Some videos of my game

[nikae]

Here are some recent videos:

-side view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3MERNNPtL8
-front view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYqTheuXqQQ
-2min rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tfOtJNYySI

Those are still with my old grip (semi-western I would call it). I am working on less extreme grip but its taking some time to adjust too...more then I thought it will, but it sure looks very promising.

IMO I am not getting enough shoulder turn, I am arming the ball, not stretching the left arm all the way after the unit turn and not getting enough knee bend. But, I stopped jumping on almost every forehand, and it helped my consistency.

I will be working on all of those things in next month or two and then video myself again.

[don_budge]

It's the right track...

It looks to me that you finally on the right track.

In the front view if you stop the clip and .18 this is nearly the perfect model for you. You have put all of your ducks in a row so to speak...the racquet is lined up, the shoulders have rotated perfectly and your FOOTWORK most importantly has properly lined up your hips on the ball so that when you make your swing everything happens quite naturally. The evidence is in your follow through where you are now catching the racquet which gives your stroke a sense of stability, consistency and believe it or not...elegance. It gives a nice sense of balance throughout the entire motion...nothing forced.

If I was you...I would bust my behind to get myself in this position every single time I approached a ball on my forehand side...perhaps a bit more crouch in your stance. Bend the knees a bit and sit down into your seat some while leaning forward slightly. Every single time Nikae until it becomes second nature and you don't have to think of it...it just happens. Even when you are starting a rally make certain that your weight at least begins with your chest somewhat over your front foot. This is not to say that you will not be hitting open stance in matches where things more or less are happening much faster than practice but more and more you should find yourself in position to make this nice smooth swing with the racquet face passing through the path of the ball after it leaves your racquet. The key to hitting good solid swings with an open stance is to try and emulate the closed stance in term of weight distribution with the front foot fanned out.

Case in point...notice how after making such a nice swing you make a somewhat lackadaisical pass at the next two swings before finishing with another nice flourish. You cannot be like that Nikae...you must practice like you play. Every swing counts. It's do or die. Any good Serb knows that!

Another very important aspect of your post are the comments that you make about your swing and the points of criticism that you note. Absolutely good points and when you begin to learn to coach yourself, to study yourself, to know yourself, you are evolving into a student of the game. I agree with you points in general but I think that if you will start behaving with a little more sense of urgency as soon as you find yourself between those mystical lines of the tennis court you will find yourself more and more in a primal crouch as you make your approach on the ball. You must understand that in many senses the racquet is a weapon and you must have deadly intentions with it in terms of maximizing the efficiency of your technique in terms of control and power...in that order for the time being, and honing your tactical skills. Tactically speaking you should be training the shots that will pay off for you in matches and many times at the level you are playing at this is some combination of putting pressure on your opponents backhand and maneuvering him in general.

And just one more thing...stop lifting the racquet as you begin your backswing. Just turn the shoulder and take the racquet back in that position. By lifting on the way back you must make a compensating move on the way forward or in the transition. It may be wiser to keep things as simple as possible.

I believe that you have made some real progress since you last posted. Now get back to work...and make like a mean cat! You gotta be like that...Nikae!

[nikae]

Hi all, been a while since last time I posted in this thread. Mostly because I was pretty sad that I couldn't play most of the summer due to injury but now I am ready to do some hard work again!

How's it going don_budge? Your last post was very helpful, thanks!

I am not sure I understand one thing though, i'll quote you
"And just one more thing...stop lifting the racquet as you begin your backswing. Just turn the shoulder and take the racquet back in that position. By lifting on the way back you must make a compensating move on the way forward or in the transition. It may be wiser to keep things as simple as possible."

Did you mean that I should turn the shoulder with hands still at starting position, and only after the turn I should start the back-swing loop?
Like Tim Henman in this clip : http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...enterSide4.mov

Or you are simply saying that I should have straight back-swing like, say, James Blake?

And what would be that compensating move that you mentioned?

[don_budge]

Lifting as opposed to turning...

That swing is looking awfully good nikae...the footwork and backswing are the biggest improving factors. I like the nice controlled finish also. You look much more in control of yourself than the first videos that we saw of you. You look as if you are really "measuring" the incoming ball now.

From your ready position it appears to me that you are in perfect position to do very little except turn your shoulders and body to get the racquet back in position. Turn as a unit without any independent motions of the hand, arm and therefore racquet. That is how I see it. Less is better...especially if you are not an accomplished professional. Less can go wrong with less motion...I feel. The trick is to fuel the energy into more compact motion. Conservation of energy...without the wild contorted efforts.

The reason in you case is if I was your opponent and saw that little lifting motion that you do on your forehand where the head of the racquet ends up being higher than your head I would believe that you would be vulnerable to low balls. Balls that are coming unexpectedly faster or with more than perceived spin tend to be more problematic when the head of the racquet is excessively high.

Professionals seem to take the racquet back in a very high position at times but it appears to me that they are adjusting for the height of the ball too. That comment that I made appears to be related to the court surface that you are practicing on where I would not anticipate that the bounce would be very high. On a clay court the bounce would be entirely a different story. Your backswing looks very good and in combination with your improved footwork you look to be "rotating" very nicely into the ball.

Perhaps one way of looking at it is this...the level of your backswing and the height of your backswing may be a measure of the height of the incoming ball.

[don_budge]

Get the ducks in a row...

Or you are simply saying that I should have straight back-swing like, say, James Blake?

And what would be that compensating move that you mentioned?

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/james_blake/jb_forehand/jb_fh_center/jb_fh_center.html?JBFHCenterNeutralStanceCourtLevelSide.mov

It looks to me that the Blake backswing might suit you a bit more neatly...nikae. This looks very efficient to me and that suits you to a Tee. You want to build your game on efficiency and add some artistic flourishes later when you start to wear your opponents down with your ability to keep the ball in play and maneuver them off balance.

To me the most obvious compensating moves are the ones that are the kiss of death to repeatability in your strokes. Moves such as exaggerated wrist flipping at impact, overly independent arm swings and the worst as far as I am concerned is the wild movement to the left with the whole package. The open stance forehand gone awry where all of the energy is prematurely ejaculated before any energy has been displaced into the ball. The load has been shot before anything of any significance has happened to the ball. All of that superfluous spin to what end?

This is what we saw in your original strokes here on the forum. When you make such a move as this you "fan" the ball...lots of spin but very little impact. As it looks now get that racquet securely behind the ball and stay with it throughout the shot. When you get your feet properly lined up and your body in place it all seems to come together quite naturally...doesn't it?

One of the most important objectives of the stroke production is to get in position...get in position as in when you have completed your backswing and you are ready to go forward with your swing. Your strokes should be designed for maximum ability to get in position first and the rest second. What does that mean in terms of your backswing? I think it means that compact is better...it is more easily repeatable under trying and difficult circumstances. More power and spin will come more or less "naturally" which means with more practice and more training and repetitions. With more of the ability that you have to get all of your vectors in synch and release them on schedule.

[don_budge]

Post #32...

How's it going don_budge? Your last post was very helpful, thanks!

That was a good post and I am happy that you thought so...thank you very much my friend in the Balkans. I didn't read it when I made the two posts above but now that I have I realize that I have repeated a lot of the same things...didn't I? There were some really good posts from tennis_chiro, bottle and others too.

This was a really good thread...it's fun that you revived it. I had someone who was going to guide me into the Serbian frontier but they have moved on to points unknown...those were the days.

This is further proof to me that you are really on the right track with your forehand. Maybe it is time to have a look at that backhand...and the serve, nikae.

[nikae]

Serve and backhand...oh no

My serve is pretty weird, I hit both first and second serve with a lot of spin (I am pretty short, only 176cm). The weird part is, I usually hit second serve harder! I don't know why, maybe because I am more focused, but when it comes to real league matches or tournaments, I will usually just try to hit it (2nd serve) very slow, just to make sure it goes in..
I still make too much double faults, and the biggest problem I got is the back swing I think. The problem is that I change the shape of the back swing few times during the match, crazy I know.
I will start with something looking like Federer or maybe even Philippoussis, then when the serve stops working, I would try to shorten my back swing ala Gasque, Blake or Stepanek...then after few games I will go back to having longer more circular motion again
Any clue on who should I take as a model, as far as back swing goes?
Here's me serving long time ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzTIQZ9bYO4 I probably look different now, but I still have that low ball toss, which is bad so I will try to make in higher during this winter.

[don_budge]

Backswing model?...look no further than J. Donald Budge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzTIQZ9bYO4

You have the makings of a really nice motion, even at 5' 9 1/3" tall. Think of yourself as Kenny Rosewall or Rod Laver. What am I talking about? Those guys are too old for you to know who I am talking about. As it stands from this video there are a lot of adjustments to be made but they are definitely doable.

Speaking of old...take a look at bottle's "New Year's Serve" thread where he is discussing the J. Donald Budge serve an old acquaintance of mine. Post #1307 has some beautiful sketches of the classic swing of the Budge serve. Take a look and we can discuss your backswing from here. This is the perfect model from which to begin. Ironically...you will not find a better one in all of tennis history.

Once your backswing is in place it will be an exciting ride for you. Pay attention to the setup as well. It is all so simple.

[don_budge]

Don Budge and you...

Serve and backhand...oh no
The weird part is, I usually hit second serve harder! I don't know why, maybe because I am more focused, but when it comes to real league matches or tournaments, I will usually just try to hit it (2nd serve) very slow, just to make sure it goes in.

I still make too much double faults, and the biggest problem I got is the back swing I think. The problem is that I change the shape of the back swing few times during the match, crazy I know.

I will start with something looking like Federer or maybe even Philippoussis, then when the serve stops working, I would try to shorten my back swing ala Gasque, Blake or Stepanek...then after few games I will go back to having longer more circular motion again

Actually nikae to hit the second serve harder is commendable. I do too. I have so much confidence in my serve that if I just happen to miss the first one...I know that the chances of me missing two in a row are practically null. I rarely miss in the net because I am trained to miss long and if I do miss on the first, I swing harder at the second with enough spin to compensate for my miss. When I look in the mirror at the end of the day...the one thing that I like most about me is my service motion. It will never let me down. The word is trust.

Do you see why it is so important to miss long? If you do, you have a feel immediately how much of a compensation you must make on the second whereas if you miss in the first in the net it is much more difficult to get a gage on the feeling for the next swing. My coach used to say to me and I will never forget it..."You have to be a bit fatalistic about the second serve and believe that it is going in. To doubt that is a big mistake."

Most problems with service motions are in the setup, backswing and the toss. If you can get a handle on these three aspects of the motion you are well on your way to a perfect service motion...a motion that only gets better as the pressure and strain on it get bigger and heavier. First of all...you must get it out of your head to serve like this player or that player. When you look in the mirror you won't see any of those guys. You need to be one server and only one server...you need to be like nikae.

Changing your swing in the middle of a match is not necessarily crazy but it does tell me that you are insecure with your service motion. Serving is all about confidence...knowing deep in your heart that it is perfect and it will never let you down. Not just good...perfect.

Let's keep it simple for now...look at that Don Budge setup and look how by subtly turning his shoulders and shifting his weight back he gets that racquet, arm and hand back up into position without changing the position of the whole structure from the setup position. Make it slow and long...hands go down together and up together. Turn the shoulders and no rushing. Take another video and let's have a look.

[nikae]

First I twisted my ankle, badly, could't walk for a month, then after I recovered I cut my left hand with a knife really bad and couldn't play for 3 weeks. All in all pretty bad season for me .

I am working on my serve, but its going slow.

Also, I have made my forehand pretty compact and simple, but I use hand and arm rotation (wind shield wiper finish) more then normal over the shoulder finishes simply because the ball then accelerates off the red clay really fast, not to mention I need some extra margin for error in long rallys that happen a lot on this surface.

After making my forehand back swing small and simple, I have lost some power on my shots, but I regained it with a racket change (went from 95 inch head size racket, to 107 inch).

[don_budge]

Fast forward...moving forward.

After making my forehand back swing small and simple, I have lost some power on my shots, but I regained it with a racket change (went from 95 inch head size racket, to 107 inch).

These changes in your forehand that you mention can only bode well...simplicity equals efficiency much of the time. You will regain that power I suspect with time...but the thing that you may already have discovered is more control. I hope so.

Winning tennis points is always about maneuvering your opponent off balance and working him for mistakes instead of vice versa. Making winners is always fun but getting mistakes out of your opponent is more demoralizing to him. Frustrate him, torture him, put him away and out of his misery...then go to the net, shake hands and say something nice.

When you get a chance...let us see some more videos of your work in process. I am particularly curious about your serve now.

[nikae]

Here are some videos I just made, hitting some - warming up slowly

http://speedy.sh/EXhH9/disaster2.mov

http://speedy.sh/3KZfu/back-view2.mov

I'll try to recorder ground strokes during match play asap.

[worldsbesttenniscoach]

Nikae, you are a good player for having played for so few years as you have.

You hit a lot of topspin forehands, so you must make sure that your forehand is good. But most coaches today, even the supposed most "expert" coahes on the pro tours & at elite tennis academies, teach inefficient technique for the topspin forehand. Today's pros on ATP & WTA, even the most highly ranked, often have gaping flaws in their topspin forehand groundstokes. So be careful not to automatically imitate what you see on TV.

It is important to be a skeptic, & think for yourself, as you learn the game......because "expert" coaches often promote wrong ideas. Tennis has aways been a poorly coached sport, & it still is.

On your forehand, you get the racket back too early, & you prepare too far back. I call that a backwards-set forehand, or a backwards-emphasis forehand. Many of the circuit pros have the same problem, which leads to inaccuracy & inconsistency. On a side view, there is a lot of motion behind your body towards the back wall, & very little motion towards the net. Your technique (& many pros' technique) on the forehand has a kink in it. In other words, you get the racket ball, then stop the racket, then try to get the racket started again. You must try for a more fluid continuous motion on your forehand, just as players must avoid kinks in their serves.

You need to set the racket out towards the net more, as the ball approaches. Oscar Wegner, at www.tennisteacher.com , can demonstrate to you how to track the ball better with your racket -- in other words, how to set your racket more properly, in preparation for the stroke.

If u set the racket as Wegner suggests, then you can swing all at once in a continuous motion, as opposed to the start-stop-start kink motion you now have.

Wegner's preparation will allow you to run behind the ball more in preparation for your stroke, as opposed to running from beside to the ball as you do now.
Wegner's preparation will encourage you to have a more compact, more powerful backswing, & allow the racket to flow foreward throught the ball more.

I notice a few more flaws in your game, but I suggest for now improving your forehand. I was teaching a preparation similar to Wegner's type of prep a long time before Wegner promoted his ideas. But at least Wegner is a good site for you to go to, to learn how to prepare the racket more properly, which in turn lead to better overall technique for you.

Most of the things Wegner says, I disagree with. But Wegner is correctly adamant about preparing the racket forward in tracking the ball. Today's dumb dumb coaches actually think it is wise to "track" the ball with the racket back.

"Experts" like Rick Macci & David Nainkin do a disservice to so many players by teaching the forehand improperly. Today's pros often have inconsistent forehands because they were taught wrong.

[stevenmila]

post to youtube

post to youtube for more feedback - a touch more user-friendly - sergey b.

[10splayer]

Nikae, you are a good player for having played for so few years as you have.

You hit a lot of topspin forehands, so you must make sure that your forehand is good. But most coaches today, even the supposed most "expert" coahes on the pro tours & at elite tennis academies, teach inefficient technique for the topspin forehand. Today's pros on ATP & WTA, even the most highly ranked, often have gaping flaws in their topspin forehand groundstokes. So be careful not to automatically imitate what you see on TV.

It is important to be a skeptic, & think for yourself, as you learn the game......because "expert" coaches often promote wrong ideas. Tennis has aways been a poorly coached sport, & it still is.

On your forehand, you get the racket back too early, & you prepare too far back. I call that a backwards-set forehand, or a backwards-emphasis forehand. Many of the circuit pros have the same problem, which leads to inaccuracy & inconsistency. On a side view, there is a lot of motion behind your body towards the back wall, & very little motion towards the net. Your technique (& many pros' technique) on the forehand has a kink in it. In other words, you get the racket ball, then stop the racket, then try to get the racket started again. You must try for a more fluid continuous motion on your forehand, just as players must avoid kinks in their serves.

You need to set the racket out towards the net more, as the ball approaches. Oscar Wegner, at www.tennisteacher.com , can demonstrate to you how to track the ball better with your racket -- in other words, how to set your racket more properly, in preparation for the stroke.

If u set the racket as Wegner suggests, then you can swing all at once in a continuous motion, as opposed to the start-stop-start kink motion you now have.

Wegner's preparation will allow you to run behind the ball more in preparation for your stroke, as opposed to running from beside to the ball as you do now.
Wegner's preparation will encourage you to have a more compact, more powerful backswing, & allow the racket to flow foreward throught the ball more.

I notice a few more flaws in your game, but I suggest for now improving your forehand. I was teaching a preparation similar to Wegner's type of prep a long time before Wegner promoted his ideas. But at least Wegner is a good site for you to go to, to learn how to prepare the racket more properly, which in turn lead to better overall technique for you.

Most of the things Wegner says, I disagree with. But Wegner is correctly adamant about preparing the racket forward in tracking the ball. Today's dumb dumb coaches actually think it is wise to "track" the ball with the racket back.

"Experts" like Rick Macci & David Nainkin do a disservice to so many players by teaching the forehand improperly. Today's pros often have inconsistent forehands because they were taught wrong.

Hmmm, where to begin? My opinion is that your arrogance is only surpassed by your inability to understand even basic concepts as per the Gordon/Macci piece.

First of all, the very premise of the "flip" is to delay the backward rotation of the arm and or racquet, until the body starts to rotate forward. So no, they are not advocating running around the court with the racquet back as you claim. In fact, when the arm stays internally rotated (as they have mentioned)in the backswing, THE RACQUET CANNOT GO BACKWARDS. ITS THE ANTITHESIS OF A BACKWARD EMPHASIS. It leads to a more compact backswing, and straighter, more direct swing line. This is actually pretty easy to see if you actually no what your talking about. I would certainly expect this from the best coach in the world. Pretty basic stuff.

P.s Would you please post a video of your game. I always love to see the game of someone who can lambast the forehands of a tour player.