What's my style of play??!!

[falks941]

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

ok everyone it's gonna take me a while to answer these questions so stay with me here

stepping into the ball is something i don't do very often (i only ever really do it if I'm still moving forward from an approach). that's something i'll have to work on. another thing i've discovered is that i sometimes (not too often) find the grip change difficult if i've approached with a forehand, and after missing the volley i find myself with a forehand grip, but as i said, that doesnt happen too often.

in answer to your quiestion about my serve, yes i do get broken a lot. i serve quite a few double faults (the most i've ever served in a tournament match is 17 when the score was 5-7 6-1 7-5; and i somehow won!). i cant ever really mix placement and spin with ANY pace, and my opponents tend to get used to just returning all my serves into play, and i get no advantage from it at all.

[falks941]

my second serve is quite vulnerable. a lot of players do attack my second serve, and as i said before i do double fault quite a lot. holding service games is very difficult for me; especially when I'm serving at times like 4-5 or 5-6 down in a set, or serving for the match etc.

and venom400, now that you mention it, i do a lot of running around the court to retrieve balls, and i do often find myself tired after longer rallies. my general stamina is definitely something i could improve greatly on.

as for unforced errors, i can FINALLY say something positive about my game i don't hit a great deal of unforced errors in a match, other than my serve. my groundstroke consistency is probably one of my strengths.

i'm normally losing points to players who can really HIT the ball, and who can volley well. players with big serves and players who can find ways to hit winners against me from the baseline and at the net are the ones i always lose to.

djarvik: ummm... well my WIN/LOSS percentage this year at my current level is 72.7% approximately. (I've won 24 out of 33 matches in the last year). i'm not really losing many matches, i just don't really know HOW i'm winning them :L i'd like to KNOW my game more and be able to take my gameup a level, but i just don't know what to do with my game against the players ranked higher than me.

BTW EVERYONE, i'll try and get some footage up soon. i really appreciate your help considering the fact that i really haven't made this easy for you at all! i'll try to get a video up next time a play a match.

[jayl0ve]

I would say hire a couch

Damn man, aren't you being a little harsh? He's a young man in the prime of his life. A couch is the last thing that could help his tennis. Really, I mean the rudeness of some people is out of control...

[venom400]

I would say hire a couch

Damn man, aren't you being a little harsh? He's a young man in the prime of his life. A couch is the last thing that could help his tennis. Really, I mean the rudeness of some people is out of control...

Well a good couch will help his back and therefore his form .

you don't know what good pillows on the buttocks would to your tennis hahha

[venom400]

tripple posting

[venom400]

triple posting

[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

ok everyone it's gonna take me a while to answer these questions so stay with me here

stepping into the ball is something i don't do very often (i only ever really do it if I'm still moving forward from an approach). that's something i'll have to work on. another thing i've discovered is that i sometimes (not too often) find the grip change difficult if i've approached with a forehand, and after missing the volley i find myself with a forehand grip, but as i said, that doesnt happen too often.

in answer to your quiestion about my serve, yes i do get broken a lot. i serve quite a few double faults (the most i've ever served in a tournament match is 17 when the score was 5-7 6-1 7-5; and i somehow won!). i cant ever really mix placement and spin with ANY pace, and my opponents tend to get used to just returning all my serves into play, and i get no advantage from it at all.

Ok , so basicly your biggest problem is double faults and a weak serve , being that you have such a good win percentage and by your description , you are only losing to people that are better than you , but you are not beating yourself , that is good .

Practice developing a spin serve , a serve with some slice will do marvels to your game ,do you know what USTA rating you play at? by your description it sounds like a 3.0 level .

Let's wait for that video and see

Try to record yourself from a behind angle , preferably with an over the top down view .

[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

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

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

Ahh but see,my dad taught me how to play, hes 57. Try using a continental grip on grass, I mean like old fashioned grass, its very effective

[jayl0ve]

What is this 'Grass' you speak of?

[emate007]

What is this 'Grass' you speak of?

I read about that once, I think it's a lot like astroturf without the black plastic balls?

[VillaJ100]

Haha I guess England and Ireland are the only places they are really found now, shame really. I should probably make clear I pretty much 100% serve and volley on grass and chip and charge a lot so spend little time at the baseline

[coke4]

Haha I guess England and Ireland are the only places they are really found now, shame really. I should probably make clear I pretty much 100% serve and volley on grass and chip and charge a lot so spend little time at the baseline

Not many real grass courts in Ireland, lots of artificial astroturf ones, but very few real ones,

[VillaJ100]

Is there any in the eastern US? Apart from the hall of fame lol

[falks941]

I would say hire a couch

Damn man, aren't you being a little harsh? He's a young man in the prime of his life. A couch is the last thing that could help his tennis. Really, I mean the rudeness of some people is out of control...

i'm hoping he meant coach. haha

[falks941]

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

ok everyone it's gonna take me a while to answer these questions so stay with me here

stepping into the ball is something i don't do very often (i only ever really do it if I'm still moving forward from an approach). that's something i'll have to work on. another thing i've discovered is that i sometimes (not too often) find the grip change difficult if i've approached with a forehand, and after missing the volley i find myself with a forehand grip, but as i said, that doesnt happen too often.

in answer to your quiestion about my serve, yes i do get broken a lot. i serve quite a few double faults (the most i've ever served in a tournament match is 17 when the score was 5-7 6-1 7-5; and i somehow won!). i cant ever really mix placement and spin with ANY pace, and my opponents tend to get used to just returning all my serves into play, and i get no advantage from it at all.

Ok , so basicly your biggest problem is double faults and a weak serve , being that you have such a good win percentage and by your description , you are only losing to people that are better than you , but you are not beating yourself , that is good .

Practice developing a spin serve , a serve with some slice will do marvels to your game ,do you know what USTA rating you play at? by your description it sounds like a 3.0 level .

Let's wait for that video and see

Try to record yourself from a behind angle , preferably with an over the top down view .

thanks for your serve tips. i'll try to practice those

i live in england so I'm not a member of the USTA. i'm part of a body called the LTA, and the ratings work differently. Basically they start at 10.2 and work downwards (10.1, 9.2, 9.1, 8.2, 8.1, 7.2 and so on until you get to 1.1). Players become NATIONAL standard with a rating of about 4 and possibly 5. I've been on the board for two years (since i was 13), and currently have a rating of 8.2, which I achieved quite recently. so on paper, not really very good!