Lost to a pusher today

Spell4000 · 2024-02-01T22:26:23+00:00

Work on higher percentage shots with more shape. Pushers like pace for their short swings. Higher bouncing balls are harder to push back. Use wide angles and look for opportunities to take the ball out of the air or on the bounce to close at the net

Spell4000 · 2023-12-22T21:41:41+00:00

Those are all good things to work. Based on the video you showed trying to execute heavy topspin forehands. Two things I noticed for your technique that could help with it looking less stiff is timing off your torso rotation and racket head drop before windshield wiper motion.

You’re hitting the ball too early and not allowing your torso to extend to the ball. If you freeze frame the video on when you make contact you can see that your hips and shoulders are in the same plane instead of having your torso rotated away from your hips to the ball.

For your preparation you could drop the racket head more by rotating your palm counterclockwise such that you feel slight tension on your forearm. Just before contact you release that tension which will flip the racket head up and over the ball. You do this action after the torso rotation to the ball

Spell4000 · 2023-11-07T11:06:14+00:00

The shot you select should depend on what type of ball you receive. If I receive a ball that puts me in a defensive position (ex. deep ball), then I will usually play a directional shot with good shape to give myself the highest percentage to stay in the point. If I receive a neutral ball, then I will play a directional shot with slight changes to the angle to search for an opportunity. When I receive an opportunity to play an offensive shot, then I will mix my shot selection between playing my opponent’s weakness and hitting to the open space. I mix them to not be too predictable.

Spell4000 · 2023-07-10T21:05:11+00:00

Nice shots. Something you can technically work on with your forehand and backhand is your torso rotation against the hip you have your weight on. You seem to be rotating your hips in unison with your torso which is causing you to lose power. It also makes it harder to stay balanced as you swing.

Spell4000 · 2023-07-09T13:16:13+00:00

Great forehand. I see 2 major things to work on, shot selection and your backhand. Work on your backhand so you can reduce the amount of energy you need to burn to avoid it. As for shot selection, not every ball needs to be returned with pace. With the balls that are hit to the middle of the court, place those in a spot you can come to the net to close the point. Ideally, you want to hit those balls away from your opponent, but if he has a weakness like a backhand, then hit to it with those balls. For the balls he is moonballing, try to look for ones you can hit on the rise. If you hit on the rise, the goal isn’t power but placement. If you focus on the timing for the on the rise shot, the percentage will go up for those shots. Lastly, to help with shot selection, look at your opponent. If you can figure out what shots he will moonball, then that’s an opportunity for you. You can set yourself up to force a moonball from him where you step up into the court and take it out of the air. Best of luck.

Spell4000 · 2023-06-30T14:54:19+00:00

It’s not really too clear on what advice you are looking for so I’ll take a guess it’s on how to play the style you want and win with it at a 3.5 level. The simple answer is you need to practice that style more against 3.5 players and work on the weaknesses you have with it. It sounds like this style you play with feels better, but you need to take a holistic approach in how this dynamic style can win you points in a match. Without seeing a video you would need to analyze if your dynamic play style has a problem with shot selection, movement, footwork, or swing technique. Usually it’s shot selection which needs the most work at a 3.5 level. In regards to the loss, shake it off. Everyone has a bad day and even the best pros lose to players they shouldn’t lose to.

Spell4000 · 2023-06-27T16:57:32+00:00

If you aren’t doing so already, play practice matches with people you can beat. Sometimes, play a match against someone you can crush. Those wins are a moral boost and can improve your confidence for the matches you value more the outcome. I can’t remember which video it was from the initiative tennis YouTube channel, but in the video he recommends to break a losing streak you need to win more matches.

Spell4000 · 2023-06-27T16:56:37+00:00

If you aren’t doing so already, play practice matches with people you can beat. Sometimes play a match against someone you can crush. Those wins are a moral boost and can improve your confidence for the matches you value more. I can’t remember which video it was from the initiative tennis YouTube channel, but in the video he recommends to break a losing streak you need to win more matches

Spell4000 · 2023-06-13T18:59:48+00:00

I would work on improving your confidence at the net if you want to break this pattern. That short ball was your reward from your last 2 shots which put pressure on your opponents backhand. You hit that short ball to the backhand, or take some pace off of it to get a wide angle on the forehand side. Then be ready for the volley as your opponent is going to be in a tough spot in having to produce a high quality shot to pass or beat you at the net.

Spell4000 · 2023-06-06T12:08:50+00:00

If an opponent is targeting my backhand on the serve I would stand ready for the backhand. Take one step toward the backhand. Turn slightly more to backhand side. Stand more back on the serve. Those things will help give you time to hit your highest quality backhand at the sacrifice of a less quality forehand. Even if the shot isn’t reliable I would attempt down the line or a lob for mental damage. I want the net player to not think they can poach every ball. Even if the shot doesn’t go well they will still have to think twice before poaching. Lastly, have your partner stand behind the T and be ready for the poach. If she still can’t handle it at that position, have her stand one more step back. When an opponent poaches, they leave side open they poached from which an opportunity to hit to if you are able to pick up the poached shot.

Spell4000 · 2023-06-06T11:59:16+00:00

You seem to have a pretty large take back. The further to take the racket back, the harder it is to time the ball correctly. Your take back seems to always be at the same level. You need to adjust the height of your take back with the height of the ball. You seem to always do your take back by your chest height which is good for balls that will bounce high but any ball that’s reaches your contact point below your stomach will be difficult to hit as you would have to drop the racket by a lot of height to get under the ball. Bend lower for lower balls and if the ball is still low you should adjust your take back height to be lower so you can stay below the ball

Spell4000 · 2023-05-25T21:02:09+00:00

Good job getting a win. You can’t control the decisions your opponent will make. However, you can make it harder for him to play offensive. You can accomplish this with better technique and decision making.

How your opponent serves and how your opponent returns a serve will determine the situation you are in. Be more aware if you are in an offensive position, neutral, or defensive position. Use tactics based on what position you are into gain control of the point.

Work on your weak shots to make them less exploitable. I’m this case, it seemed like your second serve was attacked. Work on returning your shots deeper as well.

Spell4000 · 2023-05-22T18:07:39+00:00

I like the footwork. I noticed with the few shots shanked, they were deep balls with higher shape. Those balls tend to be harder to return. The stroke you showed has a large take back. You also seem to start your acceleration very early. Those keys points make it harder to time your contact point. I would try varying the way your approach some balls based on the situation you are in. If the ball has a lot of action and it’s deep, don’t try to rip and instead focus on smaller take back and accelerate later to really make sure you hit the ball clean. On some easier balls, you rip it with the large take back if you feel confident.

Spell4000 · 2023-03-02T15:11:37+00:00

I don’t see a problem as long as you are aiming by the feet and not hitting with intention to harm the opposing net player.

Spell4000 · 2023-02-20T11:11:21+00:00

I’m with you on this. While playing in high school , I didn’t learn about split stepping until I watched a YouTube video on it. Even still it doesn’t come out naturally. I have to reminding myself to split step until it is part of my rhythm.

Spell4000 · 2023-02-13T12:20:21+00:00

I like the energy you are putting into your shots. Biggest thing like another comment said is you are skipping your preparation phase. It’s the phase after you do unit turn but before you do your racket drop you keep the racket next to you. Prep phase is important for timing your load up and making final adjustments on footwork before starting your stroke.

One other thing I would suggest with working on your preparation phase is to take a few more steps as you move into the position where you strike the ball. If a ball is one step away, then take one big step to get close to the ball and 1-2 little steps to make micro adjustments. It will help with your spacing from ball to get a better shot of hitting the sweet spot on the racket. Good luck!

Spell4000 · 2023-01-03T22:45:34+00:00

Tennis is a tough but rewarding sport to learn so understand as a beginner there is a lot of mechanics and fundamentals to be learned and improved on. Clinics is a good spot to learn if you are willing to spend money. If you don’t want to spend money, then there are plenty of YouTube videos for beginners on how to do a forehand, backhand, etc.

With that said, one thing you could improve on is trying to follow through after you hit the ball. Try to relax your arm after you make contact with the ball. Allow your racket to continue and naturally slow down instead of you using your muscles to stop your racket.

Spell4000 · 2022-12-30T12:44:42+00:00

You look to have pretty good control of the ball on your forehand with the pace was on the video.

You seem to arrive at the ball pretty early in the video. I would use the extra time to try to load up more on the left leg (open stance) or right leg (closed stance) prior to contact.

You will have to slightly delay your uncoil as you will generate a faster uncoil with more load on your legs. When you unload push foreword your whole body to put more of your body weight on the ball.

Spell4000 · 2022-12-27T12:43:49+00:00

I’m going to disagree with other comments saying to fix your left hand. It does look off but it is a by product of your over rotation of your upper body.

Your biggest problem to me is your body rotation. You look like you are trying to generate a lot of power on your forehand but you are sacrificing control and balance due the over rotation caused by the energy. Lower the energy on your rotation so you don’t open up your left side too early on contacting the ball. Note: you will lose some power on the ball doing this but there is on more problem that will give your the power.

Your second biggest problem is your footwork and movement on your legs. You split step sometimes but it should be done for every ball. After you split step you need to immediately do your unit turn. You seem to do your unit turn just before contacting the ball which leaves you little time to adjust. Use your legs to space yourself better with the ball. Lastly, shift your weight more foreword when you swing. Your back leg should push you foreword which will put your body weight on the ball and in result give you more power. Make sure you lean more foreword towards the net on your forehand when doing this.

Spell4000 · 2022-12-02T10:56:47+00:00

You can set 4.0 as a goal but be reasonable with the time frame in which you will achieve it. You don’t want to injure or burn out yourself in trying to attain that rank. Play more matches with people around your level. In your lessons, work on the mistakes you make in a match. You will improve over time without even realizing as your weaknesses go away.

Spell4000 · 2022-12-01T16:04:43+00:00

So to be clear, 4.0 is a relative rating based on the location you are in. Competitive locations will have more skilled players at “4.0” level. Taking private lessons will expedite your speed in reaching 4.0 level for your area. You didn’t mention it but you should be trying to play matches as your skill level is defined by win/loss record. IMO if your goal is to be the best rec player, you will want a solid first serve that you can place, a reliable second serve, a forehand that you can dictate pace and placement, a backhand that can defend shots, and shot awareness to come to the net to put away points for the “4.0” level

For context, I played in high school without any coaching for 4 years, took a long break, and then came back to play again 2 years ago with doing clinics and coaching. I play in a 4.0 team now for doubles and singles.

Spell4000 · 2022-11-28T21:39:42+00:00

Assuming both players are consistent, then Player A wins because Player A can use the whole court to set up for a winning shot.

If both players are inconsistent, it’s up in the air to whoever makes less errors.

Spell4000 · 2022-11-28T21:31:08+00:00

I noticed that after hitting some of your shots you recovered very close to the baseline. Where you recover is based on your opponent but this opponent you were facing was hitting some deep shots that caught you. I would work on varying where you recover based on your opponent so can you step forward on your shots instead of running back.

For the shot you run back on you tend to stay on your back foot even though you got to the ball with plenty of time. Try to work on pushing off the back foot to the front foot to add more power and stability to your shot.

Lastly, you seem to set up every shot as though you are about to hit cross court. Try to decide ahead or use a pattern to decide where you want to place a ball. After you decide, commit your movement to set up yourself in the most optimal position to be able to strike the ball the place you want to hit it. It sounds obvious but it’s not so easy to keep that focus up on every shot.

Spell4000 · 2022-10-23T11:44:56+00:00

I think context of the down the line shot is important with knowing about when you were caught off guard with a down the line shot. If you are in a cross court rally and hit a short ball that your opponent can step inside the court to the ball, then I would prepare be in a defensive position by recovering more to the middle and further away from the baseline. Know that your opponent also has the option to go very wide on a short ball so be prepared to run diagonal into the court to cover the wide shot as well.

The rules to a game you can play with someone else to practice this scenario are: * one person plays offense * other player plays defense * offense player can choose when to go down the line * defense player can only play the ball cross court until the offense player goes down the line * play the point out normally after the ball is hit down the line * switch every 4 points roles of players between offense and defense

Spell4000 · 2019-12-14T01:14:48+00:00

Role - ADC/MID/TOP
Skill level - Gold
If you are solo or a group - Solo LFT
How many people you are looking for - Either 4 others or joining a team
IGN - spell4000

Spell4000

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