I bring my fellow Clutchfans a thread about tennis training aids. The goal is simple, I wish to join the U.S. Open as soon as possible. I have bad habits in a little bit of everywhere, but particularly my serve. I realize that sure I could just try to completely re-design my serve and start from scratch, but I'm hoping there is something that could significantly help me with my serve and particularly serving into the correct service court and not 80 ft out of bounds. Any suggestions/advice would be very much appreciated. The only conditions would be that the item of choice not be above $50 and that I'd like advice on any tennis items that have been helpful for you... although I do lean towards items that have helped your serve. -Tracy McGrady.
Step #1 find a qualified coach. Step #2 Tell him/her what you want and work with them to design a program. Step #3 Understand that a bbs - even one as awesome as this one - probably cant' turn you into Federer. Step #4 Get a subscription to Tennis Magazine. They have some good tips in their from time to time. They helped me fix a quirk that improved my forehand. And actually it was based on Federer's form.
Yeah, I tend to burn out on lessons pretty quick though. As in, I give up after a few lessons everytime with anything I've ever done. How much do coaches run these days? True. Although I figured a few people would play tennis on this board seeing as how it is a sports haven and that a few of the members on here have used some stuff like "Toss doctor" , "Racket doctor", blah blah blah. Hmm. Yeah, I guess to sum it up I'm basically scared of failure and quitting tennis lessons like I quit bowling lessons a while back because I never could straighten out my form and like any good pro, I quit. Bowling lessons left a bad taste in my mouth because it was so frustrating to not fix my form and I worry tennis will go the exact same way. I'm cursed anotherwards, lol.
Tennis warehouse has a good forum and you can post videos of yourself and they will critique you. Another great site is www.fuzzyyellowballs.com
Hm Tracy, I used to play Varsity Tennis in high school and I really don't know any "training aids" to help your serves. Maybe the ball machine for groundstrokes but I really doubt helping serves. IMO, If you want to improve serve, first its all about fundamental techniques. First, check the grip.. I use the continental grip for all my serves. Always hit up on the ball, and never down. (Its actually better you hit 80ft over the net rather than in the net because you want to get in the habit of hitting upward), and also important, throwing the ball straight up using your fingertips lol. When you get really good at hitting the ball over, now you can start adding power to your serves by bending using your legs, snapping your wrist, etc. Dude, I remember I could do bad ass serves but my coach made me change my grip because the grip i had wouldn't allow me to do spin serves. LOL so for like 4 months I struggled with serves to the point where I had to tap it in.
Yeah, the ball machine in my tennis class is definitely helping for groundserves and what not. Really? It's better to be hitting it 80 yards (yep, 80 yards now, lol) over the net than into the net? I feel better when I actually hit it in the net these days, lol. I'll give this continental grip a try though and see if I can't get the finger tip toss to work somewhat. Right now I just toss it up from my palm and serve it. Do you still play tennis?
Not really, I'll play like once or twice every few months but not anymore (too busy practcing my bball skills LOL). Hm yeah grips make a huge difference when you hit any ball when you change your grip. I remember my forehand had a weird grip until my coach changed it to a western grip. I hated it man, but then after about a few months my strokes had more power and it was easier for me to swing through the ball. at first its going to feel really really awkward, but stick with it for awhile because its going to be worth it.(maybe have a coach check the grip for you).
based on other responses and yours, i'm not so sure what your motivations are for playing tennis. But there are definite ways to learn to hit 100+mph serves. Even 130. imo, in retrospect, none of my coaches really new how teach a power serve. I learned that on my own what a 130-140 in court feels like. It's amazing. The ball explodes off the court and jumps. if you know how to play tennis somewhat...my short recommendation is to JUMP when you serve and throw your arm up at the ball such that you snap your arm like a volleyball server does and follow through on your arm side (rigth side for right handed people). The key is to JUMP and to snap the ball with upward motion such that your are hitting through the ball, yet applying a very minor amount of upward action on the ball. any baseball pitcher will tell you (especially split fingered fastball guys) that aerodynamics on a slow top, forward rolling object will create tremendous downward drag at high velocity, can say that 130mph on a serve is achievable because the top rolling drag take a servee 2 ft over the net and drive it into the ground for a FAIR SERVE. The key is not how hard you can swing your harm...but whether you can hit the ball with and upward struck to produce the slow topward roll on the ball...like a split fingered fastball. next lesson is $50
Well first you should just get proper technique down so hire a coach to teach you. Then all you need to do is practice. Hit a bucket of serves every day and you will get pretty good fast.
While in high school, I was ranked #6 in the state in doubles. I stopped playing tennis in college, and haven't picked up a racket in around 5 years. I find table tennis more enjoyable these days. As for tennis tips..your whole game will come down to footwork. Most people have the swing correct, but their feet are positioned improperly thus they hit a poor shot. Make sure you hustle to get far enough behind the ball as you need and everything should be fine. Footwork is rule #1 behind any solid tennis game.
A good serve is like a good jumpshot in basketball. There's no excuse for having a bad version when it's one of the few skills you can practice by yourself. Have/hire a coach to critique/improve your form and grip. Practicing with a bad form only makes matters worse; it's probably better to scrap & start from scratch than make adjustments to a lousy game. Pretend that your new serve is like learning for the first time to hit with, say exaggerated spin on one of your groundstrokes, as an additional facet of your repertoire, rather than look at it as starting over. With that done, find a court that has lights, preferably public, or talk your high school (?) coach into giving you the keys to the school's court lights. Go alone or when you won't be bothered/distracted by others playing pickup games. Bring a water thermos, a portable stereo & whatever motivates you. Buy a couple buckets worth of balls (this gets expensive, as they deflate relatively quickly, although dead balls don't matter as much for just serving practice), enough so that you can spend enough time constantly serving without having to pick up after yourself. Go through a bucket to each court, attempting to replicate the same (good) form on each stroke. An hour or so a day, several days a week, serves only. Pretend you're playing against an actual opponent, keeping score, etc, so that nerves won't bother you when the actual match day comes around. Work on your second serves (more spin) also, separately at first, then incorporate them into your imagined scored games. [Find/make a friend on your team better than or as good as you to play against, separately from serving practice, so that you can incorporate your new form into actual matches. Wait a while before doing this, so that you are not discouraged by losing before you're ready.] When you get good enough, set up targets on the far middle and corners of the deuce & ad courts and try to aim for them. After a while it will be the most reliable part of your game, and you can have the tremendous psychological edge of a Sampras/Roddick/Ivanisevic, knowing that no matter what else happens you'll be sure to hold your half of a match. From then on you only have to worry about the tiebreakers. Also, TMAC, with your arthritic shoulder you might want to try a different sport. Maybe shuffleboard?
