What's the best way to play with my husband?

Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
At long last, my husband has taken up tennis!

He is very new to all of this. He has taken some group lessons at the county rec facility, progressing from their beginner level to intermediate. That means he has played about 10 hours of group lessons. He is enjoying it.

If we go out and hit hit, he struggles to return my shots because they have more spin and pace than he is used to. This causes him to break his technique and hack/push, not to mention his mounting frustration. It also bring out in me a tendency to coach, which is bad, bad, bad.

Anyway, today we went out with a hopper, and I showed him how to toss a ball up into the air, let it bounce twice, and hit it with the best possible form. Meanwhile, I stood on the other side of the net and hit the balls that came near me, doing my level best to keep my mouth shut and instead work on my own (signficant) weaknesses.

This worked very well, and he got better (better follow through, better contact point, better balance).

My question: What other things can two players of disparate levels do to practice?
 
M

Mr.Snrub

Banned
If you want to play together:

1) Rally but ease up on him for a while. Slowly up the pace/spin as he gets more comfortable hitting the ball. I do this all the time with friends, but from time to time I smack a winner by them just to get my juices flowing.

2) Do drills together. Feed him wide balls/short balls/whatever and try to volley off his reply.

Feed him volleys/get him to try to feed you volleys. Try the same for overheads (if possible...this one's harder).

Get him to try approach shots and then practice lobbing him.

-------------------------------------------------------------

If he's serious about getting better tell him to get to the wall and hit for hours by himself. I love the wall
 
D

directionals

Rookie
I assume your husband is a beginner. I do this with kids who are just starting to play tennis:

- use a continental grip to feed and rally. Put little or no spin on the ball.
- hit easy balls to him, i.e. little spin, slow balls, ball right at his strike zone, right to him so he doesn't need to move much
- you are the one who moves around getting all the balls back so he doesn't need to move much.
- do whatever to lower your level to his level
 
B

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
You could be his instructor or his practice partner- or both. I suggest the latter- not just in your case but, pretty much, in every case.

I assume that you are somewhere around a "4.0"- and that you have had considerable instruction and experience behind you. Out of all that experience, I think you should be able to give him the benefit of what you have learned and what worked best for you (do it all, so to speak)--- but the way I would go about it is to see that he gets some good professional/individual instruction right off the bat-- then you can supplement this instruction with whatever practice is necessary, tweaking his game, reinforcing his learning-- something like a parent helping out with a child's homework.

Obviously, there is more that could be said, here, but that is the way I would start.
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
Cindysphinx said:
At long last, my husband has taken up tennis!

He is very new to all of this. He has taken some group lessons at the county rec facility, progressing from their beginner level to intermediate. That means he has played about 10 hours of group lessons. He is enjoying it.

If we go out and hit hit, he struggles to return my shots because they have more spin and pace than he is used to. This causes him to break his technique and hack/push, not to mention his mounting frustration. It also bring out in me a tendency to coach, which is bad, bad, bad.

Anyway, today we went out with a hopper, and I showed him how to toss a ball up into the air, let it bounce twice, and hit it with the best possible form. Meanwhile, I stood on the other side of the net and hit the balls that came near me, doing my level best to keep my mouth shut and instead work on my own (signficant) weaknesses.

This worked very well, and he got better (better follow through, better contact point, better balance).

My question: What other things can two players of disparate levels do to practice?
Click to expand...

You can bring a hopper of balls and take turns feeding each other. You can show him to to stand near the net and feed you at the baseline. Show him how to mix up short balls, forehands, backhands, lobs. Have him choke up on the racquet to control his feeds better.

He can also stand near you and drop feed you balls in the 4 directions of the letter "X", Each time you recover to the middle. This drill will work your footwork and endurance and is a killer! He only needs to toss the ball a few feet so you hit it after one bounce.
 
beernutz

beernutz

Hall of Fame
If you want to play competitively with someone at a different level you can do things like give them only one serve (or unlimited serves), let them play the doubles alleys (or you get to play them), let one player have a point whenever they want it, or start one player at minus points (or the other player at plus points or both).
 
Captain Ron

Captain Ron

Professional
Sometimes it is fun for me to play retriever against a weaker practice partner. Basically, I will find their strike zone and try to hit the ball back to it, they then hit a "good" shot and I get to work on my movement and accuracy running it down hitting it back to them.
You can very this with different levels by maybe not hitting to there strike zone but to something they can hit back for a good shot but not a winner. With your husband you may need to take a little off your shots initially but soon he should be able to hit back forehands that sit up a little for him.
Good luck!
 
Avles

Avles

Hall of Fame
If you want to rally with him and work on technique you could try using those foam practice balls (e.g. the Dunlop Speedball). They are a nice equalizer, they promote taking a full swing, and I think they're pretty fun.
 
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Sander001

Sander001

Hall of Fame
Cindysphinx said:
At long last, my husband has taken up tennis!

He is very new to all of this. He has taken some group lessons at the county rec facility, progressing from their beginner level to intermediate. That means he has played about 10 hours of group lessons. He is enjoying it.

If we go out and hit hit, he struggles to return my shots because they have more spin and pace than he is used to. This causes him to break his technique and hack/push, not to mention his mounting frustration. It also bring out in me a tendency to coach, which is bad, bad, bad.

Anyway, today we went out with a hopper, and I showed him how to toss a ball up into the air, let it bounce twice, and hit it with the best possible form. Meanwhile, I stood on the other side of the net and hit the balls that came near me, doing my level best to keep my mouth shut and instead work on my own (signficant) weaknesses.

This worked very well, and he got better (better follow through, better contact point, better balance).

My question: What other things can two players of disparate levels do to practice?
Click to expand...
Play left handed[assuming you're right handed]. I do this all the time with girlfriends and it's enjoyable. If he gets offended that you're going lefty, convince him it's something you do for practice and that you're nearly equal off both hands.
 
T

TobyTopspin

Professional
Cindy,

I had this exact issue with my wife who decided to start playing a few years ago. You are ahead of me in a lot of ways as she had never played any sports and was very uncoordinated.

I started off slowly by showing her the basics and feed her balls for the first month. Most of these were drop feeds so that I could make sure her technique was correct. You are probably past this point though.

Then we started trying to rally using the short court drill (inside the service lines). After a week or so of this we went to full court hitting. Now she's into tennis more than I am. She's always watching and reading about it. It actually helps keep my interest in the sport at a higher level. In fact there were many nights that she would wake me up and ask me a tennis related question.

She plays 4.0 USTA now and hits heavy topspin off of both sides. We still hit 4 or 5 times a week and enjoy each others company and it's a great hobby that both of us share. There are very few hobbies that both men and women can share like this. So try and be patient and realize that if you keep it up in the long run you will be gaining a hitting partner for life and it will most likely even bring you two closer together.

Her only issue is that she's a gear junkie now and no one on her teams/leagues understands a thing she talks about once she starts talking swingweights, polys, balance etc, going diagonal until you get a short ball.... I've created a monster. Hopefully it will work out the same for you.
 
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K

kevrol

Hall of Fame
My wife and I are on different levels. She's a beginner and I've been playing again for a few years. I try to work on hitting it right to her forehand or backhand. We play sets and I try to not hit winners and give her returnable shots. That way it comes down to her unforced errors. I also try and intentionally getting out of position at times to make myself have to recover.
 
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R

RetroSpin

Hall of Fame
Tell him he's an embarrassment to you and a joke among your friends and your handsome coach.

Ask him if he's like you to pick out some nice skirts for him to wear.

Tell him to get used to being your byatch.
 
G

Gemini

Hall of Fame
One thing I've learned from hitting with my other half is to not worry about/harp on the negatives or mistakes, but definitely encourage and praise the things that are being done well. So if feel I need to correct something that's being done wrong, a breakdown in form as an example, I actively try to find the most positive way of pointing it out and usually it corrects itself on the next ball. I also try to limit our hitting sessions to no more than 30 minutes...:)
 
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T

tennis_ocd

Hall of Fame
If he completely breaks down due to pace and spin he's not ready to hit with you and it'll just be painful for both and of neg benefit... Stay with the hopper and soft feeds to encourage good technique.

He's a guy and it shouldn't really take him too long to be able to be able to stay with your soft rally balls hit to his strike zone.... Only you know how much instruction he's willing to take; if like most guys it isn't going to be very much from a wife. Good luck!
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
The best thing you can do for your hub's tennis future is to find a well qualified coach to teach him the correct grips for the stroke fundamentals. Emphazising the serve first, as it's the most important shot in tennis--if you get the ball in they have to play him. Next the return of serve, the second most important shot. Continental grip for S&V. Eastern grips for FH & BH. The "loop" strokes--none of that get the racket back BS, with a straight elbow, or you'll be leading him down the sorry road to tennis elbow and the plethora of other shoulder and arm injuries.

Forget the clinics, there's no time to teach strokes in them and he will just ingrain bad habits he picks up, they never practice serves. He will pick-up many restaurant, movie and dog walking tips while waiting in line to take a swing.

Find a good pro and get him a dozen lessons on the fundamentals of strokes and their grips, or you're dooming him to mediocrity with no future in it to play real tennis.
 
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eelhc

eelhc

Hall of Fame
Well not necessarily instruction advice but...

Kill any "showstopper" bad habits now.

I'm finding Muscle memory to be VERY, VERY powerful. I picked up the game again after a ~25 year layoff several years back... guess what? All my bad habits from 25 years came back. Incredible stuff really...

To a beginner, hitting a ton of balls in the hopes of getting one right and bottling it just doesn't work IMO. Most of the balls they hit just reinforce their bad habits.
 
R

rnitz

New User
Cindy, this suggestion may not be practical for you but it's worked for me and my wife: we hit together on a ball machine at our local club.

Even though my wife and I are similar levels (long time 4.5 players) we've lost the ability to hit with each other. As I added more topspin to my game it was too different a shot for my wife's level of practice (none of the women in her leagues hit big spin, kick serves, etc.)

If you have access to a ball machine at your courts or local facility, it solves a lot of the issues and it's a lot of fun. Each can hit against the type of shots they want, there's no pressure to get it back to your partner "perfectly", in fact it removes the pressure to get it in at all. You can alternate shots, or one can collect the balls while the other hits a ton of shots. Anyway, good luck.
 
Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
eelhc said:
Well not necessarily instruction advice but...

Kill any "showstopper" bad habits now.

I'm finding Muscle memory to be VERY, VERY powerful. I picked up the game again after a ~25 year layoff several years back... guess what? All my bad habits from 25 years came back. Incredible stuff really...

To a beginner, hitting a ton of balls in the hopes of getting one right and bottling it just doesn't work IMO. Most of the balls they hit just reinforce their bad habits.
Click to expand...

So many good ideas. Thank you, everyone!

He has his first private lesson tomorrow, with my long-time pro. Hubby cannot get a serve over the net (!). It has a ton of slice and no penetration, and he feels like he is hurting his shoulder. Gotta get that addressed, STAT.

Regarding the clinics. . . . I figured they would be good for getting him to love the game, and that seems to be working. He really is starting to enjoy the game -- I found "The Art of Doubles" under his side of the bed.

But, eelhc, you are right about the muscle memory.

I am taking a four-person intermediate clinic with hubby. Pro hits more difficult feeds to me, so it is good practice. Trouble is, the pro told us students that an approach volley has a backswing, and he chided me for not taking my racket back enough. Dear god. I spent *years* learning NOT to backwing on volleys. Sure enough, the other students were trying to take a backswing to hit a volley from the service line, and they were producing some truly gruesome volleys. Oy.

Hopefully, my pro can fix this horrible volley advice my husband got before it "takes."
 
Bionic slice

Bionic slice

Semi-Pro
its a challenge playing with your spouse especially when you are not similar levels, ive hit with my wife who is complete beginner and maybe hit the ball a total of 2 hours in her life, this is not her sport but we had fun just exercising, sadly she hates watching tennis on tv, wont watch a match with me, so cindy, you smart getting a little hitting sessions with him, as he progresses, you can challenge him and help him progress further but also get him into some drills with similar level players right now so he has more fun..i recommend a ball machine, so you can both hit, he can see how you play up close on the court, you can observe and you can see him hit but keep it fun if hes still learning basics, also get some cones on the court, do some coordination and footwork drills to help that area as well as keep your game going too. its mutual. just my 2 cents.
 
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T

tennis tom

Legend
Cindysphinx said:
... Trouble is, the pro told us students that an approach volley has a backswing, and he chided me for not taking my racket back enough. Dear god. I spent *years* learning NOT to backwing on volleys. Sure enough, the other students were trying to take a backswing to hit a volley from the service line, and they were producing some truly gruesome volleys. Oy.

Hopefully, my pro can fix this horrible volley advice my husband got before it "takes."
Click to expand...

Are you sure you're not talking about a slice approach? If it's any consolation it's not an easy shot to learn, hence all the baseliners today who never come to the net because they were never taught how to properly volley and no longer play doubles. Federer hired Stefan Edberg, one of the best S/V'ers ever to teach him how to do it now that's he's getting on in years and needs to shorten the points. It's working very well for him, he's successfully ending the points volleying against all but the top three players and he's starting to hit volleys against them too after only about a year with Edberg as his coach. For proof of a backswing on the approach or an approach volley watch Fed or any of the other top S/V'ers. You can punch a volley at the net because there's so little time but you should also be ending the point up there because you have the advantage of the angles.
 
breezybee

breezybee

New User
My hubby took up tennis two years ago. He mainly only plays in the summer and doesn't play nearly as much as I do. The first summer I just concentrated on hitting clean, medium paced balls to him to that he could have the chance to rally a lot of balls. He likes to play games rather than drill so that is what we do and I always enjoy it. Two years in I have to play my full game, pretty much, when I play him. He's very athletic, very tall and very fast so he gets a ton of balls back.

We play mixed doubles together and we really enjoy that. He's a natural volleyer (unlike me) so setting him up at the net is a lot of fun. This summer we were undefeated in our mixed doubles league.

I don't think he'll every play the amount that I do because, while he enjoys it, he's not passionate about it the way I am but it is great to play with him. A lot of my friends have seemed to gravitate towards doubles over the years so it is very nice to have a ready singles opponent all of the time. Whether we are playing against each other of with each other its just another good way to spend time together.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Cindysphinx said:
He has his first private lesson tomorrow, with my long-time pro. Hubby cannot get a serve over the net (!). It has a ton of slice and no penetration, and he feels like he is hurting his shoulder. Gotta get that addressed, STAT.

Regarding the clinics. . . . I figured they would be good for getting him to love the game, and that seems to be working. He really is starting to enjoy the game -- I found "The Art of Doubles" under his side of the bed.
Click to expand...

What is STAT? Is it short for "So That is That?" Is this a common abbreviation?

2 suggestions:

It is all in the grip. Get him to use proper grips on the two wings.
For adult men, the 1 handed BH comes easily due to their superior strength. If you don't want that, get him hitting 2 handers from get go.
 
Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
tennis tom said:
Are you sure you're not talking about a slice approach? If it's any consolation it's not an easy shot to learn, hence all the baseliners today who never come to the net because they were never taught how to properly volley and no longer play doubles. Federer hired Stefan Edberg, one of the best S/V'ers ever to teach him how to do it now that's he's getting on in years and needs to shorten the points. It's working very well for him, he's successfully ending the points volleying against all but the top three players and he's starting to hit volleys against them too after only about a year with Edberg as his coach. For proof of a backswing on the approach or an approach volley watch Fed or any of the other top S/V'ers. You can punch a volley at the net because there's so little time but you should also be ending the point up there because you have the advantage of the angles.
Click to expand...

He called it a "long volley." By that I think he means an approach volley, given that we hit them from deeper in the court..

But you do not not not take a backswing on an approach volley. Not the way I've been taught, anyway. I've been taught that you keep your racket in front, get a shoulder turn, and move through the shot. I cannot imagine how you would have your racket in front for your ready position/split step and then put your racket 45 degrees behind you for a FH volley, and then do anything other than be late.

Anyway . . .

Hubby's lesson was straight up amazing. This is because my pro is so darn good.

We got there late, so the lesson was only 50 minutes. I was very curious to see what my pro could accomplish with a new beginner student in that amount of time given how many technical flaws hubby has.

They warmed up short for a couple of minutes. Then pro had hubby move to baseline and fed him FHs. After about 20-30 feeds, he walked to the net. He told hubby his problem was that he was starting his FH with the racket much too low (just inches off the ground). That caused hubby to yank up hard in an attempt to produce topspin, often finishing his swing short or on the right-hand side of his body (which was producing arm pain). Pro showed him shoulder turn and prepared racket position with racket head up. Suddenly, FHs were penetrating the court with topspin and consistency.

Next they turned to BH. Hubby was making poor contact with a choppy 2HBH. Pro got him to use his LF, including having him hit some lefty FHs to reinforce. Hand-fed a bunch of balls from a position right next to hubby. Adjusted his contact point back because hubby was meet the ball too far in front and losing power and directional control. BH improved dramatically -- powerful topspin drives, including DTL.

Then, with time running out, they hit some serves. Pro corrected toss (way too fast!), toss position (too far to left), and extension. Slight improvement -- much work remains on the serve.

I remain dazzled at my pro's ability to zero in on the one flaw out of many that will make the biggest improvement. $50 well spent, I say.

Cindy -- thinking hubby might be ready for 6.5 men's combo by January
 
T

TobyTopspin

Professional
rnitz said:
Cindy, this suggestion may not be practical for you but it's worked for me and my wife: we hit together on a ball machine at our local club.

Even though my wife and I are similar levels (long time 4.5 players) we've lost the ability to hit with each other. As I added more topspin to my game it was too different a shot for my wife's level of practice (none of the women in her leagues hit big spin, kick serves, etc.)

If you have access to a ball machine at your courts or local facility, it solves a lot of the issues and it's a lot of fun. Each can hit against the type of shots they want, there's no pressure to get it back to your partner "perfectly", in fact it removes the pressure to get it in at all. You can alternate shots, or one can collect the balls while the other hits a ton of shots. Anyway, good luck.
Click to expand...

I did the opposite. I pretty much hit topspin with her the entire time. Now she one of the few women that hits with it. It's a huge advantage for her as she can rally with most men in mixed and women can't time her groundies at all. It's one of the big reason as to why she has advanced so quickly.

Now when we hit together, I'm not hitting all out like I do with a lot of players, but she does welcome some harder shots from time to time. She also loves to work on returns as I practice my serves.
 
T

tennis_ocd

Hall of Fame
Cindysphinx said:
Trouble is, the pro told us students that an approach volley has a backswing, and he chided me for not taking my racket back enough.
Click to expand...
All these volley phrases can be confusing. What one person calls a "punch" others a swing. "catch" a volley taken literally is just as bad.

There is a short volley backswing although 95% of beginners take much too big of one. The term catch a volley would have been much more useful when starting out then how my mind processed this "punch" thing that everyone talks about.
 
Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
tennis_ocd said:
All these volley phrases can be confusing. What one person calls a "punch" others a swing. "catch" a volley taken literally is just as bad.

There is a short volley backswing although 95% of beginners take much too big of one. The term catch a volley would have been much more useful when starting out then how my mind processed this "punch" thing that everyone talks about.
Click to expand...

My feeling on it is that 95% of beginners take too much backswing. So the best thing to teach is no backswing. The beginner will provide the backswing with no prompting at all.

I think in general there is too much emphasis on what the arm is doing and not enough emphasis on what the feet are doing in the volley. If you stand there with planted feet, it doesn't much matter whether you catch or punch or something else. The volley will stink.
 
T

tennis_ocd

Hall of Fame
Cindysphinx said:
My feeling on it is that 95% of beginners take too much backswing. So the best thing to teach is no backswing. The beginner will provide the backswing with no prompting at all.

I think in general there is too much emphasis on what the arm is doing and not enough emphasis on what the feet are doing in the volley. If you stand there with planted feet, it doesn't much matter whether you catch or punch or something else. The volley will stink.
Click to expand...
Were were you when I was learning volleys? Perfect advice... now will hubby listen? :twisted:
 
T

tennis_ocd

Hall of Fame
sureshs said:
Sounds hard to believe for a beginner. Was he a college athlete back in the day?
Click to expand...
Good instruction and listening can have an incredible impact; especially early in the learning process. The longer one waits the more muscle memory there is to correct.

Getting a reasonably athletic person to hit technically sound, well placed ball feeds is still a big step from a rally ball.
 
C

CurrenFan

Rookie
Give him as many compliments on his shots and upon his improvement in the game as you can without sounding patronizing or insincere.

If he is making a frequent mistake, rather than criticize him, try to put the corrective language in the form of a question or two for him to answer - e.g. "If you're swinging so your racquet face is pointing upward when it contacts the ball, which direction will your shot go?" rather than "Stop swinging up on the ball and popping it up - you're either hitting pop flies out of the court or setting up the other side for an easy smash."

Also, build in a little hidden reward after your sessions together - in the afternoon or evening, suggest you go grab a beer (assuming he drinks beer) or if you play in the morning, grab a coffee or breakfast afterwards. Most guys will be happy to play sports with their wives and will think she is one cool chick if she wants to grab a drink afterwards, like a lot of guys do on league night.
 
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Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
tennis_ocd said:
Good instruction and listening can have an incredible impact; especially early in the learning process. The longer one waits the more muscle memory there is to correct.

Getting a reasonably athletic person to hit technically sound, well placed ball feeds is still a big step from a rally ball.
Click to expand...

Oh, absolutely. Hubby has *no* footwork. We are talking about the arm movements that constitute the stroke, nothing more. Still, using the wrong arm movement makes it impossible to hit a good shot, not to mention the risk of injury.
 
C

Chelsie1

Rookie
tennis tom said:
The best thing you can do for your hub's tennis future is to find a well qualified coach to teach him the correct grips for the stroke fundamentals. Emphazising the serve first, as it's the most important shot in tennis--if you get the ball in they have to play him. Next the return of serve, the second most important shot. Continental grip for S&V. Eastern grips for FH & BH. The "loop" strokes--none of that get the racket back BS, with a straight elbow, or you'll be leading him down the sorry road to tennis elbow and the plethora of other shoulder and arm injuries.

Forget the clinics, there's no time to teach strokes in them and he will just ingrain bad habits he picks up, they never practice serves. He will pick-up many restaurant, movie and dog walking tips while waiting in line to take a swing.

Find a good pro and get him a dozen lessons on the fundamentals of strokes and their grips, or you're dooming him to mediocrity with no future in it to play real tennis.
Click to expand...

________________

Agreed. One of the best and fastest ways to catch up quick is to take lessons from a pro. Trial and error takes a long time.
 
T

tennis_ocd

Hall of Fame
tennis tom said:
The best thing you can do for your hub's tennis future is to find a well qualified coach to teach him the correct grips for the stroke fundamentals. Emphazising the serve first, as it's the most important shot in tennis--if you get the ball in they have to play him. Next the return of serve, the second most important shot. Continental grip for S&V. Eastern grips for FH & BH. The "loop" strokes--none of that get the racket back BS, with a straight elbow, or you'll be leading him down the sorry road to tennis elbow and the plethora of other shoulder and arm injuries.

Forget the clinics, there's no time to teach strokes in them and he will just ingrain bad habits he picks up, they never practice serves. He will pick-up many restaurant, movie and dog walking tips while waiting in line to take a swing.

Find a good pro and get him a dozen lessons on the fundamentals of strokes and their grips, or you're dooming him to mediocrity with no future in it to play real tennis.
Click to expand...
I like this but began thinking if I'd put the same emphasis on a 50 yo beginner's serve as I would a 10 yo. At 50 you're likely destined to doubles where serve isn't as important. It's also, relatively, quite difficult. Unless a real interest I'd tend to focus on groundstrokes and volleys; low hanging stuff that gets you into social hits. Spend a few minutes on serve basics; grip, toss, general weight transfer and move on ...
 
M

Mr.Snrub

Banned
For rec players I think it's crazy to hire a private coach when there are so many good videos on youtube and other online resources.

Youtube + hitting against the wall + videotaping yourself is the best way to go.

I would also join clinics to meet and play against a variety of different people. Getting used to the same person's strokes all the time can hinder you.
 
G

gmatheis

Hall of Fame
How is it that no one answered "What's the best way to play with my husband?" with something like:

-Light some candles
-Put some soft music on

:twisted:

You are all slackers!
 
Fuji

Fuji

Legend
Mr.Snrub said:
For rec players I think it's crazy to hire a private coach when there are so many good videos on youtube and other online resources.

Youtube + hitting against the wall + videotaping yourself is the best way to go.

I would also join clinics to meet and play against a variety of different people. Getting used to the same person's strokes all the time can hinder you.
Click to expand...

Depends what your goals are. Want to be stuck at the average forever? Then self coach and reap the rewards. Want to move up the food chain? You'll need outside help one way or another.

-Fuji
 
T

tennisee

Rookie
A great thread; I'd say it's not so much about tennis skills as it is about enjoyment of the game.
Cindy (whom I revere as a poster) is already a bit "man, how can we ever play together when I'm so good and he's so bad?"
I'd say focus less on the skills and more about the other stuff.
Neither of you are pro; ergo you both play for fun - so:
Remember what you enjoyed about the game in the early days, (and this probably was more about a partner who realised you found something you were in to, and encouraged you to run with it)
Let him enjoy his development without being reminded that you're better than he.
Case in point: My tragic post match analysis of a D6 loss is more interesting to me and my tennis pals than the BBC coverage of how Fed took Murray apart.
So share your - different - experiences. Be aware that the more he enjoys tennis the better it is for you.
Don't make it a contest in any way at all - even who is best at feeding balls.
You're a good player but you're not a coach - "listen to the pro and I'll keep quiet even though I can see a thousand ways I could help." might be a start.
Encourage him to get a tennis circle outside your own so the two can intersect.
And to use a phrase of your own - rinse and repeat.
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
gmatheis said:
How is it that no one answered "What's the best way to play with my husband?" with something like:

-Light some candles
-Put some soft music on

:twisted:

You are all slackers!
Click to expand...

OK, I'll take the bait and troll this--How 'bout some gentle stroking full release massage as a stress reliever, while driving to the mx'ed 7.5 combo match. :p

Anyone want to take bets on how long this stays up? They don't wake-up in SLO for about another four hours. :oops:
 
Last edited:
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
tennis_ocd said:
Good instruction and listening can have an incredible impact; especially early in the learning process. The longer one waits the more muscle memory there is to correct.

Getting a reasonably athletic person to hit technically sound, well placed ball feeds is still a big step from a rally ball.
Click to expand...

Yeah as the late Vic Braden said: If you can get up and go to the water fountain without falling down, you can learn to play tennis.
 
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