Tennis machine question for the tennis freaks

[Screw_Michigan]

So I tried doing more serve and volley in my league on Friday. It seems like you need a really good serve to work well in serve and volley to get your opponent off balance. My serve is consistent, I can get it in the service box regularly on first serve, but it's weak in speed and I can't aim it.

So I would run to the net on the first or second volley after my serve. Sometimes it would work because I'd scare the opponent. Which is fine. But most of the time they'd lob it over me or hit it around me.

My tennis partner said I get too close to the next and taking stepping 8 steps back from the net would help.

Any thoughts?

[Softball Bat]

My serve is consistent, I can get it in the service box regularly on first serve, but it's weak in speed and I can't aim it.

Yeah, if you're going to advance to the net right after you serve, you might need to upgrade your serve.
Keep working on the serve, and on your placement of the serve -- so you can direct it to the opponent's weaker side, usually the backhand.

I think it's good that you are wanting to advance to the net.
learn to play the whole court, and not only camp out on the baseline, as most players do these days.

If you have a wall to practice on, go to the wall and work on your volleys.
Get up close to the wall and don't let the ball bounce.
Use a very short backswing and bump the ball (softely) to the wall time-after-time, keeping it going as long as you can.
Quick reflexes, very short backswing -- alternating between forehand and backhand volley.
Learn to control the racquet and the ball this way.

Keep working on the serve, keep working on the volley.
You probably already have decent groundstrokes.

[L45B]

It helps to have a serve motion that naturally pulls you into the court (closer to the net). Make sure your ball toss is out in front of you, you want to be moving forward from the get go.

From there you don’t want to still be moving forward at the very moment your opponent is hitting his return or you will run right thru your first volley or get passed. You want to stop and split step with racquet out in front of you, then step forward and punch. Google/youtube “tennis split step.”

My favorite serve-and-volley service motion was that of Richard Krajicek, ‘96 Wimbledon champion. Beautiful fluid motion, and he was immediately at the net after crushing his serve. Made it look effortless. Guy was like Del Potro, tons of talent and potential but plagued with injuries and only shined in one slam but should’ve won more. I would youtube him also (Richard Krajicek).

[Softball Bat]

My favorite serve-and-volley service motion was that of Richard Krajicek, ‘96 Wimbledon champion. Beautiful fluid motion, and he was immediately at the net after crushing his serve. Made it look effortless.

Great call!

I could watch Krajicek serve all day.

He had THE best service motion of any player in my lifetime.

[Screw_Michigan]

It helps to have a serve motion that naturally pulls you into the court (closer to the net). Make sure your ball toss is out in front of you, you want to be moving forward from the get go.

From there you don’t want to still be moving forward at the very moment your opponent is hitting his return or you will run right thru your first volley or get passed. You want to stop and split step with racquet out in front of you, then step forward and punch. Google/youtube “tennis split step.”

My favorite serve-and-volley service motion was that of Richard Krajicek, ‘96 Wimbledon champion. Beautiful fluid motion, and he was immediately at the net after crushing his serve. Made it look effortless. Guy was like Del Potro, tons of talent and potential but plagued with injuries and only shined in one slam but should’ve won more. I would youtube him also (Richard Krajicek).

Thanks! Great suggestions.

[Softball Bat]

Shot of the tournament?

[Screw_Michigan]

Richard Krajicek

This was pretty entertaining. #1 trait of success in pro tennis: Being tall

[Screw_Michigan]

Thing I noticed about Krajicek is that his serve toss is really low. I mean as soon as he raises his arm, he's firing that bitch over.

I notice the ladies have high tosses. This sexy young Russian female coach who is coaching a class I'm taking in DC wants me to start tossing my ball higher. I think it gives you time to adjust for a better swing, but like with baseball and pitching, you give your opponent more preparation time, if that makes sense.

[Screw_Michigan]

Shot of the tournament?

That was pretty good. Been a lot of great shots so far.

[Softball Bat]

Men's quarterfinals are set.


Alcaraz v. Rune
Medvedev v. Eubanks
Sinner v. Safiullin
Rublev v. Djokovic



Alcaraz
Medvedev
Sinner
Djokovic

[Mikey]

Shot of the tournament?

That was pretty good. Been a lot of great shots so far.

It seems to be the fashionable thing for tennis players to make a lot of noise when they they hit the ball. Do you do that as well?

I’d like to hear something similar from baseball pitchers and hitters. Pitchers might get another 5 mph on their fastball and maybe make a changeup even more deceptive.

[Screw_Michigan]

Do you do that as well?

I don't think so. I'd hope not, I'm not good enough to pull that off.

[Mikey]

Do you do that as well?

I don't think so. I'd hope not, I'm not good enough to pull that off.

Sounds like you just need to try harder.

[Softball Bat]

It seems to be the fashionable thing for tennis players to make a lot of noise when they they hit the ball. Do you do that as well?

I never did it, and I have always had disdain for it.

A small grunt is natural, similar to what people do when they are lifting weights or exercising, but what we far too often have is players using grunting as a tactic.
They see it as some form of intimidation or psychological advantage.

It is disgusting, and it is more prevalent in the women's game.
Shrieking, screaming, grunting like zoo animals.

Not IN.

[Mikey]

I don’t watch much tennis but it seems like nowadays just about all of the pros do it. Thanks Jennifer.

With this being the case, maybe it would be more intimidating for players NOT to do it. Like “I’m so much better than you, I can kick your squirrely little ass without even trying that hard.”

[Meat Head]

Shrieking, screaming, grunting like zoo animals.

Not IN.

Have apes or the like been trained to play tennis?



Talk about intimidating.

I could look it up, but your take would be more interesting.

[Softball Bat]

Men's quarterfinals are set.


Alcaraz v. Rune
Medvedev v. Eubanks
Sinner v. Safiullin
Rublev v. Djokovic



Alcaraz
Medvedev
Sinner
Djokovic

And that's how it went.

Alcaraz v. Medvedev
Sinner v. Djokovic

I like Alcaraz over Medvedev.
I think Sinner might give Novax all he can handle. Will be interesting.

[Screw_Michigan]

Congrats to Chris Eubanks for reaching the Wimbledon QF in his first attempt. $439k payday. Not bad. I should have played pro tennis.

[Screw_Michigan]

Was surprised to see Rybakena melt down so hard in her match. She beat Jabeur in a first set tiebreaker and lost a close second set, but got blown out in the third set.

How come tennis box sets don't show the order of the games won? Would provide a lot of insight into how a match progressed.

[L45B]

Thing I noticed about Krajicek is that his serve toss is really low. I mean as soon as he raises his arm, he's firing that bitch over.

His toss was no lower than Sampras’ toss. Krajicek just had a really fast, fluid serve motion in which he hit the ball right as it reached its peak altitude with no pause or hitch in his motion. Goran Ivanisevic (Djokovic’s coach) had a similar style— really fast motion (less fluid and more karate-choppish compared to Krajicek) and crushed his serves, some of the fastest serves on tour back in the day. You’re right, both guys had extreme advantage in being really tall.

Ons Jabeur has a really low toss but she plays the most tactical game on the women’s tour, so power is not her aim. Placement and changing up spin and speed of the ball to throw off her opponents is her game. Extremely effective (and she can still hit serves with a lot of pace, but she varies it up).

Check YouTube for serve motions of Steffi Graf and Ivan Lendl. They had high tosses on their serves with a hitch/pause in the motion (almost as if they were waiting for the ball toss to come down an inch before hitting it).

To each her/his/their own

[Softball Bat]

How come tennis box sets don't show the order of the games won? Would provide a lot of insight into how a match progressed.

It is an interesting proposition, SM.

Back in the early days, when tennis scores were being printed in the newspaper, this...

Trabert - 6 4 7 3
Kramer - 7 6 5 6

is pretty compact.
It doesn't take up much space, compared to the space your proposition would take up.

I can't say that I can remember ever having seen a tennis "box score" show what you proposed.
It would actually be somewhat interesting to see.

[Softball Bat]

Alcaraz v. Medvedev
Sinner v. Djokovic

I like Alcaraz over Medvedev.
I think Sinner might give Novax all he can handle. Will be interesting.
Image

Alcaraz and Novax will square off in the final.
Both rolled through the semis in straight sets.

First WImbledon final for Alcaraz.


Djokovic can win his 24th major. His 23 is already the most ever.
A win would give Novax 8 Wimbledon titles, and would put him into a tie with Roger Federer for the most ever.
A win would also give him the 3rd leg of a potential calendar year grand slam. He has already won the Aussie Open and the French Open in 2023.

Fun stat of the day: Novak Djokovic has a career record of 62-77 in doubles.
lol

[Mikey]

Not much of a team player I guess.

[Screw_Michigan]

Today I learned the hard way about playing on unmaintained Hard Tru clay courts. Or fake clay courts for the non tennis freaks who read this thread.

I was playing at a local club that has indoor Hard Tru clay courts, which are similar to real clay courts and can be installed on hard courts. The court had been used all day and was creating brutal bounces during warmup.

So I had the bright idea to take the giant brush and run it through the baselines and the service line. I thought that was brilliant.

Until I slipped two minutes later, fell on my stomach and tore up my right thumb knuckle pretty good. Seems like spreading around bone dry Hard Tru material makes the courts slippery. That's why there's always a guy at night to water down the courts. They probably should have watered down the court earlier today.

Thank God and G0d it was late on a Friday night and there were no hot chicks around to see this.

FUCK

[Mikey]

Sorry you fucked yourself up, but at least you learned something from the experience.

Yesterday I caused the kitchen sink to back up by trying to stuff too much crap down the garbage disposal all at once. I took the pipes under the sink apart and made sure it wasn’t just the P trap, ran a auger (“snake”) into the pipe, and it still didn’t drain. Called a plumber and we realized that the septic tank was way overdue for pumping out, which could cause the drains to back up. So we got a septic service out on an emergency call to pump out the tank (which should have been done a couple of years ago because it could cause the whole house to back up). The kitchen sink still wouldn’t drain but everything else in the house worked fine. So today I tried boiling water, baking soda and vinegar, without success. So we got the plumber back out this afternoon and he was able to get things running again. I learned two things: don’t stuff too much crap down the disposal all at once (I already fucking knew this), and get the septic pumped at least every five years.

The whole debacle cost me about $1200, but at least I didn’t fuck up my thumb.

[Softball Bat]

Today I learned the hard way about playing on unmaintained Hard Tru clay courts. Or fake clay courts for the non tennis freaks who read this thread.

I was playing at a local club that has indoor Hard Tru clay courts, which are similar to real clay courts and can be installed on hard courts. The court had been used all day and was creating brutal bounces during warmup.

So I had the bright idea to take the giant brush and run it through the baselines and the service line. I thought that was brilliant.

Until I slipped two minutes later, fell on my stomach and tore up my right thumb knuckle pretty good. Seems like spreading around bone dry Hard Tru material makes the courts slippery. That's why there's always a guy at night to water down the courts. They probably should have watered down the court earlier today.

Thank God and G0d it was late on a Friday night and there were no hot chicks around to see this.

FUCK

That sucks, SM.

Take care of that thumb so it doesn't get infected.


Btw, those courts are called Har-Tru.

No d.

[Softball Bat]

Fun stat of the day: Novak Djokovic has a career record of 62-77 in doubles.
lol

Not much of a team player I guess.

John McEnroe career doubles record: 530-103


Djoker has a great return of serve. One of the best ever.
It should be a great asset in doubles.

But the rest of his skills do not translate well to doubles.

He has probably THE worst overhead of any top player I have seen.
He is not a real natural volleyer, and doesn't volley with a lot of impact.
He is also not a natural serve-and-volleyer.

Novax is a singles player.
He is a counter-puncher.

[Softball Bat]

Sorry you fucked yourself up, but at least you learned something from the experience.

Yesterday I caused the kitchen sink to back up by trying to stuff too much crap down the garbage disposal all at once. I took the pipes under the sink apart and made sure it wasn’t just the P trap, ran a auger (“snake”) into the pipe, and it still didn’t drain. Called a plumber and we realized that the septic tank was way overdue for pumping out, which could cause the drains to back up. So we got a septic service out on an emergency call to pump out the tank (which should have been done a couple of years ago because it could cause the whole house to back up). The kitchen sink still wouldn’t drain but everything else in the house worked fine. So today I tried boiling water, baking soda and vinegar, without success. So we got the plumber back out this afternoon and he was able to get things running again. I learned two things: don’t stuff too much crap down the disposal all at once (I already fucking knew this), and get the septic pumped at least every five years.

The whole debacle cost me about $1200, but at least I didn’t fuck up my thumb.

That sucks, Mikey.

Home issues can sometimes be a pain in the @ss.


Did I ever talk about how squirrels once got into our house?

[Softball Bat]

Alcaraz and Novax will square off in the final.

I'll say Novax in 4.

[smackaholic]

Sorry you fucked yourself up, but at least you learned something from the experience.

Yesterday I caused the kitchen sink to back up by trying to stuff too much crap down the garbage disposal all at once. I took the pipes under the sink apart and made sure it wasn’t just the P trap, ran a auger (“snake”) into the pipe, and it still didn’t drain. Called a plumber and we realized that the septic tank was way overdue for pumping out, which could cause the drains to back up. So we got a septic service out on an emergency call to pump out the tank (which should have been done a couple of years ago because it could cause the whole house to back up). The kitchen sink still wouldn’t drain but everything else in the house worked fine. So today I tried boiling water, baking soda and vinegar, without success. So we got the plumber back out this afternoon and he was able to get things running again. I learned two things: don’t stuff too much crap down the disposal all at once (I already fucking knew this), and get the septic pumped at least every five years.

The whole debacle cost me about $1200, but at least I didn’t fuck up my thumb.

You left coaster really do need to look at composting systems.

Save a lot of precious water and provide soil to make your tomatoes grow better.


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[smackaholic]

What is this fake clay shit?

Do they just throw some chalk down on a hard court so you can slide/kill yourself?


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[Screw_Michigan]

What is this fake clay shit?

Do they just throw some chalk down on a hard court so you can slide/kill yourself?

Har-Tru courts tend to be more slippery than red clay courts, which can be another adjustment for players. Despite these challenges, many players enjoy the unique playing experience that a Har-Tru court offers.

Red clay courts are made from a type of brick that is kiln-fired and then ground down into a fine powder. This powder is then mixed with water to create the playing surface.

https://mytennisoutfitter.com/har-tru-vs-clay/

[Screw_Michigan]

Despite his obnoxious anti-vaxx beliefs, Novak seems like a classy guy. He'll be back.

[smackaholic]

Despite his obnoxious anti-vaxx beliefs, Novak seems like a classy guy. He'll be back.

What is obnoxious about it?

He stated that given his level of fitness and the unknown long term effects of a new vaccine, he made the decision to pass on the vax.

Wanna know what is obnoxious?

Telling a person “take this or you’re fired”.


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[Softball Bat]

Major props to C. Alcaraz!
What an effort, and what an outstanding final it was.

Despite his obnoxious anti-vaxx beliefs, Novak seems like a classy guy. He'll be back.

His post-match interview on the court was very sweet!

[Screw_Michigan]

His post-match interview on the court was very sweet!

Saw that myself, why I mentioned it

[Kierland]

Despite his obnoxious anti-vaxx beliefs, Novak seems like a classy guy. He'll be back.

What is obnoxious about it?

He stated that given his level of fitness and the unknown long term effects of a new vaccine, he made the decision to pass on the vax.

Wanna know what is obnoxious?

Telling a person “take this or you’re fired”.


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Killing grama is pretty obnoxious, plus he thinks like you which is per se obnoxious.


“Wear pants or your fired!”

That’s bullshit!
Sin,
Dumbaholic

[Sudden Sam]

Screwy, what have you got against a healthy person trying to maintain his good health? Why would Novak risk everything by being injected with an ineffective experimental “vaccine”?

He should be respected for standing up against the bullshit.

[Screw_Michigan]

He's not risking anything other than the health and safety of the people he encounters.

[Sudden Sam]

He's not risking anything other than the health and safety of the people he encounters.

Not true. Many healthy and younger than him athletes have been injured or killed by the vax.

Plus, if he were sick, he’d know to not be around people, whereas vaxxed persons routinely transmit the virus to others.