The Rise & Fall of amateur tennis on YouTube

YellowFedBetter

YellowFedBetter

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So during and just after Covid, for the first time in history we got to see real looks at what the rec tennis world was like for everyone to watch, and it was enjoyable to see regular joes like us battle it out in 1080P/60FPS.

We were blessed with a fair amount of content showing 4-5.0’s (although I do wish we’d gotten more 3.0-5 stuff), whether it was Acing Tennis, what’shisname long haired guy who did the backflips, Sansait (who I didn’t like but was still entertaining in his way), and of course the wealth of videos from TennisTroll.

But unfortunately this all seemed to die out hard not long after things returned to normal. The only guy who seems to still be doing much is Winston Du, everyone else has disappeared off the radar, and pretty much all there is now is guys from SE Asia showing off their SwingVision numbers.

What happened? Did the interest just go away? Maybe the CC’s all got bored with it at the same time? Stupid pickleball overtaking it? It’s disappointing to see this world basically be shut off from us again. I miss it.
 
Feel free to watch my videos I post here. They’re unlisted to general YouTube as that’s not the focus of my channel and I don’t really want to confuse my audience. But feel free to give feedback on this past weekends match if you’re looking for more content. How bout them replays?

 
I have just started getting back on court and playing again.

There are a couple of channels I watch a lot of. Winston , All things tennis for entertainment and intuitive tennis for technical advice.


I feel TTW have miles better experts though. The depth these guys go into in the tennis tips and instructions section, I don't think the YouTubers go that deep.
 
ForehandCross said:
I have just started getting back on court and playing again.

There are a couple of channels I watch a lot of. Winston , All things tennis for entertainment and intuitive tennis for technical advice.


I feel TTW have miles better experts though. The depth these guys go into in the tennis tips and instructions section, I don't think the YouTubers go that deep.
Click to expand...
Yeah, there’s still some stuff going on in the instruction world. Unfortunately there’s almost no amateur match play anymore.

BTW, I take it you are an Iga and Daniil fan?
 
ForehandCross said:
Yep. Have something of an inclination towards the less appreciated folks on tour.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can see the correlation actually. Iga can be self-righteous but I’ve generally always liked her,

In fact, to be blunt, she’s my favorite female player for the perverse reasons that 1-She looks just like my toxic ex, & 2-She’s an INFP that reminds me of all my bad traits.
 
kevin qmto said:
Feel free to watch my videos I post here. They’re unlisted to general YouTube as that’s not the focus of my channel and I don’t really want to confuse my audience. But feel free to give feedback on this past weekends match if you’re looking for more content. How bout them replays?

Click to expand...
good to see someone crushing an adiBARRICADEs similar to 6.1 ntours?
Im in love with some old Ntour Ntwo I got for free, whats the string and
tension you are using? I see there red ones too, beefy 24mm hoops, wow.
or is that the Adidas Response?

Your opponent has sneaky flattish FH but feisty and good contrasting strokes.
Still rocking that good serve Stefanos would dream of having, well balanced
and lends itself to trips to the net.

Love the hammer you dropped on him mid court! TBF his eyesight let him down
on a few that you hit even slower earlier on, he kept playing on.

I find I can never drop hammer FHs unless using these smaller plush frames.
The cracking willy 6.1 sound is similar and extremely addictive.
Some good fun footage, thanks for uploading
 
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DariaGT said:
good to see someone crushing an adiBARRICADEs similar to 6.1 ntours?
Im in love with some old Ntour Ntwo I got for free, whats the string and
tension you are using?

Your opponent has sneaky flattish FH but feisty and good contrasting strokes.
Still rocking that good serve Stefanos would dream of having, well balanced
and lends itself to trips to the net.

Love the hammer you dropped on him mid court! TBF his eyesight let him down
on a few that you hit even slower earlier on, he kept playing on.

I find I can never drop hammer FHs unless using these smaller plush frames.
The cracking willy 6.1 sound is similar and extremely addictive.
Some good fun footage, thanks for uploading
Click to expand...
It’s similar to a 6.1 in that it’s a 95, and the beam width is very similar, but it’s a bit lighter and more spin friendly, though I tend to hit flatter. The string is poly tour rev 16g @55lbs. I try other frames and strings and keep coming back, which is why I usually introduce the racket as my “trusty adidas barricade”.

Yeah that forehand at 10:35 might’ve chopped his ankle off had it hit him lol.
 
YellowFedBetter said:
So during and just after Covid, for the first time in history we got to see real looks at what the rec tennis world was like for everyone to watch, and it was enjoyable to see regular joes like us battle it out in 1080P/60FPS.

We were blessed with a fair amount of content showing 4-5.0’s (although I do wish we’d gotten more 3.0-5 stuff), whether it was Acing Tennis, what’shisname long haired guy who did the backflips, Sansait (who I didn’t like but was still entertaining in his way), and of course the wealth of videos from TennisTroll.

But unfortunately this all seemed to die out hard not long after things returned to normal. The only guy who seems to still be doing much is Winston Du, everyone else has disappeared off the radar, and pretty much all there is now is guys from SE Asia showing off their SwingVision numbers.

What happened? Did the interest just go away? Maybe the CC’s all got bored with it at the same time? Stupid pickleball overtaking it? It’s disappointing to see this world basically be shut off from us again. I miss it.
Click to expand...
Are you talking about that Asian guy with long hair would rally for days? I can’t even remember that guys name (and didn’t know he did flips, I’d it’s the guy I’m thinking about)

Tennis just doest get views. No point putting all that effort and energy to edit to get 50k on average. No money in it & people just don’t want to watch reviews anymore (I don’t at least).

I really miss Simon Freund. I was most invested in his series. I understand why he quit but it was so abrupt, really did take me off guard.
 
There's a couple that pop up on my feed that I watch from time to time. Winnersonly, Kevin hsieh, Kevin Liang (?). They post league play and tournament play. Winnersonly only goes beyond that but also posts a lot of 4.0 level matches
 
Guttersnipe said:
Are you talking about that Asian guy with long hair would rally for days? I can’t even remember that guys name (and didn’t know he did flips, I’d it’s the guy I’m thinking about)

Tennis just doest get views. No point putting all that effort and energy to edit to get 50k on average. No money in it & people just don’t want to watch reviews anymore (I don’t at least).

I really miss Simon Freund. I was most invested in his series. I understand why he quit but it was so abrupt, really did take me off guard.
Click to expand...
No, this guy was white, kind of had a surfer dude vibe. I think (being serious) he has some mental condition and struggles with his emotions a lot. He was a lefty 3.5. He usually played the same pusher guy who beat him most of the time.
 
We could say essential tennis also closed up their matchplay channel. It is tough to find regular matches.

I liked kevin 4.5 usta run. He had some repeat players and opponents. Theres a 5.0 lefty out of new york that puts up vids infrequently.

I started just recording w swingvision for self analysis and its a pain remembering to bring the mount and checking and having an extra battery and using my apple watch so I can see why it’s tough for guys who edit it to upload on YouTube. Sometimes its easier to just show up w a racquet and waterbortle.
 
Tranqville said:
I recently started to use 4.0-5.0 Youtube court-level matches for tactical training, trying to make quick decisions in front of my TV. I first tried to use the tour videos, but then realized the game there is too quick-paced compared to my matches. I also wish there was more quality amateur content.
Click to expand...
Can you give couple examples how you do the tactical training?
 
YellowFedBetter said:
No, this guy was white, kind of had a surfer dude vibe. I think (being serious) he has some mental condition and struggles with his emotions a lot. He was a lefty 3.5. He usually played the same pusher guy who beat him most of the time.
Click to expand...

Seirea. Another YouTuber I used to watch was iRacer3. He used to mainly play on the green clay but posted some pretty good matches. Tennis Toons posts match content but he includes a lot of commentary on his matches which some may not like.
 
kevin qmto said:
Feel free to watch my videos I post here. They’re unlisted to general YouTube as that’s not the focus of my channel and I don’t really want to confuse my audience. But feel free to give feedback on this past weekends match if you’re looking for more content. How bout them replays?

Click to expand...
Bro, from one OHBH to another, you might have one of the more smoother OHBH on the forum
 
johnmccabe said:
Can you give couple examples how you do the tactical training?
Click to expand...
I watch the game in front of a TV and make tactical decision for the player closer to the camera. Line or cross? Shape the ball, flat drive, slice? I also try to imagine the right recovery position. Approach or stay back? I don't just watch, a do a bit of a movement imitation timed at the ball contact of the near player, so that the decision is not just in my head, but is expressed with a swing. I try to splitstep a the right moment and react to ball direction with a unit turn.

I also noticed that my mind asseses the tactical decisions of the other player, on the far court. I observe deviations from standard directionals. I noticed that when I watch high level 4.5 and 5.0 players, they make good decisions most of the time. Sometimes i notice consistent tactical mistakes from one of the players.

It's not something I recommend for others, I don't know if it's good or bad, I just practice this way.
 
chazz said:
Seirea. Another YouTuber I used to watch was iRacer3. He used to mainly play on the green clay but posted some pretty good matches. Tennis Toons posts match content but he includes a lot of commentary on his matches which some may not like.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I couldn’t remember the name. And yeah, I watched iRacer3 too, he kind of predated this though and wasn’t exclusively tennis-focused.
 
Tranqville said:
I watch the game in front of a TV and make tactical decision for the player closer to the camera. Line or cross? Shape the ball, flat drive, slice? I also try to imagine the right recovery position. Approach or stay back? I don't just watch, a do a bit of a movement imitation timed at the ball contact of the near player, so that the decision is not just in my head, but is expressed with a swing. I try to splitstep a the right moment and react to ball direction with a unit turn.

I also noticed that my mind asseses the tactical decisions of the other player, on the far court. I observe deviations from standard directionals. I noticed that when I watch high level 4.5 and 5.0 players, they make good decisions most of the time. Sometimes i notice consistent tactical mistakes from one of the players.

It's not something I recommend for others, I don't know if it's good or bad, I just practice this way.
Click to expand...
This is absolutely what I will try. I tried the elementary school level of this for a little. sitting down just to call defense or offense for the guy in front of the camera.
 
MaxTennis said:
Got tangled in knots and had to cut it :cry:. It's true; I played my best tennis with long hair
Click to expand...
Maybe it makes your head feels heavier and therefore you're more conscious of keeping it upright (looking up, not looking down or make it less stable). When we have lighter head I think we tend to make it move around more.
 
Spielgame said:
Maybe it makes your head feels heavier and therefore you're more conscious of keeping it upright (looking up, not looking down or make it less stable). When we have lighter head I think we tend to make it move around more.
Click to expand...

Could be! I will say though it makes me appreciate how women and guys with long hair take care of their hair. It's so easy to get lazy which is what happened with me.
 
Was liking the Barricade with PTPS @ 55lbs
had more heavyness and speed.

The 6.1 Ntour two looks similar yet 16 x 20
open pattern like on the PA98, 22mm straight
but close paint scheme not much heavier by
specs ra62 vs ra61 and extra 0.25 in length
makes it easy on the OHBH as well.

I only watched past vids you seemed to have
a unique DHBH back then, good to see you
like to change racquets for that different feel
much like trying out different sweet spots in
a world of infinite sweet deserts.
 
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there's a couple of amateur youtube players i enjoy watching, in no particular order;

Winston Du
Kevin Liang
Tennis Tech Wannabe
3.5 Net Rush Tennis
Eternal Tennis

Winners Only & Mark Sansait, i'll watch and I am subbed to their channels but they're never my first click for some reason.
 
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