Taking a lesson w/flat tennis balls

[jmhs]

My pro has great credentials and a great indoor, public facility, but his hoppers are filled with worn out balls. I feel as if I can't really tell how I'm applying the suggested tweaks he is giving me or how I'm really hitting when I'm taking a lesson from him because the balls are dead enough that I inevitably have great control (uh, I normally tend to overhit...lol).

I understand the expense of keeping relatively good balls, but should I just focus on what he is telling me and try to apply it when I'm hitting with "normal" balls? I'm a teenager, so I don't really feel comfortable telling a respected pro 40 years older than me how to run his business. The guy is great otherwise, but I always leave feeling as if the balls mask how I was really doing. Thinking of bringing my own balls, but my hopper is filled with balls that I practice my serve with that are only slightly better.

Sorry for the rambling, but sometimes I go out after the lesson or the next day with regular balls and I don't nearly hit as well, and it's not from a lack of concentration or just adjusting to livelier balls. I guess I feel a little like I am hitting foam balls (little kid balls)...who couldn't do what you want with those?

Am I making to much of this?

 

[aptennis91]

yes 10chars

 

[aptennis91]

yes 10chars

jk
If ur really that worried, then you could either get a new coach or get him a new hopper of balls.
Remember, mind is the worst enemy in tennis. So if you just don't let it bother you and hit with confidence, you'll be surprised at how well you'll hit.

 

[masterxfob]

i drill daily with crappy balls and i have no problem adjusting to new balls when playing a game. it's not the balls, the racket, the court, the wind, the sun in your eyes, nor the car that just drove by, it's YOU.

like aptennis91 suggests, bring your own hopper full of new balls if it affects you that much.

 

[Steady Eddy]

One of the first books I ever read on tennis says that you shouldn't use flat balls. And that good players, even when playing just for fun, won't use flat balls. It ruins their timing.

Tennis balls go flat pretty soon, so maybe this pro can't afford all new balls all that time. But they shouldn't be extremely flat either. If it matters, there must be some place he can get a hopper of fairly decent tennis balls. If not, I think you ought to switch pros. He might be doing more harm than good.

 

[SethIMcClaine]

Go to walmart and spend 50$ and get a hopper of fresh balls, they sell 10 packs for like 7$ Take them to lessons with you and ask to use those. When you go home and practice your serve use your old balls.

If you dont have 50$ then do what hes teaching you, then go out buy a 3$ can and have someone hit some to you and see if you respond/hit the same to fresh balls.

 

[SethIMcClaine]

**Fresh balls are ideal, but not always practical.**

 

[masterxfob]

One of the first books I ever read on tennis says that you shouldn't use flat balls. And that good players, even when playing just for fun, won't use flat balls. It ruins their timing.

Tennis balls go flat pretty soon, so maybe this pro can't afford all new balls all that time. But they shouldn't be extremely flat either. If it matters, there must be some place he can get a hopper of fairly decent tennis balls. If not, I think you ought to switch pros. He might be doing more harm than good.

playing a game and drilling are completely different things. you shouldn't play a game or rally with old balls, but they are fine for drilling. drilling as in being fed balls (from a partner or ball machine) and practicing serves. when drilling/rallying with a partner, you should try to use new balls.

considering that the OP is taking lessons, he's more than likely being fed balls. since there's probably no rallying or points being played out, old balls should be perfectly fine. when feeding balls, you don't put heavy spin on the ball or hit it very hard. so really, what kind of timing issue do you have when being fed balls?

 

[BU-Tennis]

I am a proponent of always using the newest balls possible. Sometimes its ok to use flatter balls, like when practicing against a wall or just a ball toss, something where the end result of the ball is not so important. It is harmful and detrimental to your game to play with flat balls. I mean, if you play all your matches with week old balls then its best, but most young players only get a chance to hit with brand new balls when they play matches.

The main reason I hate flat balls is because you havve to work harder to get the same result. With a new ball, they come off the racquet with more pace and spin so you are more focused on technique as your results are better straightaway. Usually after hitting with old balls, you tend to miss new balls long or even into the net because of the added pace and spin.

The bottom line is, you don't have to have brand new balls everytime. But if you can squeeze a ball and feel a significant decrease in pressure then throw it out. Especially if you're paying for lessons, which are probably not to cheap. Unless you are drilling, a couple of new cans every practice is enough, especially if you have a partner or assistant that can pick up balls or hit them back to you. Dont pay for an experience you find unpleasant, tell your coach and if he doesn't want to change then take your business somewhere else.

 

[user92626]

Funny, I don't mind flat balls for practicing at all. They certainly require more power to get them moving, but then I usually focus on form and footwork so enough power is fine. Switching from flat balls to new balls is also no problem. My mind just adjusts the hitting force and keeps everything else the same.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Flat-ish balls are ok for serving practice or for feeding novices (or low intermediate players). I'll even use a partially flat (or low-compression) ball when I first start hitting on the wall. After a while, I'll switch over to a newer, livelier ball.

Flat balls will often be balder than fresher balls so will experience less air drag -- the aerodynamics will differ somewhat. On the other hand, a low-compression (flat) ball will interact with the stringbed and with the ground quite a bit differently than a hig-compression ball. Both the speed & the spin on the ball will be affected by these diffs. The ball will typically lose a moderate amount of speed when it bounces. A flat ball will lose a lot more.

With flatter balls you are probably hitting a lot of low-bouncing balls and will not have the opportunity to practice hitting higher bouncing balls (unless the coach compensates for the low compression).

 

[volusiano]

Would you guys mind if the coach has a way to keep the balls from going flat (storing them in some kind of pressurized container for large quantities of balls), but they're used and bald to the point where you can't see the manufacturer ink on them anymore?

 

[SethIMcClaine]

Would you guys mind if the coach has a way to keep the balls from going flat (storing them in some kind of pressurized container for large quantities of balls), but they're used and bald to the point where you can't see the manufacturer ink on them anymore?

Bald I would be kind of ticked, worn to where you cant see the manufacturers ink I could deal with.

 

[tikkimonkey]

I say that if you're paying for 50-80 dollars for hour long lessons, you should be more assertive and make use of the time. Otherwise, you'll feel unsatisfied and you'll have burned up a bunch of money.

 

[GuyClinch]

Depending on where you live 50-80 isn't enough to start complaining about the balls. Unless they are like unbelievably flat you can play with older balls fine..

 

[drgreenthumb]

The main reason I hate flat balls is because you havve to work harder to get the same result. With a new ball, they come off the racquet with more pace and spin so you are more focused on technique as your results are better straightaway. Usually after hitting with old balls, you tend to miss new balls long or even into the net because of the added pace and spin.

On the contrary, I have to give good credit to the old flat balls i was hitting for the first 1.5yrs playing. It gave a lot of power, worked on timing, etc...they just make you work harder. It is true that when i started playing with other people who always use new or slightly used balls, my shots were just all over the place without consistency, placement, etc...BUT had tons of POWER, thrusts, heavier topspin/slice etc...the new balls just felt like a feather!

some people had complained that it cause problems on your wrist and or elbow BUT have not seen any of those. But nowadays where i can afford the newer balls, i try to use them for ~12sessions.

 

[jrod]

Sorry but I would definitely be saying something. The guy runs a business and should be capable of factoring the cost of new balls every so many weeks into his overhead. Seriously, it's simply the cost of doing business.

 

[aptennis91]

Just tell your mom or dad, there is nothing for motivation like saying that they are not getting what they paid for.

 

[BU-Tennis]

On the contrary, I have to give good credit to the old flat balls i was hitting for the first 1.5yrs playing. It gave a lot of power, worked on timing, etc...they just make you work harder. It is true that when i started playing with other people who always use new or slightly used balls, my shots were just all over the place without consistency, placement, etc...BUT had tons of POWER, thrusts, heavier topspin/slice etc...the new balls just felt like a feather!

some people had complained that it cause problems on your wrist and or elbow BUT have not seen any of those. But nowadays where i can afford the newer balls, i try to use them for ~12sessions.

Congratulations, you could hit the ball really hard but it never went in for over a year. The whole point of tennis is to learn control first then power, the other way round makes it a lot harder. I know people who won't hit with a racquet if its been strung for a week, but don't mind using old balls. Its important to practice with what you use in matches.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Hmmm. I take lessons weekly. My pro gives a lot of lessons, and he usually has reasonable balls.

I will notice that the balls are deader when he is about to go on vacation or when he is teaching me outside in the winter on a rare warm day and clearly doesn't want to buy a whole hopper full of balls that will be dead by spring.

That said, I don't mind if the balls a bit flat. I am working on my technique and footwork, and a bit of flatness does not impact my ability to do that. The point of taking a lesson (at my level, anyway) isn't to hit hard and watch your cool shots. It's to learn and groove technique/footwork. I don't think a ball that isn't new will affect that much.

Then there's the practical side. His hopper holds 150 balls, so that's $100 to buy new balls for it, I think. It's asking a lot to demand that he always have fresh balls for all of his students.

 

[SethIMcClaine]

So after hearing a bunch of opinions how do you look at the situation?

 

[LafayetteHitter]

Why does it not bother the teaching pro? Learn to adjust to circumstances. I actually heard a guy say, "My game is so fine tuned and i'm so advanced now I HAVE to use new balls". What a joke! If you fill a hopper with new balls and you actually train hard, guess what? Next week you have dead balls again.

 

[LafayetteHitter]

Sorry for the rambling, but sometimes I go out after the lesson or the next day with regular balls and I don't nearly hit as well, and it's not from a lack of concentration or just adjusting to livelier balls. I guess I feel a little like I am hitting foam balls (little kid balls)...who couldn't do what you want with those?

Am I making to much of this?

On a side note. You will always feel like you hit better during a lesson with a pro.

 

[jmhs]

So after hearing a bunch of opinions how do you look at the situation?

Realized that I'm also hitting well at the lesson because I'm being fed balls continuously from the baseline by the pro (versus dealing with some of my opponents' wicked groundstrokes). But the quality of the balls are still a minor issue, for me anyway because flat balls give me too much margin to work with. My parents are paying a lot. I'm going to bring some of my better balls and say those will make it harder for me to let fly. If things go as I expect (I'll be more erratic), I'll say something about the difference. No self fulfilling prophicies here, will just let it play out.

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I learn a lot from you all.

 

[ian09rush]

Flat balls bounce much lower and nullify the spin game, hitting with flat balls definitely throws off your timing/racket positioning but on the plus side it trains you to look at the ball until contact. It also forces you to swing hard for spin, or develop a flat game altogether.

Of course, it's always a bad idea if you are training for a match, but it won't make you a "worse" player, you just need to play with new balls 4-5 sessions before a match to mimic match conditions. If anything, using different balls mimics the effect of different types of surface and keep you on your toes. However, playing exclusively with flat balls is a very bad idea.

 

[Sparky]

yes 10chars

+1

If you're learning technique, the slower balls actually are better so you have a larger margin of error and you can muscle memory the technique. As the strokes are grooved, you can move to the faster heavier new balls.

Better yet, why don't you just ask your teaching pro's opinion?

 

[GoudX]

BTW guys, this thread is four years old.

 

[RoyalFederer]

Wow, time flies when you're having fun

 

[heninfan99]

Feel free to mention it casually to your coach. Someone is paying good money for these lessons?

But give him/her a week or two. They will most likely change them out for new ones soon enough. If not, mention it.