What shot is my opponent hitting, ill post it in the message

[ttwarrior1]

I hit him a shot on the baseline. He raises his racket up and then hits down like a slice but hits it hard to the opposet side. Like if i hit to the right side, he will hit a winner to the exact opposite side without even moving and can't tell he is gonna do it.

He is 60 years old and noone in my tri state area can touch him and he is around 300 pounds

He hits it with one hand almost like a slice serve. He does it on every shot. He beat me 6-0 6-0 and Im considerered the most talented, not best player around. Im just stunned watching him play and wonder why ive never seen a pro use this shot. You watch him play and figure your gonna win . I started to practice the shot but it flies out or hits the bottom of the net.

Also the shot doesn't bounce, it literally skids 2 inches off the ground even though he hit it over 100 mph.

 

[Duzza]

Sounds like a slice, but I know the one your talking about. I do it sometimes, but only for a joke! You mean where you slice the ball to the left, or middle of the court and it flys to the right?

 

[tennis_hand]

Those are offensive slices on both wings. and what other secret shots are there in tennis? He is taking advantage of your pace to slice it back. it comes fast, low and deep. Unless you can return these slices effectively on the rise as the pros do, your best weapon is to slice it back or under-block it back.

damn. he is 60 years old with 300 pounds. you could have moved him around until he can't even reach the ball and breathe. just don't let him play his shots.

 

[oldhacker]

Sounds like low driven deep slice using the height and pace of your topspin balls - maybe with some sidespin thrown in. I reckon it must have been a standard shot in the old days, before topspin became the norm, as most of the older (over 60 years olds) I play against have it in their armoury. But in most hands it is a low percentage shot as the ball has to travel fast and low over the net and does not have topspin to dip it in. I would also say that it is impossible to hit a groundstroke at 100mph low over the net and keep the ball in without some serious topspin so you may be exagerating the pace a touch. This shot causes problems for many younger players brought up on a strict diet of topspin - especially on low bouncing surfaces like astro. Maybe this guy has a real talent for it and has got it very consistant. I would slice it back rather than try to hit topspin. And if the guy is 60 years old and 300 lbs move him around, use short angles and dropshots, draw him in then pass or lob rather than feed his hitting zone on the baseline.

In our club tournament the coach always advises his older students who draw a young western grip topspin addict in the tournament to book an astro court and slice deep to the forehand. And it seems to work as a couple of guys have causes major upsets using this strategy.

I hit him a shot on the baseline. He raises his racket up and then hits down like a slice but hits it hard to the opposet side. Like if i hit to the right side, he will hit a winner to the exact opposite side without even moving and can't tell he is gonna do it.

He is 60 years old and noone in my tri state area can touch him and he is around 300 pounds

He hits it with one hand almost like a slice serve. He does it on every shot. He beat me 6-0 6-0 and Im considerered the most talented, not best player around. Im just stunned watching him play and wonder why ive never seen a pro use this shot. You watch him play and figure your gonna win . I started to practice the shot but it flies out or hits the bottom of the net.

Also the shot doesn't bounce, it literally skids 2 inches off the ground even though he hit it over 100 mph.

 

[OrangeOne]

I hit him a shot on the baseline. He raises his racket up and then hits down like a slice but hits it hard to the opposet side. Like if i hit to the right side, he will hit a winner to the exact opposite side without even moving and can't tell he is gonna do it.

Step 1: If he's hitting it without moving, don't hit it to him!

Step 2: Try not giving him angles, maybe hit down the centre

He is 60 years old and noone in my tri state area can touch him and he is around 300 pounds

Step 3: If he's 60 and 300, he's not fast. Make him run. Drop shot. Lob. Side to side.

He hits it with one hand almost like a slice serve. He does it on every shot. He beat me 6-0 6-0 and Im considerered the most talented, not best player around. Im just stunned watching him play and wonder why ive never seen a pro use this shot. You watch him play and figure your gonna win . I started to practice the shot but it flies out or hits the bottom of the net.

Also the shot doesn't bounce, it literally skids 2 inches off the ground even though he hit it over 100 mph.

Ok - so he has a good slice. His ability to slice is probably slightly lower than your ability to exaggerate , but nonetheless , he has a good slice.

So - stop giving him balls he can aggressively slice. To slice that hard, he's doing it to a high ball, and you should give him lower balls. Drop-shot him a lot, it's impossible to aggressively slice a short ball that's below the net.

Older players everywhere beat younger kids who don't see a lot of slice. The last thing I have to say is the hardest advice: go practice! Find your mates, and hit 100s of slice shots, you'll get better, and you'll get better at dealing with slice yourself too.

 

[The Gorilla]

it's not a slice serve actually, what this kid is describing is a backspin serve


http://www.tennisserver.com/turbo/turbo_05_12.html
I stumbled upon this serve many years ago, when I was first learning the game of tennis. Like most players, I began to serve using a forehand grip. It seemed like the normal thing to do. Besides, when I used this grip, I could generate lots of pace…even though many of my serves hit the net. Little by little, I began to learn from my mistakes and develop the serve technique necessary to impart backspin on a first serve hit with pace.

The effect of the serve is devastating. The ball has lots of pace. It is difficult to read where you are intending on placing the serve. The backspin does one of two things, depending on the surface. It will either stay very low after bouncing on clay surfaces or gritty hard courts. On faster surfaces like grass or most indoor courts, the ball actually skips as it makes contact with the court surface.

Should I miss the first serve using this technique, I follow up with a high bouncing kick serve. Usually, these two extremes prevent the opponent from getting accustom to either serve. I have found that I am winning about 20 to 30 percent more points off of aces or ill-returned serves, since adopting this backspin serve.

With all this having been said, let’s begin with how to start the service motion.

First, I would recommend that you open up your stance just a tad from what is your normal stance. It doesn’t have to be a significant change. Just face the net a little more than you normally would.

Second, you need to use an eastern forehand grip. Now, I don’t want to show pictures of this grip, because each player needs to adjust her/his grip slightly. Suffice it to say that this is not the semi-western grip that most players use today on their forehand groundstrokes. Instead, this is the "old school," traditional, "shake hands with the racquet grip." If you must see illustrations of grips to be clear, please refer to my previous column entitled "Picture Perfect" This article shows grips in close up and shows all the various stances as well.

Next, your toss needs to be adjusted from what is probably your normal toss. The toss for the backspin serve must be low and tossed in front of your body. When teaching this serve, I really have to force students to make a concerted effort regarding both of these toss aspects. On of the benefits of this backspin serve is that its toss lends itself to very windy conditions. The lower the toss, the less likely the wind will affect the toss.

Now comes the most unconventional part of the serve. Instead of hitting up on the ball, hit forward and down. I know. This goes against everything you have been taught by me and other teaching pros.

If you have tossed low enough and in front enough, the natural motion with the eastern forehand grip will be to hit the ball forward. Adding the downward motion as you make contact with the ball is what makes the serve have backspin.

Lastly, you must follow through on the serve by bringing your back foot forward. In fact, this back foot should land inside the baseline after making contact, if you are following through correctly. The ideal model is to look at pitchers in American baseball. They always are finishing with their bodies moving forward. Many times, these pitchers will land with their front foot almost off the sandy area of the pitching mound.

Now, you must be patient in learning this serve. Like most things in tennis, something clicks and the stroke becomes effective. In your early efforts, don’t be surprised if you shank a few balls into another zip code. You certainly will find that many of your early service efforts will hit the net. Sometimes these net errors will hit quite low on the net. Do not be discouraged. Trust your mind and body to make the necessary adjustments.

In learning this serve, don’t be timid. Take a good whack at the ball. This pace is necessary to make certain that the ball will travel over the net.

If you watch recreational players of badminton, you will see the downward motion of the service "at the moment of contact" with the "birdie." This is how most of us serve when we are first learning the game of tennis. It is later on that we are taught to use a continental or eastern backhand grip. We are also taught to hit up on the ball…not down.

Boris Becker was one of the few players that I have seen who used an eastern forehand grip for his serves…all of them!!! When I observed him playing in person, I realized why he was so effective on the grass at Wimbledon. His serves had lots of pace, but they frequently skip or would stay low due to the backspin. I am relatively certain that his opponents would remark that his placement of serve was an additional element in his success.

Once you have gained the basic technique of the backspin serve, your next goal should be placement. As is the case with any serve, the placement can be more important than the pace or spin. I have found that serving the backspin serve directly at the opponent pays great dividends in terms of "free points."

Unorthodox as this serve is, I promise you that it is more effective than you can imagine. Frankly, resurrecting this serve is a positive consequence of my broken thumb. Now, I use it as my first serve 90% of the time!!!

So, take the time this off-season (if you are north of the equator) to learn this serve. I assure you that it will go a long way toward helping you become a tennis overdog!!!

I wish you all the best this holiday season and hope that 2006 brings you much tennis happiness!

 

[OrangeOne]

it's not a slice serve actually, what this kid is describing is a backspin serve

Gorilla, you may have misread this one, the OP describes a rally-shot - groundstroke, not a serve.

 

[SalvadorVeiga]

ahh that serve is what you usually see on beginners... they hold the racquet as if it were a frying pan they toss the ball really low in front of their body and then just smack them... I actually admit that when gets in its a tough serve with lots of pace and skids very low...but that is low percentage tennis !that kind of serve is even more unreliable than a pure flat one... since the ball is backspinning it creates a flow of air under the ball maintaining it longer in the air... yeah its a tough serve when it gets in and with pace...but other than that...

 

[OrangeOne]

ahh that serve

It's not a serve. The OP is referring to a groundstroke, not a serve.

It seems everyone is missing this fact now?

 

[SalvadorVeiga]

i was referring to what the previous user stated... i believe though what the OP is referring at least i think his opponent takes advantage of the HIGH bouncing top spin and just cuts the ball on his forehand side... just a high slice forehand...

 

[oldhacker]

Can those who have WRONGLY decided that this thread is about serves please reread the first paragraph (copy below) of the OP's original post.

I hit him a shot on the baseline. He raises his racket up and then hits down like a slice but hits it hard to the opposet side. Like if i hit to the right side, he will hit a winner to the exact opposite side without even moving and can't tell he is gonna do it.

 

[shindemac]

It's a slice that's hit hard. It stays low to the ground, like 2 inches.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

Yeah... This thread is ridiculous.

Regardless of the shot he is hitting, the problem is that you're letting him hit it. That is problem with all threads in this forum. Posters are only letting things happen to them, they are never the ones making anything happen.

If a 60 year old man weighing 300 lbs is simply standing still and hitting winners... Well... ??

I just don't get it.

To me it seems like he is simply hitting the crap out of the ball for a clean winner. If he is consistantly hitting winners with a forehand slice, again, that is your problem and not his amazing talent. Give him low balls. Give him skidding slices. Nobody can hit slice winners with a ball far below net level.

Can you describe the shots he's hitting a little better?

 

[ttwarrior1]

sorry none of these posts are accurate, no his shot doesn't spin, no i dont hit a spin shot to him, and no its not a serve. Im confused and this thread just gave me a headache

 

[OrangeOne]

sorry none of these posts are accurate, no his shot doesn't spin,

If his shot doesn't spin, what is he hitting then? Just a flat-slap? All of the advice in my post #5 still applies, and there's a bunch of others that are still relevant too (just ignore the ones who thought you were describing a serve).

You should move him around, hit to where the 300lb guy isn't, and give him shorter and lower balls. Whatever the result of his stroke, he needs a higher deeper ball to hit it off... so don't give him high deep balls!

no i dont hit a spin shot to him,

So... you're hitting a floaty shot to him then?

 

[VGP]

It just sounds like a shot hit with a hard chopping motion. I assume on the high side on the forehand. It sounds like he underspins it if it only bounces 2 inches off the ground, so you say.

Sounds like when he gets this shot, he can just time it very well.

The shot itself (since you asked) sounds like a forehand chop (which I doubt he's hitting at 100 mph).

 

[drakulie]

Also the shot doesn't bounce, it literally skids 2 inches off the ground even though he hit it over 100 mph.

Anyone else find this last sentence disturbing?

 

[cam2]

ttwarrior1, I think your mistaking a Prince of Tennis episode for a match you played. Please stay off the sauce, thanks.

 

[muggy]

If it's what I'm thinking about, it's a shot I used when I first started learning tennis when I didn't know how to hit a high ball to the forehand side. I just hold my racquet up on my forehand side, flat towards the net, and kind of do a loose wrist slap at it. It's really not that hard to control if your racquet isn't too heavy, and it's not hard to be accurate with it at all. All it takes is higher shots to hit. I still use it occasionally because it takes a lot less preparation than a windup topspin forehand, and you still get to kill the high ball. I think everyone has done this shot before, just never used it for any kind of strategy or practiced it.

So yeah, do what everyone says and keep it low on him. He's gonna end up giving you sitting ducks.

 

[VGP]

I'm glad to see ttwarrior1 back and active on TTW.

I like reading his threads asking about what the "best racket for dropshots" is......how he hits with the "same stroke" and the ball flies five feet long or hits the bottom of the net....how he can do just as well with his WalMart racket or his TT Warrior.....how he can't control the ball using his TT Warrior even though he hasn't broken or changed strings in it for six years, even though he serves 120 miles per hour.....

I did read your thread about your headaches......I sincerely hope that gets better for you, ttwarrior1.

 

[OrangeOne]

Anyone else find this last sentence disturbing?

Yup - back in my original post I acknowledged as much....

His ability to slice is probably slightly lower than your ability to exaggerate , but nonetheless , he has a good slice.

 

[drakulie]

^^ Yeah I noticed you mentioned it.

I was wondering why no-one else caught that. Either way, if he really does hit 100 mph slices I never, EVER, want to face him.

 

[Oxford]

I thought this thread was joke until I found THIS!!!:-o

LINK

 

[shindemac]

I thought this thread was joke until I found THIS!!!:-o

LINK

Dude! That's hilarious. Nice photochop!!

On a less serious note, I do remember him posting about the same things over and over and not being satisfied with any of our responses. Look for a new thread soon about the same subject in a week's time. I do like the part where he says his opponents call him a pusher but he denies it saying that he hits it over "100 miles per hour". Seems like everything is at 100mph for him.

 

[Rickson]

I hit him a shot on the baseline. He raises his racket up and then hits down like a slice but hits it hard to the opposet side. Like if i hit to the right side, he will hit a winner to the exact opposite side without even moving and can't tell he is gonna do it.

He is 60 years old and noone in my tri state area can touch him and he is around 300 pounds

He hits it with one hand almost like a slice serve. He does it on every shot. He beat me 6-0 6-0 and Im considerered the most talented, not best player around. Im just stunned watching him play and wonder why ive never seen a pro use this shot. You watch him play and figure your gonna win . I started to practice the shot but it flies out or hits the bottom of the net.

Also the shot doesn't bounce, it literally skids 2 inches off the ground even though he hit it over 100 mph.

He's using a forehand slice (one of my favorite shots), but his delivery isn't meant to be slow and short like the Coria dropshot. I use this shot often and the backspin creates chaos among my opponents. You can hit this kind of shot by flattening the slice forehand a bit so that it lands deeper than a true slice fh. Use a square face at contact instead of any kind of open face. Good luck with the new shot if you choose to add it to your arsenal.

 

[drakulie]

I thought this thread was joke until I found THIS!!!:-o

LINK

That is hilarious!!!

 

[zapvor]

ok i know this is weird, but i played with someone today for fun, and we ended up playing a set. but before that we rallied, and his shot are like the OP described. i should have asked him what grip he used, but on his forehands, he would just raise the racket up,and hit so hard and so flat, with so much pace, AND when it hits the ground it always skidded, so i had to bend my knees super low to get it. i swear the bounce was like 3inches every time. i think its just a super flat shot old people learned (he was like 50something)

 

[zapvor]

I thought this thread was joke until I found THIS!!!:-o

LINK

LOL outstanding....how did you do that.

 

[Rickson]

ok i know this is weird, but i played with someone today for fun, and we ended up playing a set. but before that we rallied, and his shot are like the OP described. i should have asked him what grip he used, but on his forehands, he would just raise the racket up,and hit so hard and so flat, with so much pace, AND when it hits the ground it always skidded, so i had to bend my knees super low to get it. i swear the bounce was like 3inches every time. i think its just a super flat shot old people learned (he was like 50something)

I usually use an eastern or a very mild continental leaning toward the eastern side. A full continental isn't ideal for the heavy paced, low skidder because it's a lot easier to hit a short dropper with the full continental so you may not get the depth and pace you desire.

 

[nyc]

So I played this 400lbs dude that was like 70 years old and he had this crazy lob that went so high that I couldn't see the ball anymore. Turns out he was using a western grip - it helped him make these crazy shots, 100 mph straight up in the air. One of the balls hit me in the head, now I got shaky legs I think I have to retire.

Bageled me in the first set. So I asked him about his technique and he told me about his western grip and I asked him where he got it, but he wouldn't tell me. Do they have them at WalMart?

 

[SoBad]

^^ Hehe I played a dude who was like 100 years old and weighed 600lbs and all he did was hit these dropshots that would travel to within two inches of the net on my side of the court at like 200mph, and then bounce back over to his side going at 100mph. Any tips?

 

[zapvor]

I usually use an eastern or a very mild continental leaning toward the eastern side. A full continental isn't ideal for the heavy paced, low skidder because it's a lot easier to hit a short dropper with the full continental so you may not get the depth and pace you desire.

hmm...thanks for the input. he was very friendly and we said stuff about meeting next week,so i will try to remember to ask him what grip he uses.by the way, my boss hits with a continental fh. weird i know

 

[shindemac]

So I asked him about his technique and he told me about his western grip and I asked him where he got it, but he wouldn't tell me. Do they have them at WalMart?

Where can I buy a western grip?

 

[drakulie]

^^ Hehe I played a dude who was like 100 years old and weighed 600lbs and all he did was hit these dropshots that would travel to within two inches of the net on my side of the court at like 200mph, and then bounce back over to his side going at 100mph. Any tips?

Retire! LMAO!

 

[SoBad]

Retire! LMAO!

Hehe I'll retire YOU you big old prostaff Courier hehehe.... I was looking for instructionals damn it!@!

 

[Oxford]

^^ Hehe I played a dude who was like 100 years old and weighed 600lbs and all he did was hit these dropshots that would travel to within two inches of the net on my side of the court at like 200mph, and then bounce back over to his side going at 100mph. Any tips?

The only way to counter that is to spray Phase Inhibitor on your balls (also comes in a salve.) It alters the molecular structure of air travel around the ball. If you get Phase Inhibitor PLUS you get the adding benefit of gravity adjustment diodes.

Slather some on and you will have much more control over your ball placement, reaction and longitude. Comes in lavender and cinnamon.

 

[ttwarrior1]

ill try to find a link with the guys pic, I know its been in the paper before so maybe i can post a legit pic of him. He looks like boris becker but 20 years older and 100 pounds heavier i guess, but becker isnt little i guess

 

[VGP]

ttwarrior1's ability to shrug off ridicule is AMAZING!

Like 100 mph amazing.

 

[ttwarrior1]

2007 when I posted this? Where does the time go.the dude still plays and he is better than ever. I'll describe the shot better . Picture you having a hammer in your right hand and you have it over your head slightly, and then almost violently go straight down with it and maybe a 10 degree angle to the left. I guess it is a slice after looking back and watching him play now

 

[TomT]

2007 when I posted this? Where does the time go.the dude still plays and he is better than ever. I'll describe the shot better . Picture you having a hammer in your right hand and you have it over your head slightly, and then almost violently go straight down with it and maybe a 10 degree angle to the left. I guess it is a slice after looking back and watching him play now

Was it sort of like this shot (at 0:04)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRm1PO7Hzgg

 

[ttwarrior1]

lol , yes , almost exact, but more violent of a swing, but effertless looking and would of been right on the line for a winner where you wouldnt be able to even hit it