What's my style of play??!!

[falks941]

ok so here's the thing :L

i play a lot of junior tennis matches, singles and doubles. i win a lot more tournaments in doubles. But in singles, i don't really know what to do with my game.

i think my best asset is my movement around the court. i can generate a fair amount of power off my FH and my BH, but not as much power as most of my aggressive opponents. my serve is my biggest weakness, aswell as my backhand volleys. i also struggle to hit overheads very well.

i've tried simple counterpunching, and not been very successful; and i've also tried to play an aggressive ground game, but that DEFINITELY didnt work! HELP ME PLZ?!!!

[djarvik]

I would suggest to add as much variety to your game as possible. Work on your spins, drop-shots, placement of the ground - keeping the ball deep.

Another thing I would suggest is learn to take the ball on the rise. Many hard hitters take more time to setup, so taking a few milliseconds of their strokes would result in more errors, followed by loss of confidence and even more errors.

Are you getting beat in a neutral rally? ...or you win most neutral rallies?

[Otlichno]

Djarvik is definitely more qualified than me, but I definitely feel you should work on you're natural game, what you're comfortable with and like.

Go into a match, and note some of you're weaknesses, try you're best to understand you're own game as much as possible and improve on what you think could definitely raise you're level. I think to make a big improvement in you're game, the most important thing is to know you're own game, if you're not sure now, keep trying and it will eventually come to you.

[Chederer]

practice hitting a short ball then hit it deep past your opponent....dont just go out there and hit the ball...place the ball and use strategy....you can even hit deep and then hit short

[jayl0ve]

Concentrate on the weaknesses you mentioned and hit the gym. Also don't worry about playing one 'style'. Just play however you want and however is most effective for you based on your natural strengths.

[falks941]

thanks for your help guys i'll try all of these things if i can

[falks941]

I would suggest to add as much variety to your game as possible. Work on your spins, drop-shots, placement of the ground - keeping the ball deep.

Another thing I would suggest is learn to take the ball on the rise. Many hard hitters take more time to setup, so taking a few milliseconds of their strokes would result in more errors, followed by loss of confidence and even more errors.

Are you getting beat in a neutral rally? ...or you win most neutral rallies?

i think that depends on who i'm against. more often than anything else, i'm playing a hard hitter who'll try and make a play from a neutral rally, and either make an error or set themselves up to win the point. if i play a counter-puncher, i have to make the play from a neutral rally, so i try using touch and angles, but often make a lot of mistakes.

[falks941]

I would suggest to add as much variety to your game as possible. Work on your spins, drop-shots, placement of the ground - keeping the ball deep.

Another thing I would suggest is learn to take the ball on the rise. Many hard hitters take more time to setup, so taking a few milliseconds of their strokes would result in more errors, followed by loss of confidence and even more errors.

Are you getting beat in a neutral rally? ...or you win most neutral rallies?

i think that depends on who i'm against. more often than anything else, i'm playing a hard hitter who'll try and make a play from a neutral rally, and either make an error or set themselves up to win the point. in this case, i win more of those kind of points.

but if i play a counter-puncher, I have to make the play from a neutral rally, otherwise no-one will ever win the point; so i try using touch and angles because i dont really have the strength to hit with power, but often make a lot of mistakes.

so it's kind of 50/50 really; it depends who i'm against :/

[VillaJ100]

I would suggest to add as much variety to your game as possible. Work on your spins, drop-shots, placement of the ground - keeping the ball deep.

Another thing I would suggest is learn to take the ball on the rise. Many hard hitters take more time to setup, so taking a few milliseconds of their strokes would result in more errors, followed by loss of confidence and even more errors.

Are you getting beat in a neutral rally? ...or you win most neutral rallies?

i think that depends on who i'm against. more often than anything else, i'm playing a hard hitter who'll try and make a play from a neutral rally, and either make an error or set themselves up to win the point. in this case, i win more of those kind of points.

but if i play a counter-puncher, I have to make the play from a neutral rally, otherwise no-one will ever win the point; so i try using touch and angles because i dont really have the strength to hit with power, but often make a lot of mistakes.

so it's kind of 50/50 really; it depends who i'm against :/

throw the counterpuncher off a bit, throw in some junk like slices, dropshots, moonballs to get him off that baseline and out of the rhythm of balls coming in his comfort zone.

[venom400]

I would say hire a couch , he doesn't have to be a pro pro if you can't afford him , but someone that is better than you and has proper technique .

The trick about the back hand volley is to take a step into the ball to add power to it , punch the ball with a quick jab as you move towards it .

And if you have good movement and you are getting beat I'm willing to say it is probably your serve , are you getting broken a lot ? learn placement over power .

I don't know , record yourself during a match (not hitting ) and post it here so the self proclaimed (and real) pros can help you xD

[VillaJ100]

Yeah I learned that the hard way lol. My playing style is similar to a very poor (in comparison) version on henman, not big serve or powe but good volleys and placement. What grip do you use? I change according to surface, clay and concrete its a semi western but in grass and very quick surfaces its a continental

[venom400]

Yeah I learned that the hard way lol. My playing style is similar to a very poor (in comparison) version on henman, not big serve or powe but good volleys and placement. What grip do you use? I change according to surface, clay and concrete its a semi western but in grass and very quick surfaces its a continental

I'm not a pro but ,.... continental is not used anyware anymore

Eastern semi and full western are the ones used now days.

[djarvik]

Sounds to me like you playing players that are simply a bit higher level then you.

Let me rephrase the question. Which players you feel comfortable playing AND wining? ...or do you lose most matches?

The right thing to do is not to strive for an overall "style", but rather to individualize. We are all different.

If you lose 6 out of 10 matches at the level you play now - go down a level and play a tour where you are able to stay slightly above 50%. Prepare for each match separately. Study an opponent and adjust your game. You can even study an opponent in the first 2-3 games of the set and go from there.

What you want to do is simple, find a weakness, attack, repeat. Make him adjust, once he does, start mixing in.

Is extremely hard to give advise without seeing at least a bit of the footage from the match.

[venom400]

Sounds to me like you playing players that are simply a bit higher level then you.

Let me rephrase the question. Which players you feel comfortable playing AND wining? ...or do you lose most matches?

The right thing to do is not to strive for an overall "style", but rather to individualize. We are all different.

If you lose 6 out of 10 matches at the level you play now - go down a level and play a tour where you are able to stay slightly above 50%. Prepare for each match separately. Study an opponent and adjust your game. You can even study an opponent in the first 2-3 games of the set and go from there.

What you want to do is simple, find a weakness, attack, repeat. Make him adjust, once he does, start mixing in.

Is extremely hard to give advise without seeing at least a bit of the footage from the match.

djarvick , you never gaved me any tips based on my match I posted

[venom400]

ok so here's the thing :L

i play a lot of junior tennis matches, singles and doubles. i win a lot more tournaments in doubles. But in singles, i don't really know what to do with my game.

i think my best asset is my movement around the court. i can generate a fair amount of power off my FH and my BH, but not as much power as most of my aggressive opponents. my serve is my biggest weakness, aswell as my backhand volleys. i also struggle to hit overheads very well.

i've tried simple counterpunching, and not been very successful; and i've also tried to play an aggressive ground game, but that DEFINITELY didnt work! HELP ME PLZ?!!!

Another thing it may help people advice is this , how are you losing exactly ?

take a mental picture of how you lose points and how you win them (be as honest as possible )

Do you lose a lot of points because you do unforced errors ? if so on what side ? what position of the court ?

Do lose points because you are getting constantly over powered? like the oponent is just hitting winners all over the court ?

DO you lose because you double fault too much ? or is your serve too easy to attack ? how good are you at holding serve?

How is your stamina between points ? are you getting winded easily ?

give us this honest self assessment tips and let us know please.