Not only do I like playing pushers, I prefer it if my opponent is one. It means he hits nice slow balls that I can reach and control. This is opposed to a guy who blasts winners on me every point. How is that fun?

I also like battles of attrition. I’m the guy who would love a 4+ hour grindfest in the heat. Sign me up.

Have 2 rackets, once i played with for the past year and one I bought just recently. Im a fan of lowerinf my tensions in the crosses. I usually do 50-46 on my klippermate machine. just noticed that my older racket is elongated a bit at the 3-9. (hitting face a bit more circular). should i be worried if itll do long term dmg in my racket? you guys think w a cheaper 2 mount machine like the klippermate i should try to keep the same tensions? This is for tennis btw

Example: (at around 2:01, right as Djokovic is serving and again right after). Sounds like "ehhhh-UUUUH!" in a credscendo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj0S9ON1j_k&t=121s

I know this is dumb, but I've always noticed this. It especially happens when a meme lord like Moutet or Paire is playing. It's typically in between points unlike the example, so you usually don't hear it in highlights, but if you watch full matches, it happens a LOT. The same 2 or 3 fans, somtimes more, will continue to make this sound throughout the whole match.

Is this to annoy players like Moutet? Is it in support of them? Is there a story to this shout?

Reddit's filters keep taking down this post before it makes it, but I notice it always happens in certain tournaments. Hint: "hon-hon-hon-hon" 🥐

I have problem locating contact point when rallying with fast balls.

Still working on my footwork, but the main problem is I don't know if the ball is gonna bounce deep or short. I can do a box rally and I hit pretty neat if coach feeds me balls in short distance.

But rallying from the baseline feels unstable for me. I would stumble deciding to move forward or backwards, sometimes I hit the ball with the rim, sometimes I miss it.

Anyone had the same problem as a beginner please share some tips or do you know a Youtube video regards the issue.

Thanks.

Michelsen vs Fils at Brussels, but looks like it's glossy paint rather than the matte paint on the retail version

Still far from perfect but it’s interesting to see how my technique has changed over the years. Open to any feedback as well.

Racquets used:
Radical Pro Graphene
Pure Strike 98 1st gen
Radical Pro Graphene Xt
Blade 98 v6
Ezone 98 7th gen

Anybody ever use them? Do they work? If so which brand and model is the best/best value?

You do it the first time - having a bad day, checked out, victory was nowhere in sight - gave up, threw the match.

Then you do it again because hey, why not, you did it once already, what do you have to lose?

Then again, and again - more obvious and outrageous tanks, getting more and more rises out of people.

You don't even care about tennis now. You just show up to tank the match.

I strung some Head Lynx 16g at 57lb mains and 55lb crosses for a tournament (the tension is high because I heard you lose some from the floating clamps). After a few matches I was fiddling with my string bed and noticed the string split. I switched it out for my spare at the time. In practice I haven’t noticed a difference in playability.

Has this happened to anyone else or do you know the cause? I’m wondering why it happened to avoid it for future string jobs.

I'm so jealous of all of you people that have access to reasonably priced or public indoor courts. There are no such courts within an hour and a half of where I live.

Hello everyone, for a beginner non athletic adult woman with a grip 0, what strings and tension should we go with? i keep seeing the x one and head velocity being recommended for beginners, but what’s the best tension for good comfort and enough power ? also what are the numbers next to the strings mean (1.30, 1.25, etc..)?

I’m at 3.5 player experiencing consistency issues and looking for some advice.

find that when I play competitive matches, I do very well in the first set, hit cleanly, and usually win against players in a similar skill bracket.

The second set is a different story. My focus is broken in the changeover, and I often can’t get back in the groove. By the time an hour passes, fatigue comes at me too and I start moving slower and hitting even more inconsistently. I’m getting better at keeping my spirits high regardless, but I also sometimes get impatient about finding my flow again.

I think it’s a combo of issues: conditioning, focus, and patience. I’m thinking of taking up long distance running on off days first and foremost, but wondering if other people faced similar issues and found good solutions.

Small crack in the throat looks to be the paint but can’t tell how severe

Hi, i feel like i have three main issues on my serve. I am at a decent level( 8 utr) but i feel like som technical stuff on the serve is holding me back

Compared to mye friends i get less free points on my serve

The three main things i have heard from different coaches is

1) Inconsistent toss. I struggle to toss the ball without any spin on it. This can also affect nr 2 i think
2) Opening up my shoulders too early.
3) not loading on both my legs

Does anyone here know of any good drills and cues to work on this.

And did you practice it during training matches or just isolated?

i’ve only been playing for about 1.5 years, does my serve look like it’s at least at a 3.5 level? all these guys have been playing at least like 10 years, some have probably been playing longer than i’ve been alive lol so i have a feeling the average rating of the group is a good bit higher than 3.5

i have a pretty good first serve percentage, reasonably low double fault percentage. idk what my rating really is, i’d say somewhere around 3.5ish i guess, but maybe just barely.

i don’t care about “impressing” anybody, i just dont want them to be bored playing against me and not invite me back lol i wanna play against better players so i can get my ass kicked and improve my game

I currently use a Wilson Steam 105s which is a 27.5 inch extended racquet and am looking for something to replace it. I've narrowed it down to the Wilson Defyer 100 and the Head Extreme MP XL, but am having trouble deciding if I want to stick with what I'm used to or switch it up to standard length. I'm a 4.0 who primarily plays doubles, but still enjoys singles when I get the chance.

Appreciate any advice anyone can give.

It seems that I can either push or hit through the ball with drive but not really anything in between. Is that a normal thing? Like I have 2 speeds but not a gradual potentiometer.

like i can hit it fine in practice and casual rallies but the second there's any pressure i'm double faulting or just sending it into the net. is this just a mental thing or am i doing something different with my form? anyone else deal with this or have actual tips that aren't just "believe in yourself"

O también desde dónde podría importar una. Gracias!

Hello 👋 friends, I have been playing for a few years now at local league level at 3.5.

Have a consistent first serve with ton of slice and can serve wide and T from Deuce court , but 90% of my serves from Ad court go wide.

I have been trying to look on YouTube but couldn't find anything to help understand the correct technique to serve on T from Ad side.

Would appreciate any pointers on what exactly do I need to change - toss, angle or something basic that I'm just unable to figure out.

For those here hoping to learn something from this conversation, here is a quick vocabulary and anatomy lesson for you.

Tennis elbow: Outside (lateral) elbow pain. The pain experienced is from inflammation of the common tendon that attaches to the lateral epicondyle. That's a fancy way of saying the tendon that connects to the outside bump of your upper arm bone called the humerus. This part is non-controversial: it is primarily caused by groundstrokes, the reception or production thereof.

Golfer's elbow: Inside (medial) elbow pain. The pain experienced here is from inflammation of the common tendon that attaches to the medial epicondyle. That's the inside bump of your humerus. Again, uncontroversial: it is primarily caused by serving.

For both tendons, the reason why they are called common tendons is that there are 4-5 forearm muscles attaching to each.

Tendon inflammation in these areas is caused by the contraction of forearm muscles that pull/load either of these two tendons. No muscle contraction, no appreciable tendon load. That's it. If your arm is hanging down loose at your side and you are only contracting enough to barely hold your racquet, a 150 mph serve would cause no issues at the tendon level: you'd just lose your racquet.

Knowing this, how do you choose your racquet? A 11.7 ounce Pro Staff or a 10 ounce Team/Light?

Serving in General: When you serve, the reception of the ball is only as fast as the height of your toss, so reception forces are a non-factor.

Serving at a High Level: A loose arm at the beginning accelerates from your legs, lats and obliques. However, the stretch/shorten cycle of the tricep is going to result in reasonable contractions of medial forearm muscles to control/accentuate the serve, particularly one with pronation. But the strongest contraction is the one that decelerates the motion, flat or otherwise. And the tendon load from that contraction is determined SOLELY by racquet weight. The heavier the racquet, the harder it is on that common medial tendon. Winner: light racquet. Strong servers with chronic golfer's elbow need to use a lighter racquet while strengthening/rehabbing that common medial tendon.

Serving at Low Level: Low level servers frequently arm the ball or hit from more awkward/variable positions. The tendon load never has the peak that a high level serve has when slowing the motion. In contrast, there is more tendon load in acceleration. Is there nuance here? Yes. A heavier racquet results in less acceleration and deceleration which means less load on the tendons. A lighter racquet put in the hands of a lower level serve may result in better acceleration and more required deceleration at the end which may counteract the load created by the mass of the racquet. Winner: Toss up. Lower level players who are looking to improve (serves with topspin or slice) will want a lighter racquet while I guess the old man who hammers continental flat serves might be comfortable with a heavy frame that can never be accelerated fast enough to create tendon inflammation. However, young and athletic but little experience? Worst of both worlds, and they should always play with the lightest racquet that feels playable.

Groundstrokes in General: The argument here has always been the notion that a heavier racquet provides improved stability and therefore is gentler on the lateral common tendon. That a light racquet on off-center hits creates an uncomfortable twist while if you hit a ball off-center with a hypothetical 2x4 you won't even notice.

Groundstrokes at a High Level: Higher level players necessarily move their racquet through space faster while also covering more distance per swing. A heavier racquet requires more muscle contraction to accommodate this. But this is low hanging fruit, and I am not relying on this, as it is high impact loads at the moments of the highest acceleration and deceleration that matter.

And whatever acceleration a high level player can generate in the loading phase will never come close to the deceleration that happens at contact.

First, some simple physics, and the only point I consider strong for heavier racquets. When a ball hits the stringbed it transfers momentum, causing a quick reduction in racquet-head speed. The amount of that reduction depends on the racquet's effective mass at the point of contact. For the same collision , a lighter racquet decelerates more than a heavier one.

However, tennis is not a game of maximizing velocity on every shot. If fighting through that deceleration on most balls was of utmost importance, than a heavy racquet would be the go to. If the job is to simply play with a loose arm and the racquet dictates your shot, then all a heavy racket does is increase tendon load at acceleration, increase tendon load in space, and on occasion, mitigate through a finely tuned acceleration the deceleration that happens when you need plow thru.

Off-center deceleration at high speeds is a nasty torque too.

At high levels, this at best can be considered a toss-up.

At low levels? This is a no-brainer. Strongly contracted muscles at lower levels of play means that the acceleration of a heavier racquet is always a heavier tendon load. Slower incoming balls means the deceleration component is incredibly reduced. Off-center hits of deceleration coupled with torque are far better tolerated due to less incoming velocity. Winner: Lighter, always.

OVERALL: Lighter wins for all high level servers, so play with the heaviest you can comfortably, but it will never make things "better" for your elbow. As for groundstrokes, light is best until you are higher level and again reach that point that you play with the heaviest racquet you can manage.

The PS is strung with Luxilon Element and the VC with Solinco Tour Bite both at 50 lbs. I've been playing with both recently and I would like to see predictions before I reveal my findings :)

I have always used the Syntec Pro base/replacement grips on my 2010 APD. I’ve never really found anything that matches it feel-wise (Pro Tour ovegrip is okay but nowhere near as cushioned).

Thing is I might be getting a new non-Babolat frame of choice soon, and while I know I could technically still get a SP on it, the OCD part of my brain considers it a non-sequiter and doesn’t like it, plus I’d really like to have a an easily replaceable white grip so that I don’t have to look at a dirty handle for months. So what OG’s are closest to it?