court.
I have always had a strong (one-handed) backhand, and often choose to attack with it, even choosing to use it rather than the forehand when the ball is near the middle.
I can slice or top the ball from the same preparation.
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ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
My two favorite 2hbh drills are cc, and ros against s&v to my 2hbh. I have my friend (that never gets tired) s&v every serve to my bh. I have to hit the 2hbh ros down the middle, and then I can try and pass. I can get the equivalent of a sets worth of ros in a short time... and he gets to play tennis (kind of). It's amazing how solid your bm 2hbh can look ... and still not be solid on 2hbh ros.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
I play a couple guys that have much better backhands than forehands and prefer to hit from that side. But their forehands are not that good so they are still limited to attacking from only one side.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
My two favorite 2hbh drills are cc, and ros against s&v to my 2hbh. I have my friend (that never gets tired) s&v every serve to my bh. I have to hit the 2hbh ros down the middle, and then I can try and pass. I can get the equivalent of a sets worth of ros in a short time... and he gets to play tennis (kind of). It's amazing how solid your bm 2hbh can look ... and still not be solid on 2hbh ros.
That's a great idea for grooving your return and working against a net rusher.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
Well that's great if you can attack well from both sides.
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
I'm pretty sure seeing the pace and height of Tlm forehand if he attacks your backhand you won't have an answer. Your game isn't suited to hitting against top spin and pace. And it seems Tlm can hit that over and over without missing. So you should stop giving him old outdated advice.
Wise one
Hall of Fame
You're seeing him hit short sitters, which he is simply hitting cross-court, instead of attacking and going to the net.
I don't play from the baseline. I play S&V and R&V 100% of the time. So, the situation would never arise.
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
Serve and volley being at a shorter stature and only hitting slow serves? Sorry. He would destroy you. His shots have huge margin of error. You would never get to hit a proper volley. Your serves are too slow and you have no reach. I'm talking singles. Most players who are shorter do not serve and volley. Harder to cover the court and lobs.
I kind of had
I'm not sure if his point was that you are swinging too fast as much as it was about the uneven rhythm of the swing. I think what might be hurting you is the dramatic acceleration right at impact. You might want to focus on more even acceleration through out the swing. Real quick sudden moves in the swing are hard to time and hard to control.
One of the best tips I ever got was to find your natural swing rhythm - when you are just swinging free not trying to do too much or too little - and don't deviate too much from that either way (too hard or too soft). Sometimes the most power comes from a relaxed moderate tempo swing, and not from trying to kill it.
I would add that you do a lot of things well.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
If your opponent gets the first strike like a good serve and you return a weak shot he can pin you in the back court so you can't come in. I play guys that come in on me because they don't want to play me from the baseline. This will work at times pretty well but if I get the first strike they are not coming in much because I will pound their backhand with high bouncing shots that they cannot hit an approach shot with.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
You make some good points. I do accelerate to quickly which like you say makes the timing tough. I will give that a try find my natural swing rhythm. This might be tough though because my rhythm that I have now or lack of rhythm might be hard to change.
It won't be that hard, It's not going to be a radical change from what you are doing just find that comfortable even tempo, but you'll still be accelerating into impact.
I use it as a mantra in matches, I just say to myself natural swing rhythm. I can swing a little harder or a little lighter depending on the circumstances. Frankly, it helps from making those mistakes when you decelerate on a swing and doff it into the net or feed up a meat ball as much as it helps me from over hitting. You should still be crushing the ball, just with good timing. It's surprising how hard you can hit it when you aren't trying to hit it hard.
Like I said, you do a lot of things well - this is a tweak not a rebuild.
Wise one
Hall of Fame
I do all right, might surprise you. My serve isn't 'slow' but of course that's relative to 4.0 players. Most of the 'better' players around here don't serve all that hard anyway. Mine is in the upper half, I would say (4.0), and near the top for my age group. Not bad for age 67!
Wise one
Hall of Fame
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
Yeah. At 4.0 if you do not double fault it is like getting an ace a service game anyways. Most 4.0 guys I see double fault once a service unless they patty cake it in 2nd serves.
Wise one
Hall of Fame
Around here, a 4.0 is a pretty good player. There must be a vast difference in ratings in different locations. There are some weak servers playing 4.0, but I don't see much 'patty'cake' serving. You see that almost exclusively among 3.0 and 3.5 players.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
You come in regardless? That's not going to work all the time. Your an older guy with limited movement and you come in instantly on the first shot regardless of what it is. Once a decent player figures this out you are toast.
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
There isn't. 4.0 is bad. Everywhere.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
The point is you must play doubles all the time because in singles you will not have a chance with that style against decent opponents. I don't need to see videos of old school SnV tennis, but I would like to see a video of you showing how your method works in point play.
