Have a Question for Me?

[John Yandell]

Yeah I mean the racket angle is obviously off if the ball goes into the bottom of the net, but the point is you can't really know why that is without looking at all the parts.

[littlelobbers]

Excuses vs. Reasons

Hello John,

I just lost a match tonight, a tough three set three hour match. I made a vow at the start of this season not to make silly excuses after a match. What I had not realized is how much of a crutch excuses are. They almost make as if you didnot lose. So, what are your thoughts on the issue of excuses, and how do I differentiate between an excuse and a reason?

Thank you

[John Yandell]

An excuse is I lost because my forehand was a little off. A reason is I made too many errors on my forehand.

An excuse is: that opponent was annoying and upset me. A reason is: I didn't deal with my emotions in how I reacted to my opponent.

You get the idea.

Reasons become the basis for improvement.

[tennisplayer]

That is a great answer, John - I've never heard it stated so simply and clearly before. Thanks!

[littlelobbers]

John,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to a post that I made after a tough loss. I just needed to vent somewhere. So, thanks again for having this great resource available and for attending to it so diligently. I had won the first set 7-5 and was down 4-5 in the second with a break point when my opponent hit his first serve which I played and he made an error off of my return. After the point and I had leveled the set he started yelling at me that serve was out and he heard me call it out (grunt). I changed my call then I lost the game and set. The excuse: I lost the match because he made me change my call. The reason: I lost that point because I did not sand by my call and I lost the match because I continued to play in the past. Am I correct?

I spoke with a former Olympic athlete (skiing) today, and she said “you must practice visualizing losing so that you have an idea of how it feels. Also you must play matches (ski) where you are in a losing situation so that you can overcome your emotions and focus on visualizing your technique.” This made sense to me even though, I always thought that winners just focused on visualizing winning. But, if that were the only thing that they focused on they could be crushed by defeat.

[John Yandell]

Think you are correct.

[nikae]

Hi John,

you explain differences between club and pro tennis very nicely.

I have a question about racket weight, for club player such as myself. I have been playing for about 1 year, with 300g unstrung (around 320 strung with over-grip) racket, 320mm balance.
And since I am kinda a small guy (5'9;154 pounds) i find that racket just a bit too heavy for me.

I guess professional players use heavier racket for stability because balls are hit with a lot of pace and spin in their game?

So my question is, since there isn't as much pace or spin in club tennis, I guess players can use lighter rackets? I played with a lighter racket for one set, and I noticed my timing is better, and I can put more spin on the ball since I can swing faster.

Is there anything I should know considering heavier vs lighter rackets, before I buy a lighter racket? (I cant demo a racket in this forgotten 3rd world country )

P.S. I searched the web and couldn't get a satisfying answer

[John Yandell]

320 is still fairly light. That is the about the weight I am using, although I like a slightly head light balance.

So I don't know what you mean by lighter--half an ounce (14g) or more?

There was a trend a few years ago to super stiff super light inverted weight rackets--hammmer style. My own opinion was that there were very hard on the joints and particularly the shoulder.

So going a little lighter, sure. But those other rackets--not even sure they are much around--can be seductive til your shoulder starts to hurt.

The real problem here of course as I've said repeatedly is that unless I can see you strokes it's hard to know if problems are technical and what the role of the racket might be, so this is not a definitive answer.

[nikae]

Thanks for the answer. I will upload my strokes this week, I didn't have an expert analyse my strokes yet.

[nikae]

Here are the videos I promised. Quality is kinda bad, and camera could record only for short time, so its not much.

I'll get much better videos soon, until then I hope that its possible to see something from these:

running back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilaVKArW1Qo
low ball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilaVKArW1Qo
2nd serve and 2 forehands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zkk2M77EIU
ruining forehand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3U9B-U71X8

videos are recorder during a match, not practice.

I try to do everything I learned from this site.

You can download the videos by pasting the link at www.keepvid.com , which should make it better quality and you can also see it frame by frame.

[gzhpcu]

John,
I was wondering, would you consider doing, or having someone do an article on the placement of the toss on the serve?
I find there is very little literature on this aspect of the serve.
The pros and cons of a high ball toss is often discussed, but not where the ball would land in respect to the initial position of the body, for the various serve types.
I posted a thread in the forum with a picture of the ball toss.

[John Yandell]

There is some significant stuff on the site alrady. The Myth of the Toss in Advanced Tennis, and also in the Sampras Serve article series.

Would be nice to know where it lands, yes. Of course Roger and Pete probably wouldn't be willing to give us a demo, but maybe some less well known players...

Personally, I think that the contact point is critical and if you get the contact point you want, then the toss must have been on the right flight and where it lands isn't of functional importance.

Still I get this question a lot, so I will give it more consideration.

[John Yandell]

Nikae,
My apologies as I thought I had posted a response about your videos, it's just too tough to tell much from these super wide views. Also I absolutely detest the youtube format for analysis, because you need to go frame by frame and this requires an additional download.

Try filming tighter! Look at the Stroke Archives and fill yourself up in the frame.

John Yandell

[stumphges]

Australian grip?

Hi John,

Where does the australian grip fall in your x/y classification scheme? Thanks.

[John Yandell]

Australian??? Between continental and eastern? Not sure. Maybe a 1 1/2 --1 1/2. Others??