This was a very rewarding day! I finished my day job and had some time to kill, so I went to the Chesapeake City tennis courts and started to work on some serves on this very windy(15 to 20 mph) and cold(38 degrees F) day. The Chesapeake City courts are VERY nice and FREE! I went to Greenbrier Park. They even have a hitting wall that is very narrow but it will help you with shot placement and consistency, as long as the wind is not blowing from the West.
Well I got in a few good spin serves and a car drove up and the man asked if I wanted to hit while he waited for his student to arrive. He is a Tennis Instructor, who with his I permission I will mention later, so that people who are interested in taking lessons from him may contact him. He is from Hampton but obviously will come down to the South side to teach. Yes I digress. I told him that if he didn't mind that many of my shots will be wild until I warm up, and that I would greatly appreciate hitting with him. Well true to form because of this being the second person I have hit with so far and mix adrenaline etc, I was accurate in my reply to him. The balls were wild, but not as bad as I pictured it. He made some observations about my game that helped me drastically. Now I must say that you can be a coach or a pro and you can diagnose your own game, but it sure helps to hear someone else say it! He said I have smooth and nice strokes and I do, I am a stroker.... all the sports I have played since tennis have been stroking sports in one way or another this included handball mostly, then paddle ball and racquetball and some ping pong. Most of my motor muscle memory for stroking comes from handball and my timing comes from these sports as well. The timing in all of the other stroke sports that I mentioned, are faster than tennis, due to:
A: Shorter court in all of those sports, so the ball comes back VERY quickly.
B: In racquet ball and paddle ball, the racquets and paddle add a LOT of energy to that blue ball.
C: In good competitive handball, the timing is quicker than tennis as well! I can hit a handball faster than most people can hit a tennis ball. (I am by far NOT the only handball player that can do that!)
So when you are used to such quick ball return times, you look a little skittish on a tennis court, at least speaking for myself. With that in mind, much of my problem was a timing issue.
Let's get back to the instructor, he told me that my timing was the issue and he was 100% correct. He told me to come under the ball more he was 100% correct again, see much of the other stroke sports that I mentioned previously you tend to hit over the ball for rollers etc. Those same shots are NET shots in Tennis! I am going to call that instructor on Monday and thank him. I took yesterday off from hitting but I watched tennis on the Tennis Channel and watched some Tennis videos, went to a fun but "dry" party, came back home and practiced about 200 strokes or so and watched this video Easy Tennis you may be able to see my review, I gave it four stars because it immediately help me realize the other part of my game that was missing. This is the "hitting zone" or "striking zone" and it takes "timing" (and of course footwork etc) to be able to hit the ball in the "zone". I went out in 38 degree weather today and practiced against the wall for an hour and a half today and had fun. I applied the principles I learned from the Instructor I hit with, and from the aforementioned video. I felt at about 75% percent of my old self today, I could hit high balls and apply different spins etc when I "met" the ball in my "zone". I ended off hitting a high ball (which just the other day gave me trouble) hard with topspin cross court. I also included hitting with my right hand forehand. I am doing this for two reasons; one main reason is so I can develop a good two handed backhand. I was watching the Davis Cup yesterday and it was a repeat of Russia vs Argentina, look at the two handed backhands of those guys, many times it seems that the right hand is just along for the ride while they do a forehand with their left hand chocked up a little on the racquet. The second reason it for "body balancing, I like to teach the other side the same skill, I feel it helps with the development of your dominant side as well. For instance when I played handball and went to a strange court or played strangers, I would serve with my right hand (I'm left handed) then they would hit to my left dominant hand and I'd put it away in many cases. I golf(hack) righty and when I would bat in baseball or street hockey I was righty as well. I know I can use this as an advantage in tennis as well. I know I said two but another reason is that if I want to teach people, most people are, righty's so I like to look at things from a righty's perspective.
Key things I have learned and applied today:
TIMING is an important part of tennis, I need to slow my head down a little and actually relax.
THE STRIKING/HITTING ZONE!: I know everyone is told to "hit the ball out in front of you", my problem was that at times I was hitting too out in front of me and at a part of the stroke that was not conducive of making a good and consistent shot.Well I got in a few good spin serves and a car drove up and the man asked if I wanted to hit while he waited for his student to arrive. He is a Tennis Instructor, who with his I permission I will mention later, so that people who are interested in taking lessons from him may contact him. He is from Hampton but obviously will come down to the South side to teach. Yes I digress. I told him that if he didn't mind that many of my shots will be wild until I warm up, and that I would greatly appreciate hitting with him. Well true to form because of this being the second person I have hit with so far and mix adrenaline etc, I was accurate in my reply to him. The balls were wild, but not as bad as I pictured it. He made some observations about my game that helped me drastically. Now I must say that you can be a coach or a pro and you can diagnose your own game, but it sure helps to hear someone else say it! He said I have smooth and nice strokes and I do, I am a stroker.... all the sports I have played since tennis have been stroking sports in one way or another this included handball mostly, then paddle ball and racquetball and some ping pong. Most of my motor muscle memory for stroking comes from handball and my timing comes from these sports as well. The timing in all of the other stroke sports that I mentioned, are faster than tennis, due to:
A: Shorter court in all of those sports, so the ball comes back VERY quickly.
B: In racquet ball and paddle ball, the racquets and paddle add a LOT of energy to that blue ball.
C: In good competitive handball, the timing is quicker than tennis as well! I can hit a handball faster than most people can hit a tennis ball. (I am by far NOT the only handball player that can do that!)
So when you are used to such quick ball return times, you look a little skittish on a tennis court, at least speaking for myself. With that in mind, much of my problem was a timing issue.
Let's get back to the instructor, he told me that my timing was the issue and he was 100% correct. He told me to come under the ball more he was 100% correct again, see much of the other stroke sports that I mentioned previously you tend to hit over the ball for rollers etc. Those same shots are NET shots in Tennis! I am going to call that instructor on Monday and thank him. I took yesterday off from hitting but I watched tennis on the Tennis Channel and watched some Tennis videos, went to a fun but "dry" party, came back home and practiced about 200 strokes or so and watched this video Easy Tennis you may be able to see my review, I gave it four stars because it immediately help me realize the other part of my game that was missing. This is the "hitting zone" or "striking zone" and it takes "timing" (and of course footwork etc) to be able to hit the ball in the "zone". I went out in 38 degree weather today and practiced against the wall for an hour and a half today and had fun. I applied the principles I learned from the Instructor I hit with, and from the aforementioned video. I felt at about 75% percent of my old self today, I could hit high balls and apply different spins etc when I "met" the ball in my "zone". I ended off hitting a high ball (which just the other day gave me trouble) hard with topspin cross court. I also included hitting with my right hand forehand. I am doing this for two reasons; one main reason is so I can develop a good two handed backhand. I was watching the Davis Cup yesterday and it was a repeat of Russia vs Argentina, look at the two handed backhands of those guys, many times it seems that the right hand is just along for the ride while they do a forehand with their left hand chocked up a little on the racquet. The second reason it for "body balancing, I like to teach the other side the same skill, I feel it helps with the development of your dominant side as well. For instance when I played handball and went to a strange court or played strangers, I would serve with my right hand (I'm left handed) then they would hit to my left dominant hand and I'd put it away in many cases. I golf(hack) righty and when I would bat in baseball or street hockey I was righty as well. I know I can use this as an advantage in tennis as well. I know I said two but another reason is that if I want to teach people, most people are, righty's so I like to look at things from a righty's perspective.
Key things I have learned and applied today:
TIMING is an important part of tennis, I need to slow my head down a little and actually relax.
I need to:
WATCH the ball more.
Remember timing and hitting zone
Develop my footwork
I will develop my footwork through drills and "shadow tennis" and drive my wife crazy.
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