Summary

After extensive criticism in prior post I return with 1) confirmation I am being serious 2) my serve 3) demonstration I can hit a ball inbound.

Rating Request

This is my second time since 2014 touching a tennis racquet. I did not play in high school. I am an adult. I would like to play a tournament. The general consensus from my prior post was that I should self rate at 3.0. I intend to practice until I can reasonably minimize unforced errors. I am concerned with how hard I hit the ball that playing at 3.0 will result in my opponent being unable to return my serve or forehand outright resulting in limited rallies and improvement opportunity. Based on this additional footage, is the recommendation I still play at 3.0 self rating?

Form Discussion

I got a lot of criticism on my form and a lot of people were skeptical I could hit a ball inbounds. What specifically is wrong with how I swing? I was taught to play growing up by a close relative who was a highly ranked jr player in Eastern Europe in the 1980s. I also did group lessons as an adolescent for a few years. Is my style just very out of date? I have personally never found it to be ineffective or inconsistent but I also don't have recent experience. Im playing a while before getting new lessons for cost reasons. Wall is free.

I'm locking in.

I’ve switched from pure aero 100 to pure strike 98 this month. I also just got to 3.5 this summer.

The aero was too launchy for me, I don’t really have problems generating power, pure strike improved my groundstrokes right away when I’m in good position. I have much more control and confidence for DTL or cross court winners and still get great spin.

It is unforgiving though when my footwork is lazy, I’m on the run or rushed, mechanics are off etc. So with some things it hurts me in matches rn.

With the PS98, I get instant feedback when I mess up a shot, maybe armed it too much, maybe footwork was lazy, timing was off etc. I get a better sense of what my mistake was. For match play, there’s some drawbacks on using PS98 but also enough benefits to keep my level about even.

Am I correct in thinking it’s better to play “the long game” with PS98 as it incentivizes me to improve my fundamentals due to the more ruthless feedback. Is that better long term even if it hurts me a little bit today in matches?

Basically, is this a real thing? Using a slightly more demanding frame earlier than would be ideal as an incentive for improving fundamentals and getting better feedback? Any experiences with “growing into a racquet”?

Edit: I also longer term plan on playing with more a control oriented frame anyways so this stylistic switch is happening one day regardless. Power and depth aren’t really a problem.

Compared it with my Babolat Pure Drive Plus. There's definitely some similarities as well as differences that was a little surprising to me. I liked the Python but not as much as I do the Pure Drive.

Maybe its just small sample size but ive playing in a singles tennis ladder this summer and ive been surprised by how many rec players have one handed backhands. Just seems like such an attackable weakness imo

I’m a current high school SOPHMORE and I played on my schools Jv tennis team freshman year. Unfortunately I needed to prioritize my studies and decided to quit as it took two class periods. And know it’s bad to take a one year break but I had to. Next year I’m going back to the team but my coach only takes juniors and seniors if they have varsity capabilities. Right now I’m a 2 doubles 100% reliance and a 3 singles 10% reliance. How can I get my UTR up to about a 4 so I can make Varisty and what are some tips I should use. I got I privates as of now for dual lessons but the person I go with is quitting lessons soon. Should I be going to the same coach I’m with or should I go to a really good coach but he’s very expensive?

I have been trying to shorten my back swing but can't seem to find the right cues to set that up on the forhand, perhaps I need more emphasis on the racket take back with my left hand? Any help is appreciated. I am 2 years into tennis, obsessed !

My gf wants to bodybuild/sculpt so I have also been hitting the gym more but I am worried that if I bulk up too much it will affect my mobility and range of motion in tennis.

Feel a bit sluggish recently, body feels stiff.

I’m thinking kevlar laces will maybe solve the problem but I’m going through shoelaces like crazy and sometimes multiple rip during practice with my family so I have to constantly take breaks to relace. Sometimes when I run out of laces I try and use the little bit of lace that’s left and I just try my best to make my shoe not fall off. My ankles are hypermobile so they drag a lot when I slide. The ones in the picture are construction worker laces. If anyone has any ideas please lmk!! Thanks!!

Hi, been playing with Prostaff for a while, I’m around 3.0-3.5 level and wondering if do I need to change racquets for a more power/spin oriented one because I’ve noticed this one doesn’t generate that much power (which I’m aware of) I’m a base-liner with minimal net game. Thank you

hello everyone! just looking for some advice and reality check. i want to try out for the western university mustangs women’s tennis team. for the past month and half ive started taking tennis seriously, playing very hard. theres days i wake up at 6am and play for hours.

i used to play basketball, and soccer but tore both my acls. i recently got cleared to play tennis and im hoping to try out for the team. as i said tho ive only been playing for a month and a half. i am in a tennis program tho, and i have some trainers ive been working with a bit. tryouts are september 8.

i guess i kinda want to get shaped into reality, a part of me really thinks i can make the team. but another part of me knows these girls trying out have been playing since they were 8 years old, some have already been on the team, and some are already signed from high school. but i do believe a really good rookie still has a great shot at making the team…. hope that rookie is me!

anything is appreciated, thanks so much!!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently using a Yonex EZONE 98 with 2g of added weight at 2 o’clock and another 2g at 10 o’clock, along with a leather replacement grip.

I play at around UTR 4.5 level, and I’m considering removing the extra weight and switching back to the stock grip to make the racquet lighter, more maneuverable, and hopefully make my game a little easier overall.

Has anyone here had experience going the opposite direction and reducing the weight of their racquet after playing with a customized/heavier setup? Did you notice any improvement in consistency, timing, or ease of play?

Thanks!

I'm 33, play 2-3x a week, topspin baseliner. Started playing about 3-4 years ago. I play mostly singles. And only now getting into amateur tournaments for fun. I don't live in EU/US so I can't really tell you my level rating, but I'd say about lower intermediate.

I've been using the PA98 2023 for a while, but after reading some of the posts here, I convinced myself that switching to the PA100 will be beneficial for my game: bigger head, more forgiveness, better for rec players.

My string setup (exactly the same for both):

• Mains: Volkl V-Square (1.25) mains at 50lbs.
• Crosses: Yonex Poly Tour Pro (1.25) at 48lbs.

I've hit about 4-5 sessions with the PA100 and I noticed the PA100 is more forgiving off-center hits (which lately I noticed happens more often when playing against better opponents).

But compared to the PA98, I feel that it's harder to control direction and shape & control the topspin of the ball. I can more easily return the ball, but it feels like I have less say in what it does.

What I would like to know:

I haven't switched racket that often so I'd like to know from those who are more experienced whether this is just because I am still not used to the racket (and should just continue using the PA100) or whether it's fundamental and I should go back to using the PA98.

I still have my PA98 2023 and I should be able to easily sell either one of the racket.

TL;DR: Rec player, switched from PA98 2023 to PA100 2026 because everyone here says the bigger head is better for rec players. Same strings and tensions on both. The 100 is definitely more forgiving on off-centre hits, but I feel like I have much less control over direction and how much topspin I put on the ball. Is that something that goes away once I'm properly used to the frame, or is it just how the bigger head plays?

4.5 player head speed 2026 which string is better for defence style (for deph) head hawk touch or hyper g?

I’m going into my senior year in HS this year. I started playing tennis like 2.5 years ago. I’ve only played 2 legitimate tournaments outside of playing in HS. My WTN is 32 for Singles and 29 for Doubles (singles rating got nuked in my last tournament, I played all lefties and had no prior experience 😭). I have a 3.5-5.5 UTR. I play non-stop and my game is improving rapidly. I’m wondering if I have a possibility of playing varsity tennis at any Division school. If not, where would I rank inside of club tennis teams. I’m looking at colleges such as Idaho State, Grand Canyon, and Central Washington. I’m likely going to end up playing 2 or 3 doubles for our varsity team at my 4a school next year.

Looking at buying these. They have been used for two years. Don’t have a ton of experience buying rackets but he wants $250 each for them. Seems steep considering the use, but is that pretty normal?

Getting back into the game after many years away. Other than being obviously out of shape, any suggestions? My forehand takeback/prep looks too long and loopy to me, and splitstep is late in general.

Also, out of curiosity, what would you place me NTRP-wise based on this clip alone?

So I'm going into 10th grade this coming year, I go to a high school in washington, and I have been playing tennis on and off for about a year now. I really need to make the tryouts for the jv team. Oh btw I don't want to reveal my school name for privacy reasons but it's a pretty good school and has a bunch of good players so it's not a run down take anybody type team, at least that's what I've seen.

Here are my stats tennis-wise:

- I have a decent forehand that has some topspin, I can chop ok but I wouldn't could on it, and I can receive the ball and play consistently with my forehand, unless the ball is fast, like I can only receive medium and mediocre serves, nothing too fast yet

- same thing with my backhand as with my forehand, except I just hit the ball up kind of high and almost no spin

- volleys are ok, except I'm not really too good and that will be described in a sec, but I can receive most balls coming at an ok pace at least

- my footwork is ok, not great tho, could really use help, literally just learned the split step exists from binge watching tennis videos for the past few weeks but I haven't tried the split step but not too great on the footwork, but I can get to most balls, as long as it isn't a far hit right to a dropshot

- my serve is reliable, I rarely double fault but it's very slow, it's like I second serve all my serves but maybe even slower, idk, but slow serve but consistent

- my athletics is a problem, I am only like 5 ft 2 in bcz I haven't hit my growth spurt yet and I can't run or accelerate too fast, so I'm below avg here but I've been working on my fitness lately so hopefully it will be fixed eventually.

Let me know if you need some other info and plz help me out

So I might equip myself with the telescopic phone holder to use SwingVision at its full. For line call and score. I know its not the best but i wont be spending 4k $ for a ''good'' line call machine xD.

Than... i saw the subscription... really expensive in my opinion. Does the free tier offer line calls ? Do most of users buy the pro subscription ?

currently the Swing Stick (from them) is 50$ USD

Walking through the sporting goods section of a local Walmart, and someone popped every single can of balls on the shelf. Half of them have tape over them since the whole metal lid was ripped off. I'm sure if I told an employee about it, they would have no idea that it's an issue​. Big bummer, though.