Our tennis league is about to start the new season and this year we will start using the no let serve rule.. not sure how I feel about this.
I've been seeing a lot of juniors tournaments, college tournaments, ITF tournaments using the no let serve rule.
I'm very 50/50 on this, curious what you guys think
Most of the sites I use are out of date, not being updated or too confusing.
I'm looking for ways to find new mmo's (betas, alphas, newly released), for console or pc.
Would appreciate any help
I'm between a 4.5-5.0 level player
I'm starting to learn some racquets are more suited for rallying and some racquets more suited for playing matches. I notice when I rally with my pure drive tour 100 I feel incredible and it feels effortless, but when I start playing points with it everything starts sailing out and I'm constantly late. Now when I rally with my head youtek prestige mid 93 it feels dead, but when I start playing points with it, my sailing out shots turn into heavy deep shots even when I'm late.
For those interested in the racquet specs:
Babolat pure drive tour: 100 head size, 335g strung weight, 327 swing weight, 70 flex rating
Head YouTek Prestige Mid: 93 head size, 346g strung weight, 328 swing weight, 63 flex rating
I feel like some racquets are more suited for rallying and some racquets more suited for match play. When demoing a racquet I usually rally with it and not play pressure matches which I think is also a problem. I feel like the racquet that makes me feel like a 5.0 in practice is making me feel like a 4.5 in matches. The deadness of the head youtek control frame saves me from my nerves during matches while the pure drive tour just makes it worse.
Have any of you ever experienced this racquet difference in rallying vs pressure match play?
The FH slice player won, very interesting match.
Antoine Loncle vs Kalomm Panzo
What do you guys think about this?
I'm a very friendly player, sometimes way too friendly. When I play doubles I think my partner gets annoyed from my compliments to the other team. I don't celebrate my winners or important points won and I don't celebrate my opponents mistakes.
The season is starting soon and I've been wanting to try being a more intense player on court, one thing I want to start doing is the fist pump, which I've never done before.
Is it better not to fist pump at all? (shows weakness, like I really needed that point)
OR
When do you think it's ok/when is it smart to fist pump?
When you hit a winner? (common)
Break point won? (apply pressure to opponent)
Ace? (make them fear your serve)
Opponent double faults? (clown move)
When you hit into the net? (reverse psychology, shows confidence?)
All of these moments?
I'm gonna say its mostly mental. I can rally easily at a 5.0 level but when I start playing points I feel like I'm playing at a 4.0 level based on my mistakes. I start going for too much and spraying out, my legs become heavier and my decision making becomes rushed. Even though I tell myself to build the point, stay patient and relax, I feel like I know what to do but just can't do it.
Yes I don't play enough matches and playing more matches might solve this but I feel like this is mostly a mental thing because when rallying I feel more relaxed and my timing is better, but when playing points I feel more rushed, tense or late even when I tell myself to relax.
I may be wrong but I don't think its pressure based because I don't care about winning or not losing too much, I just want to relax, play at my level and make smarter choices.
I will start playing more matches to help this problem but I'm sure some of you have experienced the same thing, any advice or tips on how to play at your level during a match?
The return is the least trained shot for most club players and in tennis some top coaches consider it the second most important shot, after the serve.
Here are some tips that have made the biggest difference for my students:
1.Don't stand still.
It takes longer to start from a dead stop. Keep your feet moving and stay on your toes, don't be flat footed. IF the server is hitting bombs at 100+ mph, stand 3 meters behind the baseline, give your brain a chance to see the thing.
This one is my favorite, its taught my students to read the servers body. The pros aren't guessing where the ball goes like most club players, they're reading the servers body. If the toss is over their head or behind them then its most likely going to be a kick serve. If the toss is out to the right its probably slice or flat. Don't wait until it bounces to decide where to go, start reading..
Do not split step too early. You want to be at split step peak height the moment they contact the ball, OR you can also try landing the moment they contact the ball. But don't forget to split step, its very important on the return of serve. You don't want to be stuck in the mud, you want to use that stored energy from the split step to explode towards the ball.
Depending on how fast their serve is, you might not have time for a full take back. You don't always need to generate power on a return of serve. If they are serving bombs your goal should be to redirect their pace and try to hit it behind them, pushing them back. A big take back on a fast serve might make you too late and cause a mistake.
I see tons of club players falling backwards when they hit a return. Even if its a bomb you still need to be going forward. Especially on a massive kick serve, you need to take it on the rise, early. Try taking 1-2 steps forward as soon as your opponent starts their toss, this will help you create forward momentum.
Stop trying to hit winners on a return. It might work sometimes but its just low % and it'll annoy you overtime. Just hit it deep through the middle and try to push them back.
*If you're getting very annoyed with your returns make sure to name your emotion, accept it, reset. Fix your strings, take a breath and enjoy the fight.
Hope this helps. Cheers
Is there anyone out there that plays tennis and does trap/skeet shooting?
Trap shooters train their eyes to watch a small, fast moving target. It got me thinking about how it translates into tennis. At a high level both sports require very advanced foveal vision & quiet eye. Some tennis coaches would say the eyes are the most important body part in tennis. The ability to read the ball path, height, spin, speed and watch the contact can give you the illusion of extra time and in tennis time is everything. How good would trap shooters be on a shot like the return of serve for example.
I’m interested in how the eye training for trap shooting translates to the tennis.
If you do both, have you noticed an improved ability in how early you see the ball or your ability to keep your eyes on the point of contact?
My dream live match would be Fabrice Santoro vs Dustin Brown at the hall of fame open in Newport.
The ball clipped the top of the net, then bounced on the bottom of the net and then he hit it over. What's the ruling on this?
Over the years I've heard a lot of biomechanical advice regarding the fingers and finger positions on the handle, as a coach one of the first things I teach my students is how to hold the handle, not just the correct grip but also the correct palm and finger placement.
I see tons of club players holding their handle in very unique ways. I'm not talking about what grip they are using, I'm specifically talking about placement of their fingers.
The fingers are the sensors.
Trigger Finger: Slight gap between the index and middle finger.
Anchor Finger: Pinky finger on the buttcap. Some players even do ring finger also on the buttcap, they use 2 anchor fingers.
Shield Finger: The thumb must close the loop to counter the force of the ball hitting the strings. The thumb should go over the middle finger.
Driver Finger: During contact the index finger is the driver for topspin.
When it comes to how tight to hold the handle, for most players I recommend a 2/10 tightness. For more advanced players I recommend a 6or7/10 tightness ONLY for the contact but keep everything else at 2/10.
One of the tips that I notice many of my students smile from is when I tell them to just hold the racquet more light/soft and speed up the swing (as long as the technique is clean enough).
When they time it right I always see their eyes light up and they look at me like they didn't know they can swing like that.
Do you agree/disagree with some of these points?
What do you guys think about the role of the dominant hand fingers for a forehand?
Haven't seen anything like this.
What would be the purpose or use case for this type of formation?
I find this training aid very interesting. Plow through and swing weight to the extreme.. This thing is almost double a normal racquet and it's perfectly balanced. If used incorrectly it could create some crazy shoulder injuries but if used correctly it could unlock some insane explosive power.
I can see this forcing you to use your legs and core more often because it would be too difficult to arm a 500g racquet but if you do arm it then it'll be a quick trip to the ER for some pain meds.
I’m curious how you guys would actually use this.
Just shadow swings? Light hitting? Only serves? and how long min-max?
Could this also be a hack for the warm up? (Use this racquet for the warm up and then switch to your own racquet)