Practice, Practice = Drilling

[horsebakken]

I like the advice from Kerry's article - so I got a ball machine - I want to get better, and I agree that refining the strokes is the way I can get better. A lesson teaches me the technique, gives me feedback. Clinics are good for drills, but the ball machine is my practice partner. I need to recruit a person as interested in drilling as I am, though.

[kerrymitchell]

practice, practice, practice

Horsebakken,
It sounds like you are on the right track. The ball machine is a great tool for perfecting your stokes. These days it is sometimes hard to find another player who wants to drill and practice as much as you do (especially now-a-days where the emphasis on competing is way to high).
My advice is to keep your eyes open at your club or at your school for that potential hitting partner. Take some time and watch the other juniors and see who are the serious practicers. They will be the ones hussling more than anyone else in the clinics. They will also be the ones spending extra time outside of the clinics and private lessons working on their strokes. If you find a potential candidate approach them and ask them if they want to practice sometime. Make your intensions known right away that you want to drill and practice not play a match. This player may not be the best player you see, but that isn't necessary to get a good work out. You want someone who is willing to put in the time and work hard. Be sure to keep your goal when doing drills to try and improve in doing the drill itself even if you have to slow the ball down to achieve success. It may take some time, but once you find the right person you two can help each other improve a lot.
Thanks for the good review,
Kerry.

[marius hancu]

These days it is sometimes hard to find another player who wants to drill and practice as much as you do (especially now-a-days where the emphasis on competing is way to high).

Not too many ball machines here in Montreal.
Guess coaches don't like them - indirect competition.
And yes, difficult to find people to train seriously.

[jhm36]

recharging an old thread

Yeah, at my club I'm known to be a little bit nutty because you're more likely to see me training than playing matches, either with the ball machine, which we can get for a small monthly fee, with a couple of other club members, or in a racquet ball court using it as a backboard. I'm a 4.0 working hard to make it to 4.5, and there's a 3.5 I practice with who just loves working out with me. About half our time is spend drilling and the other half taking turns serving live balls, each trying to win the point, but no one keeping score. Each gets about ten minutes of serve time, then we switch. Doesn't teach you how to deal with the big points, the break points, real pressue on your second serve, but there is some pressure, even if it's less than a real match and that allows us to free up some mental energy to work on our strokes and game plans and especially your serve and return of serve.

I even occasionally ask him when he's next match is (he plays many more matches than I do) and try to copy that person's style. Just last week he was getting ready to play a moon baller, and I hit him a ton of those to him even though that's not my style at all. Gave him a chance to work against that sort of person and me a chance to try some strokes I rarely do. Bad news is that he still got his butt-kicked. No surprise though: a 3.5 going against a 4.5.

I highly recommend those looking to improve their game to lessen the emphasis on playing matchs and find someone to practice with. No one, not even the 4.5s I play against, ever guesses just how short of time I've been playing tennis. They all think I've been at it much longer, and I'm sure this is because of all the time I've spend practicing either by myself or with my two usual partners, or, of course, by my having used so much this fantastic web site, by far the best source of tennis instruction I've found.

[mntlblok]

Yeah, at my club I'm known to be a little bit nutty because you're more likely to see me training than playing matches, either with the ball machine,

Sounds familiar, except I would have to leave out the "little bit" part.

I have my own ball machine - portable and battery operated. Pull that out and set up a video camera, too, and see what kinds of looks and questions you get. Folks tend to feel sorry for you.

I've pretty well given up on finding anyone to just hit with. The exception is my wife, but that's more like giving lessons than drilling.

I rationalize the hitting with the ball machine with (and, actually, the reason that I got it in the first place) the idea that I hate jogging and I hate working out at the gym. This way, I get some exercise and maybe some improved skills as a side effect. Problem is, I'm more likely to work on trick shots than to do as much side to side running as I should.

Kevin B

[jhm36]

That's funny. What is it about so many people thinking the ball machine is a freaky device? No way I could have developed a decent volley without it.

I've been thinking of getting a portable machine. Got any recommendations? How do you like yours?

Just this morning I was working on a running short ball backhand, which is a tough shot for me to make.

I've really like a little approach and volley drill I developed that give me some cardio exercise without being so monotonous as simply trying to hit a funning down the line forehand over and over again. Put the ball machine on osciallate with medium elevation and just powerful enough to drop the ball on the baseline, hit an approach shot, then run up behind it, hit a volley, hit another volley, then backstep to the base line, hit another approach shot and repeat. I find that a whole lot more engaging than working on a single running stroke, and the time at the net with the two volleys give me a little break if I need it, or I can stand behind the baseline and work on hitting the corners from that position.

I love the ball machine. Make notes to myself when I'm going in to work with it so I can maximize my time and shot variation. After my time with the machine is over I often go into a racquet ball court, which is usually free and work on basic concentration skills (watch the ball, see the spin coming off the wall, after the bounce, head still, see your racquet go through the point where the ball was, etc) and my backhand and overhead smashes. Racquet ball courts are great for smash work.

[mntlblok]

Tennis Tutor Ball Machine

I've been thinking of getting a portable machine. Got any recommendations? How do you like yours?

I love my little Tennis Tutor machine. It's light enough that I don't (usually) hurt my back lifting it into the van. (It actually used to fit in the back of my 300ZX before I became a minivan kind of guy).

I've had it for several years and have now replaced just about every part in it. I'm not a "fix-it" kind of guy, but the guys at Sports Tutor have been tremendous about diagnosing the problems over the phone, sending out the replacement parts, and talking me through doing the actual replacement, if need be, over the phone, too. As they are on the west coast, I can call them up after work when it is very convenient for me. I can't say enough good things about them. (No financial interest).

I like all the spin and oscillation features that are available, though I don't have (and don't miss) the remote control.


I bought it originally from Bill Keller in Florida and he also recommended the EZ Roller ball hopper, which I also love and recommend. http://www.sportsspin.com/categories.../tennis_1.html

Kevin B

[jhm36]

Thanks for the recommendation. That was the one I was looking at. A couple at my club also has one and boy do they get strange looks bringing their own machine to the court!

[mntlblok]

I've really like a little approach and volley drill I developed that give me some cardio exercise without being so monotonous as simply trying to hit a funning down the line forehand over and over again. Put the ball machine on osciallate with medium elevation and just powerful enough to drop the ball on the baseline, hit an approach shot, then run up behind it, hit a volley, hit another volley, then backstep to the base line, hit another approach shot and repeat.

I like it. I've kind of thought about something like that but never really followed through on setting it up. That gives me some ideas on the timing.

One thing that I've found helpful is to set the machine up way back near the back fence, put it on maximum topspin, and then set the trajectory high enough so that the ball dips down just inside the service line. This is the closest I've come to duplicating a service return situation - at least of a heavy, good second serve.

My "cardio" workout is to have the machine drop shot me. I play mostly on clay, so I see a good many drop shots from the better players. It's handy to have multiple options for replying to them.

Kevin B

[jhm36]

Thanks for the practice tip, but the top-spin freature on the club's machine sucks up so much power I doubt that ball is going to be coming with much pace at all. It's not a great ball machine, but for 10 dollars a month of unlimited use, I'll take it.

Drop shots?! Ugh, can't stand them, rarely use them, but if you want to be able to hit some kind of shot off of them, you certainly need to practice. My usual response is a drop shot of my own, which will often win me the point easily because I mostly play with people less mobile than myself and there's no way they are coming up to the net to follow their own drop shot. They're just testing my speed and trying to tire me. Just a couple of weeks ago I was playing for the first time with an older 4.5 who dropped shotted me early in our match and he was so sure that I wasn't going to get to the ball that he even partially turned to walk back to the baseline to serve again! Ha, I got to it, dropped him back and had a nice time teasing him about giving up on the point.

Ball machine's are great for working on shots that give you trouble.

[jhm36]

drop shots

Hi Kevin,

Since you see a lot of drop shots, how about a few words on how you play against them?

I rarely see them; almost every match I play is mostly from the baseline. (I come to the net far more often than the baseliners I play against now as I'm trying to develop a net game, which is causing me to get passed a lot, but the game is actually more fun for me now.)

When I do see a drop shot, it's usually coming cross court from the other person's righty backhand, which means I have to hit a backhand on the run, which I'm not that good at. So in this case I just catch the ball late and low and drop shot it right in front of me down the line, which can usually win the point because the other person, a less mobile baseliner, isn't going to try to run all that way to get the ball.

On those rare occasions that I see a drop shot coming to me on my forehand side, I usually end up bunting the ball back down the line deep because I have less ability hit a drop shot reply with my forehand. At the moment my forehand running down the line drop shots are sailing out and wide.

What about you, Kevin? What's working with your drop shots? I'd like to see a real article of two on the drop shot in the classic lesson part of this site.

[mntlblok]

Drop shot replies

Since you see a lot of drop shots, how about a few words on how you play against them?

What about you, Kevin? What's working with your drop shots? I'd like to see a real article or two on the drop shot in the classic lesson part of this site.

Again, I ain't the expert, but I do experiment with it a lot. Most recently I've experimented with going sharply cross court with a lot of topspin off both sides. Very little backswing, and I think of going straight up on the outside of the ball, starting from only barely below the ball. I've found that on all the shots that I want to use this excessive type of topspin with that I have much better success (and less "framing") if I try to catch the ball near the top of my strings, as opposed to the middle of them. If I can just trust that the shot will work with this technique and not make any effort to control the trajectory, then the trajectory takes care of itself and the shot works - even if it has gotten relatively low on me before I get to it.

I've also gotten fairly decent at hitting the type of reply that Federer made on one of Blake's drop shots to his backhand. The commentators talked about the backspin that Fed got on the shot, but it was clearly the *sidespin* that made the shot work. That thing kicked dead sideways. Like with your technique, I catch it late (and low), but I shoot for catching the inside of the ball. Opponents will sometimes think they have time to run this one down, but fail to realize that it is going to kick sideways, so still don't end up getting there in time. Swinging *hard* on the follow through is necessary to get the massive spin. Kind of scary, but most pleasing when it works. I used to only use this one off the backhand, but had it used on me with a forehand a while back and experimented with it myself. Same technique works off both sides.

Like with any short ball, one of the things that I have to constantly remind myself about is that I need to run up to *beside* the ball, not right at it.

If I can only barely get to the ball before it hits the ground, then I typically have to just try to shove it back straight ahead and deep. I know that I then have to get on my horse and get back for the lob that is coming after I finish sliding. The worms that I play against will typically have lob *volleyed* the durn thing back while I'm still sliding.

If the drop shot I've run down is short enough and wide enough, I'm sometimes successful with just trying to pop the ball up dead to the right or left (no forward at all) to just above net height. It seems that my forward momentum is enough to give the ball enough of a forward push that it makes it over the net, in spite of feeling like I've hit it only sideways and not forward at all.

I aspire to learning to use the severely angled slice (or flat shot) that you often see the pro's use off both sides, but so far it seems to require better hands and better touch than I'm capable of. I've seen Van Winitsky hit some incredibly good shots that way in the National 40's. Amazing hands on that guy.

I also aspire to hitting just a "dink" drop shot off a drop shot that doesn't really use any spin and that is dinked straight over the net rather than angled. I've had it used successfully against me, but I haven't been able to figure out the secret to hitting the shot. I fear that it is just another type of "touch" shot that I'm not talented enough to pull off. Mine looks more like a lob than a dink.

What I try is also dependent upon where my opponent is after he hits the dropper. Might even lob them if they have followed it in. The worms I play against will also fake me out to suck me in to hitting it to where I think it's going to be open.

I would add that essentially every drop shot that is hit against me, and every one that I try to hit, is hit very near to a sideline.

Kevin B

[shootermcmarc0]

I'm not part of a club, nor do I own a ball machine. What are your guys' opinion of hitting against the wall?

[mntlblok]

Wall

I'm not part of a club, nor do I own a ball machine. What are your guys' opinion of hitting against the wall?

When I pester really good players about how they got that way, it's interesting how often hitting against a wall comes up in their answers.

Kevin B

[jhm36]

walls

more on the drop shot later, but wanted to add a quick reply that I really like hitting against the wall. Do it all the time. Great for working on slices, I think. Swinging volley. Smashes in a racquet ball court are a fantastic way to improve on that shot. Get's a little tight sometimes, not enough room to move around so you don't get a chance to work on really angled shots, but does wonders for down the middle shots. Can also do some serve and volley work by yourself. Drop shots are very easy to practice against a wall because the spin of the ball brings it right back to you. Also great for developing ball watching/concentration skills. it goes on and on. Highly recommended.

To maximize my use of the ball machine, I often show up early to the club, warm up in a racquet ball court (which is usually empty) then move onto the ball machine when it become my time to use it.