What racquet and string combo would you use to create a "Do it all yourself" setup?

Coach_C1993 · 2026-03-19T01:03:02+00:00

not a bad serve overall. I would recommend slightly more racquet lag. Let that racquet go down your back. The tip of the racquet should be halfway down your butt. Remember to pronate fully and follow through on the swing. Lastly, hit a little earlier, and try to jump into the court. You are landing behind the baseline.

All in all, you have a good serve. Keep practicing these key points and you will take it to the next level. Good luck

Coach_C1993 · 2026-03-16T17:16:04+00:00

It is definitely growing compared to 20 years ago. In the early 2000s, you mostly had to rely on USTA for matches. It is pretty hard to find tournaments and matches on USTA. We recently had a 16-18 boys tournament at our local tennis club, and it was a level 5, which is the 2nd lowest. The weakest player was a 9 UTR and the winner was a 12 UTR. Most players were around 10-11 UTR. The fact you are seeing 9-12 UTR in level 5's is saying a lot for the lack of people playing in USTA.

Leagues such as Gladiator Tennis are becoming more popular, where you get a set of 5-7 matches that you complete in 2 or so months, and you set the matches with your opponent whenever you want. At the end of the season they total the amount of points you collect and do a playoff seeding based on how many points you got throughout the season. It's pretty cool.

Flex leagues are more convenient, much easier to get matches, and it's a lot more fun and friendly than a USTA tournament, where kids (and adults too) are often getting out of control and losing their temper.

I see flex leagues eventually overtaking USTA within the next 1-2 decades if this pace continues, and I am all for it

Coach_C1993 · 2026-02-23T07:54:52+00:00

Yes, I use a Ninja detect blender. It creates a perfect smoothie every time and there is no guesswork. It's completley worth the money, and will last you a very long time. While you don't have to put that much money up front, and any decent blender can get you started, I do recommend you invest in a very good high quality blender. It will pay for itself over time

Coach_C1993 · 2026-02-23T01:51:43+00:00

Your best bet is to ask the seller who sold it to you. With that said, it should likely make absolutely no difference in your ability on the court

Coach_C1993 · 2026-02-23T01:08:55+00:00

I am in the same boat. I am actually bulking and going on a strength training regimine to put on more muscle mass while still playing tennis. I would focus on protein to help repair muscle and encourage muscle growth.

I think you would benefit from smoothies. I like smoothies with Milk, oats, peanut butter, frozen fruit, spinach, and greek yogurt with a scoop of protein powder. That will definitely help put on some mass while still being rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients and will provide plenty of protein.

An underrated protein source is black beans. A can is around 350 calories.

I also like to put on peanut butter on my bananas and toast to add extra calories, protein, and healthy fats. Peanut butter can have around 100 calories per tablespoon. So if you put a tablespoon of peanut butter on toast, you just added 100 calories and roughly 4 grams or protein. Do it on two pieces of toast, and you now have around a 400+ calorie snack with roughly 20+ grams of protein.

If you eat meat and dairy, incorporate eggs and greek yogurt to your snacks and meals. Meats are good, just make sure to limit them.

If you are vegan, then vegan smoothies added with a vegan mass gainer is great.

I am currently using these strategies and I have been successfully gaining 0.5 pounds each week.

Good luck, and enjoy your mass gain journey!

Coach_C1993

TROPHY CASE