u/Certain_Morning9181

Carboflex is great. Only heard good things about it. Found a great deal on it too but I can’t help but think of the time I played with a Prince Phoenix Pro 750 which I’m able to acquire for the same price almost. It was phenomenal.
My concern however is longevity. I cannot have the racket break for a while at least. For some context, I brush the side walls pretty often, racket hits the floor while I’m playing drop shots too. I haven’t heard good things about Prince rackets, heard they come apart pretty quick. Having said that, should I just go for the Carboflex or is the Prince worth pulling the trigger over?
Anyone had any experience owning both or the prince? How did it go?

Been posting on this sub for a bit with regard to recommendations on game improvement, gear etc.
Got great advice and here are things that have helped me improve my game considerably well:

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1. You need a good warm routine. This should cover mainly opening up those hips, and getting blood flowing areas where you will be straining your body. Your hamstrings, ankles and even your shoulders. Tailor it to your needs but hips cannot be ignored.

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1. You got to stay loose. The way I learnt this was by observing Gawad play. If you look closely at his racket, he’s hardly even holding it while anticipating his shots. This applies to backhand and forehand, your goal has to be fluid in your movement. This not only saves energy but also helps with accuracy.

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1. Never hop onto playing matches if you want to get any better. Matches is where you apply what you learnt, not the other way around. Trying new stuff in matches will only frustrate you, and if you do however win a point, subconsciously you’ll know it was more or less a fluke. Start with ghosting, hit straight drives, practice some drop shots. Then start playing matches.

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1. Play with people better than you. This was a major game changer. Only by doing this will you find gaps in your game and back track. This is also a great experiment in humbling yourself. Watching pros play is another thing, but getting your ass beat instils a different kind of zeal to get things right the next time. Don’t worry about them not wanting to play with you. Ask, most will be more than happy to.

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1. If you live in a hot & humid environment. Mix electrolytes in your water. This was major for me. If you sweat a lot, you’ll feel invigorated and not dead once your sessions are over.

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1. Enjoy yourself. Give the let. Clap for your opponent when they shock you with something. Offer cues to people you play with that will help them improve and take constructive feedback as well. In the end, sport is meant to unite people and make you happy. Please don’t walk into the court with an intent to stroke your ego, no one likes that.

I’ve been playing 3 times a week since Jan.
I’m down 12 Kgs. I feel great, for someone going to the gym who dreaded cardio, I found one that’s everything I’ve been looking for. Cheers!

23(M) here and have a female friend of the same age. Some context:

She is in an LDR.

She is sweet for most part of it. But there have been some alarm bells and I just want to make sure that I’m not being taken on a ride.

We hangout maybe 3-4 times a week.

The instances that made me feel someway:

1. I recommend she set me up with one of her friend and she literally gagged when I said that. The energy I got from that was “How could you even fathom that you were remotely deserving of that.”

2. She makes me wait for upwards of 10 minutes when I pick her up. Even after giving her a heads up 5 mins before reaching. This has happened a couple of times. This one time I called her a minute before reaching and she lashed out at me saying why I’d ask her to come down if I hadn’t reached. ( I might’ve made her wait 2-3 minutes )

3. She has made remarks like “You’re disgustingly short”. She even constantly mocked how I hadn’t gotten a job yet knowing very well how hard I had been trying. This one time we were in a group and I became the person she cracked jokes on to entertain the table. This made me feel like the friendship was performative. She completely changes when other people are around.

4. I never am made to feel appreciated for the efforts I put into the friendship. Like picking her up and dropping her back to her place. Listening to her relationship issues and just being there I guess. But never did I get anything in return. I don’t even remember her ever asking me about my day.

5. She constantly checks guys out at the gym we go to and tells me how hot she thinks they are who look genuinely shitty to me. To a point it’s almost seeming like ragebait? I’m not insecure or anything but the contrast baffles me. I got her into training and after a point she would just go talk to other dudes in the gym that she found attractive and told me about it whilst we’re supposed to be working out? And I’m just there trying to make sense of it all. When I did call her out on that her response was “You wouldn’t have an issue with that if that were a woman” hinting at I don’t know what. Especially given that I know she has a boyfriend.

These things genuinely upset me and I took a step back from the friendship. Reduced proximity and met her less. This in turn did change her behaviour to some degree. When we do meet now I don’t see the disrespect creep in.

My question to you folks is simple:

Am I only her friend because it’s convenient? Because she doesn’t know as many people in the city? And is her friendship performative? Because if so I think me deluding myself thinking it’s genuine is pretty fucking stupid.

I’m able to connect the ball well with the racket. I’m able to recover decently well too. But what I’m struggling with is hitting the ball away from where the opponent is. Last evening it happened one too many times to not become obvious that I’m doing this.

What’s a framework you use to ensure that you are placing the ball properly instead of feeding the ball to your opponent?