I'm lucky enough to have two shots that I can consistently rely on every time. 1. Into the net. 2. Long over the baseline. Those really are my money shots. Of course every once in a while I can pull off a really good whack in the left shin on my serve (I'm a righty). But that's much less consistent ;-)
I think issues with consistency are mostly due to the mental side of the game, which most players struggle with. if you feel you're hot one week and cold the next, it's most likely you need to improve your shot selection, opting for higher percentage shots as the driving force to improving your results. A close buddy and I have extremely similar abilities regarding serve, return, groundstrokes, and net play. But I 6-0 him almost every set we play. He thinks because he has the ability to hit great winners means he should be able to do it almost every time - which he can't, or else he would be 5.5+. I put the highest value on ensuring th e ball stays in play. Even in the moment of the point I have a mental scale that's constantly shifting. One end of it is my full disadvantage in the point, the other my full advantage. All you should be concerned with is maintaining or increasing your advantage in the point every shot possible. this is the opposite mentality of hitting an outright winner. example: your serve lands in, opponent returns to deepish middle court. Your slight advantage. You hit a standard pace groundstroke wide and deepish to their backhand. larger advantage. they get to the ball but weak return bouncing before service line. still advantage. backhand cross court wide. larger advantage. opponent gets to it but either attempts a phenominal groundstroke with low probability, or hits a defensive slice. either way your at the net, ready for both, still large advantage. simple volley put away for the point, or they blast it into the net. That's how you should mentally look at each point. Until you're playing 4.5+ you rarely need an aggressive shot to increase your advantage in the point.
For a long while, my forehand was my best shot and the most reliable. However as I've been consistently playing now for many years and have been working on what was my weaker stroke - the one-handed backhand - I now consider my backhand to be my strongest shot and to be the most reliable. In big matches, my forehand has dropped and I lose confidence in it, but I'm now always confident that I can hit my backhand well no matter what.
On my last time out on the court I played maybe 12 high rolling FHs deep into the opponents' court -- two or three hit on or in right near a line, four or five landed in within a few feet of the baseline, one was wide of the ad court line by 4" and three landed anywhere from 3 to 18 inches behind the baseline. My sense as I was playing was "too many errors“ on that play, but in fact I played 12 of those shots within a few feet of the target, which if you take 'in' or 'out' out of the equation, works out to be pretty consistent for execution but a little long (all a bit beyond the target, none short of it), and maybe a little too ambitious in target selection (three feet inside the baseline). And this was at a level of tennis at which I don't always get a ball I can do much with. Whether a ball is in or not is not the same as how we executed the shot, and truly that confuses the issue when assessing your consistency.
deep backhand slice return of serve is my most consistent. It always hits either corner of the court baseline! My main problem of consistency is when I lose focus looking at the ball upon contact. I'd hit 3-4 great shots forehand/backhand and then loss of focus tends to kick in and look too fast back onto the court to see what my opponent is doing. I get 30/80 chance of a good hit which is not optimal! This is something I've been trying to work on. On days when I slept bad and play in the morning (I play usually 7am - 9am) it can be worse. It will take a while to wake up and focus on making the shots and looking at the ball upon contact and most of the time I won't make it past the 2nd shot! :D GREAT VIDEO!
Ian, as I have gotten back into the game, I remember "feeling" the ball and just being able to muscle through and adjust on bad days. I didn't play my best, but I was able to get in the game. As I've become older, I only get out 1 to 2 times a week. Every now and then I have a day where I just feel the ball and the serve. I can feel where I place it, my mind and body finds it. But without consistent play, I find that I have some crazy off days. My bread and butter used to be my serve and volley. I beat much better all around players because I could push them back with the serve and finish them at the net. Now, I am looking to get the serve back to a high consistency level.
I'd go with forehand volley. (one handed) backhand is a close second. Any tips for a player who's been on hiatus for a number of years, trying to get back into it but has clearly slowed down?
Thanks for responding Ian! The advice I feel like will help the most is when you had mentioned that the amount of !focused! practice can make a huge difference. That makes a lot of sense especially in the winter here in the mid-west it's expensive to get court times and whatnot. It makes it more difficult to have consistencies week to week. My most reliable shot is probably a slice second serve. As long as I keep my racket head speed high enough it works pretty well. I do have another question. I've been taking a lesson from different coaches to see which works the best with me and one thing that the last coach wanted to do was change my forehand grip from semi-western to an almost western. His reasoning was that I could get topspin with less moving parts but I imagine that it would make low balls a lot harder to deal with. What are your thoughts on a forehand grip for someone who is trying to make it to college tennis level?
Cody, where I live these days court time is hard to come by all year round. While there is nothing like hitting a live ball with a cooperative partner across a real net, I have been able at least to keep the rust off between days out on the court by doing extensive "shadow swing" and footwork drills. And if I can find things to drill that focus on key elements of different strokes, I can actually make progress in ingraining those elements between times out, as I am doing purposeful practice.
I can NEEEEEEEEVER rely on my serve altough I have a pretty good technique but I can mostly rely on my backhand I would say. Not Power wise but consistency wise
This tip will really enable me to relax more. Realistic expectations will enable me to not blow up. I can settle down and just enjoy the moment. If I am having a bad day, I can just work on particular shots. If I am really desperate and in a mismatch, I can ask my opponent for advise. Thank you.
Strange question: how much should older balls versus new balls affect your consistency? I cannot afford to practice with a hopper of new balls each time! Help?
OMG, yes. For the last three sessions I have played unbelievably well. My serves have been awesome, my net play fantastic and most of my ground strokes well above average. And, I wonder -- how long can this last? One thing that I do know is that it will not last. So, I have learned to just enjoy the ups and the downs, and try to avoid the biggest stroke killer of them all -- fear.
Big fan Ian, yet feel you missed an opportunity to discuss the effects levels of aggression on consistency. We've all played bangers, who held every point on their racquets to retrievers who put every point on ours, to opportunists who knew how to do either as conditions, and opponents, mandated. Just sayin'.
Maybe those guys who can push it back to you to blunt your aggressiveness and turn around and take an opportunity you give them are the nastiest, until you get to where you are just running them around and hitting it away from them.
DK Ang yeah pushers are fun. You have to be ready to run and make them run, be creative. Also you need to be aware that they dont affect you mentally. They are usually really chatty.
I'm lucky enough to have two shots that I can consistently rely on every time. 1. Into the net. 2. Long over the baseline. Those really are my money shots. Of course every once in a while I can pull off a really good whack in the left shin on my serve (I'm a righty). But that's much less consistent ;-)
Don't forget about the random ball shank. Those for me are the one shots I can count on.
I think issues with consistency are mostly due to the mental side of the game, which most players struggle with. if you feel you're hot one week and cold the next, it's most likely you need to improve your shot selection, opting for higher percentage shots as the driving force to improving your results.
A close buddy and I have extremely similar abilities regarding serve, return, groundstrokes, and net play. But I 6-0 him almost every set we play. He thinks because he has the ability to hit great winners means he should be able to do it almost every time - which he can't, or else he would be 5.5+. I put the highest value on ensuring th e ball stays in play.
Even in the moment of the point I have a mental scale that's constantly shifting. One end of it is my full disadvantage in the point, the other my full advantage. All you should be concerned with is maintaining or increasing your advantage in the point every shot possible. this is the opposite mentality of hitting an outright winner.
example: your serve lands in, opponent returns to deepish middle court. Your slight advantage. You hit a standard pace groundstroke wide and deepish to their backhand. larger advantage. they get to the ball but weak return bouncing before service line. still advantage. backhand cross court wide. larger advantage. opponent gets to it but either attempts a phenominal groundstroke with low probability, or hits a defensive slice. either way your at the net, ready for both, still large advantage. simple volley put away for the point, or they blast it into the net.
That's how you should mentally look at each point. Until you're playing 4.5+ you rarely need an aggressive shot to increase your advantage in the point.
For a long while, my forehand was my best shot and the most reliable. However as I've been consistently playing now for many years and have been working on what was my weaker stroke - the one-handed backhand - I now consider my backhand to be my strongest shot and to be the most reliable. In big matches, my forehand has dropped and I lose confidence in it, but I'm now always confident that I can hit my backhand well no matter what.
Really great advice! I have learned to just go for your shots. Practice a lot and practice often. But don't over think it and just go for your shots.
On my last time out on the court I played maybe 12 high rolling FHs deep into the opponents' court -- two or three hit on or in right near a line, four or five landed in within a few feet of the baseline, one was wide of the ad court line by 4" and three landed anywhere from 3 to 18 inches behind the baseline. My sense as I was playing was "too many errors“ on that play, but in fact I played 12 of those shots within a few feet of the target, which if you take 'in' or 'out' out of the equation, works out to be pretty consistent for execution but a little long (all a bit beyond the target, none short of it), and maybe a little too ambitious in target selection (three feet inside the baseline). And this was at a level of tennis at which I don't always get a ball I can do much with. Whether a ball is in or not is not the same as how we executed the shot, and truly that confuses the issue when assessing your consistency.
"I can alway rely on my serve, it's really never let me down" Ian you cannot imagine the envy I felt hearing that!
deep backhand slice return of serve is my most consistent. It always hits either corner of the court baseline!
My main problem of consistency is when I lose focus looking at the ball upon contact. I'd hit 3-4 great shots forehand/backhand and then loss of focus tends to kick in and look too fast back onto the court to see what my opponent is doing. I get 30/80 chance of a good hit which is not optimal!
This is something I've been trying to work on. On days when I slept bad and play in the morning (I play usually 7am - 9am) it can be worse. It will take a while to wake up and focus on making the shots and looking at the ball upon contact and most of the time I won't make it past the 2nd shot! :D
GREAT VIDEO!
Ian, as I have gotten back into the game, I remember "feeling" the ball and just being able to muscle through and adjust on bad days. I didn't play my best, but I was able to get in the game. As I've become older, I only get out 1 to 2 times a week. Every now and then I have a day where I just feel the ball and the serve. I can feel where I place it, my mind and body finds it. But without consistent play, I find that I have some crazy off days. My bread and butter used to be my serve and volley. I beat much better all around players because I could push them back with the serve and finish them at the net. Now, I am looking to get the serve back to a high consistency level.
very helpful, thanks Ian!
I have a question Ian. How would you go around developing a reliable serve, like consistency wise?
Always has been backhand, seems easier to apply spin and power. Phil
When in doubt I usually use my "side spin" forehand, my partners have said that it is so flat and out of nowhere that the swear it's spinning sideways
I'd go with forehand volley. (one handed) backhand is a close second.
Any tips for a player who's been on hiatus for a number of years, trying to get back into it but has clearly slowed down?
Most consistent shot(s):
Forehand topspin crosscourt, and Top spin second serve
Good advice. Thanks.
EQ: My two handed backhand is my "old faithful". I always feel very relaxed and comfortable when hitting from that side.
EQ: I love my forehand as a whole. I can adjust it whenever I want and rely on it if the rest of my game isn't up to scratch
Definitely my topspin forehand, period.
Thanks for responding Ian!
The advice I feel like will help the most is when you had mentioned that the amount of !focused! practice can make a huge difference. That makes a lot of sense especially in the winter here in the mid-west it's expensive to get court times and whatnot. It makes it more difficult to have consistencies week to week.
My most reliable shot is probably a slice second serve. As long as I keep my racket head speed high enough it works pretty well.
I do have another question. I've been taking a lesson from different coaches to see which works the best with me and one thing that the last coach wanted to do was change my forehand grip from semi-western to an almost western. His reasoning was that I could get topspin with less moving parts but I imagine that it would make low balls a lot harder to deal with. What are your thoughts on a forehand grip for someone who is trying to make it to college tennis level?
Cody, where I live these days court time is hard to come by all year round. While there is nothing like hitting a live ball with a cooperative partner across a real net, I have been able at least to keep the rust off between days out on the court by doing extensive "shadow swing" and footwork drills. And if I can find things to drill that focus on key elements of different strokes, I can actually make progress in ingraining those elements between times out, as I am doing purposeful practice.
I can NEEEEEEEEVER rely on my serve altough I have a pretty good technique but I can mostly rely on my backhand I would say. Not Power wise but consistency wise
This tip will really enable me to relax more. Realistic expectations will enable me to not blow up. I can settle down and just enjoy the moment. If I am having a bad day, I can just work on particular shots. If I am really desperate and in a mismatch, I can ask my opponent for advise. Thank you.
You're welcome, Michael.
Strange question: how much should older balls versus new balls affect your consistency? I cannot afford to practice with a hopper of new balls each time! Help?
My forehand lob is my most consistent shot.
Most consistent shot? That'd be my best friend the two-handed backhand.
Single handed backhand cross court.
Yup anyday
OMG, yes. For the last three sessions I have played unbelievably well. My serves have been awesome, my net play fantastic and most of my ground strokes well above average. And, I wonder -- how long can this last? One thing that I do know is that it will not last. So, I have learned to just enjoy the ups and the downs, and try to avoid the biggest stroke killer of them all -- fear.
Big fan Ian, yet feel you missed an opportunity to discuss the effects levels of aggression on consistency. We've all played bangers, who held every point on their racquets to retrievers who put every point on ours, to opportunists who knew how to do either as conditions, and opponents, mandated.
Just sayin'.
Maybe those guys who can push it back to you to blunt your aggressiveness and turn around and take an opportunity you give them are the nastiest, until you get to where you are just running them around and hitting it away from them.
DK Ang yeah pushers are fun. You have to be ready to run and make them run, be creative. Also you need to be aware that they dont affect you mentally. They are usually really chatty.
Jesus Hernandez
You are right about that. And watch out for those long-winded stories that sort of crop up during changeovers.
DK Ang I hate playing pushers in the wind though. THAT.IS.THE.WORST.IMO
Forehand
F consistency. Focus on improvement on a weekly basis!
Cool!
Kind of useless video, how to be consistent? Oh, just know you'll play bad a few times here or there... What? No drills, nothing.