We spend a lot of time here discussing the pros. But I'd like to know how good you are at tennis. How often do you play per week? What are your strengths/weaknesses? How has your game progressively improved since you started playing seriously. What are things you would like to improve upon? Tips etc?
The first time I picked up a tennis racquet was when I was 10 yrs old (I am 32 now) and took lessons for about 2 yrs. After that there was a 16 yr gap during which I didn't play any tennis. I picked it up again 4 yrs ago and since then have played very regularly. I play with a Wilson K Factor KSix-One 95 (16x18). I play an average of 3x per week outdoors during the summer and once a week indoors during the winter. I started out as a 3.0 player but I think I am 4.0 now. I have a single handed backhand and it sucked when I started (4 yrs ago) and was a huge liability but it has improved a lot since then and is not the reason why I lose matches now. My serve has improved as I pronate more and I watch the ball better. I also changed my grip to a more semi-western grip. But I think my biggest improvement was learning to play a match 1 point at a time and to stay in the moment which has helped me focus. Before a point starts, I also plan how I want to play the first 3 shots and it has helped my anticipation and movement.
When I am about to lose a match, say down 2 breaks or if opponent is serving for a match. I tell my self to forget everything I have learned about tennis and just focus on watching the ball. This has helped me make many comebacks or at least lose respectfully .
What I would like to improve on next is volleys. I am making more forays into the net now and I have a long way to go to be decent. That is really my next unexplored frontier.
I go to atleast 1 pro tournament a year, either Cincy or USO and watching the pros/juniors play or practice sometimes helps my game too.
Those who have time to share, please respond. CHEERS and thanks in advance!
Had a singles competition last Saturday . (Short sets) lost my first match 4-0, 4-1 and my second match (consolation draw) 4-1, 4-1. Rather hard going lol. Was pretty much playing two guys that where way better than me. Not the kind of serves I play against at my club and the ground strokes these guys had where fast and heavy. Need to work on accelerating on my ground strokes more I think. Couldn't handle the serves thought. So many players at my club have fairly crap serves that I can just thump back but these guys had some pretty fast serves, with plenty of spin on them to make the ball heavy.
It seems they were less than truthful about their rating, it happens all the time. Its either that or your club members are really, really poor and you get a false sense of how advanced your own game is. I generally don't like playing guys of a lower level more than once or twice, its nice to win games and you get a chance to work on your game but overall it holds you back. I prefer to go against players with better all round games, I like the challenge of putting my game against theirs and see how I stack up, the problem is the good players at my place wont play me I played one guy who from a distance had a more polished game than I have and bee him 6-0 and he doesn't want to know now, I see him playing dubs with much, much older and lesser players.
Had two sets of singles at my club tonight. 1 each against different players. The first guy was a player I have known for about 5 years but oddly we've never played singles. He's a really nice guy and he has a nice game. Lots of topspin on the forehand but not really a especially fast one. His forehand is kinda good but I won the set 6-3. The courts were very wet. I also got a second set against a guy who has never won a set off me. He has got better but I am not sure what it is . He still makes errors . Over hitting his forehand or the odd double fault . He doesn't deal with serves with lots of spin on them very well.
I scraped threw 7-5 although I was actually a little tempted to let him hold at 5-5 but I just couldn't let that happen. I have got into a habit of hitting forehands with sidespin on them . ( usually just as a passing shot when someone is at the net) but I sometime use it to hit short and drag my opponent off court.
Just to set up the next shot with them completely off the court.
It's finally warm where I am, so I got out to the court.
I'd been doing yoga and pilates over the winter months, and didn't think I neither changed that much physically in terms of appearance or in terms of fitness.
Boy was I wrong, lol. I found myself getting to a lot more balls today and felt a lot more core strength. As a result, I was way more consistent than I had been in the past.
Had 4 and a bit sets of singles with a consistent ball basher at my club. He's freakishly fit for his age. Played 4 and a bit sets. So bloody frustrating. Lost 6-1, 6-3 ,6-1, 6-0 and got to 1-1 in the fifth and we stopped. His serve is his only weakness. I did manage to hammer a few inside out serve return backhands down the line past him ( I think that's what you'd call it lol) also had a set with a pretty poor player the next day and won to 0 he was also played the following day, he looked totally drained from playing me lol. Started trying to serve up on the ball (something I never do) and it seems to have increased my first serve percentage.
Had two sets of singles yesterday and won 6-0 , 6-1 and had a set tonight against a very good player. Not very in shape but he's 17 and has a good technique. Lost 6-4.
Had some singles yesterday won against 1 player ( another lefty ) 6-0 and then beat the best pusher at the club 6-4 . Today I had one mad set against a very heavy hitter . He's started playing well I went 4-1 down in some very long games , and managed to grind out the set 6-4. Not helping that I have a brand new racket and the stupidly large head is a bit annoying as it is making it a bit harder to middle my shots lol. Racket is far too powerful as well.
played a ball basher today and lost 6-3 6-3, could have won the 2nd set but his serve bailed him out too often and I was having an off day serving directionally. i'll get him eventually though, I return his serve better than most, its just a matter of me taking care of my own service games. I lost but it was a good game I think
Had a county competition last Sunday . Lost 2 matches but won one . Had a buy in the first round lost first match 4-0 , 4-0 Beat a guy 4-1 , 4-0. Then lost my third 4-1, 4-0. All of them had higher ratings so I was pleased with the second one.
Couple of sets of singles against another lefty . Won 6-3 , 6-4. I played well. Got matches in the doubles league coming up. I am playing for the third team but one of the second/ third teamers was down at men's practise , tried returning one of my serves with a slice. Chopped it down into the ground and it came back up and right into his eye. Lucky he didn't blind himself I guess.
2 matches for our team over the weekend, lost both as a team but I won in both. I was actually very clutch in both as well.
First match was 7-5 7-5 in slightly over two and a half hours. Probably the longest straight sets match I have ever played, and it was hot too. Was *3-0 up in the first set (to 3-4 down) and *0-3 down in the second.
Second was a relatively short 1 hour 45 minute 7-6(5) 6-4. Once again early lead in the first that I gave away. At 5-5 in the first, we had a 20 minute game in which I saved probably 6ish BPs, then in the tiebreak I won 5 points in a row from down 1-4* including a diving lob. Second set was mostly trading breaks in the second half but held from 0-30 to end it.
As a team in the second, we lost 4-5 after one of our doubles pairs lost having had 3 MPs
Had one very boring set of singles today. Won 6-0 the guy hardly won a point on my serve and not many on his. Not really the right kind of player to play for me.
Had a tough set of singles against a guy at the club Wednesday. I had been playing in the afternoon as well. Was 4-3 up with a break but got broke. Lost the set in the end 7-6 (7-5) still never won a set off this guy. Was making him work for every point on his serve at the start. Good to play him though as he's a tough player . Strong ground strokes good at net with a good serve.
Won against my dear friend a set 6-0. In my first service game I had 2 aces and 1 DF and that's for all match. Length: 20 minutes.
I have started very aggresively, she had 2 DFs... And I have two forehand winners down the line. Second game, my service game started very good, with ace, then I have 3 misses, giving her 2 and only break chances. One ace and nice backhand down the line. After 2-0 she was so struggling because my game was up and I was closing this match so fast with CC backhand winners. So glad my game has leveled up. And I had nice volleys and two drop shots.
Last match I played I won 6-2 6-2 7-6 against a tall big server. Had way better groundstroke and net game than him though. Should have probably been an even bigger win.
Singles and doubles coming up at my main club . Desperate to win a match in the singles . Never won a club comp singles match in 6 attempts. 7 if you include the dreaded silver plate draw . Lol
Had a one hour hit with the same guy I beat 3-0 sets last time around. Only difference this time I was operating with a major hangover and on three hours of sleep.
We couldn't play for longer than an hour cause the courts were pretty packed, so we couldn't even finish the set, had to go with me serving at 5-5. Pretty atrocious play from me at times, mixing good winners with missing sitters or not being able to reach balls I usually retrieve comfortably. First serve was also not working at all, my percentage was probably in the 20's or 30's. Just one of those days, but I actually feel I was still playing better and would have ground out the set if we had had time to finish it.
Had 3 sets of singles yesterday . Won the first set 6-2 from 0-2 down. The guy has never won a set off me. He's a bit old. Had the nerve to say he should try playing me when he's not tired . He just makes too many errors. Had another 2 sets against against this guy I play sometimes on the Saturday morning sessions. He really is'nt that good . Won the first set 6-1 and the second 7-5. Started trying a new finish on my forehand. Going for more topspin . Hit some good shots with it but I think I overdid it a bit on going for that finish . It definitely gets some good topspin thought. Must of hit this one shot about 9 feet in the air but it still dipped down and in . Lol
Played same guy this morning. Both of us were in much better form than the last time we played and I was not hungover this time. Some really good baseline rallies but I think my better fitness and my forehand were the difference here. Backhand held up pretty well too though, with UEs a bit less frequent and some nice cross court winners.
Had done some gym work on Friday and went out to hit a lot of serves yesterday so by the second set my shoulder was hurting quite a bit. Had to reduce first serve speed a lot, but percentage was still high so managed to dictate most rallies on my serve. His own first serve is quite huge but his percentage was low so I was able to swing away on a lot of second serves.
Good match, hoping the soreness goes down as I'm hitting again tomorrow.
Had a set of singles last week and won it 6-0 . Very boring set. The guy is a massive ball basher but he has his off days. Actually plays for the second team while I am stuck in the third. ( but that is doubles) although I am equally better than him at doubles lol. Also had a bit of a set against a guy I've never played. I was 4-1 up before we had to let other people on the courts as it was club night. Yearly singles competition coming up yet again. Hopefully I can finally win a match lol. Not the most encouraging entry list so far thought .
Well we've had the draw for the summer comps at my club tonight. Got a pretty good partner in the doubles I think. Unfortunetly I have a impossible draw in the singles. There's a guy I play regular 5 setters with who I never beat. I am playing his regular hitting partner. He's basically county level and he's about 21. So I am going to get hammered. But I will try my best.
Well I had my first round match in the singles at my club . Was very surprised . I think the very fact I put zero expectation on myself worked a treat. I won my first round match 6-2 , 6-1. The guy I played started to get going towards the end ( dragging out the rallies immensely ) I was breathing very hard towards the end and my knees where killing me. Got 1 ace which was an ace as there was so much spin on the serve it bounced twice ( not a miss hit) just lots of spin and very short. With him expecting a first serve. Now I am taking part in a tennis marathon ( for charity) at the club . Playing 2 two hour sessions and then one 6 hour session starting at 6 in the morning the next day.
Had two sets of singles against a really nice kid at the club . He is 17 I think. Used to play a bit but is trying to get back into it after a break. I won 6-0 , 6-0 .
Had 2 sets of singles with two different guys and won both sets 6-2 . Getting ready for a match in the singles at my local club . Playing a guy that's about 21 and I think he also does coaching at another club . I know him a bit but never played him. Confidence is very low for this one. I've seen him play a lot and he also plays this guy I play a lot. I normally get beat quite heavily by the guy I normally play and the guy I am playing is his regular practise partner. Lol . Will do my best.
Played a tennis triathlon for charity at my club over the weekend. Played 4 hours Saturday and nearly 6 hours Sunday. Won 2 sets of singles 6-4 , 6-1 playing I guy I have never beat before. However he played a lot more hours in the triathlon than me so I got lucky.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mens Tennis Forums
18.5M posts
87.7K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to male tennis players and enthusiasts. Talk about everything from the ATP, NSMTA, to college Tennis and even everything about equipment. It's all here!