Tennis Players, What's Your Favorite Shot?

YES. but i'm sooo not good at them yet. i usually try it out against the wall.

used to love hitting forehand slices off of topspin shots, my game was almost entirely based on just returning the ball w/ as much spin as possible and then forcing the other player to try and hit winners or charge the net. beat a lot of much better players by just returning the ball over and over..eventually they'd get impatient and start making unforced errors. good serve and volley sampras type players usually did pretty well against me, though. haven't played since high school really, i miss it a lot. poor dusty wilson prostaff

ugh, just reading about your game reminds me of this guy named "T.R." who, in high school, would beat me without ever hitting a winner against me. He just kept the ball coming back. That sort of patience and control is unbecoming for a teenager amirite.

i once played a kid in a high school state tournament who played my exact game and we had a couple of rallies that must have lasted over 5 minutes. almost every single point involved 20+ returns! longest match of my life and he ended up barely beating me. at the time i likened it to meeting shadow link @ the end of legend of zelda 2. anyway, i'm sure my game was really annoying to my opponents, but that was sort of the idea - get in their head

also, topspin forehands down the line are really satisfying, esp when you're running off the side of the court to return a shot and you can creep it in the back corner

one-handed backhand down the line. Booyah.

so apparently i can't hit any shots anymore. it's been 2 years since i've played. i know it usually takes me a while to warm up, but i used to be, like, good.

someone please tell me it will come back to me.

please.

inside out forehand drive volley

weirdly, the 2 parts of my game that i used to hate came back to me without any practice: my serve and my volley.

everything else GONE.

Last time I played I pulled every single muscle in my mid section.

ok. i cannot believe it has been 9 months.

i am going today to play against the wall. i am going to start going twice a week. i hope i do not embarrass myself.

haha aw surm

any ilxors play USTA?

have u, kev?

u guys.

i rly don't know what to tell u about what just happened.

i mean, my backhand was there. felt great. but ... my courtesy shot! mfg!

my partner said i seemed to do better getting hard, fast forehands. generating the pace on that side is really fucking with me right now. it just goes to show how much practice does. crazy.

going to try again now.

I assume a lot of you guys are members of clubs? How would you feel about an absolute beginner joining your club?

!! where do u live?

little better today

have u, kev?

u guys.

― j lol (surm), Wednesday, June 22, 2011 9:18 PM (Yesterday)

yeah i'm a 4.5

it rained today, so i played basketball indoors

awesome. good night for some indoor ball.

there was a really cute guy playing basketball no the courts tonight. he was in a wifebeater.

been practicing in my apartment

Surm do you wear a cute white headband when you play tennis?

sometimes! when my hair is longer it's a must

I want to custom-make one for you that says like SMILE! or something in yellow glitter.

But then the glitter might get in your eyes and that would be unpleasant; you would probably not even smile.

:) you have to be careful applying sunscreen to the forehead for the same reason -- stings like a motha

Is that why nobody bought my Stevie D Deluxe Glittery Sunscreen??

:D maybe

Inside out crosscourt forehand return from the ad side <3

Play 4 days a week.

so excited to get my inside out back

anybody in brooklyn want to play today?

bye bye backhand. it just kept going SHORT! ugh. but my slice was working ...

i would much rather go long than short in practice

on the upside my inside out is back

i'm really tall so why the fuck is my serve not, like, 100mph :( i hate using chopper grip. that's probably why. also because i never practice it. serving takes too much effort and is boring. groundstrokes are much more fun because no two shots are ever the same

yess

didnt play enough tennis this summer :(

ive started playing @ a nearby club, it's cool you can p much play any weeknight vs a random opponent for $25 as a nonmember. id been fairing p well vs 3.0-ish level folks but last night got paired against a 4.0 who i could barely stay on the court w/. really strong forehand that he could place perfectly & he moved so well for a dude in his prob mid-50s. it was still fun, even though he crushed me 6-0, 6-2, 6-4. i needed to get in more first serves.

ayo technology i bought this thing, only used it once so far but its p crazy how much it helped my game

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61QBzrc7S2L._SL1500_.jpg

I haven't played in years :((((( quit to focus on running. I miss it.

that's like giving up on sex to focus on heavy breathing

been playing singles like 2x a week for the last two months, i'm prob like .500 m/l

theres 1 dude whos easily 65 yr old & serve/volleys and who owns me, hes sick

had a good comeback last night from down 1-6, 2-4…….i ended up winning 1-6, 6-4, 10-4

was hobbling today from a foot blister tho ow

this is my personal tennis blog thread now

i think ive won 5 straight matches or so, and beat a dude tonight who ive never before beaten

my 1st serve has gotten really solid somehow. like i prob only get like 1-2 clean aces per set but it otherwise leads to maybe 1 free or easy put away pt per game nonetheless, makes a big difference

that's like giving up on sex to focus on heavy breathing

Lols

ive been working on the one-hand down the line backhand, thats a hard shot for me so the few ive hit recently have been p cool; ive also gotten ok @ inside out forehands off of service returns for winners

i had a rematch vs the old man serve & volley dude and he still beat me 6-7, 1-6, i made a tonne of errors :<

my worst shot is definitely the smash. 99% likely to miss it. total panic whenever i have to hit one.

Volleying is the only thing I'm actually good at. Or was when I played regularly.

in 7 months or so I’ll be working part time, and am going to be looking to get back into this in a major way

I’ve been playing with a couple of people I’ve met in boston off and on for a couple of years now…we’re all 4.5ish level…last time I played USTA was when I was 19 or 20 probably, was a 4.5 then and am probably playing the best tennis of my life now. just a smarter and more consistent player now I think

was just vacationing on hilton head SC and got a lesson from a great teaching pro I like down there, mainly working on my forehand and forehand volley. for some reason my backhand has been the solider side lately. he says I can probably hang with some 5.0s but in a tournament setting Im sure I’d be humbled pretty quickly considering the last sanctioned match I played was over a decade ago

been getting really into pickleball lately too, and am just now starting to see the game and am able to hang with real 4.5s (in doubles, hardly play singles due to general culture leaning toward doubles - will probably seek out some singles tournaments once I have more free time next summer). great game, tons of badminton skills that are transferable once you play at a decent enough level