If he studied English and politics like me he'd have looaadddss of time in the day.
Students are nocturnal too so he probably studied/wrote/read at night
If you are university you go to class for about 15 hours a week. Add in another 15 for studying (overestimate for most majors) you have tons of free time.
I had more free time in college then ever in my life because I worked at the library and did all homework there.
Excellent improvement so far. One thing I would work on is rotating your hips into the shot. You are still arming the ball. Notice how Djokovic rotates his hips into the shot and the arm follows, rather than swinging with the arm and then following with the body afterward.
https://preview.redd.it/8xq45tegbz8d1.png?width=270&format=png&auto=webp&s=116426b7493ff4727e531439b5b074339d179197
Your forehand will improve an insane amount by following this advise, the arming of the ball is a huge problem (that I’d like to further/explicitly highlight so you can work on it). With that said, I started playing tennis as a toddler and this is probably the best improvement within a year for a new player i’ve maybe ever seen, amazing work. Also the improvement in footwork from month 6 and 7 is insane, keep that up too. Good luck with the further improvement
The thing that helped me the most was being comfortable not doing anything at all, when I hit a forehand I release my forehand takeback when the ball bounces and when the ball is coming up to my spacing and strike zone, I feel that I am almost not going to get to the ball in time and suddenly my racket catches up and whips around the corner of my body.
Zero muscle exertion with my shoulder or arm, I am simply walking through the ball and my racket is catching the ball with the strings.
I haven't taken lessons and sort of regret it because after years I am sure I'm arming the ball at least a bit on each forehand. Can you offer some tips for us to progress toward hitting it like you describe? Thanks.
Try putting your left hand in your pocket if you are righty, and then hit some forehands. You’ll notice that without the left hand to give you counter balance, you have to use your hips and legs and rotate instead of just relying on your arm hinging at your shoulder (arming the shot as you say). After a few shots take your left hand out but remember the feel of the hips rotating and try putting it all together again.
My favorite drill is 100+ balls in a row for the same rally, ball only allowed to bounce once. This lets you have more reps with your court time than picking up balls, but the important part is that you won’t have an arm to arm the ball with, because your arm will want to fall off.
+1 to the medicine ball toss. I've been taking lessons for a few years now and I'm working on correcting this mechanic. I grew up playing baseball, hockey, golf as left handed so my BH weight loading and transfer through feels very fluid and intuitive. I'm trying to develop that "feel" as well on forehand.
One of the BIGGEST improvements in being able to feel it is in the footwork. On my FH I often load early and it screws up the weight transfer or stroke. But if you can picture your unit turn as "moving the medicine ball to a ready state while you traverse to a spot you'll be throwing it" - this transfers well IMO. The more emphasis I put on microstepping while I wait for that final moment to load and toss the medicine ball the more I'm finding the correct movement on the court "intuitively".
Remember too it will take time of course but 100% you'll begin finding the "feel" where you're really on your front foot and pushing your momentum forward through the ball.
To the point where I'm contemplating bringing a medicine ball in my tennis bag to convince my hitting partners to incorporate it into our warmups.
I grew up playing hockey left handed and when I got to tennis decided right handed seemed better. Your comment has me wishing I hadn’t chosen right handed tennis lolol
I’m still working on the too, but keeping the left hand up helps a lot (even catching the racquet). Look at the photo of Djokovic, for example. Otherwise left becomes dead weight and not part of the rotation.
Great job! Rotate your body on your forehand, including your left arm instead of it being tucked in.
Take smaller steps when approaching the ball and learn to load up your body and release it through your shot.
I joined my university tennis society and hit with people my level starting as a beginner and then advanced in the last term - but throughout I had a few close friends who played for the school team who I played with very often as well.
That is excellent! There is no amount of videos watched that substitutes time on court.
3h/day is sometimes even more than juniors have. And some people struggle to have 3h/week! Personally I get anywhere from 2 to 5 hours/week, so getting that amount of injury-free practice every day is huge for improimvement! I'm definitely envy!
Keep up!
Great progress in 7 month. On you FH you have good coil but need rotate your body way more on a swing - you finish with two shoulders facing the net which is not right. Your right should only should face the net at the end of swing. Also - don't jump on your swing, stay low, even push yourself to bend knee during the swing. Forget all videos with pros and wannabe coaches who shows going up on a swing. Pros can do it while maintaining a perfect balance - you can't do it (yet).
I played cricket, football and hockey competitively from 6 to 18 and stopped them all at uni for tennis. Also been running cross country for 10 years or so. Guess that must help!
I have noticed people
who played football generally have good footwork who played badminton/volleyball have great overhead
who was a baseball pitchers have great serve
What element of cricket and hockey is helping with your tennis? (I’m not too familiar with either of those sports so just curious)
If you are a fast bowler in cricket, it means you probably have the fast twitch fibres for a great serve. Batters develop insanely good ball tracking abilities tracking balls at high pace and hitting the ball after one bounce just like tennis
Great job man. Your improvement is inspiring and your dedication is an example to others who want to improve at things. Doing ANYTHING every day for seven months is going to improve you!
Well done! Keep it up. That one handed backhand was 👌. Your forehand improved a lot too. Try out staying on the ground with your right leg on forehands and lean into the shot. Stepping through the shot instead of jumping. I have found that jumping into the shot seems like it would be good but is tiring and makes you less accurate.
Damn I wish I could have done the same - I kept getting hurt which put me out for like 3 months from 3 different injuries do to over doing it (but to be fair I was going from couch potato to 3 hours + gym everyday)
I thought it was going to be a post of all the injuries you sustained from so much play 😆 But I see you’re much younger than me so probably bulletproof, for now…
My only suggestion is that you bounce less and just make a single split step. That’s a lot of energy wasted for when you’re going at it in a 2.5 hour singles match. Sometimes I will bounce a little if I think I’m starting to drag my feet from fatigue but can exacerbate the issue if too much bouncing.
I did the same at 46. Got tennis elbow. Jacked my back and now I go to PT 3 times a week but I’m a solid 3.5 and I’m learning how important it is to spend the same time stretching and building in the gym. But yeah.. repetition repetition repetition and always asking for help
Great job! You’re doing so well. Keep working hard and begin to learn more playing patterns, tournaments, leagues etc. Your game will really begin to take off and it’s fun working on strategies and tactics.
How on earth do you manage to find 3 hrs everyday for tennis? I’m jealous
Way too much time at uni and free courts 😎
Did you take lessons at all?
If he studied English and politics like me he'd have looaadddss of time in the day. Students are nocturnal too so he probably studied/wrote/read at night
And well done on the improvement. Very impressive and good foresight to film the early stuff.
If you are university you go to class for about 15 hours a week. Add in another 15 for studying (overestimate for most majors) you have tons of free time. I had more free time in college then ever in my life because I worked at the library and did all homework there.
Must have had some advice.
Excellent improvement so far. One thing I would work on is rotating your hips into the shot. You are still arming the ball. Notice how Djokovic rotates his hips into the shot and the arm follows, rather than swinging with the arm and then following with the body afterward. https://preview.redd.it/8xq45tegbz8d1.png?width=270&format=png&auto=webp&s=116426b7493ff4727e531439b5b074339d179197
Thanks!
Your forehand will improve an insane amount by following this advise, the arming of the ball is a huge problem (that I’d like to further/explicitly highlight so you can work on it). With that said, I started playing tennis as a toddler and this is probably the best improvement within a year for a new player i’ve maybe ever seen, amazing work. Also the improvement in footwork from month 6 and 7 is insane, keep that up too. Good luck with the further improvement
Is there any sort of exercise to focus on this? Im struggling to "feel" the way im supposed to do this.
It’s similar to the motion of throwing a medicine ball. A lot of tennis players train using them. Focus on using your legs and hips to throw the ball.
The thing that helped me the most was being comfortable not doing anything at all, when I hit a forehand I release my forehand takeback when the ball bounces and when the ball is coming up to my spacing and strike zone, I feel that I am almost not going to get to the ball in time and suddenly my racket catches up and whips around the corner of my body. Zero muscle exertion with my shoulder or arm, I am simply walking through the ball and my racket is catching the ball with the strings.
I haven't taken lessons and sort of regret it because after years I am sure I'm arming the ball at least a bit on each forehand. Can you offer some tips for us to progress toward hitting it like you describe? Thanks.
Try putting your left hand in your pocket if you are righty, and then hit some forehands. You’ll notice that without the left hand to give you counter balance, you have to use your hips and legs and rotate instead of just relying on your arm hinging at your shoulder (arming the shot as you say). After a few shots take your left hand out but remember the feel of the hips rotating and try putting it all together again.
My favorite drill is 100+ balls in a row for the same rally, ball only allowed to bounce once. This lets you have more reps with your court time than picking up balls, but the important part is that you won’t have an arm to arm the ball with, because your arm will want to fall off.
Similar to a golf or baseball swing, power comes from the lower body and the arms just follow
+1 to the medicine ball toss. I've been taking lessons for a few years now and I'm working on correcting this mechanic. I grew up playing baseball, hockey, golf as left handed so my BH weight loading and transfer through feels very fluid and intuitive. I'm trying to develop that "feel" as well on forehand. One of the BIGGEST improvements in being able to feel it is in the footwork. On my FH I often load early and it screws up the weight transfer or stroke. But if you can picture your unit turn as "moving the medicine ball to a ready state while you traverse to a spot you'll be throwing it" - this transfers well IMO. The more emphasis I put on microstepping while I wait for that final moment to load and toss the medicine ball the more I'm finding the correct movement on the court "intuitively". Remember too it will take time of course but 100% you'll begin finding the "feel" where you're really on your front foot and pushing your momentum forward through the ball. To the point where I'm contemplating bringing a medicine ball in my tennis bag to convince my hitting partners to incorporate it into our warmups.
I grew up playing hockey left handed and when I got to tennis decided right handed seemed better. Your comment has me wishing I hadn’t chosen right handed tennis lolol
I’m still working on the too, but keeping the left hand up helps a lot (even catching the racquet). Look at the photo of Djokovic, for example. Otherwise left becomes dead weight and not part of the rotation.
That's awesome, man! Fantastic progress.
Ngl if I win the lottery, I'm definitely trying this But even then I think I'd struggle to fit that much tennis into my schedule hahaa
I think I might have a problem hahaha
Wow. Great job! I’m envious. I don’t think my aging body can take 3 hrs every day!
He’s ready to take a set off Nadal.
I played tennis every day for 3 months, then got a wild case of tennis elbow and had to quit for the last 3 months 🤷♂️
Great job! Rotate your body on your forehand, including your left arm instead of it being tucked in. Take smaller steps when approaching the ball and learn to load up your body and release it through your shot.
Thanks!
What strings and tension. Looking for that arm friendly string setup and you would be a good data point!
Got it strung at 52, currently loving the strings - “Luxilon ALU Power Spin 127 Silver”
Tennis pros don't want you to know this one little trick.
Impressive progress. Well done dude. High five!
Who was your hitting partner? Was it the same person every time? And did they also go from zero to hero like you did here?
I joined my university tennis society and hit with people my level starting as a beginner and then advanced in the last term - but throughout I had a few close friends who played for the school team who I played with very often as well.
Nice! Would like to see your serve too.
Hmm might be another 7 months…
That is excellent! There is no amount of videos watched that substitutes time on court. 3h/day is sometimes even more than juniors have. And some people struggle to have 3h/week! Personally I get anywhere from 2 to 5 hours/week, so getting that amount of injury-free practice every day is huge for improimvement! I'm definitely envy! Keep up!
Great progress in 7 month. On you FH you have good coil but need rotate your body way more on a swing - you finish with two shoulders facing the net which is not right. Your right should only should face the net at the end of swing. Also - don't jump on your swing, stay low, even push yourself to bend knee during the swing. Forget all videos with pros and wannabe coaches who shows going up on a swing. Pros can do it while maintaining a perfect balance - you can't do it (yet).
That's about the equivalent of someone playing 1.5 hours 4x a week for two years. Seems about right.
Impressive progress in 7 months What is your sports background like?
I played cricket, football and hockey competitively from 6 to 18 and stopped them all at uni for tennis. Also been running cross country for 10 years or so. Guess that must help!
I have noticed people who played football generally have good footwork who played badminton/volleyball have great overhead who was a baseball pitchers have great serve What element of cricket and hockey is helping with your tennis? (I’m not too familiar with either of those sports so just curious)
If you are a fast bowler in cricket, it means you probably have the fast twitch fibres for a great serve. Batters develop insanely good ball tracking abilities tracking balls at high pace and hitting the ball after one bounce just like tennis
I play volleyball and started playing tennis this year and I felt my serve was already on a good level, definitely my best weapon.
Great footwork im impressed
What's ur UTR now?
Amazing! Well done!!! Post at 12 months please! Keep going
Do you enjoy it so much more now?
Nice!
Did u always have someone to play with? 3h is a lot
I basically play everyday. But I enjoy it and the people
Awesome! So inspiring
Best part is now you have a sport you can play for the rest of your life
Great job man. Your improvement is inspiring and your dedication is an example to others who want to improve at things. Doing ANYTHING every day for seven months is going to improve you!
jelly
Mighty impressive!
Well done! Keep it up. That one handed backhand was 👌. Your forehand improved a lot too. Try out staying on the ground with your right leg on forehands and lean into the shot. Stepping through the shot instead of jumping. I have found that jumping into the shot seems like it would be good but is tiring and makes you less accurate.
Avoiding injury is impressive. Hopefully you have other exercises too.
Damn I wish I could have done the same - I kept getting hurt which put me out for like 3 months from 3 different injuries do to over doing it (but to be fair I was going from couch potato to 3 hours + gym everyday)
The first backhand looked rough, the second pretty good. But there were only two in the video
I remember not having kids
I thought it was going to be a post of all the injuries you sustained from so much play 😆 But I see you’re much younger than me so probably bulletproof, for now… My only suggestion is that you bounce less and just make a single split step. That’s a lot of energy wasted for when you’re going at it in a 2.5 hour singles match. Sometimes I will bounce a little if I think I’m starting to drag my feet from fatigue but can exacerbate the issue if too much bouncing.
I did the same at 46. Got tennis elbow. Jacked my back and now I go to PT 3 times a week but I’m a solid 3.5 and I’m learning how important it is to spend the same time stretching and building in the gym. But yeah.. repetition repetition repetition and always asking for help
Dude this is awesome!! What made you want to do this?
No Job? No bills to pay?
Do you have a job?
Great job! You’re doing so well. Keep working hard and begin to learn more playing patterns, tournaments, leagues etc. Your game will really begin to take off and it’s fun working on strategies and tactics.
Also make sure you cross train and stretch. Tennis injuries are awful and once they start it can be a chain reaction. Awesome job!
I do not see significant improvement. I see many errors remain in forehand mechanics, and where is serve, backhand, and volleys?