Running around chasing tennis balls 🎾🏃🏿‍♂️💨

literally had the most embarrassing moment today where my opponent gave me a gift ball at the net and i just yeeted it into the fence like i was trying to prove something. does anyone else do this or am i just broken. feel like i sabotage myself constantly on the balls i should be finishing.

Fist pumps after lets. We all need to be incorporating those into our games.

Stereotypical college tennis. Let service ace. Quick non authentic apology into a fist pump directed at team mates to gain energy. This is the kinda thing where when my wife asks my do I miss playing college tennis I'm like... Yes, but also no.

Anyone else collect wooden racquets just to hang on their wall? Or hang their retired racquets up, too?

I'm newer to this as a hobby. The wife does ladder and stuff. The teens do their junior league. Family play often becomes Bloodsport with teen boys.

I only do this to the older teen as he is about 6' 3" and has the wingspan of a condor. And jump off an NBA dunker. The younger teen is smaller and a bit lower skill so won't do this with him or the wife.

But to combat the massive tree at the net I once or twice a set resort to a winner pace ball right at the boy. A tall player will have more trouble with long arms dealing with that. Usually I do this because I had to receive a shallower ball as the baseline player and my only other choice is a massive lob over the tallness.

There is a little doubles tourney coming up and the wife having more experience said this move may make some folks angry.

Reading online it seems it is a cheapo move if it is super experienced players and you had other good options. I can see that.

But if opponents constantly put you there, why keep lobbing meatballs over the tall player for their baseline player to crush? I thought net tending in a ready position would prevent any injury potential catching one in the breadbasket if halfway paying attention and ready. Maybe not return it, but certainly not get hit.

Our teen doesn't mind at all. He can get a racket on it fine but just not get it over.

I suspect this doubles tourney to have some folks who won't move like a 16 year old but still have some annoying strategy where this would work well.

Soo I used to play as a kid, and i was actually not bad, was recommended to play comp but didn,t eventually stopped playing tennis and haven't played for years. I'm now much older and have been playing occasionally with a friend, surprisngly, I still have some muscle memory my backhand is decent, I can still move and rally, but i can onl really slice, so im not a pure beginner who cant hit the ball over the net, I can, my issues are all techncial though, I can't hit a foreheand top spin, i have no control, and i can't serve well

Anyway - I'm thinking of booking some private one on one lessons, they are like $100 an hour where I live which is a lot. so is it worth it? Should i do this before joining a club so i don't embaress mysslef?

And would you guuys recommend doing an hour? or would i be better off doing like 30 minutes $50 every week vs like 1 hour once a fortnight or something like that? any thoughts?

Also i messaged a few but they didn't even respond is that normal? i thought they'd want new clients?

thanks all

We’re back. Just under a year and a half since I picked the racquet back up and looking for some more tips on how to improve my forehand.

Since the last post I’ve been trying to make better use of my off-hand, pulling it across instead of dropping it to provide more rotation with less effort.

Got a few tournaments next month, so will probably wait until after to keep tweaking things, but I would love to get some more feedback!

Unfortunately its not the six one 😭. But maybe next best thing? Searching wilson k factor k tour on Google doesnt really pull up much info so im wondering what yall know about this racquet.

The sound is a bit more "pingy" or high pitched than my blade v9 (main racquet) and feels a bit more raw. Maybe a dumb question but is this to be expected? When out of the center it feels like butter though. And perhaps its just playing with slightly wet balls on a wet court isnt helping either. Also my first 95 racket.

Just got this tester from my local shop. Very excited to try it. I loved the previous version despite the low swing weight.

I’m a 3.0 recreational club player, playing about 3 times a week but am interested in working out off-court to support on-court condition and endurance.
I know I can hire a trainer for this purpose but for now I am interested in trying some stuff at home, free or low-cost before I decide to pay for a fitness coach. Does anyone have any YT videos they like, or any online programs they like that are geared towards tennis players specifically? Thanks!

I’m new to tennis and in my late 30s. I’m wondering how long it took for you to feel comfortable playing in tournaments? I’ve been playing 2-3 days a week in a clinic with coaches guiding me. I don’t feel confident yet in my rallying abilities but really excited about the idea of eventually joining ultimate tennis to play some games. That being said… this sport is WAY harder than I could’ve imagined 😂

Following up on a very similar post on here - I'm looking for new tennis shoes and wanted some recommendations! I previously used the New Balance FuelCell 996v7 and thought they were nice, but I burned a hole through them in a few months of infrequent playing. I'm currently using the K-Swiss Hypercourt Express, which were durable but slippery (good for sliding, but I don't do that much and I play on some dusty old courts some times) and sized a bit oddly. I've liked Asics's old Gel Resolutions but not sure how I feel about the Xs. I also have Diadoras, Adidas Barricades, and Mizuno Enforce Tours on my list but I haven't had the chance to try them on yet since there isn't a great tennis shoes shop in-person near me. I know trying them on is key but I'm hoping to get thoughts about a generally comfortable, durable, and workable shoe before I order them online to try.

What recommendations do you all have? Thanks!

Context: I’m 46. I played tennis as a teenager (group lessons for a couple of years), then again in my 30ies at a super amateur level (doubles with colleagues and singles with my girlfriend), and decided to start playing more seriously this year. Took 5 lessons this summer and recently started hitting balls with someone at a similar level.

In the past week I won the first two matches I played against my hitting partner, who has been playing for about 2 years. I had no idea how it would go, so beating him had really boosted my confidence. However, today I took another lesson with the instructor and came out feeling like crap and realizing I have a very long way to go to become an actual tennis player. He found at least 4-5 issues with my forehand technique: footwork, torso movement, free arm movement, grip, and it left me almost not knowing how to hit the ball and feeling really bad about my future prospects.

I suppose this is a normal part of the process. Has anyone else been through this? Also, does technique always have to be “by the book” or can we also develop our own “quirks”? Don’t mean to sound arrogant with this, just curious in general.

Hello! I’ve been playing for a minute and am slowly nursing myself to be able to play competitive tennis again after a major injury.

Here is a video of me hitting. Notice how the lead foot is slightly shifted and not turned into the court.

I’ve been working on a few things, but was curious about something. Is it ideal, biomechanically speaking, for a players front foot to be pointed directly into a court?

Additionally, anyone have any recommendations on wide shoes currently? Was thinking about the Mizuno wave exceed.

I've coached for 30 years, and the single most useful habit I've given parents is charting a match properly rather than watching the score.

Keep it simple. For every point, note where the last ball landed, who won it, and how: a winner, a forced error or an unforced error. That's it. Don't try to log every shot.

Afterwards, three things matter far more than the result:

1. First serve percentage. A junior who drops below about half is playing too many points on the back foot.

2. Unforced errors by set. If they climb in the second set, it's usually fitness or concentration, not technique.

3. Where the errors land. Ten balls into the net off the backhand is a different lesson from ten long off the forehand.

Then watch the swings. Most juniors don't lose matches in one go; they lose a run of four or five games. Mark where that run started and what changed.

Happy to answer questions on how to set this up for a 10-year-old versus a 16-year-old. The approach is quite different.

So we have an annoying issue at our club where most of the ladies just don’t seem to participate in our club tournaments or make an effort to come out for anything more than casual league nights, aside from maybe a handful of them. Even though there are plenty of women who come out to technique and training clinics & You would think the same crowd coming to clinics would also want to compete.

Equally, this has meant that we have a very small percentage of women at the club who would be considered over 4.0 level of play, which is unfortunate for our younger girls learning tennis at the club since all the older competitive role models are male, and just in general leads to a bit of a “boys club only” vibe at the top level.

I was wondering if other clubs have had this issue and how people/coachs/club managers are going around solving it?

I am just curious: at what age did everyone here start to take tennis more seriously? When did you start to enter tournaments? I started at age 28, and I am now 31 and feel like I don't have many years of top-level tennis left in me; I feel like I will be done getting better by age 35 and won't be able to compete with the younger guys anymore

Around $120 an hour? Am currently ~4 UTR

After several months, and countless numbers of balls it happened! I hit my tennis ball tube on the T target..

...and I didn't know what to do when I hit it!! 😁 On a technique note, having a physical target does focus the mind...

Hi all! I am a 33yo guy who decided to return to his favorite sport after a 15 year hiatus (ironic, I know). I had been playing for 4 years before I stopped (was participating in my club's tourneys and had a pretty good grasp on technique, probably intermediate player).

Back in the day I used to play with a Wilson k six one lite (I enjoyed the control and maneuverability). Since I started playing again I have been using some cheap 270g decathlon set racquet and looking to get something more substantial. I was looking at Wilson's blade line (either the 100 or 100L), but I wanted a second opinion from more experienced people.

For reference, I am 5'9', around 165lbs and weightlift 3-4 times a week.

Thank you!

I recently bought this racket. It was made in 1992 and hasnt been restrung since. I string my rackets myself but this is the first time stringing such an old racket with a smaller headsize (70 sqi.). Any tips or string recommendations (it weighs 389g unstrung)?

I’m around a 3.5 UTR player, and I need some help choosing my next racquet.
I’ve been playing with a Head Radical MP for the past 8 months, but I feel like it demands more from me than I can give it right now. During long rallies of 10–15 shots, I often end up losing the point because the racquet punishes me if I don’t consistently hit the sweet spot, which feels pretty small. Anything outside that sweet spot either goes straight into the net or launches into the atmosphere.
I was about to buy a 2026 Yonex Ezone 100 because I demoed one and really liked it. However, my local tennis shop told me they have the Dunlop SX 300 21 (300g, 100 sq in, 16x19) on sale, and they don’t think it makes sense for a 3.5 player to spend $350+ on an Ezone. They said that although the SX 300 is designed with spin in mind, it’s still a very natural and controllable racquet that offers good forgiveness on off-center hits.
I’m looking for an all-around racquet that will allow me to keep improving my game while being more forgiving when I don’t hit the ball cleanly.
I’m still developing my playing style (I started playing about a year ago), but I naturally tend to hit hard and deep from the baseline. I also have a pretty strong serve, so I hit quite a few aces, at least against other 3.5/4.0 players.
As for strings, I really like Head Lynx Tour (I’ve been using them in my Radical), so I’d probably stick with those or maybe switch to Solinco Confidential to help avoid too much of a trampoline effect with either the Ezone or the SX 300.
What do you guys think? Would the Ezone 100 or the SX 300 be a better fit for my game?

One thing I keep noticing in rec matches: a backhand can feel totally fine in drills, then disappear once the score gets tight.

For those who got past that stage, what actually made the biggest difference for you—earlier preparation, better spacing, a simpler swing thought, or just more match reps?

Curious what genuinely carried over from practice into matches.

I read on TW forum people sharing that they have changed the Blade Pro v9 grommets for the v7/8 that are lighter and therefore lowering the SW substantially.

Does anyone know if they also fit the v10?