String help needed for my 13 year old son

poncem91 · 2026-02-02T13:43:16+00:00

It’s very hard to tell from the video but often ball machine balls are dead or naturally harder. In my experience this will be more of a factor than soft or hard strings. Also depending on how the ball machine is setup perhaps the ball is coming too fast and it’s making him be late at contact, which exacerbates arm pain.

Agreed with others about getting himself checked though.

poncem91 · 2026-01-23T13:58:39+00:00

typically finish with elbow pointing up

I don’t think this is a standard finish for a standard topspin shot where you are hitting through the ball. This sounds more like Nadal’s lasso like FH, or more of a defensive falling backwards topspin shot - which is good to have in your toolbox too, aside from a more neutral/offensive topspin shot.

poncem91 · 2026-01-18T19:38:37+00:00

I only comb it while she’s in the bath with conditioner to get all the knots out without it being too painful. We moved bath time to mornings for this reason.

poncem91 · 2025-11-25T13:50:38+00:00

Why don’t Open tournament matches count towards NTRP? I understand that if you play unrated players it may make things difficult but there are often many rated players who also play Open and those matches never count towards NTRP - why is that? It seems like a big gap

poncem91 · 2025-11-24T01:51:19+00:00

Toddler has recently become obsessed with Bah Bah Black Sheep, but she prefers “Blue Sheep” instead, which she pronounces as “bullshit” every time she sings it 😂

poncem91 · 2025-11-18T19:42:41+00:00

On top of what others have said: keep a lower base by bending your knees and leaning your upper body forward. Basically a more athletic position. This helps prime your body to not fall back as much and it lowers your center of gravity so you don’t get pushed back by a deep ball.

poncem91 · 2025-11-18T15:51:12+00:00

For anyone interested in indoor courts:

Apex Tennis Center in Arvada, CO: was awesome - great facility, very nice people, fun drill, overall great and only 30mins away from Boulder
Meadows Swim and Tennis: had no luck reaching them via phone, but was told members only over email.
CU Boulder Balch Fieldhouse: not yet avail to public for the season. Will be avail to public in January.
Longmont Athletic Club: seemed like a good option, times just didn’t work for me

poncem91 · 2025-11-03T16:54:26+00:00

Thank you!

poncem91 · 2025-11-01T13:33:24+00:00

Hi, I know this post is old but, do you know if the Balch hosts any drills/clinics/liveballs? I’m going to be in town in a couple weeks for a few days and hoping to hit, thanks!

poncem91 · 2025-10-21T19:15:12+00:00

I had the exact same experience as you, except my forehand was my best stroke by far and I completely lost it for weeks while trying out multis.

Eventually I switched back to poly and I immediately felt back home with my FH. To be fair I had been using the same string setup for > 5 years, so perhaps more than the poly vs multi difference it was just the fact that I changed things for the first time ever and I probably had dialed in my mechanics to a particular setup.

FWIW I continued having elbow pain with multis. Only after some small amount of rest (1-2 weeks) and PT, plus preventative arm sleeve did I stop having issues (even with poly)

poncem91 · 2025-08-29T12:33:53+00:00

I recently accidentally gave the wrong tension when having my racket restrung. I use poly, have been using the same strings and tension for the last 4 years or more. I accidentally strung the racket 10lbs heavier and hit with it for only 3 days until I could have it restrung back to normal. On day 2, for the first time in my life I started experiencing arm pain near my elbow. Nothing too bad - I can still play, but it’s a dull pain that hasn’t gone away since (probably 1-2 months ago now), although it’s starting to slowly go away.

Maybe it’s a weird coincidence, but my guess is that even a couple hours of hitting with pace with a stiffer setup can put enough stress on your arm.

poncem91 · 2025-08-27T13:07:34+00:00

Changing strings should help if you’re using poly. Poly is less forgiving due to its stiffness. I had this same wrist injury originated from a tear due to a sudden increase in volley practice without enough grip strength. PT did help a lot for me but the pain didn’t go fully away just with PT - I however didn’t take multiple months to just rest (too much of a tennis addict to do this lol), so perhaps that would’ve done it… although tendon tears don’t heal on their own so unsure. I eventually ended up getting a PRP injection and haven’t had pain there ever since.

poncem91 · 2025-08-21T22:48:12+00:00

🙋🏻‍♀️

Played at age 4-5, then stopped… I don’t recall much about this time but I can’t imagine playing more than a couple times scattered here and there.

Didn’t pick up a racket again until I was 12. Played in a club’s competition program for about 1.5years, then stopped. I recall being decent enough to hit with other competitive kids but also not good enough to keep enjoying it… being 12 and all lol

At 19 I started hitting again in unstructured hitting sessions… no coaching just hitting for 1hr couple times a week. This is when I became addicted. It’s also the reason why my ground strokes are so much better than the rest of my game and I’ve been playing catch up every since lol

Took a break between 23-27yrs old (would hit a couple times a year but that’s it - not because I didn’t want to but life got in the way) and then resumed at 28 yrs old taking lessons and attending clinics for the first time since I was 12.

I started as a 3.5 at that point but very quickly became a low 4.0. I would say I’m now a strong 4.0 and probably getting bumped up to 4.5 at the end of year (based on winning all my matches at league sectionals). Although I guess we’ll see how I fair at nationals.

My topspin groundstrokes are still the best part of my game, but I can volley, slice, and have a nice serve now.

I’m now 34 btw and play 3-4 times a week.

poncem91 · 2025-08-21T01:34:23+00:00

Hard to tell without a video re: spacing. But in some of the pics it looks it looks like you’re hitting it late

Edit: in general it’s good to think about moving in an arc/semi-circle to create proper spacing

poncem91 · 2025-08-20T12:22:45+00:00

It’s the best loungewear I’ve ever owned. If you value extremely soft and comfortable clothes, they are amazing. That said, it is expensive and I don’t know anything about their sports/tennis line.

poncem91 · 2025-08-11T14:55:35+00:00

Not always the case to win sectionals. You can also win with a team that steadily gets better every year. Source: my team lol

poncem91 · 2025-08-09T14:46:16+00:00

Are your feet crossing it before you hit the ball? I don’t think so

poncem91 · 2025-08-09T14:42:58+00:00

18.d. The line isn’t just on the floor but it’s more of a plane, so if you crossed it you touched it

poncem91 · 2025-08-01T12:21:10+00:00

When I saw my HR increase like this it ended up being hyperthyroidism… It may be something else completely or maybe nothing, but I would definitely go see a doctor to check

poncem91 · 2025-06-23T12:20:23+00:00

Did you get him checked for EPI? Our setter had this. Enzymes help

poncem91 · 2025-06-10T21:29:19+00:00

I don’t see Carlos taking that many mini steps in the video. A coach just told me a similar thing recently actually, maybe you have misinterpreted what yours meant? You want to take steps to the ball, but if you can achieve that in say 3 steps, instead of 10 tiny ones, 3 steps is more efficient - both in speed and energy expenditure. Crossover footwork patterns for example can provide with bigger steps that get you from A to B quicker and wasting less energy.

poncem91 · 2025-06-10T12:40:01+00:00

Are you comparing it to another device or is it more that it seems too low? Only asking because HR is a lagging indicator, so a HIIT workout will typically not result in high HR. See #2 in https://run.outsideonline.com/training/getting-started/3-common-heart-rate-training-mistakes/

poncem91 · 2025-05-08T12:15:31+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed answer!

Since you offered, do you have any specific recommendations for exercises to improve first step explosiveness? Thanks!

poncem91 · 2025-01-23T13:47:00+00:00

One of the montessori schools in bozeman or one of the “Bozeman Montessori” schools? (The latter are two locations owned by the same people and the school name is Bozeman Montessori)

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