Anyone else play tennis here?

[remilard]

I played competitively for a while from when I was 10 until I was 18 and then just quit and hadn't touched my racket for 7 years up until last thursday. I want to start playing a lot again, I'm in a pretty good situation, I have pretty good access to indoor and outdoor courts across the street from my apartment where I can play for free.

I'm 26 so I think if I stick to it I can start winning by the time I'm 30 and qualify for the old men's division :).

ETA: On the crazy chance that anyone lives in Portland and plays, pm me.

[WfuDeac]

remilard,

Let's pick up our tennis discussion on this thread!

I play every day I can get outside. Where can you play indoors for free? That rocks!

I'm about a 3.5, just joined the USTA and plan on playing some tournaments soon. I live in Charlotte, NC.

Are you good? I've spent the last few days working on my topspin serve and kick serve. I got beat badly yesterday by a guy who kept mixing up his serves...

I also plan on taking my first private lesson this week! I can't wait!

[Rie]

I actually just picked up a racket last night for the first time in years! I was better than I remembered! My husband is pretty good, used to take lessons, so, he's teaching me now! We're going to start playing in the evenings once we both get home from work... our apartment complex has a great court that no one ever uses.

[remilard]

remilard,

Let's pick up our tennis discussion on this thread!

I play every day I can get outside. Where can you play indoors for free? That rocks!

I'm about a 3.5, just joined the USTA and plan on playing some tournaments soon. I live in Charlotte, NC.

Are you good? I've spent the last few days working on my topspin serve and kick serve. I got beat badly yesterday by a guy who kept mixing up his serves...

I also plan on taking my first private lesson this week! I can't wait!

I'm allright, I was sectionally ranked in 14s for a while and I got 7th at state once in high school. I'm quite unfit now and a little inconsistant but I still hit the ball well. If I played league now I would probably do so at 4.0, I was definately 4.5 before I quit. Everyone insisted the number one player on my HS team was a 5.0 and we always went to three sets when we played with him winning about 75% of the time so I guess I could claim that once I'm fit and my consistancy is back that I am 5.0, though I don't know how much I would win at that level.

I am playing for my school's club team now. I plan to do USTA league this summer and maybe doubles or mixed doubles tournament play (I don't know how many rounds I would win in open singles).

My school has 4 indoor courts which students play free on. Other than when there is a class or the club team practice (which I am at anyway) they are open and rarely full.

I need to work on my serve as well, I am short and that has always been one of my weaknesses. I don't think I'll ever serve a good player off the court but when I can mix up my serves and get a lot of first serves in I can at least get weak returns and hold.

I do think having a versatile serve is key, that is why Sampras was a more effective server than Roddick, who hits harder.

[remilard]

I actually just picked up a racket last night for the first time in years! I was better than I remembered! My husband is pretty good, used to take lessons, so, he's teaching me now! We're going to start playing in the evenings once we both get home from work... our apartment complex has a great court that no one ever uses.

I had the same experience, I wasn't better than I remembered, but better than I thought I would be. I've only been on the court 5 times since my 7 year layoff and people have a hard time believing that, although I still miss a lot of overheads and my volleys are shaky at times which are sure signs of rustiness.

[WfuDeac]

My volleys have gotten exponentially better since I started hitting against a wall a few weeks ago, I used to hate coming to the net but now I love finishing points there.

The thing that's killing me is my serve. I have a good percentage, but all my friends are saying I do this helicopter-type thing with my racquet. I always thought you had to get your racquet behind you some type of way, in order to bring it back up over your head and through the ball!

Watching other people's serves, though, they don't look half as wristy as mine. It's a simple motion to bring back the racquet behind their back, then hit the ball. I have no idea how to fix it so I'm looking forward to taking a lesson!

Do you use a Continental grip for your serves/volleys? I got used to it with volleys, but my serve grip is more Eastern. It will definitely take some getting used to.

[WfuDeac]

Hey remilard, what school do you go to? I wish I had played club tennis in college!

[remilard]

My volleys have gotten exponentially better since I started hitting against a wall a few weeks ago, I used to hate coming to the net but now I love finishing points there.

The thing that's killing me is my serve. I have a good percentage, but all my friends are saying I do this helicopter-type thing with my racquet. I always thought you had to get your racquet behind you some type of way, in order to bring it back up over your head and through the ball!

Watching other people's serves, though, they don't look half as wristy as mine. It's a simple motion to bring back the racquet behind their back, then hit the ball. I have no idea how to fix it so I'm looking forward to taking a lesson!

Do you use a Continental grip for your serves/volleys? I got used to it with volleys, but my serve grip is more Eastern. It will definitely take some getting used to.

Continental grip is a must for volleys, I've never seen a good volleyer not use it. I've seen good servers use the eastern and the continental, I use continental. I think a coach can help you a lot with your serve, it shouldn't be wristy, per se, but see if you can get videos of Sampras serving, his starting position and toe lift thing were a little weird but once he started moving everything was textbook. Great push off with the legs, (he landed a few feet inside the baseline) great hip rotation, elbow finishes high, racket down, wrist pronated.

Sampras (and most pros) hit slice, kick, flat all from the same ball toss location which is slick if you can do it. It is hard to hit a kick serve without tossing a little bit to your left, but thats a dead give away and a lot of good players will eat a kick serve for breakfast if they can read it and it isn't hit hard.

The most important thing about the serve is to avoid muscling it with your arm, which is what most recreational players do (so did Agassi after his shoulder injury but he also bench presses over 300 pounds). The power comes from your legs and hips and you use your arm like a whip.

I got to Portland State University btw. I think this club tennis thing will be fun, I haven't challenged anyone yet but there is a meet at the end of the month so I'm going to challenge high enough to play. Right now I mainly want to work on fitness, next year I'll try to win.

[veggiewriter]

Tennis, the only sport I really like to play (besides frisbee)! Of course, I'm really bad, but after lots of practice in college, I won a "most improved" award. I tried to play a month or so ago (after a 5 yr break) and thought I was doing a great job. Until I realized that the 'playing' we were doing was just the warm-up. Once it became a 'real' game, I was ruined. Sadness. I need to work on my hand-eye coordination again. It's not one of my gifts.

[holly golightly]

i wish. i play raquetball but not really "play" just sign up for turns/rounds at the gym :( none of my friends are all that active let alone into raquet sports. im not sure how i'd like tennis but i really love raquetball so maybe. anyway good job and good luck in all of your endeavors.

[WfuDeac]

Hey remilard:

I'm getting ready to play my first USTA tournament next weekend! I plan on entering the 3.5 division and see how I do there. Any advice?

By the way, I learned how important it is to get your racquet restrung before your strings break. I bet the tension on my old strings was around 30 pounds before I took it in. I restrung with new string at 62 and was hitting clean winners off both sides!

[remilard]

Hey remilard:

I'm getting ready to play my first USTA tournament next weekend! I plan on entering the 3.5 division and see how I do there. Any advice?

By the way, I learned how important it is to get your racquet restrung before your strings break. I bet the tension on my old strings was around 30 pounds before I took it in. I restrung with new string at 62 and was hitting clean winners off both sides!

Advice: Bring more stuff than you think you need (food, extra socks, extra shirts, extra overgrip, extra shoes if you have them).

Relax, a lot of people get nervous at tournaments and play below their ability.

As for stringing, its good that you figured that out early. A lot of people get really stingy on strings, in which case it would be better to use something a bit cheaper and string it more often. No synthetic string plays well indefinately. I think tennis magazine used to say string your racket the same number of times per year as you play per week. I string mine every two months, when they are significantly frayed, feel "off" or break whichever comes first.

[WfuDeac]

Yeah my strings definitely felt "off" there for a while. I think this time I got a synthetic gut, 17 gauge for more feel compared to the 15 gauge stuff I usually get. I even thought about buying a string tension meter to record whether it's time to bring it in or not.

The thing that kills me is that ordering string online is so cheap! It almost makes me want to buy a stringing machine and learn how to do it myself.

[remilard]

How did your tournament go?

Stringing isn't hard. When I was in high school we had a machine (a nice one, electric, food pedal controlled tensioner) and I did all mine on it, I could do them in 30 minutes while carrying a conversation, but that was an expensive machine. I'm thinking of getting the new gamma one with the 6 point mounting and fixed clamps, its like $450, if I go any cheaper I know I will want to upgrade soon. I it will pay for itself in two years, less if I string some on the side.

Getting string online does change everything, it sucks to find out that not only is your stringer charging you $15 for the stringing job but they are marking the string up $10 too.

What string do you use? I've been using the NXT 17 which is great but if I get a machine I might switch to the sensation 17, which is what I used in HS, since it comes in reels.

[WfuDeac]

Hi remilard!

Since this thread got bumped back to the top, I'll go ahead and say I won the 3.0 tournament I entered!!!!!!1111onejuanuno

:)

Anyway, I played two matches on Saturday, and one on Sunday. I even had my own cheering section for the final on Sunday, including the guy that I beat in my first match! He told my fiancee that he at least wanted to go back and tell his friends that he lost to the person that eventually won! I was very nervous for my first match, but for the second and third I told myself I was going to swing out on everything, and I had absolutely no nerves. I was ecstatic that I won the whole thing, and so was my fiancee.

I am currently experimenting with different types of string...Right now I'm using a Prince Problend, synthetic gut 17 gauge....I really liked the string, but it's started to fray and doesn't have much time left on this earth, I'm afraid. I will probably stick with the 17, since I really liked the feel of it.

[remilard]

Congratulations.

NXT frays like crazy, its a really great soft multifilimant though, if thats your thing. I'm thinking seriously of switching back to sensation and buying a stringer though. NXT + stringing fees is $25, sensation from a reel and stringing myself while I watch tv is $5, that adds up quickly.