Mishits

[vmiller]

Hi John,

I mishit the ball way too much, mostly on my forehand, and I'm getting really frustrated by it. What should I look for to find the cause(s)?

I used to play with a 93" head, but have been trying new rackets up to 100". Still mishitting. I've always played with 12+ oz rackets, but have even tried going down to 10.5 oz. The lighter and bigger sticks seem to help a little, but not enough.

I do hit a lot of topspin, and the large majority of the mishits are on the bottom of the frame. Is this common?

Maybe I'm not watching the ball well enough? Bad preparation?

This has been frustrating for me ever since I started playing again two years ago, and I've played an insane amount in those two years. I'd appreciate any suggestions you can think of.

Or maybe just I need glasses.

Thanks,
Vin

[lukman41985]

Vin,
I'm going to save you the trouble of waiting and jump in for John, if I may, and say that you should send in a video of your forehand. If this mis-hitting is something new, what would be great is if you would send in an old video of your forehand, presumably when you weren't mishitting as much, and also a current video. The clips could be put side-by-side, along with those of pro models, and you can go from there in fixing the stroke. It seems like your equipment is bothering you. If you're not comfortable with making such a big change, and let me tell you, that is a pretty big change (93" up to 100" and 12+ down to 10.5). Given the lighter weight, you could be early on shots that you used to time better given the fact your swinging that lighter frame quicker. Also, perhaps your older racquets have a thinner beam and that's the reason you're having some problems. Maybe you have a steep angle of attack on the ball that thicker beams don't work well with. Does the mis-hitting subside with your older racquet? Anyways, I think it's most likely technique than equipment, but send in the videos and experiment with your old racquet. Good luck!

-Lukman

[johnyandell]

I think if you are having a lot of mishits across a lot of strokes, matches, rackets, then it is probably something in your focus or your head position. It's possible you are playing too much and aren't eager enough mentally to really really focus. What you may want to do is make a little ledger of everything that goes through your head when the ball is going back and forth. If it's anything more than the image of the ball and a few stroke keys, there is your answer.

I always liked the old Tim Gallwey thing about watching the spin on the ball. If you are really looking for the spin at the top of the bounce and follow it back and forth, you get into the rhythm of it all and find the center. One last thing to consider--when you "hit a lot of topspin" what does that mean? If you are winding up and hitting with a tense, violent swing that can do it. Even though Federer is extreme you might try keeping the head sideways extra long.

[vmiller]

John,

Now that you say it, I think focusing on the ball at and after the bounce is the a problem. This is made obvious by the fact that I often have trouble making close line calls - I've given away so many free points because of that! Sometimes I do focus very well on the ball, but my eyes and brain seem to get lazy quickly.

I also wonder if I'm not turning my head sideways to continue tracking the ball. I'll have to look at some old video and try it out. I'll try that spin trick too. Thanks for your advice.

lukman,

I know the racket change is pretty big, but I think it was stupid of me to be playing with a 93" head in the first place. 98" or 100" is probably a lot more appropriate for me, especially with all the topspin. I also dropped the weight because I can get sloppy with a 12oz racket and that doesn't seem to happen as badly with an 11oz frame. Maybe if I improve the focus problem above, I'll be able to stay with a 12oz frame, we'll see. And yes, the wider beams are somewhat of a problem, but I guess I'll have to deal with that for now since it seems to be less of an issue than the weight.

[vmiller]

I always liked the old Tim Gallwey thing about watching the spin on the ball.

Just what I needed. Thank you!

I tried bounce-hit also, but I see the ball significantly better by looking for the spin. The only trouble is remembering to do it and then not trying too hard to do it.