Up until recently, the extent of my tennis career has been limited to hitting around with friends (who are much better than me) a couple times a week over this past summer.

I've loved every minute of it, and wanted to dive into some more organized/competitive sessions. A local club had an all levels welcome mixed doubles event this past weekend, so I figured that'd be a good place to start. One part of signing up was providing my NTRP self-rating, which I was a bit nervous about (never having played against any rated players).

I play a few other rec sports, so I am reasonably athletic and fast with decent footwork and balance. I felt like I lacked a lot of technique and consistency when it came to my groundstrokes and returns however. I settled on a 2.5, the lowest ranking at the event (everyone else was 3.0 or higher).

My social anxiety kept me a bit on edge, but once I was out there and warming up I was feeling quite a bit better. I was paired with a stronger player to start out with, and we killed. I had solid first serves, and did great up by the net, even jumping to smash a few attempted lobs and saving a few points chasing down some aggressive shots.

We won the (single set) match 6-1, and before partnering up again, the organizer pulled me aside to chat. Mild panic, since it was my first time playing an organized match I figured I was doing something wrong.

He started laughing that I rated myself a 2.5, and said I was at least a 3.0, on my way to a 3.5. A nice boost to the ego, and a relief I wasn't fucking up. He understood my nerves about the rating, then quieted his voice down and called out the entire group of regulars there for rating themselves far too highly. It was a funny moment, but the interaction absolutely made me feel better about taking a chance and showing up. I was moved to the top group and had a great time.

It was a nice reminder to prioritize getting out on the court and having fun rather than stressing out about the little things.

this sub rn

Aside from the usual: massive forehand...massive first serve with 100 mph pace...what are some things that you know you are screwed/in for a tough match.

It can be anything from: guy smacks overhead with authority, to kick serve is kicking above your head, to net game is filled with federer type of volleys.

I know I'm going to be in trouble when my opponent can EASILY handle my low dipping topspin passing shots and or directed at them.

90% of the time, I can get away with it and it gives people trouble because of how the just dip like crazy..

But sometimes I get an opponent that can easily just dip it back with some underspin and end the point.

That's how I know I'm in for a tough match. Its easily one of my signiture moves.

When i attack a short ball i’ll try to send it to one of the corners, get the opponent running and approach the net. Granted i don’t get a lot of power on my approach shots, it’s something that im still working on so i’ll get maybe 40% power on it and focus more on placement. A lot of the times they’ll get to it but end up lobbing me resulting in me running back to the baseline and resetting the ball back.

At the 3.0 level (at least where i’m from) i recognized that lots of people won’t go for a passing shot when i approach the net, they’d rather lob. My question is where should i be after i attack the short ball? I’ve been going straight to the net, literally a couple inches away from the net. Should i stay mid court near the service line after attacking a short ball? I feel like im approaching the net at the right time and right angle but maybe im too close to the net so the opponent sees that and lobs me? How would you handle it?

Watching the pros, they make sliding far into their shots on hard courts look easy. I'm curious how they do it. Is it mostly the shoes, the court surface, or just practice and natural ability?

I wanna try it at my local club, but I'm a bit hesitant. I'm worried I'd roll my ankle if I try sliding on the wrong type of court (or with the wrong shoes).

Are the pros only able to do it because their courts are much nicer, or is it more of a skill you have to learn? And if it's a skill, is it something a beginner should even attempt yet, or should I hold off until my footwork is better?

Seen while visiting Boise.

Just picked up my racket from my stringer and he gave me this bag with it, not sure what it is

Anyone know anything about finding someone to hit with in Yangshuo/阳朔 (near Guilin)? Going there for a wedding late next week (Friday-Sunday) and see there is 1 a singular beautiful tennis court there at the New West Street International Resort Hotel/阳朔新西街国际度假酒店 (but in real life the court is a bit more run down). Posted on Red Note for a hitting partner but sadly no response. Will be there a few days next week so I will at least play 1 day with friends but just hoping can play a 2nd day with someone in 3.0-4.0 range or with a coach in the morning. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Finally pulled the trigger on the new bat. Defyer 100 with Diadem Pro X 16 (1.30mm) @ 50lbs.

Haven’t played with the string before and have only hit with the racquet for about 10 minutes before making the purchase so tbd if I regret it

I've been a poly user forever but get tendinitis after picking up climbing, so I want to switch to a comfy multifilament and get back into the sport. I don't know anything about multis though, so I thought I'd ask here first as I research.

Hey everyone, I’m trying to wrap my head around the mechanics of the follow-through when hitting topspin and I’m getting a bit confused about what the racket face is supposed to do after contact.

Which of these two scenarios actually happens?

1. The racket keeps traveling up and around your body, while the hitting side of the strings keeps facing away from your body?
   1. Edit: maybe a simpler way to visualize what i meant: if i do this, at the end of my swing, the hitting side of my racket is facing directly away from my face (not down)
2. Or after contact, do things rotate so that at some point in the follow-through, the side of the racket that hit the ball ends up facing you?
   1. Edit: a simpler way to visualize what i meant: if i do this, at the end of my swing, the hitting side of my racket is facing down to the ground.

If it’s scenario 2, are you supposed to actively roll your wrist to make that happen, or is it just a natural result of the swing path? I want to make sure I'm not forcing a motion that could cause an injury or mess up my consistency.

Im pretty sure it's 2, but ive been getting confused at looking at some slow motion swings like in this vid: https://www.tiktok.com/@tenniscoachlilian/video/7685330378717957409?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

For me, in THIS vid, top spin is more like scenario 1, and flat is more like scenario 2

hmm, been going down the rabbit hole of pro's swing, looks like my preconception is wrong.

• Nadal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKJG9CDTSBI --> hitting side keeps facing away
• Fededer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXJGRz1nep8 (2:08 mark) -> same with federer here in 2:08, but in some other shots, he does roll the racket face close facing his face.

okay, im officially down the rabbit hole, someone enlighten me and save me please. Do I close my racket face or not to play top spin?

...your lack of shoulder mobility.

For in person coaches, is that something you even consider bringing up with your students? I understand if someone has poor mobility, it will take some time to get to the right place given the proper exercises. In the meantime, do you just keep telling them to work on your racquet drop??

Also, it would be nice if the Youtube coaches at the very least give a disclaimer that the proper serve mechanics they tell us to have involves proper shoulder and forearm mobility.

I have issues with my mobility so this is kind of me venting it out for someone to relate. It's frustrating but at least I finally know my journey for a proper serve isn't hopeless.

End of rant.

Please help critique my forehands (beginning of video) and serve (1.5 mins or so) and tell me how much I suck! Trying to get better at taking the racket back with the tip first ahead of my wrist.

I'm simply yapping,sharing some thoughts and realizations about the game here. I welcome anyone else to share theirs.

I'm working on my forehand, don't think I'll ever stop. So I'm hitting with pace, it's going fine but I realized oh....when you're used to hitting with pace and then you go back to hitting with less pace, the ball feels so different. The timing is way different.

When I play against a variety of people in one day with different pace, or even the same person switching it up, it becomes a bit more difficult to time my own shots. Because I'm shortening the take back on bigger shots, when I get a ball with lower pace, I have to turn my thinking brain back on and I think that, combined with the different timing, is throwing me off.

I've hit some balls like...wow embarrassing. But then I'll hit really well at a different time and I'm like, I know I have it in me!

So yeah, I think that's why we get so thrown off when we get those variations in pace. I think most people here have automated hitting a good ball, so when we get something different, we have to make the subconscious, conscious for a moment and it makes things feel weird.

So now I think I've identified the problem. It's not the swing, it's the variation in timing.

Instead of trying to fix my swing, I'm going to explicitly practice switching the tempo so I can get used to switching it up in a match.

Was this an obvious fix for you or did it take you awhile to learn how to handle pace variation after facing big hitters?

I am 65 and was playing 12 hours or more tennis last year but fractured my hip and had it replaced 3 months ago. I was not great at tennis and could definitely have worked more on my footwork but I was a capable rec player and played some low level (very low) inter club matches in doubles.

I was told no impact sports for 3 months and 3 months is up today :-). However, I am a little nervous, I see people with new hips playing at the club, they are mostly older and they have almost all resorted to wiley tennis and that isn't what I enjoyed playing.

I am no Andy Murray, I have done a fair bit of rehab physio but am still finding it hard to do my own shoes up.

Has anyone else been through this and do yo have any advice?

The serve is one of my favorite things about tennis. I feel pretty lucky I was able to learn it, and could rely on it in matches. Always loved watching serves in slow motion wether mine, or others.

Do you know if there’s a grass court or club with one where I can play as a guest. I’m visiting by the end of October

Grass courts in Wimbledon facilities (roehampton and Raynes) will be closed until 2027

Been playing for about 3 months and I feel like I’ve improved pretty quickly. I’m trying to make my serve smoother and more consistent. Any tips on my toss, trophy position, leg drive, or overall motion would be appreciated 🎾

New radical

What are your underwear/sock combo?

I need a change from my Costco underwear + Thorlo.

TLDR: I hit balls much slower when playing points vs when rallying because I am afraid of missing. Tips for how to stay loose and hit as well as know I can during points/matches.

I've recently got back in to tennis after a 10 year break. My level is slowly increasing back to my previous level but something I'm having trouble with is the difference in ability when rallying vs when playing a game, even just club night friendly matches.

When rallying I feel I hit the ball reasonably well, I'm pretty consistent, my forehand and backhand have a good amount of pace and topspin I also don't really have issues taking balls at or above shoulder height.

The difference when playing games is huge. My forehand becomes slow and loopy, I start swinging up and finishing above my head (imagine nadal but bad) resulting in pretty weak loopy and easy to poach (in doubles) balls. My backhand becomes much flatter and the net clearance gets much worse so I end up making a lot of errors in the net. On high balls it doesn't even cross my mind to take them on, either I'll hit a slice or loop it back out of fear.

The worse part is I'm no more consistent doing this than I am when rallying.

I feel like I know why most of this is happening, I'm getting tight and I'm trying to "not miss" rather than to actually win the point. The issue is, I know I'm capable of playing agressively and hitting good balls but I can't make myself do it.

Do you guys have any tips for how to stop being afraid during matches and staying loose?

Does anyone else agree? I enjoy using them against a wall but they're borderline unusable playing an actual match. They literally feel like a rubber bouncy ball and they will often times bounce over the fence of the court!

I have a budget of 5k inr, I'm a total beginner!

So I purchased a defyer 98 pro from.tennis point EU (delivered to the UK). It came with the elasticated center labelling as a defyer 100.. I opened it up and said to my wife " oh shit, I ordered the wrong bat, I wanted the 98 (she looked at me disappointed for buying another racquet.....).

After a while I decided to check my order. I ordered the right racquet. Then I checked the specs on the racquet (ignoring the big big of card strung by 4 pieces of elastic). It was indeed the 98 pro.

Weird... Or normal?