Topic: Good and Bad

[Delpo4u]

Hey there , thank you for taking the time to read my tennis journal :D

About me:-

Age: 14
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9
Weight: 67kg :P
Body type: Mesomorph

My Playing Style:-
Dominant hand : Right
Forehand : Eastern Grip
Backhand: One Handed [Eastern grip]
Serve:Don't know whats called but it looks like federer n djokovic
Game Style: All Court player.
Favourite shot: Backhand down the line!!

The Good:
Every coach i have trained with has told me that i am very talented. My present coach is the best in our country , he has produced many davis cup players and ITF futures winners.My coach shows alot of interest in me and thinks i am going to make it big . I have a very athletic body , wide shoulders and strong legs. I use a eastern grip on my forehand as it allows me to hit with both power and spin, it is very devastating during matches as i manage to hit plenty of winners off my forehand. My backhand is One Handed , i can generate a lot of spin on my backhand and power too.My slice is average. I have one of the Best serves in my State , most of the time i hit a kick serve to my opponents backhand or a slice serve to the forehand.My parents and coach are very supportive and try to give me the best there is. I use my serve and forehand to dictate the points and use my backhand for some deadly angles.I play very aggressively from the baseline.

Now, The BAD!:
I used to have very bad temper, but now i (almost )got it under control.I am not much of a Fighter and tend to give away matches when none of shots are falling in the way i want . I easily take a very good lead but fail to maintain it. Most of the time when i am leading the game 40 - 15 or 40 -0 i have a very bad habit of dragging those games to duece and sometime even failing to win those games. I never had problems with pushers as i play very aggressively but these days i am having a lot of trouble playing Defensive Baseliners who hit with very high topspin . I also tend to lose concentration in later stages of the match or practice. My anticipation is bad. I fail to finish easy volleys and overheads too.


Thank you for reading!
I would be happy if anyone can help me with my BAD problems .

[Tennis4you]

Running out the door so no time to really comment yet, but welcome to the forums!  Great first post!

[Delpo4u]

  Thanks!
Btw i will be posting a video of me playing very soon.

[Tennis4you]

Videos are sweet!  Posting that will be awesome for us!

[Start da Game]

welcome......forget the bad and just go for it.......you are only 14 and have so much time on your side.......your "bad" is not that bad either.......defense comes with maturity.......if you are really as talented as you described, i honestly don't think it will be an issue for you to build your defense once you hit 18, 19.......

[Tennis4you]

Net Game:  You just need practice and more experience using that practice at the net.  Most players spend 95% of their practice time at the baseline and 5% at the net.  You need to be practicing your volley and overheads more often.  The more complete game you have the less holes you will have in your game for players to hurt you with.  Play some dubs too and serve and volley while doing so.  I know when you are younger doubles does not seem to be as much fun, but it can indeed help your singles game!

As far as letting leads go and not being a fighter.  14 is still pretty young.  The older you get for a few years the more you will become a fighter.  And remember, always think one point at a time, never look back and never look ahead.

I did not touch a racquet until I was 14 so you are way ahead of me!

[Delpo4u]

Groundstrokes

Here's the video of me practicing under floodlights(which are not functioning properly though  )
This was 4 months ago , right after my 2 week break due to Ankle injury.

[Tennis4you]

Smooth looking backhand for sure!  You keep the racquet pretty high on the take back for the forehand, I wonder if that hurts you at all when people crush the ball or on really low balls, maybe it doesn't.

Overall you have some nice strokes yo!

[Start da Game]

impressive stuff, delpo4u.......i wish i had a hitting partner like you.......good technique on both forehand and backhand.......like t4u above said, that take back goes a little higher and so you would lose time against hard hitters.......other than that your game looks quite decent for a 14 year old.......liked your backhand.......

[falcon]

impressive stuff, delpo4u.......i wish i had a hitting partner like you.......good technique on both forehand and backhand.......like t4u above said, that take back goes a little higher and so you would lose time against hard hitters.......other than that your game looks quite decent for a 14 year old.......liked your backhand.......

yes....

[monstertruck]

It's agreed then,  sweeeeeetness on the BH!

Thanks for posting the vid, always fun to watch other players.

Hope the ankle is all healed and rock solid.

Good luck and have fun!!!

[Delpo4u]

Hmmm feeling pretty bad ,,,,:( had give a walkover because of shoulder injury and dizziness
Right now my shoulder is back to normal again :D but i still get dizzy after 1 hour of practice or fitness . Any idea why?

[Tennis4you]

I would check in with a doctor on the dizziness.  You staying hydrated?

[Delpo4u]

Hmm i drink around 5-6 ltrs of water during practice everyday , other than that when i am at home  i dont drink more than 1 litre .

[Delpo4u]

Had a local tourney today, i played the Men's event
i had to play 3 matches today
1st match Singles - i won 7-4 although i played really bad!( Match was reaaallly lengthy!)
30 mins break and then
..2nd match Doubles - lost 7-2 to the top seeds they were really good! i wasn't able to return their groundstrokes most of the time because they hit with very high spin! we got the 2 games on my serve

30min break

3rd match - by now i was soooo tired that i didn't want to play the match at all!! but still had to , i could beat my opponent who was the 4th seed easily but after the first 2 games  my body was not supporting me(Cramps) , i got frustrated and started to give away points intentionally . But then again i thought it was not good and started trying to win the match somehow , but after winning 1 game my mind started wandering and lost my focus and same story again started giving away points easily (((

i lost the match (Quarter Finals) 7-1 , my looked really upset , but it looked to me as if he pities me

he hasn't talked to me normally ever since!

i feel really bad ,
But this time i wanna make sure this never happens again!!
I will work harder than ever!!
I wish someone could teach me how to focus while playing and how to keep on fighting .
Thanks!

[monstertruck]

Had a local tourney today, i played the Men's event
i had to play 3 matches today
1st match Singles - i won 7-4 although i played really bad!( Match was reaaallly lengthy!)
30 mins break and then
..2nd match Doubles - lost 7-2 to the top seeds they were really good! i wasn't able to return their groundstrokes most of the time because they hit with very high spin! we got the 2 games on my serve

30min break

3rd match - by now i was soooo tired that i didn't want to play the match at all!! but still had to , i could beat my opponent who was the 4th seed easily but after the first 2 games  my body was not supporting me(Cramps) , i got frustrated and started to give away points intentionally . But then again i thought it was not good and started trying to win the match somehow , but after winning 1 game my mind started wandering and lost my focus and same story again started giving away points easily (((

i lost the match (Quarter Finals) 7-1 , my looked really upset , but it looked to me as if he pities me

he hasn't talked to me normally ever since!

i feel really bad ,
But this time i wanna make sure this never happens again!!
I will work harder than ever!!
I wish someone could teach me how to focus while playing and how to keep on fighting .Thanks!

Watch and learn from the pros.
Use rituals between points and games.
Positive self-talk, etc.

Nadal, Fed, and Djoker are pretty good examples.

[ashwin#1]

i am not a very experienced player..but i have only two points for you..

1. you could be immensely strong Mentally but you could be let down by your physical condition..
2. respect your body limit..if you continue to pressure yourself like this, it might result in injury..

all d best for your future tournys..

[falcon]

I would suggest a visit to the doctor for constant fatigue.

[Delpo4u]

Hi guys , sorry i wasn't active for so many days. I had exams so i couldn't update my journal
I am now experiencing another confusion, this time its not about my game but my coach
I like my present coach very much because he is the one who made me mentally tough and very fit physically too and also improved my strokes and serve ALOT! but he is 52 years old right now and after producing so many ITF futures and National winners , he has lost the fire to make new champions. I feel like he's not as dedicated as before which is slowing down my progress and development . I am thinking of changing my coach ,i found a guy he is 22 years old and
he has 4 ITF juniors when he was aged 15-17 and won a U-18 nationals when he was 15 years old and he also won both Hard court and Grass court nationals (Mens) .But he couldn't continue playing professionally because of his financial position(No sponsors). He was also coached by my present coach :P he is a very hard working guy and even he is also a all court player.

so what do u think guys??
Hire the new coach?
(or)
Confess my problem to the present coach?

Thanks 

[tammywilson52]

I think you should concentrate on your good ones more and make them stronger. You are too young so there is a lot that you have to learn.