The best fetures of my game are:

- Forehand
- How I read play

Groundstrokes are both really good compared to the rest of my game. My volleys are technically correct but I just flunk in matches. My serve used to be on par with my groundstrokes but recently its deteriorated when I changed technique. :(

I love hitting my reverse forehand :D

Though my stand out shot is probably my backhand DTL :)

I have a huge backhand and my forehand is getting better, I still play out of instint, I wish I could actually read play. And because I havent played for a while I completely messed up my serve which used to be good.


Can someone help with my serve at all? Some tips.

What exactly is troubling you with your serve?

For the ball toss, make sure you throw it slightly in front of you. Not too far though, as otherwise you'll fall on it and pull the ball into the next. The opposite will occur if you throw it behind you (unless you're aiming to play a kick serve, but if you're only just regaining your technique I wouldn't worry too much about that yet). Throw the ball slightly to the right for a slice serve, and more in front of you for a hard flat serve.

Make sure you keep your eye on the ball throughout. Also, try to keep your throwing up, pointing at the ball; some people have the tendency to bring it down quickly and collapse on the serve. The same thing applies to your head.

If you're aiming for more power, try incorporating a knee bend into your serve. Make sure that you're side on (generally, you're taught to have your front foot pointing towards the net post and the back foot to be pointing sideways), because you loose control and power by facing the court.

My cross-court forehand, usually off the return :D

Thanks LDF, I have printed this off I am going have a look at it and see if it works.

I cant say exactly what is wrong with my serve, i am one of those people who never had a tennis lesson and I did alot of own schooling. I won quite alot of matches when I used to play at the club but people kept telling me my play is technically incorrect. I guess they are right because if I studied the technical side well I would have forgotten the preceedure of a WHOLE serve.

Also the height of the ball toss is a factor.. It should be sufficiently high above your racquet swing to enable a fliud overhead racquet swing.. a little too low and you are likely to hurry your serve, or the swing is collapsed slightly.

The bits that I find work best from ldf's advice have been to throw the ball in front of you.. and also I would recommend the bending of the legs as good practice anyway, as it just helps get the whole process going.. and it should be a fluid rhythmical process. I worked on those two factors a while back with my game and found that they really helped.

I like you have not had coaching,but used what sources were available to me.The thing that ruined my serve previously is balance.I used to have trouble maintaining any uniform,without falling off the serve different ways.I just couldn't stay on through the serve.

The one single factor I would add here is when tossing the ball,you are in a vunerable position and your face is pointing up to the ball,and this is where you can become disorientated.You need to maintain your centre of balance.So when tossing up move your hip into the court,if you practice this you can sink the side of your body that faces the net.Doing this will give you a natural knee bend.
If you have done this right then your hand will be pointing upwards at the ball and from the tip of your hand down to your feet will resemble the shape of an archers bow when drawn.

Mine's my left-handed double handed forehand. Obviously not too many people are used to that kind of shot.

My two-handed backhand slice!

set up for a flat backhand with a last minute change!
Un-readable!

Great angle as well

Eat a bit of my serve :P

now jacked up to 125mph after a bit of tweaking :D

:o

It was painful how we got to it though roflmao

he wanted me to take my serving arm really far back to get the extra energy, problem was the first time he pulled my arm back to demonstrate he niearly dislocated it roflmao

I've managed to get it 10ft up in the fence so far :D

Best features of my game are:

Topspin backhand passing shot
Dropshots (I love dropshotting off a weak 2nd serve!)
Forehand return
Topspin lobs
Drop volleys
Defensive play

Unfortunately, my concentration, unreliable serving and inconsistent bread-and-butter volleys let me down!

Are you Martina Hingis in disguise Mr I? :lol:

Whatever :lol:

Groundstrokes are by far my best asset. I can hit them flat (with a little topspin for margain for error) and hard and, normally, consistently. Volleys need a bit more work... well... a lot more work. Serve is getting so much better. I'm able to hit a fairly hard, spinny second serve now (whereas before I was useless) and my first serve is very flat and tends to have a lot of weight behind it. I once notched up a 107mph serve which aint bad for a 17 year old club player. Mentally, I'm very tough. I never give up. Ask LDF for the 'huge comeback, saving 3 MPs' story. So all in all I would say my attitude is the best.

Geez - after reading this I sound like Roger Federer but I'm nowhere near that good. I can only dream!

I have changed my game quite a bit recently!

I used to try and nail my serves, now i dont hit them quite as hard, but use more spin, and kick! so now my placement is good and lots of variation!

My forehand is my star groundstroke, and can whoop it as hard as i can and also opt for more precision and topspin!

My backhand is good if it is coming to me flat and with pace, but i cannot generate pace at all with it, if i try it usually goes out! :unsure:

Volleys are ok, my forehand volley is defnietly beatter than my backhand volley!

My movement is good when i stay on my toes, but i only stay on my toes for like a quarter of a match! ;)

I can read play quite well, and like the way Hingis plays, more crafty with spin, so i try and adopt he tactics :P

I have been tinkering with strategy a lot lately,trying to see if I can bother my opponenet with certain plays.

Love coming in short off the backhand side with loads of side-spin,either deep for the volley,or a cheeky dropper.

Attacking the shorter forehand when I'm inside the court,whack it DTL,and come in.

Also I confess to junkballing a lot when at the baseline,throw in a moonball,topspin,and even slice on the forehand side.Drives people mad.

As i'm a bit shorter,outright pace for me is not the way to go,as a high error count always happens.I sort of naturally went to counterpunching and waiting for the opportunities.

Serve , anticipation (rarely wrong-footed but wrong footing alot), reflexes

All this fading fast with age!!!!

I really haven't been improving very much recently! any tips?

I'm not really fast enough to counterpunch and when attacking i hit lots of errors!

What can i do? :yikes:
please help

Erm well my speed and agility are huge assets, I'm a counter-puncher.

So generally in a long rally, I'll be a couple of feet behind the baseline waiting and generally just getting the ball in play and at some opponent will hit a weaker shot which I'll usually attack with my forehand.

My serve is average but I've managed to start getting a kick second serve but it has meant a lot of DFs recenmtly.

My weakness are my volleys by a long way, I don't feel comfortable at the net.

My backhand is weird because if i have time, I use a single handed stroke but if I am forced to rush the shot it becomes a double handed with a shot backswing.

I'm also very competitive, I hate losing (and I know that isn't always a good thing :rolleyes: ) but it means that if my opponent loses their concentration breiflyI can take advantage of it.

Also my positioning can be a bit weak, sometimes I just stand way to far back, which means coming in for drop shots although I often get to them I can't do much with them and therefore forced to hit a volley :rolleyes: and sometimes on the rare occasion I try and be aggressive I can get caught in between the baseline and service line.


Best shots are running crosscourt forehand and DTL backhand passing shot, but I'd say my most usefull asset is being able to hit most types of shot (aside from volleys)


Obviously this is all in the context of school team tennis :lol:

I don't know how you play,but when most people attack they try and hit the ball too hard.
I fell into this trap,but after looking around the internet,I went the Agassi route,and started to take the ball a bit on the rise.I like to stand on the baseline while rallying,as the ball holds more pace when on the rise.

You can actually swing within your range,and borrow your opponent's pace this way.It takes some time to practice preparing to take the ball earlier,but it is worth the effort.

Give it a try and you can steal time from the opposition just by taking the ball earlier without hitting any harder.

I'm really good at watching. I tend to try to get a seat near the net so you can see all the action real close..

what..?

:P

My game is not that great. I have a heavy topspin forehand that is good on clay but on the astroturf we have up here at uni it leaves my opponents with ample time to set up a big fore/back hand winner :rolleyes:

My backhand is stronger and more consistent than my forehand, it's singlehanded and I hit it relatively flat though I occasionally slice it when stretched.

My serve is dismal....I really can't say anything beyond that out of shame - DFs galore or a slow floating serve :blush:

My volleying is ok and my movement is fine, though my footwork can sometimes let me down when pressurised....yep my game is very impressive.

My style is generally Patty Schnyder-esque, ie. try and hang in rallies long enough to make the opponent hit an error - and to mix up my shots.

im the opposite!!!! My serve has become really good, as have spent quite a lot of time practicing. I tend to serve my second serve the same as my first, although i have got it pretty accurate and quite fast now. I am impatient i cant volley to save my life and rarely try to bother. My backhand is also better than my forehand, although i tend to go for more winners on the forehand, missing some, winning even less!!! whereas i can play from the back with my backhand all day

wow, u guys all seem professional :P

myself, i only really took up the sport last summer, and only really properly in december... though ive been watching the sport for a few years now...

me, im the weakest out of u all :P

im currently just hitting balls in the court. my coach said me playing badminton at a young age, worsens my skills for tennis, as i have a tendency to *flick* the wrists :wub: oh well
but generally, i like my 2 handed backhand, i can hit many winners with that, my forehand is *SO* temperamental... :P

i would hardly call myself professional roflmao roflmao i have never beaten anyone of a better quality than me, so maybe im a bit like Schnyder too!!!!!

haha schnyder, thats still a very good game liam, i have no game plan :P just *try* to return the ball into the court :P

I play public park tennis. Courts available for approx 5 mths each year. Most of my mates hate tennis until Wimbledon comes round. Hard to get a game. I wish I was as good as everyone else on here apparently is. I can hit a ball but that's about it. Doesn't diminish my love for the game though.

That's all that matters Roysie. As far as I know, none of us have a Wimbledon title in sight. We are just "good" at criticising those who have. ;)

are you any good at rocket science though

;)

I dabble.... :whistle:

where do you Roysie, Stanley Park? I used to play there, but my mates insisted we play on the grass courts, and i cant play on grass to save my life, plus i was always too busy running away from the wasps to look at the balls :angry: roflmao

Usually Fairhaven (hard), Lowther Gardens (hard) or Hope Street (grass). Only played at Stanley Park once with my daughter but we had to stop coz some other teen lads showed up and she went all girly coz they were watching her :unsure:

At least you have Grass Courts in your country! :rolleyes:

True - but the ones the paying public have access to are the green equivalent of a mini roller coaster. Much safer to play on hard courts sadly to say (but saying that, I play better on them!).

Update: Tweaked my serve again and it is much better! My first serve is flat relatively powerful I reckon going up into the 110's when maxed. The second serve is slice or kicker usually.

My backhand has deteriorated a little but not completely. I'm trying to sort out my stance whether to play open or closed when I play. It is still powerful and accurate when I get it going though.

My forehand has improved, I can hit it realllllly hard now when I choose to.

Backhand volley is better, forehand needs work.

Movement is pretty good at the moment.

My problems are:
-Deciding quickly what stance to use on the backhand.
-Deciding when to use my slice or more topspin.
-General strategy.

SG, next time you come on here answer this, do you tend to double fault long? Or does it droop into the net. If you double fault long then it's just a matter of time before you get comfortable with that second serve, if you droop into the net, then you need to work on things like racket head speed and ball toss (should be behind you).

Been doing a lot of coaching on kid's second serves recently - infuriating! roflmao