Ball tracking is a fundamental skill that nobody ever talks about. Without proper ball tracking you can’t have accurate shot selection, footwork, spacing, swing path, or contact point. Waiting for the ball forces players to understand ball tracking. And it applies to every single shot from ground strokes to volleys and even the serve. Fantastic video, as always.
Very good points of advantages why you should wait for the ball to hit it at a lower point. But there are definitely some CONs too, as well as some PROs of hitting the ball at a higher point. And there is a big difference between the higher ball that is on the rise and the higher ball that is on the descent. Hitting on he descent but at a higher point makes it easier: 1. To create angles 2. To hit over the net 3. To take time away from your opponent 4. To sneak up to the net if you see him/her struggle with the defense The ideal contact point, in terms of height also varies from player to player, each one has his/her own comfort zone. Other like it more at knee height, others at waist height, fewer (I think) below knee height, because most people struggle to "lift" the ball up so much in order to pass the net. It also depends on the grip (eastern-semi western-western).
@@unassailable6138 Even top spin lobs require a more open racket face, so it is a much different shot. It is definitely easier to pass the net when you start from a higher point, you are not depending on a large curve to make it.
@@unassailable6138 I consider as a lob only a passing shot that can well avoid a player's overhead smash hit near the net. Anything lower than that I call it a shot with a lot of spin, gradually down to the flat shot. Pure lobs (passing shot lobs) are actually a much lower percentage shot, usually missed out long.
My experience is that no matter whether you contact the ball high or as it drops, there is always a strong sense of waiting on the ball. This allows you to find the ball well and accelerate through the ball without feeling “rushed.” Also, the ball slows significantly from your opponent’s racket anyway as a matter of physics so you MUST wait on the ball before you stroke it because it’s coming SLOWER than you think. You get to the ball as quickly as you can to set up but you WAIT on the ball before stroking it with great racket head acceleration.
Yes, and you can only wait for the ball if you beat it to the meeting point: How To Set Up Early For Tennis Groundstrokes And Overheads ruclips.net/video/eRariH95hoE/видео.html
Thank you for explaining the contrast. I actually find it more difficult to not wait for the ball or in the case when the ball is deep near the baseline so one can't really keep backing up and wait
The psychological gem here is that a player's urgency and inexperience creates ineffective shots. Timing is so important in racket sports. We have to develop enough experiences seeing the ball move to make good shots and be able to change our timing to fit the match. I will incorporate these ideas for badminton teaching (no bounce but the flight of the shuttle has to be experienced to hit with confidence). As always, I appreciate your understanding of the game and the human side of it!
Good point for most beginners. They tend to overrun and get too close to the ball. But they need to be able to read the slow and under-spin balls that just die off the bounce and don’t come to them. It’s all about ball recognition.
Yes, many challenges in terms of ball judgment and anticipation for beginner and intermediate tennis players. Each can have its own video… Will share more of my experiences in the future…
Magical teaching and revelations I have not had any coach preach before. It is about to transform my game. I was an early hitter with my eyes glued to the horizon when forcing a high ball, but that is about to become history now. Thank you so much and you give it away so freely.
What a fabulous video. I am a total beginner and have been wondering why I do this, so thank you for this wonderfully clear explanation and remedy. Very excited to start experimenting. Thank you!
Thanks! Now I suddenly understand why I hit much better in the warm-up (when I am relaxed), compared to the game (when I'm always rushing in to take the ball early). Why have I not figured this out for myself?
I would suggest that the determinant of 'watching the ball' is aiming. If you aim for a specific spot then that necessitates the eyes on the ball and staying on the ball.
I would suggest that for 99% of rec tennis players it's exactly the opposite - as soon as they are aiming, they want to look up to see where the target is and therefore they stop watching the ball. ruclips.net/video/aG8tN7tUHyM/видео.html
Yes, that is a tricky thing in tennis and yes, this conflict exists in the mind. Will try to address this in the future videos… You need to be highly alert and focus on reading the opponent and the ball flight and yet staying calm in order to move smoothly and perceive lots of time…
As usual your perceptions are fascinating. Your explanations are soo intricately explained. However I have 1 fundamental complaint. That is after watching your videos for a long time you no longer begin your lessons by saying, “ Without further ado.” For me that underlines that I am in for a treat by watching another of your brilliant lessons.
Great video as always Tomaz! One quick question if you don't mind, if I have problem hitting good shot at low balls with one handed top spin backhand, is this related to bad technique or should I hit low balls at my backhand side with slice? Thanks
It’s quite difficult to hit a low shot with topspin backhand. In most cases it’s not your technique but lack of repetition that is the cause of problems…
Injured shoulder, elbow, wrist , RSI.... A heavier ball with greater risk of missing the sweet spot is uncecessary risk to aggravating a previous injury. In my youth I'd hit a glorious forehand that skimmed over the net 1mm to spare and topspin immediately arced the ball in play and far out of reach. Unfortunately the methodology was for low sinker balls like you're playing here. It was used to daunt my opponent's confidence worked like a charm. 1 problem I achieved the sublime shot only* through a Continental grip causing permanent injury to my hitting shoulder. Causation? Low sinker balls hit out of the sweetspot caused a lot* of torque injury. Love the shot to this day works beautifully until you're not striking the ball cleanly. That's when you pay a heavy price. A heavy hit low spinning sinker can exert a lot of excessive rotational force on your shoulder especially when returned off sweetspot with the Continental grip. Good instruction thanks Tomas.
As you mentioned early in this video, I am one of those players whose coach is pushing me to take the ball earlier and in a higher hitting zone. He says I wait too much and I need to take the ball earlier for more advanced play. He claims that my technique is great on the low balls (good racket drop, low to high swing path and good extension, etc) but falls apart as I have take the ball higher in the hitting zone (waist and higher). We are working on a more linear swing pattern for an earlier contact (and for approach shots) but this is a real problem for me. I am so used to hitting the ball after it has descended to a lower hitting point so that it feels so unnatural to hit in a linear fashion. In fact, my swing pattern falls completely apart. Suggestions?
Like I said in the video, every skilled player knows how to do both - wait for the ball or take it early. The problem I see with coaches is that they want the player to take the ball relatively high all the time which NONE of us highly skilled tennis players do when we do free hitting or even in many match situations. In free hitting I hold my ground about 1.5 meters behind the baseline and hit balls at any height they reach me. If they come at very low contact point that’s great since it’s so easy to hit the ball. If they ball comes higher, I’ll handle it at that height too. But NONE of us is moving forward on lower shorter balls all the time if we judge that the ball will reach us. Nor does your coach. ;) In match situations IN MOST CASES it’s not worth taking the risk of taking the ball early at recreational tennis level because your timing and hand eye coordination are not so good and you will mishit the ball. You will get a much cleaner shot if you wait for the ball a bit. Pros also wait for the ball all the time, just observe how far behind the baseline they rally. Taking the ball early is a skill for advanced tennis and you can work on it but you have to understand that it’s much riskier to hit it that way and somehow coaches never say that. I really don’t know why…
This is an important video. All everyone talks about and pushes is to: "hit the ball early or upfront". My problem is that I hit the ball too early !!! Therefore, I have a very short "point of contact" and can NOT hit through the ball. I must be the only person with this problem because no one talks about this, just talking over and over about "hitting late." In my opinion, you are only hitting late "if you don't get your racquet back in time!!! Get the racquet back early BUT hit later so the ball is just slightly infront of you. That way, you have a longer contact and hit "through the ball".
Good point, yes, even hitting the ball to early problem exists especially if you are too anxious and stressed out. I plan to make a whole video just on the topic of calming down but in the mean time just try to work on that. Just keep telling yourself to calm down and have long exhales as you hit… Then notice what happens with your contact point…
You are not the only one, I hit very early many times too, so I end up hitting too much in front, on brushing up the ball and not hitting through the ball as you say. It's a timing issue that needs a lot of work with repetitions and monitoring.
@@feeltennis As a hockey player and soccer player, we look up all the time, trying to find an opening or a person to pass to. Tennis, we have to stare at the ball and your head done. I am too anxious and explosive and tend to hit early causing the ball to good long every time. I need to wait and hit at just the right moment "much later, with the ball almost next to me" in order to hit through the ball. VERY HARD TO LEARN.
I love your lessons. But I am slightly confused about this one. Although not rushing for every ball makes perfect sense, my coach keeps insisting that I keep letting the ball drop too low (more knee than waist height). I thought the ideal point of contact was higher?
Yes, all coaches insist that because they are trained to train ;) higher level competitive juniors where they need to teach them to attack the ball as much as they can. Obviously with 4-5 sessions per week going on for 5 or more years you can develop that skill of taking the ball early and hitting it clean. But recreational tennis players playing twice a week will not develop that skill well. So hitting the ball at low contact is a fundamental part of playing tennis and it develops good technique. But obviously waiting for every ball to come very low in a match situation is not going to be good. So both skills need to be worked on…
A third reason beginner/intermediate players take the ball higher: poor technique on low balls. As someone toeing the line between beginner and intermediate, hitting the ball with a more upward trajectory often results in balls sailing long or becoming nothing balls that often come back in a way that puts me on the defense. Just a thought.
Joseph, if you touch the ball with your racket face and then immediately touch your opposite shoulder with your racket follow through, you will create the biting top spin that you are lacking. Try it.
It depends on the type of tennis you play-- this tip is more suited for those who have defensive game. -- for those with attacking aggressive game - hit ball early
This tip has nothing to with tactics, just what skills better players have that lower level ones do not and should try to acquire them. That will benefit them mostly in improving timing and stroke technique fundamentals.
COMMENT: I have heard from instructors to move to the ball and don't wait for the ball to come to you. As a result I find myself running into the ball at times.
I know, but a good player and your coach too can wait for the ball if they choose to. Intermediate player does not have the skill as they can't judge the ball so well. Isn't it a good idea to develop the same skills as your coach and better players have?
I usually find this channel very interesting but I agree, the time that he is calculating is exactly how much time one might be giving themselves, but 1/2 of what one is giving the opponent. It is counterproductive at higher levels and while its good to get behind the ball and get stable, the goal would be to take time away from the opponent as much as one's skill allows. In warm up, it might be a decent idea to groove in the strokes and get into a rhythm, but in match play, waiting for the ball is allowing your opponent to recover to a better position and hence, less likely to give you a short or weak ball to attack.
Excellent explanation. I love how you slow down the stroke and show the time difference. That gives me a much better mental image when I am on the court. Thanks so much for help.
I think this is what Alcaraz does better than anyone else. He can wait and wait, and then the opponent has no idea where the ball will go. Just like the best penalty takers. Patience is seen to be one of the greatest spiritual virtues.
I am using my Ksports tennis rebounder net (which feeds you the ball at a faster repetition rate than match play) and one thing you quickly learn to sustain power shot rallies is to wait a split second and accelerate the racket through the ball once it's begun its downward trajectory. You have to visually and mentally concentrate on the ball to where you are focusing the fuzz on the spinning ball. The rebounder has an adjustable angle bounce plank so you can practice low ball shots over and over until it feels natural.
I have gotten better on letting the ball come to me more, instead of rushing as much as I used to. However, I have a terrible habit of frequently swinging while falling backwards. Whenever I swing with more weight on my heels I mishit often. It's been a tough habit to break.
Precious advice! It’s very hard to learn that many times you have much more time than you think, especially at the net or to play an overhead, so many players tend to rush.
Yes, there is a lot of time hiding in the last few meters or feet of the ball flight, you need to try and see it, experience it. You do that by really tracking the ball and looking to make clean contact and not running into the future with your mind. You have to stay in the now just like Eckhart Tolle teaches. ;)
Another advantage of waiting is that one can visualize accelerating through the ball's downward trajectory so the ball is returned with upward trajectory. Like you say, players are not returning the ball horizontally or else it will hit the net. Also, if the ball has side spin or it has a funny bounce, there is more time to react to the ball.
I guess it's a confusing lesson for me. When I first learned tennis, I always waited for the ball. I retreated and waited. I didn't have a problem waiting at all. Because I had no attacking skills, I had no choice. When I became an intermediate player, I learned to hit on the rise and it wasn't easy. But it's much more fun. Now, that I'm advanced to the point where I can play short hops with some confidence, I can stay on the baseline without being pushed back. And tennis is much more fun. I prefer attacking tennis and the more I do this the better I get at it. I can always retreat and rally defensively when I want but this is no fun. Now when I get a short ball, I will no doubt run up and take the ball as high as I can to try to hit a winner. There are times where on a good dink or chip shot, you have to hit a very low ball. And that's problematic if you can't slow down and you have too much forward momentum and you are very likely to send the ball out. But I don't want to keep retreating and rally forever. That's the most boring tennis and if I had to do that, I would give up tennis.
Completely agree. I think he has it backwards. Advanced players will move to the ball and take it earlier. It takes more skill. I understand maybe in practice and grooving your strokes you can stay back and play relaxed. But it’s different when the match starts. It also depends on your opponent. He’s advocating a very defensive style.
I think the difficulty is that the type of swing is closely related to this. If you had a good full swing, it doesn't really matter where you hit the ball and yes you can choose to hit it on the rise for more aggressive play. I think what happens commonly is that many players have an abbreviated swing that pushes the ball from the contact point onwards (as Tomas demonstrates here). If you have this type of a swing, it's usually more effective to rush to the ball, because you can't generate your own pace on the low ball. So I think the lesson here is to use the waiting as an opportunity to develop a full swing as shown here. Just waiting at the back with the same swing that pushes from the contact point won't work. But the important point is that you probably have more chance of developing a full swing naturally by waiting at the back, because it doesn't reward you for pushing as much.
Agree - this is an excellent point and something that took a long time for me to realise. Especially on my backhand side - I used to have an abbreviated take back, which I thought was a copy from Agassi (which it wasn’t - more like a Courier slap). Now I stand two steps further back and have a full swing which I modelled on Djokovic. My backhand is a much more relaxed and repeatable stroke. And I have no trouble generating controlled power on slow or ‘dead’ balls. Only wish I learned it 20 years ago…
Excellent video with clarity of thought. Thank you. I would like to try this out with a backboard. It may be challenging early on, but may "buy" me time in the long run.
Great video! The question if you can show some ways of exercises and tips how to practice and learn how to fix that problem. I am playing tennis more than 2 years, all my tennis techniques are very good but I am still don't know when and where to stand for the ball and it's distroy all my tennis game. I am waiting to the ball and late or runnig and it too soon.😢 I can't find tutorial to learn how to improve it.😢
Generally it will take you about 5 years of playing tennis at least twice a week (which is the absolute minimum) for you to judge the ball well. Just playing lots of tennis helps you develop better ball judgement without any exercises. I am sharing this with you also that you don't think some exercises will help you improve a lot in a short amount of time. They won't. People who start to play tennis but played lots of sports with balls in their youth (or one sport like basketball, football, volleyball, etc.) for many years, will learn to judge the ball in tennis quite fast. If on the other hand you have had no ball judgement experience in childhood, tennis will be very difficult for you likely your whole life. It would be better to choose another easier sport like pickleball or badminton or just a sport where ball judgement is not needed as likely you cannot ever get to a level where this sport will be very enjoyable to you.
A good drill during warm-up is to actually let the ball bounce twice before hitting it. This allows us to learn what a ball does on a tennis court, and also allows us to learn the relaxed feel of a lower contact point. Great video!
The first mistake is to label them "easy shots". That makes you underestimate the difficulty, drop your focus and intensity and now you're trying to play the most difficult sport in the world with poor intensity and focus. Now you'll miss... So don't label any shot in tennis as easy and don't try to finish the point with a winner like a pro. Look to force an error with a good shot with high probability.
You can hit the ball on the way down, on top of the bounce and on the rise. You need to practice all three situations. This video is about letting the ball come down so that you practice this situation so that if it happens in the match you will know how to wait for the ball. Also, if you are a recreational tennis player you should avoid hitting the ball on the rise as you will not be able to consistently hit the ball clean and time it well. In fact no pro consistently hits the ball on the rise, they choose that option only when it's worth the risk. Most shots are hit on top of the bounce or when the ball is on the way down.
great video! thats exactly what happened to me in my last match. first games i was calmed, waiting for the ball but as the match went tight, 5-5 or so, i started to rush to the ball and hitted so many unconfortable balls in high motion that i lost consistency and confidence on my shots
Great lesson - thank you! I have noticed that the pros at our club seem to have so much time before they hit the low balls and they look so relaxed - this must be why. Yet they tell us that it is also important to take time away from the opposing team (doubles) so maybe that is why a lot of us take the ball too early?
Yes, the confusion comes from coaches not explaining that waiting for the ball is the key to mastering the fundamentals of tennis whereas taking the ball early is a more advanced way of playing in most cases just when we attack the ball. What I also never hear is that taking the ball early is more way more risky…
Tomaz, I think the confusion comes from people thinking that “taking the ball early” means chasing the ball farther out in front of you as opposed to just stroking the ball when you are physically closer to the net territorially. Please correct me if I am wrong. I’ve always struggled to understand this terminology.
Yes, Robert, I believe this confusion exists too -namely that taking the ball early has to do with a contact point more in front but actually in just means hitting it more inside the court - or / and hitting it on the rise or on top of the bounce. But of course the contact point should always be optimal in the relation to the distance from the body so that we get optimal power and control. I plan to address the non-sense of taking the early for recreational tennis players in one of the future videos…
Because they are trained to train competitive juniors and high performance players where the goal is to hit the ball earlier on order to apply pressure on opponent. But coaches are so "brainwashed" into this concept that they don't realize an adult recreational tennis player who plays twice a week maybe does not have enough training nor skills to successfully and consistently hit the ball early and hit it in the ideal contact point distance into the sweet spot. For recreational players it's much better to gain a few tenths of a second and get a better look at the ball, hit it clean as that will make the ball fly deep with good power. It's still good to take some balls early here and there but they need to be slow and inside the court, then the risk is worth it even at rec level.
This is in my opinion the best video you have ever done. It describes my major problem to a 100%. Thank you for making me aware of it and for providing me solutions. I will try them next time I am on court. 🌸
I am not sure if to say that we take the ball early but based on many recommendations by coaches is to try to hit he ball on the highest position to maximize the options that you can hit it.
I don't disagree with that, I mentioned two times in the video that taking the ball early is also a skill one has to have. But almost none of the 3.0 to 3.5 and even 4.0 NTRP level players have the skill of judging the ball so well that they can wait for it while all of us 5.0 and higher can do it easily and we do it all the time in the warm ups and free hitting sessions. Isn't that interesting? And wouldn't you want to develop all the skills that a 5.0+ player has? Because that's what brings you to 5.0+ levels... Also, coaches are trained to train competitive juniors. That's a 100 times higher level than recreational. Coaches forget to use common sense and think whether such an advanced skills like taking the ball early can be acquired with twice a week recreational level tennis. In my opinion 90% of adults cannot consistently play the ball on top of the bounce because their hand-eye coordination and footwork are not good enough and never will be by playing only twice a week and never really training.
Hello Thomas, it's my first comment although I'm a devoted follower of your videos since the beginning, from Spain. I understand that waiting for the ball is the best option as long as you're not able to get to the ball early and low, this surely would be the best option even if it's not always possible? Thank you.
Hi Ignacio, thanks for the support! Well, there are so many possibilities that it's hard to say. Letting the ball down is a just a skill that every good tennis player has. But I wouldn't force it. Or I wouldn't really go backwards in order to hit the ball on the way down low. I would mostly hold my ground. If the ball bounces high towards me, then I would hit it at high contact so that I don't have to run around all the time. I just watched some TennisTV highlights - observe how Medvedev chooses to let the ball come really low and hits it well behind the baseline often: ruclips.net/video/gjAiLzl0y-I/видео.html. A 3.0 to 3.5 level NTRP player cannot do that. Shouldn't they learn this skill too?
You're right, sometimes we want to oversimplify tennis but, unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, variety is the key. the Medvedev video is self explanatory. Thanks again.
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Great lesson. We don't hear this advice from typical "textbook" coaches. This is why I really appreciate this channel
Hi, it’s me again. How is your tennis going?
Ball tracking is a fundamental skill that nobody ever talks about. Without proper ball tracking you can’t have accurate shot selection, footwork, spacing, swing path, or contact point. Waiting for the ball forces players to understand ball tracking. And it applies to every single shot from ground strokes to volleys and even the serve. Fantastic video, as always.
Great point - yes, ball tracking is challenged to the max when you wait for the ball. And that's one way of improving it.
Very good points of advantages why you should wait for the ball to hit it at a lower point. But there are definitely some CONs too, as well as some PROs of hitting the ball at a higher point. And there is a big difference between the higher ball that is on the rise and the higher ball that is on the descent. Hitting on he descent but at a higher point makes it easier:
1. To create angles
2. To hit over the net
3. To take time away from your opponent
4. To sneak up to the net if you see him/her struggle with the defense
The ideal contact point, in terms of height also varies from player to player, each one has his/her own comfort zone. Other like it more at knee height, others at waist height, fewer (I think) below knee height, because most people struggle to "lift" the ball up so much in order to pass the net. It also depends on the grip (eastern-semi western-western).
@@unassailable6138 Even top spin lobs require a more open racket face, so it is a much different shot. It is definitely easier to pass the net when you start from a higher point, you are not depending on a large curve to make it.
@@unassailable6138 I consider as a lob only a passing shot that can well avoid a player's overhead smash hit near the net. Anything lower than that I call it a shot with a lot of spin, gradually down to the flat shot. Pure lobs (passing shot lobs) are actually a much lower percentage shot, usually missed out long.
My experience is that no matter whether you contact the ball high or as it drops, there is always a strong sense of waiting on the ball. This allows you to find the ball well and accelerate through the ball without feeling “rushed.” Also, the ball slows significantly from your opponent’s racket anyway as a matter of physics so you MUST wait on the ball before you stroke it because it’s coming SLOWER than you think. You get to the ball as quickly as you can to set up but you WAIT on the ball before stroking it with great racket head acceleration.
Yes, and you can only wait for the ball if you beat it to the meeting point: How To Set Up Early For Tennis Groundstrokes And Overheads
ruclips.net/video/eRariH95hoE/видео.html
@@feeltennis , exactly
An excellent advice that is missing even in most seasoned coaches. Definitely helpful for mid tier and above club players 👍
Thank you for explaining the contrast. I actually find it more difficult to not wait for the ball or in the case when the ball is deep near the baseline so one can't really keep backing up and wait
The psychological gem here is that a player's urgency and inexperience creates ineffective shots. Timing is so important in racket sports. We have to develop enough experiences seeing the ball move to make good shots and be able to change our timing to fit the match. I will incorporate these ideas for badminton teaching (no bounce but the flight of the shuttle has to be experienced to hit with confidence). As always, I appreciate your understanding of the game and the human side of it!
Good point for most beginners. They tend to overrun and get too close to the ball. But they need to be able to read the slow and under-spin balls that just die off the bounce and don’t come to them. It’s all about ball recognition.
Yes, many challenges in terms of ball judgment and anticipation for beginner and intermediate tennis players. Each can have its own video… Will share more of my experiences in the future…
Magical teaching and revelations I have not had any coach preach before. It is about to transform my game. I was an early hitter with my eyes glued to the horizon when forcing a high ball, but that is about to become history now. Thank you so much and you give it away so freely.
just what i ve been struggling with... thanks Tomaz!
Thank you. I hit in panic mode more often than not. Focus for my next hitting session: waiting, positioning, tracking and intention.
Yes, and long exhale as you hit… That also helps calm down the nervous system…
What a fabulous video. I am a total beginner and have been wondering why I do this, so thank you for this wonderfully clear explanation and remedy. Very excited to start experimenting. Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Excellent tutorial 💪🏻
Thanks!
Now I suddenly understand why I hit much better in the warm-up (when I am relaxed), compared to the game (when I'm always rushing in to take the ball early). Why have I not figured this out for myself?
I absolutely need this skill.
I would suggest that the determinant of 'watching the ball' is aiming. If you aim for a specific spot then that necessitates the eyes on the ball and staying on the ball.
I would suggest that for 99% of rec tennis players it's exactly the opposite - as soon as they are aiming, they want to look up to see where the target is and therefore they stop watching the ball. ruclips.net/video/aG8tN7tUHyM/видео.html
You would know@@feeltennis
you mean focus on specific spot on ball ??
@@karimmamdouh6246 no, where you would like to put the ball
What i find hard is to not rush but yet keep the intensity. Probably focus should be on moving your feet.
Yes, that is a tricky thing in tennis and yes, this conflict exists in the mind. Will try to address this in the future videos… You need to be highly alert and focus on reading the opponent and the ball flight and yet staying calm in order to move smoothly and perceive lots of time…
Wonder -- just maybe the Spanish underhand soft feed may enhance the "waiting" aspect. All the talk is usually about racquet head speed.
Coach Jim, yep. The longer it takes for the “soft feed” to get to you, the longer you must wait on the ball to stroke it.
As usual your perceptions are fascinating. Your explanations are soo intricately explained. However I have 1 fundamental complaint. That is after watching your videos for a long time you no longer begin your lessons by saying, “ Without further ado.” For me that underlines that I am in for a treat by watching another of your brilliant lessons.
Thanks for sharing!
Excellent advise... from a veteran coach.
Great video as always Tomaz! One quick question if you don't mind, if I have problem hitting good shot at low balls with one handed top spin backhand, is this related to bad technique or should I hit low balls at my backhand side with slice? Thanks
It’s quite difficult to hit a low shot with topspin backhand. In most cases it’s not your technique but lack of repetition that is the cause of problems…
Injured shoulder, elbow, wrist , RSI.... A heavier ball with greater risk of missing the sweet spot is uncecessary risk to aggravating a previous injury. In my youth I'd hit a glorious forehand that skimmed over the net 1mm to spare and topspin immediately arced the ball in play and far out of reach.
Unfortunately the methodology was for low sinker balls like you're playing here. It was used to daunt my opponent's confidence worked like a charm. 1 problem I achieved the sublime shot only* through a Continental grip causing permanent injury to my hitting shoulder. Causation? Low sinker balls hit out of the sweetspot caused a lot* of torque injury. Love the shot to this day works beautifully until you're not striking the ball cleanly. That's when you pay a heavy price. A heavy hit low spinning sinker can exert a lot of excessive rotational force on your shoulder especially when returned off sweetspot with the Continental grip. Good instruction thanks Tomas.
As you mentioned early in this video, I am one of those players whose coach is pushing me to take the ball earlier and in a higher hitting zone. He says I wait too much and I need to take the ball earlier for more advanced play. He claims that my technique is great on the low balls (good racket drop, low to high swing path and good extension, etc) but falls apart as I have take the ball higher in the hitting zone (waist and higher). We are working on a more linear swing pattern for an earlier contact (and for approach shots) but this is a real problem for me. I am so used to hitting the ball after it has descended to a lower hitting point so that it feels so unnatural to hit in a linear fashion. In fact, my swing pattern falls completely apart. Suggestions?
Like I said in the video, every skilled player knows how to do both - wait for the ball or take it early. The problem I see with coaches is that they want the player to take the ball relatively high all the time which NONE of us highly skilled tennis players do when we do free hitting or even in many match situations. In free hitting I hold my ground about 1.5 meters behind the baseline and hit balls at any height they reach me. If they come at very low contact point that’s great since it’s so easy to hit the ball. If they ball comes higher, I’ll handle it at that height too. But NONE of us is moving forward on lower shorter balls all the time if we judge that the ball will reach us. Nor does your coach. ;) In match situations IN MOST CASES it’s not worth taking the risk of taking the ball early at recreational tennis level because your timing and hand eye coordination are not so good and you will mishit the ball. You will get a much cleaner shot if you wait for the ball a bit. Pros also wait for the ball all the time, just observe how far behind the baseline they rally. Taking the ball early is a skill for advanced tennis and you can work on it but you have to understand that it’s much riskier to hit it that way and somehow coaches never say that. I really don’t know why…
This is an important video.
All everyone talks about and pushes is to: "hit the ball early or upfront".
My problem is that I hit the ball too early !!! Therefore, I have a very short "point of contact" and can NOT hit through the ball.
I must be the only person with this problem because no one talks about this, just talking over and over about "hitting late."
In my opinion, you are only hitting late "if you don't get your racquet back in time!!!
Get the racquet back early BUT hit later so the ball is just slightly infront of you. That way, you have a longer contact and hit "through the ball".
Good point, yes, even hitting the ball to early problem exists especially if you are too anxious and stressed out. I plan to make a whole video just on the topic of calming down but in the mean time just try to work on that. Just keep telling yourself to calm down and have long exhales as you hit… Then notice what happens with your contact point…
You are not the only one, I hit very early many times too, so I end up hitting too much in front, on brushing up the ball and not hitting through the ball as you say. It's a timing issue that needs a lot of work with repetitions and monitoring.
@@feeltennis
As a hockey player and soccer player, we look up all the time, trying to find an opening or a person to pass to.
Tennis, we have to stare at the ball and your head done.
I am too anxious and explosive and tend to hit early causing the ball to good long every time.
I need to wait and hit at just the right moment "much later, with the ball almost next to me" in order to hit through the ball.
VERY HARD TO LEARN.
I love your lessons. But I am slightly confused about this one. Although not rushing for every ball makes perfect sense, my coach keeps insisting that I keep letting the ball drop too low (more knee than waist height). I thought the ideal point of contact was higher?
Yes, all coaches insist that because they are trained to train ;) higher level competitive juniors where they need to teach them to attack the ball as much as they can. Obviously with 4-5 sessions per week going on for 5 or more years you can develop that skill of taking the ball early and hitting it clean. But recreational tennis players playing twice a week will not develop that skill well. So hitting the ball at low contact is a fundamental part of playing tennis and it develops good technique. But obviously waiting for every ball to come very low in a match situation is not going to be good. So both skills need to be worked on…
@@feeltennis Thank you for your reply. That makes sense. And thanks for doing these lessons, very well made and useful!
very insightful. please keep up these type of videos
A third reason beginner/intermediate players take the ball higher: poor technique on low balls. As someone toeing the line between beginner and intermediate, hitting the ball with a more upward trajectory often results in balls sailing long or becoming nothing balls that often come back in a way that puts me on the defense. Just a thought.
Good point! Check this video, it may help: 2 Deep Reasons Why Your Tennis Strokes Lack Depth
ruclips.net/video/AzGaukvaJcI/видео.html
Joseph, if you touch the ball with your racket face and then immediately touch your opposite shoulder with your racket follow through, you will create the biting top spin that you are lacking. Try it.
applied this logic, beat a USTA singles opponent that I lost to in the past
It depends on the type of tennis you play-- this tip is more suited for those who have defensive game. -- for those with attacking aggressive game - hit ball early
This tip has nothing to with tactics, just what skills better players have that lower level ones do not and should try to acquire them. That will benefit them mostly in improving timing and stroke technique fundamentals.
@@feeltennis 👍
Hi, nice video very informative!! What program do you use to draw on the screen???
OnForm video analysis app, works only on iOS devices though, Just Google it…
COMMENT: I have heard from instructors to move to the ball and don't wait for the ball to come to you. As a result I find myself running into the ball at times.
I know, but a good player and your coach too can wait for the ball if they choose to. Intermediate player does not have the skill as they can't judge the ball so well. Isn't it a good idea to develop the same skills as your coach and better players have?
Low level players get into trouble a lot more because of waiting for the ball to come to them
Definitely not.
WRONG!!!! High level players DON'T wait for the ball. They step into it to take time away from their opponent!!!!!!
Tomaz was talking about free hitting, not competition.
@@MarkHoward211 Doesn't matter. Higher level tennis players move towards the ball. Lower level stay back and wait for the ball to drop.
Read a caption. It's not about only playing low ball - it's about improving your timing and not rushing.
I usually find this channel very interesting but I agree, the time that he is calculating is exactly how much time one might be giving themselves, but 1/2 of what one is giving the opponent. It is counterproductive at higher levels and while its good to get behind the ball and get stable, the goal would be to take time away from the opponent as much as one's skill allows. In warm up, it might be a decent idea to groove in the strokes and get into a rhythm, but in match play, waiting for the ball is allowing your opponent to recover to a better position and hence, less likely to give you a short or weak ball to attack.
Vubot, higher level players do wait on striking the ball even when moving into the ball. It just may be more imperceptible to you. Watch the pros.
Excellent explanation. I love how you slow down the stroke and show the time difference. That gives me a much better mental image when I am on the court. Thanks so much for help.
Wow, this is like made for me, thanks! Very useful insights as always
I think this is what Alcaraz does better than anyone else. He can wait and wait, and then the opponent has no idea where the ball will go. Just like the best penalty takers. Patience is seen to be one of the greatest spiritual virtues.
Great explanation, the visualization of the situations are very useful. Thanks !!!
I was just told by an instructor to try to take the ball early, moving in to get ball on the rise so I am confused
It's grt input for recreational players who almost all make the same mistakes. Thanks 👍 Thomas
I am using my Ksports tennis rebounder net (which feeds you the ball at a faster repetition rate than match play) and one thing you quickly learn to sustain power shot rallies is to wait a split second and accelerate the racket through the ball once it's begun its downward trajectory. You have to visually and mentally concentrate on the ball to where you are focusing the fuzz on the spinning ball. The rebounder has an adjustable angle bounce plank so you can practice low ball shots over and over until it feels natural.
good stuff
Great lesson as always Tomaz. Thanks.
I have gotten better on letting the ball come to me more, instead of rushing as much as I used to. However, I have a terrible habit of frequently swinging while falling backwards. Whenever I swing with more weight on my heels I mishit often. It's been a tough habit to break.
That's due to footwork, so you just need to practice footwork more.
Precious advice! It’s very hard to learn that many times you have much more time than you think, especially at the net or to play an overhead, so many players tend to rush.
Yes, there is a lot of time hiding in the last few meters or feet of the ball flight, you need to try and see it, experience it. You do that by really tracking the ball and looking to make clean contact and not running into the future with your mind. You have to stay in the now just like Eckhart Tolle teaches. ;)
Another advantage of waiting is that one can visualize accelerating through the ball's downward trajectory so the ball is returned with upward trajectory. Like you say, players are not returning the ball horizontally or else it will hit the net. Also, if the ball has side spin or it has a funny bounce, there is more time to react to the ball.
As always, thanks again for another excellent explanation of tennis fundamentals.
I guess it's a confusing lesson for me. When I first learned tennis, I always waited for the ball. I retreated and waited. I didn't have a problem waiting at all. Because I had no attacking skills, I had no choice. When I became an intermediate player, I learned to hit on the rise and it wasn't easy. But it's much more fun. Now, that I'm advanced to the point where I can play short hops with some confidence, I can stay on the baseline without being pushed back. And tennis is much more fun. I prefer attacking tennis and the more I do this the better I get at it. I can always retreat and rally defensively when I want but this is no fun. Now when I get a short ball, I will no doubt run up and take the ball as high as I can to try to hit a winner. There are times where on a good dink or chip shot, you have to hit a very low ball. And that's problematic if you can't slow down and you have too much forward momentum and you are very likely to send the ball out. But I don't want to keep retreating and rally forever. That's the most boring tennis and if I had to do that, I would give up tennis.
Completely agree. I think he has it backwards. Advanced players will move to the ball and take it earlier. It takes more skill. I understand maybe in practice and grooving your strokes you can stay back and play relaxed. But it’s different when the match starts. It also depends on your opponent. He’s advocating a very defensive style.
@@adimperial agree. He is sending very confusing message. Hit on the rise is key. This waiting thing is bad tennis.
I would say when the ball is at abt highest point is where we hit not when the ball falls….
I think the difficulty is that the type of swing is closely related to this. If you had a good full swing, it doesn't really matter where you hit the ball and yes you can choose to hit it on the rise for more aggressive play. I think what happens commonly is that many players have an abbreviated swing that pushes the ball from the contact point onwards (as Tomas demonstrates here). If you have this type of a swing, it's usually more effective to rush to the ball, because you can't generate your own pace on the low ball. So I think the lesson here is to use the waiting as an opportunity to develop a full swing as shown here. Just waiting at the back with the same swing that pushes from the contact point won't work. But the important point is that you probably have more chance of developing a full swing naturally by waiting at the back, because it doesn't reward you for pushing as much.
Good point!
Agree - this is an excellent point and something that took a long time for me to realise. Especially on my backhand side - I used to have an abbreviated take back, which I thought was a copy from Agassi (which it wasn’t - more like a Courier slap). Now I stand two steps further back and have a full swing which I modelled on Djokovic. My backhand is a much more relaxed and repeatable stroke. And I have no trouble generating controlled power on slow or ‘dead’ balls. Only wish I learned it 20 years ago…
It's called a timing pies the best players have the longest timing pies
Time is gold 🥇😉
06:28 - Key point
16:58 - How to practice it
Great use of software to depict the different contact positions. Would like to know which program you use?
I use an IPad Pro M1 model and the OnForm video analysis app. Just Google it…
@@feeltennis thanks
Excellent video with clarity of thought. Thank you. I would like to try this out with a backboard. It may be challenging early on, but may "buy" me time in the long run.
Yes, definitely try with the backboard, maybe you also need to use softer older balls if you cannot step further back…
@@feeltennis Thank you-good suggestion--I have many of those!!
Great video! The question if you can show some ways of exercises and tips how to practice and learn how to fix that problem. I am playing tennis more than 2 years, all my tennis techniques are very good but I am still don't know when and where to stand for the ball and it's distroy all my tennis game. I am waiting to the ball and late or runnig and it too soon.😢 I can't find tutorial to learn how to improve it.😢
Generally it will take you about 5 years of playing tennis at least twice a week (which is the absolute minimum) for you to judge the ball well. Just playing lots of tennis helps you develop better ball judgement without any exercises. I am sharing this with you also that you don't think some exercises will help you improve a lot in a short amount of time. They won't.
People who start to play tennis but played lots of sports with balls in their youth (or one sport like basketball, football, volleyball, etc.) for many years, will learn to judge the ball in tennis quite fast. If on the other hand you have had no ball judgement experience in childhood, tennis will be very difficult for you likely your whole life.
It would be better to choose another easier sport like pickleball or badminton or just a sport where ball judgement is not needed as likely you cannot ever get to a level where this sport will be very enjoyable to you.
A good drill during warm-up is to actually let the ball bounce twice before hitting it. This allows us to learn what a ball does on a tennis court, and also allows us to learn the relaxed feel of a lower contact point.
Great video!
Yes, thanks for sharing! Letting the ball bounce twice helps the player see the whole trajectory and not always rush into the ball.
One of my biggest problems - videos on my channel... why do I miss the easy shots!
The first mistake is to label them "easy shots". That makes you underestimate the difficulty, drop your focus and intensity and now you're trying to play the most difficult sport in the world with poor intensity and focus. Now you'll miss... So don't label any shot in tennis as easy and don't try to finish the point with a winner like a pro. Look to force an error with a good shot with high probability.
Thanks . If we wait for the ball , I can’t hit the ball on the rise . How can we deal with this ?
You can hit the ball on the way down, on top of the bounce and on the rise. You need to practice all three situations. This video is about letting the ball come down so that you practice this situation so that if it happens in the match you will know how to wait for the ball. Also, if you are a recreational tennis player you should avoid hitting the ball on the rise as you will not be able to consistently hit the ball clean and time it well. In fact no pro consistently hits the ball on the rise, they choose that option only when it's worth the risk. Most shots are hit on top of the bounce or when the ball is on the way down.
great video! thats exactly what happened to me in my last match. first games i was calmed, waiting for the ball but as the match went tight, 5-5 or so, i started to rush to the ball and hitted so many unconfortable balls in high motion that i lost consistency and confidence on my shots
Great lesson - thank you! I have noticed that the pros at our club seem to have so much time before they hit the low balls and they look so relaxed - this must be why. Yet they tell us that it is also important to take time away from the opposing team (doubles) so maybe that is why a lot of us take the ball too early?
Yes, the confusion comes from coaches not explaining that waiting for the ball is the key to mastering the fundamentals of tennis whereas taking the ball early is a more advanced way of playing in most cases just when we attack the ball. What I also never hear is that taking the ball early is more way more risky…
@@feeltennis Good to know! Thank you again. :)
Tomaz, I think the confusion comes from people thinking that “taking the ball early” means chasing the ball farther out in front of you as opposed to just stroking the ball when you are physically closer to the net territorially. Please correct me if I am wrong. I’ve always struggled to understand this terminology.
Yes, Robert, I believe this confusion exists too -namely that taking the ball early has to do with a contact point more in front but actually in just means hitting it more inside the court - or / and hitting it on the rise or on top of the bounce. But of course the contact point should always be optimal in the relation to the distance from the body so that we get optimal power and control. I plan to address the non-sense of taking the early for recreational tennis players in one of the future videos…
@@feeltennis , thank for clarifying that.
I always felt knee to waist height is my ideal contact point. Why is it that many tutors say it is waist to shoulder height?
Because they are trained to train competitive juniors and high performance players where the goal is to hit the ball earlier on order to apply pressure on opponent. But coaches are so "brainwashed" into this concept that they don't realize an adult recreational tennis player who plays twice a week maybe does not have enough training nor skills to successfully and consistently hit the ball early and hit it in the ideal contact point distance into the sweet spot.
For recreational players it's much better to gain a few tenths of a second and get a better look at the ball, hit it clean as that will make the ball fly deep with good power. It's still good to take some balls early here and there but they need to be slow and inside the court, then the risk is worth it even at rec level.
@@feeltennis thank you for taking time to reply
There were told is N1
An education! 🙏
I have learned a lot
Thanks!
This is in my opinion the best video you have ever done. It describes my major problem to a 100%. Thank you for making me aware of it and for providing me solutions. I will try them next time I am on court. 🌸
Very much appreciated, Gisela!
I am not sure if to say that we take the ball early but based on many recommendations by coaches is to try to hit he ball on the highest position to maximize the options that you can hit it.
I don't disagree with that, I mentioned two times in the video that taking the ball early is also a skill one has to have. But almost none of the 3.0 to 3.5 and even 4.0 NTRP level players have the skill of judging the ball so well that they can wait for it while all of us 5.0 and higher can do it easily and we do it all the time in the warm ups and free hitting sessions. Isn't that interesting? And wouldn't you want to develop all the skills that a 5.0+ player has? Because that's what brings you to 5.0+ levels...
Also, coaches are trained to train competitive juniors. That's a 100 times higher level than recreational. Coaches forget to use common sense and think whether such an advanced skills like taking the ball early can be acquired with twice a week recreational level tennis. In my opinion 90% of adults cannot consistently play the ball on top of the bounce because their hand-eye coordination and footwork are not good enough and never will be by playing only twice a week and never really training.
Hello Thomas, it's my first comment although I'm a devoted follower of your videos since the beginning, from Spain. I understand that waiting for the ball is the best option as long as you're not able to get to the ball early and low, this surely would be the best option even if it's not always possible? Thank you.
Hi Ignacio, thanks for the support! Well, there are so many possibilities that it's hard to say. Letting the ball down is a just a skill that every good tennis player has. But I wouldn't force it. Or I wouldn't really go backwards in order to hit the ball on the way down low. I would mostly hold my ground. If the ball bounces high towards me, then I would hit it at high contact so that I don't have to run around all the time. I just watched some TennisTV highlights - observe how Medvedev chooses to let the ball come really low and hits it well behind the baseline often: ruclips.net/video/gjAiLzl0y-I/видео.html. A 3.0 to 3.5 level NTRP player cannot do that. Shouldn't they learn this skill too?
You're right, sometimes we want to oversimplify tennis but, unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, variety is the key. the Medvedev video is self explanatory. Thanks again.