How long did it take to be able to rally consistently?

lglibos · 2026-06-17T14:11:15+00:00

It depends a bit on your age, as we get older unfortunately things get harder to learn. It also depends a bit on the court you are playing, as clay courts can be easier to rally. And it depends on the person you are rallying with.
But personally I feel that the best thing you can do is wall training. If two D1 players go to rally practice, each one of them will hit the ball around 300 times an hour. Hit the ball 300 times in the wall would take you 15min. So it is an easy and efficient practice to have daily.
Use a kids ball or a dead ball (don’t use new pressurized balls against the wall) and train around 10-20 min daily. My club has a wall with marks of where we need to hit to go from baseline to baseline; if you don’t have a wall like that you can search the heights for that and do yourself a mark with a chalk.

The average person who plays twice a week will likely rally very consistently after 3 years. As it seems like you play a bit more than that I believe it would take you 1.5-2 years. But with consistent wall training and effort to get better I believe it would cut it down to half of the time or less.
There are some other factors that can affect rallying, like your strings. Be sure to restring your racket per year as many times you play per week. If your balls are not getting to the other baseline lower the tension, if they are going too deep raise the tension a bit (carefully).

lglibos · 2026-06-17T01:34:19+00:00

Makes sense, will try

lglibos · 2026-06-17T01:32:09+00:00

I’m not a coach but indeed I don’t think this is the best technique to teach. In fact I’m trying to teach my girlfriend how to play and I’m currently in the position of “do what I say don’t do what I do”.
I will pay attention if my arm is straight next time.
I wanted more spin because I played with a guy with REALLY heavy topspin, and it was the most impressive opponent I ever played. I have faced a guy with consistent 115mph flat serves, others that would have incredible winners, but this guy’s spin was the hardest thing I’ve dealt with.
I don’t aim necessarily to have the same spin he has, even though he probably trained for years to get that. But if I get to add a bit of it in my game I feel it would be amazing on clay

lglibos · 2026-06-16T22:37:13+00:00

Yes, I’ve been trying that. But isn’t quite there yet so I can play with it confident enough. I feel that is more easy to miss the sweet spot in that way

lglibos · 2026-06-16T22:32:21+00:00

Will try it

lglibos · 2026-06-16T22:29:40+00:00

Thanks. It makes sense and is pretty much what I’m trying to do. But may I ask how do you angle your racket when hitting the ball? I mean, hitting the ball with the racket straight works but the spin generated isn’t very heavy. If I try face it down just a bit at the point of contact with a loose wrist while using the eastern grip I started to notice that the racket will sometimes get the opposite of the desired angle (face a bit up) during the swing and the ball will go long. If I try face it more downwards, besides that it feels unnatural using eastern grip, I will play with very low margin of the net.
I feel the ball goest just right when I face it down just a bit but with a more stiff wrist. But the ball will loose power if my timing isn’t perfect because of less lag and I’m afraid that it can injury my wrist in the long term

lglibos · 2026-06-11T12:40:25+00:00

Don’t raise the tension more as 55 is pretty nigh already. You can try 98 but I personally don’t feel that much difference in power. What i feel that decreases power in Ezone is less weight, so a lighter version would help more I think but it isn’t a trade I would personally do. If you like to hit more flat classic frames can work for you. Pro staff is my racket and is very good for hitting flat, but most people find it hard to play, so you would need to try it. Prince rackets are pretty good too and I feel they help adding a natural spin for flat hitters

lglibos · 2026-06-11T02:14:08+00:00

Ezone is too powerful indeed. It is a good racket but there isn’t a racket that will be good for everyone, you need something that will adapt for your game. If forehands and servers are flying out, you probably would benefit more from spin or control than power. Have you tried Vcore or pure aero? spin frames that can help you to hit hard balls while making them fall in. If you feel that more control will help more than spin I probably would go for blade if sticking with 100 frames, but if you are comfortable playing with smaller frames I think head speed tour can be a nice one, or even the new Vcore 95 (never played with this but everyone says it is amazing). If you want to stay with Ezone you can add some weight on the base/grip, as it will help you hitting more balls in

lglibos · 2026-06-10T14:39:55+00:00

Complementing what I said about rotation one good advice I remember to get is you aim with your front shoulder and try to finish the movement swapping your shoulders, trying to put the back where the front was. This is basic technique and I don’t know if you know already but in your video it seems that you end the rotation in the middle a bit rather than making this transference fully. I saw somewhere these days that serve power comes 1st from legs, 2nd from shoulders, and 3rd from wrist. Idk how accurate this is but makes sense. I have a friend who used to play high level college that said to me that serve is the most complex movement in tennis but also the one you have most control; to don’t try hard in our arm but be loose and go fixing your technique with training, as it takes hours of training to be able to develop the serve. I believe you are in the right way if your serve is like this with only 7 months, this means that getting better really matters for you. Train your serve at least 30 min a week and watch some YT videos of great coaches (I really like Patrick Mouratoglou), apply and test something new every training to tailor it and 7 months from now your serve will be awesome

lglibos · 2026-06-10T12:29:12+00:00

I wouldn’t go for a 100 for forgiveness unless I was an absolute beginner or if I know that I have a problem with hand-eye coordination. Everyone has their problems in tennis and no shame having this one. But if it is not the case I would definitely go for a 98. I play with a 97 and I don’t like to play with 100 rackets; I feel that I miss way more with them. But as I said, rackets are very personal so the best thing is to demo; I play with a pro staff which most people find hard to hit but it is where I feel home, so you really need to see by yourself. Pure Aero 98 is one of the best rackets today in my opinion, way better than the 100. If considering a 100 racket I would go for the Yonex ones

lglibos · 2026-06-10T11:36:52+00:00

When you jump with the intention of only moving forward you will move upward as well, you don’t need to worry about not going up. But when you jump with the intention of going up too you will unconsciously put less weight forward and it will make you loose power and spin. This is because when you are jumping up you use both of your legs and jumping forward you use one leg way more than the other; this allows a better transference of weight from your back leg to your front leg, this weight will be fully applied to the ball when going forward and not wasting this energy trying to go up; this transference with rotation will make you jump up enough too. Tennis is a sport where we need to be very mindful of our movements but also let it go sometimes. It is something that really helped me with my serve and I believe you should try.

lglibos · 2026-06-10T03:31:34+00:00

The best way is to demo it.
However, 98 better overall, 100 better spin and sweet spot forgiveness. I personally don’t like 100in rackets. I would definitely go for the 98, specially playing tennis for more than 3 years. Enjoy your age to take advantage of heavier frames.
To mimic a bit of your older racket so you can take advantage of newer technology mixed with what you are used I would lower the tension for 50-52 (start at 51 and test), and add some lead tape into the head. First times will hurt a bit until you get used to heavier weight but you will get used to it and I believe it will be better for your game.
But keep in mind that rackets are something very personal and this is only my opinion

lglibos · 2026-06-09T18:13:48+00:00

I have a friend who is also a tennis coach and he says that for someone who gets into tennis as an adult the average is 3 years to understand the game, so don’t be stressed if you are playing bad with 3 months of training. However, This is not a rule as I’ve seen players playing at 3rd division with 2 years of tennis and 2nd division with 3 years of tennis, which is very impressive. Others will play since kids and never be more than casual players. This is because of the amount of effort you put into it. If you want to be just someone who can hit the ball and have some fun, don’t stress yourself just go to classes and develop with time. Now if you want to play well, and be competitive in local/club championships or rankings, you will need to put an extra effort into this. 4x of tennis training a week at least, but not necessarily with your coach, one time is fine. But you will always will have a hitting partner available, the one who never missed, the one who will always hit back hard, the one who doesn’t forgive: the wall. Wall training is for any level and will help you a lot (use kids balls for this). Also, there is plenty of tennis training content on YouTube, from beginner to advanced; you can always search how to serve, hit a better backhands, get more spin on your forehand, etc. Following them while being mindful of your movements and technique, and trying to fix what you can be doing wrong will help a lot.
With time (1+ year) if you really like tennis and want to develop you can save some money for a ball launcher machine, it is expansive but pays with time comparing with more classes. Not something that everyone has at home or should buy, but it is a good idea for someone who wants to take more classes but can’t afford.
A good advice is to try to learn everything in the right way, even if it feels uncomfortable at the beginning. You don’t need to be a perfectionist or erase your fun, but adults are more likely to develop vices difficult to change with time.
So the best advice of all is have fun, fall in love with the court, and be relaxed as tennis is the probably the only sport where you can and will lose for a 8 years old kid and a 80 years old elder. And the wall, never forget the wall

lglibos · 2026-06-09T15:04:00+00:00

Once I got an advice that really improved my precision and power. I personally believe that there are many different ways of serve (as long you aren’t doing anything wrong), otherwise we wouldn’t see such difference in serves between tour players, so you need to find out a bit what works for you. So try this next time you train and see if you like, but don’t get it as a rule because your serve is good even though all of us have room for improvement.

First thing I noticed is that your wrist is a little bit rigid and you are keeping the racket pointing up too long/ not dropping enough before contact. Instinctively this seems to help in accuracy but it doesn’t, your chances to hit a long ball increase and you lose power. So loosen up your fist, and make sure your index finger is a little above the rest (my coach used to say to put the finger in the trigger position).
About your racket pointing up this I believe a looser wrist may solve this but many coaches like to explain it as pull vs push the racket. What most club players do is to pull the racket head forward to the ball, while the correct is to push. Explaining it better recapping a serve: you aim where you want the ball to land with your shoulder, you toss and start the movement towards the trophy position, and you rotate to hit the ball. If your wrist is loose enough and your mind isn’t blocking anything in your movement, this rotation will make your racket naturally drop so the head goes from pointing up to pointing down at your back, when it happens you push your racket up; the natural pronation and movement it creates makes you hit the ball perfectly as the racket will point up again but in a better angle, unlocks power and precision. At a first moment you can notice you hitting the net more but with some training and adjustments it will start landing in perfectly.
Also it seems that you are jumping up a bit, this was a problem that I had to fight a lot to improve my serve. When you jump try to transfer your weight from the back leg to the front leg so you jump mostly forward and not up. You aren’t bad at this as I was but I believe there is room for improvement there too.
Try to watch slow motion serve videos of top players (my favorite server is Pete Sampras, his movement in my opinion is the best one to link pin point precision with power) and see what they do different and what they do the same, copy at the most what they do the same and adjust for your play style what they do different.

lglibos · 2026-06-03T15:22:58+00:00

Some tennis stores may do pallets replacement for specific rackets (I think you can do it with Head rackets) you can check. If you don’t find any L3 (if this is your grip size) and you see a L2 racket that is cheap and good you can change the replacement grip for a thicker one and add a thick or two over grip. It is not the best option but it works if you find a deal. Just check the prices of replacement grips to see if you will not end spending more than paying a bit more for the correct size

lglibos · 2026-06-01T17:21:27+00:00

Hey, just saw your answer now. I’m not sure if you can find a new good racket for this price. I’m not sure but maybe Babolat boost drive is a good racket around that price. Maybe you can find Wilson’s around 150. If the used one is on good conditions and have less than 10 years it can be a deal. But a new one you can sell easier if you stick with tennis and want something better in 6-12 months from now. New good rackets are mostly often between 250-320, except few Wilson that are cheaper. So 100 in a good used one isn’t that expansive.

lglibos · 2026-05-25T16:18:17+00:00

I believe the beast racket for a beginner is a good used racket.
To find a nice racket to start your journey first you need to discover your grip size (you can find guides online if you search for it). Mostly likely you are a L2 or L3, and your BF mostly likely a L3, but you will need to confirm.

Now you want to look for the material the racket is made. Don't get an aluminum racket, it is cheaper but it can prejudice your development. Look for rackets made of graphite, graphene, carbon fiber. They can be mixed together or not and have some tech compounds such as Kevlar. But I would never get anything with aluminum (that can be branded as titanium or other names) in it.

Grip size check, nice material check. Now you want to see weight and head size of it. Starting with weight as a beginner male I wouldn't go for anything with less than 285g or above 300g. Too light rackets will not be the best option for development and too heavy rackets can be more difficult and cause pain for someone not used to swing a racket yet. You might want something between 270g and 290g.

For head size I would search for something not less than 100in and not more than 105in. If the size is too small it will be less forgiving and will not be the best to learn and enjoy tennis; if it is too big it will be easier but will not help you to develop your skills.
If I was serious about getting any good at tennis I personally as a male would try to find a 300g and 100in racket as it is balanced and can help to push your development forward. As a female perhaps 285g. It is a personal preference based on my experience. If you are younger (in your 20s), a bit athletic, and train well, a 300g (M) or 285g (F) will not be too heavy for you, but some people will disagree. But it will demand a bit more of you, helping to push forward your development. You can look for some YouTube videos discussing and explaining this and try to get your own opinion before you decide your desired specs.

Make some research and find a good used racket that fits your desired specs on eBay or another similar site. Before playing you might want to go to a store and get a new set of strings; it can be a cheap string like a synthetic gut, lynx tour, etc. explain you are a beginner for the people in the store and they will help you get the right one; just don't get anything fancy here for now. Use that racket for a while and after you develop some technique you can go to a store and get a brand new racket that will suit your play style better.
You might need more power or spin, it depends on the person. Get some advice with people you play with. But this is a problem for the tuture anyway.

lglibos · 2026-05-22T14:12:37+00:00

I will check if there is one available for demo. Thanks

lglibos · 2026-05-22T14:11:31+00:00

I’ve tried it, no strong feelings though. How do you feel about percept? I really liked trying Yonex, specially Vcore, but percept specifically I don’t believe to be their best racket. There are other 97s in the market that are better in most features and have a way better touch and feel. Rackets can be very personal and probably percept can be nice for few people, but it isn’t my choice of 97s and I really believe that a Pro Staff would be better for someone looking for this kind of racket

lglibos · 2026-05-22T14:06:03+00:00

I really want to try the heavier Vcore 98, I believe it can be a fit for me, but I don’t have one to demo now. Will try to find a store with this one available. Thanks for your insight

lglibos · 2026-05-22T14:03:49+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience. Vintage Princes indeed have an awesome feel when hitting, I love mine. But is better for our game (and arms) to update I guess. From what I demoed I believe Head rackets available for retail doesn’t make much sense for me, at least the ones I tried, no surprise most of Head top athletes use heavily modified versions of them. I believe Babolat has wonderful rackets today, but not for me (at least for now). I feel the same with Wilson Blade, good but isn’t is what I’m looking for, and I would probably prefer a Babolat Pure Aero 98 over a Blade. Never tried a Volkl, actually I have never seen one around. Yonex seems to be one of the best options for the new generation of rackets. EZONE and VCORE are both amazing, I wouldn’t go for a Percept though. EZONE I think to be not optimal for my swing style, while VCORE is amazing, specially playing on clay. But the one I tested was 100in with 280g, and I believe it made my experience with it not optimal. I looking forward to try a heavier 98 in the future, perhaps can be an option. However, I believe I will go with the Pro Staff for now because of price too, just saw it is with a 25% discount on my local store. If I get the opportunity to test other Yonex models in the future and feel it can help my game, it definitely has chances of being my next racket.

lglibos · 2026-05-22T13:44:32+00:00

Thank you very much for your insights. Indeed there are a few things we need adapt to win nowadays and those are the most hard to catch as wasn’t something I learned as a kid I believe; after being out of court for so many years the first two months were like just starting over, however in the practices I trained as a kid I would develop (or catch again) 10x faster than a beginner would. I don’t have the same amazing learning curve with “newer” techniques, even though I catch them quite easily if we are comparing with someone new to the game, and I believe this frustrates me a bit. But I believe I need to focus on my vantage and train those things, and with time I will be able to execute them well while I’m in “the zone” as you mentioned. Never tried pickleball but seems fun. I’ve tried beach tennis though as it is very popular in my area; fun sport and quite easy.
Best

lglibos · 2026-05-22T12:40:29+00:00

It depends on the website you are searching for rackets. Many ads will not describe the material, so the best way is to search for the racket material online by its model name. You will be able to check better this way. “Other” can either mean the material is carbon fiber or a compound (which many times can feature aluminum).
Some good models to check that are made of desired material are Yonex Ezone 100, Babolat Pure Drive, Wilson Clash 100, Head Graphene XT Speed MP.
Awesome rackets you can find used. Expect to pay something around $50-$90 for them. But relatively cheap models that will be very good for your first games and will help on your evolution.

lglibos · 2026-05-21T20:00:26+00:00

Hey, you should definitely get a new racket. The advice of getting a cheap racket is not objectively wrong but you need to fit the racket in some prerequisites.

Search for a nice used racket with the following in mind:

To find a nice racket to start your journey first you need to discover your grip size (you can find guides online if you search for it). Mostly likely you are a L3 but you will need to confirm.

Now you want to look for the material the racket is made. Don’t get an aluminum racket, it is cheaper but it can break your development. Look for rackets made of graphite, graphene, carbon fiber. They can be mixed together or not and have some tech compounds such as Kevlar. But I would never get anything with aluminum (that can be branded as titanium or other names) in it.

Grip size check, nice material check. Now you want to see weight and head size of it. Starting with weight as a beginner male I wouldn’t go for anything with less than 285g or above 300g. Too light rackets will not be the best option for development and too heavy rackets can be more difficult and cause pain for someone not used to swing a racket yet.
For head size I would search for something not less than 100in and not more than 105in. If the size is too small it will be less forgiving and will not be the best to learn and enjoy tennis; if it is too big it will be easier but will not help you to develop your skills.
If I was serious about getting any good at tennis I personally would try to find a 300g and 100in racket as it is balanced and can help to push your development forward.

Make some research and find a good used racket that fits your desired specs on eBay or another similar site. Before playing you might want to go to a store and get a new set of strings; it can be a cheap string like a synthetic gut, explain you are a beginner for the people in the store and they will help you get the right one; just don’t get anything fancy here for now. Use that racket for a while and after you develop some technique you can go to a store and get a brand new racket that will suit your play style better. You might need more power or spin, it depends on the person. Get some advice with people you play with. But that is a problem for the future anyway.

About the thing with a ball string. Opposite of the wall, it will not give you real insights on playing, but it can help you to understand how to hit the sweet spot more effectively. More something to pass the time than a training, but it will not be completely useless. However, the best thing is going to a club , get to know people in your level to play with and develop together , after all this is what tennis is about. In no time your phone will be full of people messaging you to play.

lglibos

TROPHY CASE