Video - Ball feeding and some point play

[FiReFTW]

Well I decided to post some footage of my playing, since I started recording a bit everytime I go play.



Video 1 is session from 2 days ago, it starts with some feeding and hitting, then some point play with serve.

Video 2 is session from today, it starts with some point play without serve, then I show only 1 point of serve play since I have no clue why but sadly my camera was very fuzzy and unsmooth when I recorded point play with serve, we actually played 2 sets and had some really nice points, no clue what happened, the whole session is recorded with the quality that you will see in the end.

Before someone asks, im hitting my backhands mostly slices because I was on vacation now for 2 weeks, so a few things are a bit rusty still, most noticabely my serve and my topspin backhand, so im not comfortable hitting it much yet.

Hope you guys enjoy the videos and footage, if you do and would like to see some more footage specially point play and such let me know, I can upload some more videos in the future, maybe longer ones from set play (hopefully if the camera doesn't screw up again).

 

[ChaelAZ]

Easy power on the forehand and nice play overall.
Thanks for posting.

 

[SinjinCooper]

Get yourself a shock collar, and give yourself a good jolt any time you catch yourself telling a coach or feeder, "I want to work on something other than my backhand."

I'm all for having fun out there and working on your strengths, but the gap between your other strokes and your BH is quite striking.

 

[FiReFTW]

Get yourself a shock collar, and give yourself a good jolt any time you catch yourself telling a coach or feeder, "I want to work on something other than my backhand."

I'm all for having fun out there and working on your strengths, but the gap between your other strokes and your BH is quite striking.

Haha good point.

I do agree that my backhand is lagging behind quite a bit, tho its was already much better than here, it really is quite erratic since ive came back from vacations, probably because before I went I was working on engraining a few things like extending my left arm and I haven't really programmed my body yet to make it automatic, so now that ive had a break ive completely lost focus on that, but these videos help a bit to get me aware of that.

But yeah, I do need alot of work on it, to really get it consistent and automatic without thinking.

 

[NuBas]

Amazing, amazing improvement man, very happy for you. Shame on people who doubted you, another year and you're gonna be great.

BTW what racquet you playing with? Small advice if you are not doing already is to spread your grip even more, it will help with brushing.
Thanks for giving us long videos and next thing you should work on is no slicing on either sides, all strokes should be topspin.

Your dropshots with side spin were the best.

 

[FiReFTW]

Amazing, amazing improvement man, very happy for you. Shame on people who doubted you, another year and you're gonna be great.

BTW what racquet you playing with? Small advice if you are not doing already is to spread your grip even more, it will help with brushing.
Thanks for giving us long videos and next thing you should work on is no slicing on either sides, all strokes should be topspin.

Your dropshots with side spin were the best.

Thanks.

I play with Wilson Pro Staff 95

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Reviews/PS95/PS95Review.html

Yea I do experiment a bit with finger positions, spreading them more gives me more control it seems, tho I need to focus to not really hold with my index finger and so, since the lever gets shorter and I feel like I have less effortless power and feels a bit more tight unless I focus on just resting those fingers and having the most pressure at the end of the racquet with my pinky and ring finger, still needs a bit of experimenting here to really get a better idea of pros and cons, its so many different pressure points and spreads that you can hold with hah.

I do like those sidespin dropshots, one of my favorite shots.

You got me thinking a bit and the shots I enjoy the most or the go to plays I currently enjoy

1.These dropshots with sidespin
2.Inside out forehand, really like it, either hit it wide or short depending on where my opponent is
3.Like low penetrating slices to mix it up from time to time, tho lately ive lost this shot a bit and is erratic atm
4.Deuce serve wide slice and attack the net to finish the point

But even in general, ive really been focusing lately on shot selection, something I haven't really done previously, previously ive just played but lately I started thinking alot more and trying to outsmart the opponent aswell as planning ahead and what I want to do to win the point, and I like this strategic aspect of it all.

 

[Shroud]

Nice playing and kudos for poasting a vid!!!

 

[5point5]

Solid hitting. Keep up the hard work and keep getting on the court, it's important for beginners to hit many balls as possible to build consistency.

 

[Fintft]

I second StijinCooper that you need to work on your BH and while I hear you that you are rusty due to being on vacation I couple of suggestions:

1. Ball feeding has to done to the BH as well (or even more so). By your coach. My coaches never in a million year would feed me only on the FH (with the exception maybe of only a minute or two during the warm up)...
2. Forget playing it safe in practice with slicing your BH, lol. Just trust yourself more and slap the ball on the BH, trying to get a feel for it. Heck you don't even prepare, showing lack of confidence/you've given up before even trying a BH. I personally probably slice only 5% of my BHs in practice, or in practice matches. In real matches, I slice at the most 25% of BHs.
3. When I rally with friends, I even start my balls/self feeding myself with BHs, deep top spin ones, flat and I laugh when they can't return the first ball with their FH. Why? To loosen up and practice my BH.
4. Play more with your friends or matches, instead of rallying with your coach, b/c people will learn fast to stay away from your FH ( kudos for that side btw) and they will hit mainly to your BH, giving you a chance to practice it. Heck even Fed said that his BH become better b/c of Nadal attacking it.

Keep up the good work!

Haha good point.

I do agree that my backhand is lagging behind quite a bit, tho its was already much better than here, it really is quite erratic since ive came back from vacations, probably because before I went I was working on engraining a few things like extending my left arm and I haven't really programmed my body yet to make it automatic, so now that ive had a break ive completely lost focus on that, but these videos help a bit to get me aware of that.

But yeah, I do need alot of work on it, to really get it consistent and automatic without thinking.

 

[The Vitamin L]

Lookin' good!

 

[FiReFTW]

Holy batman thats a strong bump from almost 8 months ago

@Fintft tnx for the tips

My BH and everything else has gotten alot better since then, maybe il post some new video one of these days, should be fun, for a bit of an update

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I notice your BH slice tends to pop up quite a bit. Try videoing from the side and see if you're opening your racquet face too much [my suspicion is that you are] or maybe too much of an upward angle on your swing path vs more horizontal].

Nice form on the FH.

 

[FiReFTW]

Thanks for your comments guys but really no point commenting in this old thread anymore, since alot of these mechanics and strokes are outdated, il try to post some updated videos one of these days.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Holy batman thats a strong bump from almost 8 months ago

Watched again. I think we’d have a fun match. Maybe someday. [emoji1360]

Good stuff.


Probably posting from the court between sets.

 

[FiReFTW]

Watched again. I think we’d have a fun match. Maybe someday. [emoji1360]

Good stuff.


Probably posting from the court between sets.

I would love that but im from europe so thats going to be quite a problem haha, and I doubt il be in arizona anytime soon, sorry

 

[FiReFTW]

I second StijinCooper that you need to work on your BH and while I hear you that you are rusty due to being on vacation I couple of suggestions:

1. Ball feeding has to done to the BH as well (or even more so). By your coach. My coaches never in a million year would feed me only on the FH (with the exception maybe of only a minute or two during the warm up)...
2. Forget playing it safe in practice with slicing your BH, lol. Just trust yourself more and slap the ball on the BH, trying to get a feel for it. Heck you don't even prepare, showing lack of confidence/you've given up before even trying a BH. I personally probably slice only 5% of my BHs in practice, or in practice matches. In real matches, I slice at the most 25% of BHs.
3. When I rally with friends, I even start my balls/self feeding myself with BHs, deep top spin ones, flat and I laugh when they can't return the first ball with their FH. Why? To loosen up and practice my BH.
4. Play more with your friends or matches, instead of rallying with your coach, b/c people will learn fast to stay away from your FH ( kudos for that side btw) and they will hit mainly to your BH, giving you a chance to practice it. Heck even Fed said that his BH become better b/c of Nadal attacking it.

Keep up the good work!

I was looking at a few short videos I made a few weeks ago when I was analyzing a few technical details to fix, and managed to find one whole BH to show you (seems funny because you mentioned play with players, but seems most of these players that are my friends almost NEVER play to my BH, tho this was just a rally not a match, but 99 out of 100 shots are to the FH, funny).
Tho its a bit of my fault too because I run around to hit FH alot even in rallies, instead of working on my BH which is the weaker shot... need to switch my mentality.

Here: (you can slow down in youtube to 0.25 speed to see the slow motion, also those few FH vids I made I already slowed down on phone so can't make them full speed but i guess its fine to get a good look at the technique, il post one more vid thats a few full speed strokes.

What do you think, compared to my video above?

I personally think my BH has improved alot technically, but lags behind FH of course, it has much less mileage, needs alot of work still

My FH I also feel is a bit more smooth now, tho you guys didn't rly have much negative critique about it, but you can always improve your strokes (One thing im working on atm is that my left hand is at times a bit too passive when I stretch it out in my unit turn).

@ChaelAZ @The Vitamin L @NuBas @Shroud

@S&V-not_dead_yet sorry but couldn't find any slices, but when I make a long full video in the near future I will be sure to add them, they are improved alot too.

I will for sure try to take some time one of these days to make a more full video with alot of stroeks, but I want to try to fix a few small technical hitches first (like the left hand a bit too passive on FH) before, so bit of patience guys.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

@FiReFTW,

To get more BHs, either tell your hitting partners to only hit to your BH or move 10' to the right. It's no accident that you're hitting 99% of the shots with your FH.

The one BH looked much improved.

 

[FiReFTW]

@FiReFTW,
To get more BHs, either tell your hitting partners to only hit to your BH or move 10' to the right. It's no accident that you're hitting 99% of the shots with your FH.

Yeah I need to switch mentality, my BH needs alot more mileage, optimally i would be great if I hit 2/3rd of my shots with my BH, since it needs practice to reach my FH level, but my mentality is like, my FH is the better shot, so even when I get the ball to my BH I run around to hit a FH, because thats what I do in matches so that mentality is a bit automatic in rallying and practice too, but I need to switch it in my practice session, because its the shot I need to work on more

 

[chetrbox]

I've found that playing with a leftie who's about a level below me is good practise for the BH. The guy I play with doesn't mind repeatedly hitting cross court to my bh, since his fh is only slightly better than my bh. He has a poor leftie ohbh, and for some reason doesn't insist on me hitting to his bh.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Yeah I need to switch mentality, my BH needs alot more mileage, optimally i would be great if I hit 2/3rd of my shots with my BH, since it needs practice to reach my FH level, but my mentality is like, my FH is the better shot, so even when I get the ball to my BH I run around to hit a FH, because thats what I do in matches so that mentality is a bit automatic in rallying and practice too, but I need to switch it in my practice session, because its the shot I need to work on more

- Have your partner feed to you rather than rally. That way he can force you hit a BH.

- Every time you run around your BH to hit a FH, introduce some sort of penalty: 10 pushups, add $1 to the kitty for lunch, etc. Trust me, you'll stop running around your BH very quickly [unless you're really good at pushups and/or have a lot of spare cash].

- Tell your hitting partners what you want to do. Get them actively involved.

The goal isn't to weaken your match instincts but to isolate something so you can work on it. You're not going to get much BH work if you hit 99% FHs!

 

[ptuanminh]

if you dislike your 1hbh so much, try 2hBH .

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

if you dislike your 1hbh so much, try 2hBH .

Or, continuing on that theme, if he likes his FH so much, use the Battistone 2-handled racquet and hit a lefty FH!

 

[FiReFTW]

- Have your partner feed to you rather than rally. That way he can force you hit a BH.

- Every time you run around your BH to hit a FH, introduce some sort of penalty: 10 pushups, add $1 to the kitty for lunch, etc. Trust me, you'll stop running around your BH very quickly [unless you're really good at pushups and/or have a lot of spare cash].

- Tell your hitting partners what you want to do. Get them actively involved.

The goal isn't to weaken your match instincts but to isolate something so you can work on it. You're not going to get much BH work if you hit 99% FHs!

Yeah you are right! Need to tell my hitting partners and get them involved good advice!

 

[FiReFTW]

if you dislike your 1hbh so much, try 2hBH .

Dont missunderstand me, I love my 1hb, and sometimes I feel like I can almost crush it harder than my FH. Its just that it needs more mileage, its much less consistent.
Because if I hit like 100.000 FHs since i started tennis, I prolly hit like 5000 topspin backhands, it has much less mileage.

 

[NuBas]

Man, you have improved so much and backhand looks to be more solid. Your gonna be good man, just get that fitness level up and watch out.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Good looking FH... I never saw this thread. After watching the first video, I was about to say the same thing @SinjinCooper already said. Drop all FH work, and work on bh. But your one bh stroke in later video looked good.

We need more Fire data ... more bh video, and hitting both fh and bh on the move.

 

[Dartagnan64]

I notice your BH slice tends to pop up quite a bit. Try videoing from the side and see if you're opening your racquet face too much [my suspicion is that you are] or maybe too much of an upward angle on your swing path vs more horizontal].

Nice form on the FH.

I think this was the most glaring difficulty I saw. Nice FH's and a few string BH drives, but the BH slice was frequently popping up.
I too had a lot of problems with this at one point. Couple things that helped me is 1) hit them more out front and 2) spend a few sessions actually trying to hit them into the net. Once you can drive a slice into the net, it's easier to work upwards on net clearance to get fewer floaters.

 

[FiReFTW]

I think this was the most glaring difficulty I saw. Nice FH's and a few string BH drives, but the BH slice was frequently popping up.
I too had a lot of problems with this at one point. Couple things that helped me is 1) hit them more out front and 2) spend a few sessions actually trying to hit them into the net. Once you can drive a slice into the net, it's easier to work upwards on net clearance to get fewer floaters.

Yeah im leaning too far back a d on my back foot.
I can hit some nice sharp low slices now, when I lean into the court nicely.
But sometimes i still get caught on my back foot and can float it a bit, when i missjudge the ball and it bounces deeper or with mire spin.
Not sure if I can rly work on this, I think judging balls and positioning comes only with playtime and experience.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Yeah im leaning too far back a d on my back foot.
I can hit some nice sharp low slices now, when I lean into the court nicely.
But sometimes i still get caught on my back foot and can float it a bit, when i missjudge the ball and it bounces deeper or with mire spin.
Not sure if I can rly work on this, I think judging balls and positioning comes only with playtime and experience.

True. That's one of my new catch phrases. "Play off the front foot today" It's a reminder to stay off my back foot. While it does lead to some spectacular screamers into the net on misjudged balls, overall it's really been helpful to my BH both 2hander and slice.

The worst shots in tennis are backfooted BH's. No power, just float. At least with the FH off the back foot you can hit a decent loopy moonball that allows you to stay in the point. Opponents just salivate over the backfooted BH's

 

[Znak]

Man, great forehand! Also good looking facilities, wish mine were that nice, where's that at by chance?

 

[Tyler-James]

FH looks like butter. I'd say it's time to put the second hand on your racquet for the BH. =) My game looked pretty similar, solid movement and velocity on the FH, constant slice on the BH because I couldn't consistently execute topspin OHBH. Since learning a two-handed grip, I've been able to move up in USTA and my local ladders. The one topspin ball I saw looked good on that side, but where are all the others? As long as you are honest with yourself (e.g., am I slicing 90% of the time, or 20% of the time?) you would be best suited to make decisions on that wing moving forward.