ByeByePoly
G.O.A.T.
Edit: Sorry, don't think I was clear enough in my title and OP. I am basically asking if you can feed a player you don't know 10 balls, or he/she can drop feed to themselves ... or hit serves ... what 10 shots would you have them hit. Think single shot ... not repetitive feeds where you could observe change of direction.
Talking singles, not doubles, and rec level (say 5.0 and lower).
Anyone who has played competitive singles knows you only really know a player's level by playing them ... or are at least watching them play a competitive match. But for this hypothetical, if you could only see a player that you have never seen or heard of before hit 10 strokes/shots to guess their level, what would you pick?
Note: let's call feeds, drop feeds, ball machine, etc all equal for this.
I will go first, here are my 10:
Setup: I have six cones, two in corners 3ft in from baseline and 3ft in from sideline, and one in each corner of both service boxes (also 3 ft in from service line and sideline).
First 3: I have player setup on baseline half way between the sideline and the center hash mark. I tell them I will feed the ball approx 3 ft inside the sideline, and they should hit their best controlled fh dtl trying to hit the cone in the fh corner near the baseline.
On 4th, I have them stand at center hash mark, and tell them to now hit their max fh pace dtl they would hit in a match at the cone near the baseline.
For 5,6,7,8 .... rinse and repeat with bh dtl.
Ball 9: have player hit their second serve to deuce court to either cone they feel best about hitting.
Ball 10: same on ad court ... their choice, 2nd serve pace.
OK ... here is my thinking on those choices.
The first 3 fh dtl and 3 bh dtl is a measure of control on the move. If they can hit decent on the move, have to assume they can hit good stationary (opposite not true). I will look at the worse miss of the 3.
The 4th and 8th will give me a clue about speed/court coverage and max pace they are likely to hit in a match. Also ... since I didn't tell them to hit flat or topspin, a clue about their swing preference (flat, ts).
We are only as good as our 2nd serve, so I let them pick their preference in each service box and show me their 2nd serve.
Final thoughts:
I would love to see their first serve, their volley, their overhead, etc ... but I'm picking my most informative 10 shots (that isn't many). If they can hit a decent 2nd serve, they will have a proficient 1st serve ... and most rec players aren't winning by blasting the 1st serve. The serve motion will also be a good indicator of overhead competency ... rare to see a good server not also have a good overhead.
Volleys ... would have included it if doubles, but with singles if they suck at volleys they aren't coming in anyway.
Edit: dtl groundstrokes will give me some guess about ros ... and assume if they can hit dtl they can hit cc. Would have liked to see cc, but the pattern of 3 balls to same target more important to me. Also ... I didn't tell them flat, topspin or slice on all ground strokes ... so if their best bh dtl control shot is a slice, that is what they will hit. (I guess I should tell them on the first three ... hit your best control stroke).
That's my 10 .... which would you guys pick?
Talking singles, not doubles, and rec level (say 5.0 and lower).
Anyone who has played competitive singles knows you only really know a player's level by playing them ... or are at least watching them play a competitive match. But for this hypothetical, if you could only see a player that you have never seen or heard of before hit 10 strokes/shots to guess their level, what would you pick?
Note: let's call feeds, drop feeds, ball machine, etc all equal for this.
I will go first, here are my 10:
Setup: I have six cones, two in corners 3ft in from baseline and 3ft in from sideline, and one in each corner of both service boxes (also 3 ft in from service line and sideline).
First 3: I have player setup on baseline half way between the sideline and the center hash mark. I tell them I will feed the ball approx 3 ft inside the sideline, and they should hit their best controlled fh dtl trying to hit the cone in the fh corner near the baseline.
On 4th, I have them stand at center hash mark, and tell them to now hit their max fh pace dtl they would hit in a match at the cone near the baseline.
For 5,6,7,8 .... rinse and repeat with bh dtl.
Ball 9: have player hit their second serve to deuce court to either cone they feel best about hitting.
Ball 10: same on ad court ... their choice, 2nd serve pace.
OK ... here is my thinking on those choices.
The first 3 fh dtl and 3 bh dtl is a measure of control on the move. If they can hit decent on the move, have to assume they can hit good stationary (opposite not true). I will look at the worse miss of the 3.
The 4th and 8th will give me a clue about speed/court coverage and max pace they are likely to hit in a match. Also ... since I didn't tell them to hit flat or topspin, a clue about their swing preference (flat, ts).
We are only as good as our 2nd serve, so I let them pick their preference in each service box and show me their 2nd serve.
Final thoughts:
I would love to see their first serve, their volley, their overhead, etc ... but I'm picking my most informative 10 shots (that isn't many). If they can hit a decent 2nd serve, they will have a proficient 1st serve ... and most rec players aren't winning by blasting the 1st serve. The serve motion will also be a good indicator of overhead competency ... rare to see a good server not also have a good overhead.
Volleys ... would have included it if doubles, but with singles if they suck at volleys they aren't coming in anyway.
Edit: dtl groundstrokes will give me some guess about ros ... and assume if they can hit dtl they can hit cc. Would have liked to see cc, but the pattern of 3 balls to same target more important to me. Also ... I didn't tell them flat, topspin or slice on all ground strokes ... so if their best bh dtl control shot is a slice, that is what they will hit. (I guess I should tell them on the first three ... hit your best control stroke).
That's my 10 .... which would you guys pick?
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