Topic: Pawan's Tennis Journal

[pawan89]

Hellllo people.
So to celebrate my 18th birthday (well it was yesterday, 50 minutes + ago ) I decided to start this journal. I really appreciate T4U and everyone for creating and maintaining such a wonderful place and for this idea.
I know I wont be playing for at least next two three weeks so I'll start posting here regularly once I start playing regularly. Just wanted a special date to start it so I have some time period to judge myself by.
I suppose I will do the typical tennis profile to start off my journal.

Name: Pawan
Age : 18              
Current Res: New Jersey
Height: 5'10
Weight: 145 lbs
Playing Hand: Right

First played tennis: March 2003
Playing style: Yet to be determined. Like to think of myself as an all court player with a strong baseline game and the ability to mix it up.
Forehand: went from two handed to one hand, right hand.
Backhand: went from two handed in the beginning to one.

Skill on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being horrible and 10 being where I want to be by the end of this summer, i.e the best that I think I can achieve in a decent time frame. So its pretty relative. Just shows how I would analyze my game.
Forehand: 8
Backhand: 3
Volleys: 5
Half Volleys: Yes this deserves a special place because I love this kinda stuff best. uhh.. 7
Serve: Ranges from 4-8
Speed 7:
Fitness: Don't ask. probably -10 now.
Mental game: how can one rank one's own mental game? like the ability to hold serve on breaks.. or play good points when you are down and convert breaks when received - tie breaks.. like that right? I would say 6.5


What else remains?

Racquet: Wilson something, strung at 62 for three years .. I have two of these and love them to death. And a Wilson nVision strung at 63.

Thats about all there is to it now.
Bye folks.

[OSU Buckeye]

Excellent.....hit us with the updates as they come!  Good luck!

[Tennis4you]

Not play for 2-3 weeks eh?  That is brutal.  I am sure you will be happy to get back to the court.  I am itching and i haven't played for 2 days...

[pawan89]

I'm going to hit with a friend Thursday eve in the indoor courts at my college - last time I played here I felt the courts were too long so I stuck to playing outdoors even through the winter. But I also broke my only remaining racquet strings that day and had to play with one borrowed from the people so.. I'll give the courts another shot. Also these courts are blue so its amazing.. first time I have played on courts that aren't all green or red/green. you know I read somewhere that green and blue hardcourts play faster than the red/green and all red courts. I think that's odd but I guess after having read that I found the all green courts and the blue courts slightly faster.. most likely its all mental.

[OSU Buckeye]

I'm going to hit with a friend Thursday eve in the indoor courts at my college - last time I played here I felt the courts were too long so I stuck to playing outdoors even through the winter. But I also broke my only remaining racquet strings that day and had to play with one borrowed from the people so.. I'll give the courts another shot. Also these courts are blue so its amazing.. first time I have played on courts that aren't all green or red/green. you know I read somewhere that green and blue hardcourts play faster than the red/green and all red courts. I think that's odd but I guess after having read that I found the all green courts and the blue courts slightly faster.. most likely its all mental.

I wouldn't think color matters at all in terms of how fast the courts play.   More likely, is how recent were they resurfaced and what kind of materials were used.    In our area, the indoor courts at the different clubs all play slightly different than each other, and all play faster than the local outdoor courts.   We just try to adjust our game slightly depending on whether we are indoor or out.   It is kind of like the pros with their grass season and outdoor hard-court season.  They must certainly change their game slightly depending on the surface!

[wilsonboy]

I'm going to hit with a friend Thursday eve in the indoor courts at my college - last time I played here I felt the courts were too long so I stuck to playing outdoors even through the winter. But I also broke my only remaining racquet strings that day and had to play with one borrowed from the people so.. I'll give the courts another shot. Also these courts are blue so its amazing.. first time I have played on courts that aren't all green or red/green. you know I read somewhere that green and blue hardcourts play faster than the red/green and all red courts. I think that's odd but I guess after having read that I found the all green courts and the blue courts slightly faster.. most likely its all mental.

lol, it's funny how you said "thrusday's eve" instead of wednesday.lol anywho, you seem like someone who's passionate about tennis. You said that your backhand gives u the most trouble right? well, here's how I overcame the "backhand learning curve": just think of the backhand as a reverse forhand. In most cases when u just start w/ the backhand, one wouldn't turn their body enough to make a solid hit. So make sure that you turn your body and bring the racquet back enough before trying to make the shot. But most of the problems w/ learning a backhand is mental. People generally get uncomfortable w/ the fact that they have to put their focus on their less dominant side. But once you get it, it'll be your favorite shot.

[OSU Buckeye]

I'm going to hit with a friend Thursday eve in the indoor courts at my college - last time I played here I felt the courts were too long so I stuck to playing outdoors even through the winter. But I also broke my only remaining racquet strings that day and had to play with one borrowed from the people so.. I'll give the courts another shot. Also these courts are blue so its amazing.. first time I have played on courts that aren't all green or red/green. you know I read somewhere that green and blue hardcourts play faster than the red/green and all red courts. I think that's odd but I guess after having read that I found the all green courts and the blue courts slightly faster.. most likely its all mental.

lol, it's funny how you said "thrusday's eve" instead of wednesday.lol anywho, you seem like someone who's passionate about tennis. You said that your backhand gives u the most trouble right? well, here's how I overcame the "backhand learning curve": just think of the backhand as a reverse forhand. In most cases when u just start w/ the backhand, one wouldn't turn their body enough to make a solid hit. So make sure that you turn your body and bring the racquet back enough before trying to make the shot. But most of the problems w/ learning a backhand is mental. People generally get uncomfortable w/ the fact that they have to put their focus on their less dominant side. But once you get it, it'll be your favorite shot.

I think he/she just meant Thursday evening.  That is what I thought.    

[pawan89]

lol, it's funny how you said "thrusday's eve" instead of wednesday.lol anywho, you seem like someone who's passionate about tennis. You said that your backhand gives u the most trouble right? well, here's how I overcame the "backhand learning curve": just think of the backhand as a reverse forhand. In most cases when u just start w/ the backhand, one wouldn't turn their body enough to make a solid hit. So make sure that you turn your body and bring the racquet back enough before trying to make the shot. But most of the problems w/ learning a backhand is mental. People generally get uncomfortable w/ the fact that they have to put their focus on their less dominant side. But once you get it, it'll be your favorite shot.

I think he/she just meant Thursday evening.  That is what I thought.    

Yeah, I meant thursday although I wish it was tonight.. its been too long and i cant wait any longer.
Thanks for the advice on the backhand, I'll try focusing especially on the turning body and bringing racquet back in time this time and let you know how it felt. I think that might improve it a lot because sometimes I find myself telling myself to turn more, because the forehand i am used to, if i cannot fully turn that is, hitting the ball well even if i am like facing the net.. that is I can, and everyone does, hit a forehand completely well even if  i dont turn my body at all.. which is totally not the case with a backhand ..  so I'll let you know. thank you very much. my backhand is even now my favourite shot becuase the times that it goes in, which is like 1 in 2 usually.. half of them are amazing.. not that its that the shot itself has speed or becomes a winner or anything but i just love the whole motion and how it just.. flows. especially when i do happen to get a wonderful down the line winner with a beautiful shot.

and so i guess it wasnt just me and the courts were really slightly faster? I liked it.. I also liked the colour scheme but maybe thats what (and the borrowed racquet) screwed up my perception of the length of the court. the tension was really low too so everything i hit went way way deeper than i usually hit.

thats also actually one thing i wanted to ask you guys about - depth control. ever since i started playing i always hit balls pretty short.. not deep at all compared to most players. but it was fine i mean i never complained and i was too busy learning and improving other things to bother about that yet.. and then after i bought a new racquet last year, I all of a sudden started hitting balls deep. real deep. like i even hit balls long now.. which is strange cuz I think i have gone many matches without ever hitting the ball long - that is the ball is close but its out.. they always fall short or if it goes long its like a missed lob or forehand. ever since then even when i play with my old racquets now i hit the ball deep... and thats the case even now. its not necesarily a bad thing at all but i am just curious how all of a sudden with the switch of a racquet it changes and then more suprisingly, stays that way even after switching back. one thing though, I did change my tension overall from like 55-58 to 60-63 at the same time i bought that racquet.. so all my racquets ever since have been strung tighter but shouldn't the ball not go deep if its tighter? i mean i still hit with teh same force and spin so i dont see how a tighter string bed makes it go further.
but i'll ask this after i play tommorrow.. not now.

thanks once agian.

[pawan89]

So, rather disappointingly, I couldn't play Thursday. I called to reserve the courts late and had to be put on a  waiting list. By the time I was on the court it was close to closing time so I just went there and hit for five minutes with this kid there.. I was in jeans and I played with his extra racquet cuz I wasn't getting ready for five minutes of play.
A note - I play with his extra racquet .. it was that N six one thing that Fed uses cept the 95sqinch one. Now I want one. I really wasn't trying to hit any shots or anything but the few that I hit were amazing, I spent more time marvelling at the racquet than actually hitting. And the whole headlight thing, WOW did it change my serve or what. It was amazing, I just couldn't get speed on it but it was amazing all the same. I researched it a bit and they said it was a good one.. and now I want it. Is there any point to buying new racquets? Like I know my friend bought a Wilson prostaff in some southern state for $4, yes $4.. strung and all and its an amazing racquet as you all know. Sure its not like brand new but its in better shape than the new racquet with which I played last summer. I mean there's no problem if I can find a used racquet thats not like beaten up right? I mean if it means saving some money that I could invest on some strings or something. Hopefully now with the KFactor in I can find some good deal on that ncode thing.
Also, I didn't hit any real backhands (flat or topspin) cuz I wanted to you know get a rally going for the five minutes so I sliced them all.. but how do you return a high backhand when returning serve? In fact.. how are you supposed to return a good backhand while returning serve? Till now I have done well to just throw in my second hand for extra stability and block it back deep and sometimes if i am really confident swing a little and i even pull of winners sometimes but thats not the right way to do it is it? Especially when its high, I touch it and pray to god that it goes in and the opponent isn't volleying of his serve.

[Tennis4you]

So, rather disappointingly, I couldn't play Thursday. I called to reserve the courts late and had to be put on a  waiting list. By the time I was on the court it was close to closing time so I just went there and hit for five minutes with this kid there.. I was in jeans and I played with his extra racquet cuz I wasn't getting ready for five minutes of play.
A note - I play with his extra racquet .. it was that N six one thing that Fed uses cept the 95sqinch one. Now I want one. I really wasn't trying to hit any shots or anything but the few that I hit were amazing, I spent more time marvelling at the racquet than actually hitting. And the whole headlight thing, WOW did it change my serve or what. It was amazing, I just couldn't get speed on it but it was amazing all the same. I researched it a bit and they said it was a good one.. and now I want it. Is there any point to buying new racquets? Like I know my friend bought a Wilson prostaff in some southern state for $4, yes $4.. strung and all and its an amazing racquet as you all know. Sure its not like brand new but its in better shape than the new racquet with which I played last summer. I mean there's no problem if I can find a used racquet thats not like beaten up right? I mean if it means saving some money that I could invest on some strings or something. Hopefully now with the KFactor in I can find some good deal on that ncode thing.
Also, I didn't hit any real backhands (flat or topspin) cuz I wanted to you know get a rally going for the five minutes so I sliced them all.. but how do you return a high backhand when returning serve? In fact.. how are you supposed to return a good backhand while returning serve? Till now I have done well to just throw in my second hand for extra stability and block it back deep and sometimes if i am really confident swing a little and i even pull of winners sometimes but thats not the right way to do it is it? Especially when its high, I touch it and pray to god that it goes in and the opponent isn't volleying of his serve.

High backhands give a lot of people trouble.  I am short so ball get high on me fast.  I am able to slice the high balls pretty well off fo the backhand side.  I am not very good at hitting the high ones with topspin.  If you are going to slice the high ball, be sure to step into your shot.  I lean back on a lot of my forehands, but you must step into a slice shot for it to be a effective.

I use the nSix-One and I love it.  I plan on using them for a long time.  If you buy it new they are expensive.  I bought 2 used ones and they were $80.00 each which isn't too bad considering they are $160.00.  I will always buy used racquets now.  If people online tell you they are 9/10 condition that means they are in damn good condition.  I bought one from someone who said 9/10 condition and there was still plastic on the handle, amazing!  People make a living off of selling used racquets online.  This forum has a classifieds and so does tenniswarehouse.  Both good for finding used racquets.

[pawan89]

Ok so the day before a midterm - 3 in the morning, I am bored. What else would I do? I decided I would take a picture.
So here is the picture of my racquets:



The one on the left (with the blue handle) is my first ever racquet and I have two of them, the second is currently unstrung. Its a favourite and anytime I feel I am not playing well or need to step up, I pick up this racquet and play , its amazing and I love it. the second one is the one I have been playing with lately and the one I would most likely use in a match right now - Its really really sweet too, I can't ask for more from a racquet (but then I wouldnt know what more to ask so I want to play with other racquets to see whats lacking in this one).
The strings - hybrid, prince problend. They last me quite a while and they are pretty good I think. The bag. not much to say there. Its good for three racquets, a few shirts if need be, water and some balls and maybe sneakers. Thats all I need for now isn't it?
The winnie the pooh is not part of my tennis equipment, however the hat is. I got this hat in Dubai and have been wearing it pretty much constantly all purpose all the time since then (Jul 06)
The blue earth ball is my weapon of choice to destroy my house with. Anytime I have free I'll be serving with that ball or hitting against the walls and doors, anything.. and it causes significantly less damage than a regular tennis ball would since its one of those stress balls, but the bounce is all really similar to a tennis ball so it works for me. I can throw it at anyone/anything when I get mad too without much consequence.
Last but not least, my Pringles box. So I know 30bucks isn't too bad for one of those ball hoppers, you could get it for less on ebay or at a garage sale or something. But when you have such a beautiful box thats being thrown away right in front of you, any junk for that matter - i can't take it. So my engineering mind  decided to make a ball hopper out of it. Work is in progress. I figured if I could make a little fan for myself out of safety pins and a wire and a battery ten years ago, I could easily turn a box of pringles into a ball carrier thing and it would be all the more cooler cuz I made it.
Yeah I am the kinda guy who would eventually own a garage full of "junk" 30 years from now and will find some use for them, no matter how retarded it looks.
Plus the pringles box holds 25% more pringles, so it should apply to tennis balls too.

There thats my story. And there goes an hour of time I should probably have spent studying or sleeping.

[ERHS]

Ah ha ha ha ha ha aha.................
So, your parents are Indian, I presume?

[pawan89]

Ah ha ha ha ha ha aha.................
So, your parents are Indian, I presume?

yup. so am I. and even though i am from the same city as Mirza, I had never seen a tennis court back there. and you people complain tennis is not popular when they don't air mathces on espn

Ok so I played for like 15 minutes day before yesterday - on a partially icy court. Well the whole baseline and behind was icy so we just like stood in one place (since you can't run on ice) and hit back and forth. I think I hit pretty well for not having played for over a month now I think and so did my friend, more important for him since he has highschool tryouts in a few days. I can see I have learnt a lot lot just by being on this board in the last 4 months. Like seriously a lot and I can't wait to put it in action. I mean my backhand went in with a proper motion and depth a few times.. for someone who was barely learning a backhand to be able to hit a decent almost good backhand coming from a month and a half break is really something extraordinary and thats thanks ENTIRELY to this board and all the (few) conversations we have about th e game itself, and the most important all the videos i have seen because of you.
The ice was the coolest part (literally), whenever it bounced on the ice the thing just skid out of control fast. So its like you know you see the ball coming over the net moderate speed and you prepare for it and then it bounces on the ice and before you know it its past you beneath your racquet - it doesn't bounce higher and it just shoots off. it would have been good for reflex training  
i am hoping to play this weekend since its going to be much warmer, although if as they say it snows a lot here again tonight, it might not melt off.

[Bundey]

Ah ha ha ha ha ha aha.................
So, your parents are Indian, I presume?

yup. so am I. and even though i am from the same city as Mirza, I had never seen a tennis court back there. and you people complain tennis is not popular when they don't air mathces on espn

Ok so I played for like 15 minutes day before yesterday - on a partially icy court. Well the whole baseline and behind was icy so we just like stood in one place (since you can't run on ice) and hit back and forth. I think I hit pretty well for not having played for over a month now I think and so did my friend, more important for him since he has highschool tryouts in a few days. I can see I have learnt a lot lot just by being on this board in the last 4 months. Like seriously a lot and I can't wait to put it in action. I mean my backhand went in with a proper motion and depth a few times.. for someone who was barely learning a backhand to be able to hit a decent almost good backhand coming from a month and a half break is really something extraordinary and thats thanks ENTIRELY to this board and all the (few) conversations we have about th e game itself, and the most important all the videos i have seen because of you.
The ice was the coolest part (literally), whenever it bounced on the ice the thing just skid out of control fast. So its like you know you see the ball coming over the net moderate speed and you prepare for it and then it bounces on the ice and before you know it its past you beneath your racquet - it doesn't bounce higher and it just shoots off. it would have been good for reflex training  
i am hoping to play this weekend since its going to be much warmer, although if as they say it snows a lot here again tonight, it might not melt off.

Try-outs on the ice!!!  Where do you live,  I haven't had an inch of snow for 2 years.

[ERHS]

DAMN! You live in VA, and no snow in 2 years? That's like impossible yo

[pawan89]

yeah. I'm in nj but VA surely has snow over the last 2 years, didn't it?

[Bundey]

yeah. I'm in nj but VA surely has snow over the last 2 years, didn't it?

Nope, I live on the coast, near VA Beach, so it rarely snows.  It may have even been 3 years since it has snowed.  The one year it did snow we got like 4 inches which is a crazy amount for where I live.  Up near Richmond they get quite a bit, but nearly none here.

[NJtennis11]

Ah ha ha ha ha ha aha.................
So, your parents are Indian, I presume?

yup. so am I. and even though i am from the same city as Mirza, I had never seen a tennis court back there. and you people complain tennis is not popular when they don't air mathces on espn

Ok so I played for like 15 minutes day before yesterday - on a partially icy court. Well the whole baseline and behind was icy so we just like stood in one place (since you can't run on ice) and hit back and forth. I think I hit pretty well for not having played for over a month now I think and so did my friend, more important for him since he has highschool tryouts in a few days. I can see I have learnt a lot lot just by being on this board in the last 4 months. Like seriously a lot and I can't wait to put it in action. I mean my backhand went in with a proper motion and depth a few times.. for someone who was barely learning a backhand to be able to hit a decent almost good backhand coming from a month and a half break is really something extraordinary and thats thanks ENTIRELY to this board and all the (few) conversations we have about th e game itself, and the most important all the videos i have seen because of you.
The ice was the coolest part (literally), whenever it bounced on the ice the thing just skid out of control fast. So its like you know you see the ball coming over the net moderate speed and you prepare for it and then it bounces on the ice and before you know it its past you beneath your racquet - it doesn't bounce higher and it just shoots off. it would have been good for reflex training  
i am hoping to play this weekend since its going to be much warmer, although if as they say it snows a lot here again tonight, it might not melt off.

Does this friend go to South, If so I think I know who it is, how do you usually do against him?

[pawan89]

Does this friend go to South, If so I think I know who it is, how do you usually do against him?

No he doesn't go to South. We're about even though, when his game is on its really hard to stop him, and vice versa I would like to think.

Anyway -- If I don't get out on a court and hit soon, really soon, I swear I will __________. I'll fill in the blank later when I think of something I will do.
I want to get back on court so badly. So many new things I want to do and I really think I will improve very soon for a while - I had kinda plateaued last year during my season and in my attempt to improve I think I actually got worse (transition time - I didn't really get bad but I played much worse than what I was previously - sorta like sometimes you have to take a step back to spring forward).
I have actually read a lot of the lessons articles and I think next time I am on court I am going to focus on improvements, like taking the ball early, hitting with a closed stance etc.
Also while at home I have been (with the globe ball, see my picture above) trying to change up my serve a little. I saw Gasquet's serve and its really pretty cool especially on the deuce court. So I have been trying to do that little throw yourself up at the ball thing. Effects are hard to see when the ball hits a door or the stairs and on carpet. I don't know how effective it will be in real life though - right now I am look to put speed on the serve, I don't care how fancy it is. I have been placing the ball quite effectively for some time now and I have heard I have a serving stance/motion like Murray. And he serves madd fast - why can't I? Also I would like to be more bold and try to place my second serves as well, and of course improve my second service a lot, its not terrible but a good player can really kill it. I topspin it a lot expecting others to have trouble (because I have trouble with high service returns) but only a few people so far have commented on the high bounce and have visibly had trouble returning my service returns. If you are tall and/or can return high balls well, my serve's useless. I might still be able to slice it but again I need to work on it for consistency and placement.

Also I am most excited for my backhand.
Biggest difference .. and don't you laugh at me cuz this would probably seem obvious to you - I am telling you no one has ever taught me this stuff, back when I was in high school it was still only about getting my forehand and serve into play and my coach did a wonderful job with that, and once that was a little stable he had naturally to deal with the other players, especially since I was a junior/senior by the time I started playing decently and so I really wasn't the 'future' of our team..
so biggest difference which even I think I should have picked up by myself naturally but didn't was - when you watch Federer you know how he waits for a ball with both hands on racquet, swings at his forehand and then waits for the next ball with both hands on his racquet ? well thats it. I never actually held the racquet with two hands - so I always had a forehand grip. So for my backhand you know I used to always wonder how I am supposed to change the grip with my one hand and hence always had trouble, last summer I taught myself to sorta slide the racquet into a comfortable backhand position and the result was obvious, my backhands were good. Now after watching federer and seeing how when you hold the racquet with two hands and you see the ball coming you can do anything you want comfortably with your two hands and use it on the backhand to bring the racquet back and the flow through, the right hand to the ball and the second hand for the balance behind you (so much easier and better since the second hand is already behind you from the backswing).
You know how dumb I felt? I always just swing my forehand and then kinda just wait for the return and after I see the return I run this way or that to get to the ball, rarely ever really modifying the grip. That would also explain why I have only been slicing backhands for 4 3 years and never actually swinging through a normal (flat/topspin) backhand.
This also leads to fitness because I see how federer seems to have so much time between each shot, like when you see him, he hits his shot, gets back in place, has both hands on his racquet ready to do whatever he needs to, reads the opponents shot, sees the ball and what its doing, decide what he wants to do and then go to ball, actually GO to the ball not wait for it, and do exactly what he wants and then get back to the beginning, watching the ball. I used to do none of that literally. I hit the ball see where the ball's coming back, sorta see where my opponent is and hit the ball away from him (if its my forehand) or just slice it to keep it in play if its my backhand. Yeah I have gone considerably beyond that but still when I see Federer I am amazed at what he does and even more amazed that I hadn't though of doing some things that are obvious almost.
Seriously, I can't thank Scott enough for those videos over the last two three months. I have already decided to dedicate my first Grand Slam trophy to this board - uhh lets change that to my first tennis recognition - which I hope will come this fall at our college's little tennis competition - Thats going to be even tougher this year considering how after the Division 1 team is cut, all those kids recruited from Nick Bolleteris and where not will join in this little "normal people" competition. (Rutgers budget cuts - real famous - almost as famous as our football team after this season - did anyone see James Blake and his brother wearing "Save Rutgers Tennis" t-shirts? Now you know why I like this guy even more? ). Last year I beat this kid 6-0 in the first round and lost by the same score in the second round. It was embarassing considering how this kid all he did was get the ball back in play and made me make the winners and errors - and my errors beat my winners. Everyone who was watching said whenever they saw a point they thought I was clearly going to win. I thought so too. Turned out I didn't  

This was supposed to be a short entry since I am supposed to be studying for my exams. Its anything but short. And this internet connection won't even let me post this now. No way I am abandoning this post after typing this much. This is going to be saved on notepad and posted once the computer and the router are fully restarted.

[OSU Buckeye]

Hang in there!   The best advice I could give you is to keep your eyes on the ball as much as possible and try to use smooth groundstrokes with full follow-through.  Don't try to kill the ball and don't try to guide the ball!