Did you play today?

[ashkor87]

Am having trouble with my first serve these days..my wife, who is also a tennis player, came to watch and told me my toss is too low. I may be hurrying through the service motion because I am too desperate to get to the net..hence the low toss? Don't know, going to play tomorrow after a few days break, will see what I can do.

[ponchi101]

My usual problem. I start tossing it low, and then also bring my head down too quickly, pretending I am going to accelerate more if I do that.
Gotta keep that arm and those eyes up

[ashkor87]

watched this video of Federer serving, a few times..


though I do think his toss is a bit too high for me...

[ponchi101]

Not too high, if you are a jumper. I never had the coordination to toss and jump. I have to be on the ground so my extension is not that high.

[ashkor87]

still working on my serve.. I have come to realize that, as I get older, I dont have the ability to launch myself into the air any more.. so the lower body isnt doing anything in the serve... maybe I should accept that and focus on placement and spin.. I find that this inability to jump is making me vulnerable to lobs as well, which is fatal for a volleyer. I guess I am just getting old, that is all!

[ponchi101]

Welcome to the club!
My beloved overhead smash has been gone now for some time. Especially when jumping back (a shot that I could consistently smash into the right hand corner of my opponent's court).

[ponchi101]

Hadn't played in months (I was on a boat). Although I felt I was able to keep myself in shape, the tennis courts brought reality back into perspective.
It does not matter how much gym you do, how many rowing sessions, how much stationary bicycle you do. The movements and impact of the ball on the strings cannot be reproduced outside the court.
Everything hurts.
Still. The worst day on a tennis court is still better than the best day at the job.
(I was able to rope one good BH down the line. That was it).

[ashkor87]

The great tragedy of tennis this- you need to be fit to play tennis, but playing tennis doesn't keep you fit..!

[ponchi101]

It does! But it has to be like I do when I have the time. You need the gym AND the court time.
It brings the perspective of what great athletes tennis players are.

[ponchi101]

I went training on Tuesday. Not a good session, with my FH lacking any pace and, because of my mechanics, unable to go crosscourt.
But my serve was the pits. My toss was all over, and I was unable to get any serves in. And I mean any. I played just two games (it was a training session, not a full set) and I did not get a single first serve in.
I left the court furious.
So, today, a full basket of serves. Started serving at the service line (that's how bad it was on Tuesday), just spinning serves into the service box. Went halfway, still just spinning them in. Then went to the baseline, and served OUTSIDE the service box (serving long) to get some speed and power.
I was able to correct the toss a bit and was able to get some speed back. Still served far too many doubles, because I am unable to put much spin on the ball. But at least I did not leave the court pissed off.
For some weird reason, my FH was cooking today. Finished the training session with a well-placed FH crosscourt, completely wrong footing my trainer. It felt good.

[ponchi101]

The fine details. They make such a difference.
Went training yesterday. A good session but, I was hitting (and I have been hitting) my BH a bit too much into the net. Now, I am not saying I am Gasquet, but my mechanics on my BH are much better than on my FH. So, what was going on?
I noticed that I was rotating well (I have a 1H BH) but, when leaning INTO the shot, I was also leaning DOWN into the shot. Trying to generate much more power that I can, I was trying to put more weight into the shot but was leaning my right shoulder down into the ground.
Lifted the shoulder and was able to get proper clearance.

There are 50 ways to hit a shot wrong. But only 2 or 3 to hit it right. This sport is maddening.

[ashkor87]

I suppose it is useful to have a session with the trainer once in a while ..I never do it, should do. I generally just setup a video recording on my own mobile with a selfie-stick when I want to work on something...

[ponchi101]

I have no one else to hit with. My friend that used to be here and also played tennis moved to Madrid and, anyway, he joined the dark side (he plays padel now).

[ashkor87]

we had only 3 people today, so no quorum for doubles.. but noone wants to wait! so we played this game we call tringles (cant call it troubles!)
1 against 2, the lone player defends the singles court, the other 2 have the doubles court to defend. Each of us serves one game, then we rotate after 3 games. When the lone player wins, he gets 2 points, when the doubles team wins, they share 2 points. The game ends when we run out of time or when the fourth player arrives!

It is tactically an interesting game - I have found that the singles player can only survive by being hyper-aggressive - if he lounges about and plays a waiting game, he gets blown away..physically taxing too, for the lone player..lots of fun!

[ponchi101]

One of the Best ways to get some training. The lone player gets a very good workout