Describe your actual playing style

Tennis is an individual sport, slightly different from boxing, in that fans of all ages are able to play the game.

I live in Johannesburg, at altitude, with thinly painted hard courts. What that means is the ball FLIES. At provincial level, if you get behind in a rally, you better get ready to log some miles. As such you cant make any level of tennis in JHB if you cant serve or return.

My forehand is, when functioning my favourite shot. All topspin, except for a period last year where I tried, with awful results, to mimic JMDP's forehand.

So to simplify my game...
Serve- good, can give me lots of free points, very reliable kick & slice serve.

Forehand- semi-western, lots of spin, can open up court, very rarely have an off day with it. Fave forehand shot- inside-in forehand on the angle.

Backhand- Titanic... yeah, it pretty much sinks at the sign of any resistance. I can hit a left handed forehand as well,so in early in a match, I will hit a put away left-handed to make my opponents fear hitting to the backhand.
favourite backhand- Down the line, I cant hit 40-shot rallies on that damn flank, so I go for broke pretty early.

volley- my best part. I am ambi-dextrous, so I can knife the ball from both sides. favourite volley- left-handed drop volley

Return- Can block first serves back, open up on the second serve. I love that.

other facts- Normally stand about 8 feet behind the baseline because the ball really flies. Occasionally Serve-volley. Prefer facing forehand-orientated players. Dont mind big hitters...

Forehand- average, some spin, can hit some cracking winners occassionally, but usually only off weak second serves or short or high balls. Slightly eractic.

Backhand- Solid shot, more controlled and powerful. Two hander.

volley- I can barely volley at all. I really need to get a coach...

Return- Mine is the same as yours against a weak server: "Can block first serves back, open up on the second serve." Against a strong server or an awkward server I can struggle to get it back.

other facts- I am known at the club for running things down and for diving for shots, as I am the only person that ever does that, so it draws comments from other courts even!

I am not at a high standard. I do go to a club now, but I am one of the weaker players, and I never played in a league.

I played Super League at school, but that was off the back of a semi decent forehand, and the fact that I succeed with the DTL backhand often enough to scare opponents into leaving my backhand alone!!

Kingraf... Thank you for breaking the tedium and starting a good subject.

At my age I only play doubles.

My serve is relatively weak, although serviceable (oops, bad pun). I am finally getting into more of a habit of S & V, as I have always naturally been a baseliner. But as I've moved up divisions over the years, S & V becomes more important.

I lack patience and so am an aggressive player - probably too much so as I end up going for winners when I shouldn't.

Solid off both wings with a better forehand which I can hit flat with pace for passing shots or with whipped top spin to bring the ball below the height of the net before it reaches the volleyer.

My drop/dink volleys are the scourge of the club and my forehand drive volley is very impressive, if I do say so myself.

Good at reading opponents and doubles tactics.

LF- nice to break away from the monotonous talk, every now and then.
Julian, I am without a doubt the worst doubles player in history, unless you playing with the SOLE intention of having a laugh.

I am rather pleased with myself today as my partner and I drew 1 set each with a pair that usually play 2 or 3 divisions higher. We won the first set 6-1(!) then went 3-3 in the second before they upped it a bit and we couldn't quite keep it going.

I actually lost a two-hour three setter yesterday, 6-7 6-4 5-7. It was actually my backhands collapse in the last three games that inspired this thread...

I only got into tennis after watching feds at age 9 or 10.
I was taught to do a dhbh but rejected that and sought about teaching myself a shbh and now it is my best shot and i love it. Imo there is no better feeling than hitting a winner off it.
My 2nd serve sucks. First can be good with topspin and flat but is a tad too inconsistent.
When it's on the forehand flat shot gets a lot of power but is probably a 3/10 shot to actually come off.
I played at an alright level (had a ranking of 9.2) but during my peak years of 16/17 i had a wrist injury and had to stop for 3 years which was just soul destroying.
Had to give up hockey as well and had an op in summer 2011 that didnt do much.
I can't hit a topspin forehand now as it is too painful so i have to hit flatter which causes me to be more aggressive but with more UE's.

There was no better feeling coming back after 3 long years, during that time my knowledge of the sport grew so much, silver linings ey!

my biggest weakness, though is probably my testosterone. Once a rally gets epic, my mind goes haywire, and I start hitting harder and harder in a macho tour de force. I go lower and lower, until I eventuallg catch the line or the net!!

9.2 is decent LS.
Consistency and control of shots in ralleys is your friend

I try to get the serve in, avoid double faults. When that is achieved I just pray my opponent treats my not-so-strong serve nicely.

I wish I had been able to play more when younger... sigh!

Tennis is such a fun sport to play. I've got reasonable serve and solid forehand. Can hit it equally well cc, dtl or inside out. I'm far more proud of my shbh though because despite it's weakness it does seem to impress. If I get the timing right can hit really strongly cc. For this reason I always get elected to take the backhand side in doubles. For some reason my difficulty hitting down the line with the bh and my difficulty with high loopy shots into the backhand side often goes unnoticed. My difficulty does make me aware when watching pro tennis of players who have shots they avoid. I've been told I have a natural volley because of the way I "punch" the ball but use it more often in doubles than singles.

I get away with a lot because I'm good at hitting the ball. I'm rubbish at running and can get so nervous I can think myself into double faulting. Ha ha!

Have had and continue to have so much fun playing. Doubles can be so much fun socially and have made many friends through tennis. Feel that tennis should be promoted for these reasons probably more than as a way of getting a rare top player.

FH: western with a lot of spin but have no problem stepping in with it and hitting it flat and early, but if I am rusty it goes from one of my best shots to my worst

BH: the two hander is solid as a rock and I can go up the line with it as easy as pie, I have all the passing shots with that side and it is one of the better backhands at the whole club, maybe the best if I don't toot my own horn too much

Serve: more of spot serve, I have a good second my first serve is not as damaging as it should be and does go off boil

Volleys: weak part of the game along with overheads although I have improved and am working on it

slice backhand, sucks a bit and gets floaty because I just don't hit it very much because the two handed backhand is a strong suit

defense: I am very fast and good on the run for my age and can pass on either wing, I love playing serve and volleyers with one handed backhands you have to be pretty good to beat me with that style it does happen from time to time but it is rare.

Fitness: I can play for a long time but I am getting a bit Nalbandianesque at age 36

I played for club team as a youth a wee bit in high school but actually quit in my first season because I was an idiot

I am 5.0 player but since recent injury issues I would say I am more of a high 4.5 but if I keep hitting will be back at the 5.0 level. My goal is to be an open rated or 6.0 player by 40. To that I will have to cut out the sauce, lose weight, and really work on my serve.

I only play doubles Most of the time. Took up the game again after not having played for 12 years.
I'm left handed. My serve first serve is not overly fast but i have good variation on placement and pace which keeps the receiver honest. Second serve is pretty so- so. I just can't seem to get much spin and kick on it consistently.

Forehand from the baseline is ok. If I get into a rally I'll generally try to move to the net behind the first hard flat FH I can rip to my opponent's BH.

The DHBH did not really exist when I learned how to play as a boy but I took it up upon resuming play. Recently I drifted back to a single finding it easier to return with off that side.

Vollying is inconsistent. In doubles I normally stay close to the net when my my partner serves. If I receive a driving forehand off the return I can't put it away - often just block it back to the guy who tee's off on it again.

My return game is reasonably good although I have a tough time returning against low, flat hitting servers. When drawn over to my forehand returning from the ad court I wiin points often by going up the line on my FH especially effective against over eager poachers who cheat towards the middle.

I am still very fast on my feet both laterally amd backwards, forwards which constantly surprises many of my mostly younger opponents as I run down drop shots or scramble back to return a lob.

QP, good on you, I have seen a lot of old guys who surprise you with their speed. They tend to anticipate much better with their footwork and take the ball earlier so it makes them appear faster than they are and some still can really move by any definition.

I like to think of myself as one of the fastest fat men around.

Ha Ha! I will begin to refer to myself that way too Social. I do tend to thinkbefore I hit when given the opportumity now that I am a plus 50 player.

I see better and older players than me win points not so much with power but by finiding the open court and hitting to it.

Awesome thread. And nice job on your win today JHM really interesting to read how everyone approaches the game, we have a wide variety of styles on 606v2!

I've been been playing competitively when time permits for around nine years, I'm decent but not amazing by any stretch.

Edit: Probably best to give an overview rather than a breakdown. Okay on serve, okay return game, reasonable forehand, excellent backhand (SHBH, topspin and slice), good at the net and on approach, excellent movement and good tactically. So basically I'm consistent and hard to beat but could do with a few more weapons, more than anything else I lack power - particularly with the forehand - and need to sharpen up everything to do with the serve. I'm quite reliant on my movement, tactical play and prefer to launch attacks off the backhand wing, but I'm working on flattening out the forehand more frequently. People who abuse heavy topspin constantly can give me problems, I don't mind stepping in on the backhand side and negating the spin but it does lower the percentage.

I've taken up coaching in recent years and that's really helped my tactical game, and stopped my technique from breaking down during a match. Combining that consistency with fitness and movement wins me a lot of matches and rallies, but in honesty against a truly quality opponent I don't have much to call upon outside the backhand, and if they figure me out and start bombarding my forehand then it's an uphill struggle.

Nice thread. I play at a fairly decent club level. Big left-handed serve, eastern forehand and double handed backhand. I tend to use a lot of slice and throw in a lot of angles and drop shots. Don't volley much at singles - tend to struggle with the transitional, although I've actually got fairly good feel on the volleys at doubles.

My best attribute is probably my return. Hours and hours smacking a ball as hard as possible at my back wall when I was growing up has meant that most serves don't trouble me at all for pace. Worst attribute is probably consistency. I probably need to play 3 or 4 times a week to really start to feel I'm timing it well regularly. Unfortunately, work generally prevents me from meeting that target.

I have a big serve but my first serve percentage is low, so I mix up from kicking it in most of the time but go for the canon on break points usually.

My forehand is very loopy, when nervous the moon balls are constant! I have a one hander but I mainly like to slice and keep the ball low to bring my forehand into play which I can flatten out when I feel confident.

I'm mainly a defender and love turning a near hopeless situation into a winner, ironic when as a Federer fan that drives me mad watching the big 3 do that to him!

lydian wrote:9.2 is decent LS.
Consistency and control of shots in ralleys is your friend

What is a 9.2, in the states we rate players on a 7.0 point system that has replaced the old A,B,C,D, F ratings

quietplease wrote:Ha Ha! I will begin to refer to myself that way too Social. I do tend to thinkbefore I hit when given the opportumity now that I am a plus 50 player.

I see better and older players than me win points not so much with power but by finiding the open court and hitting to it.

Fatmen with speed are a dangerous combination QP as long as we manage not to kill our selves in the process. My own play was set back by a torn hammy a few months ago because I went kamikaze after every single ball to the point my opponents would complain about it. Like I am supposed to let you hit through me. Unfortunately, the agonizing pain of nearly tearing myself in half has stayed in the back of my mind and I do let few more balls go that I can get to. Still when I got my juices up and I really want it I can really compress the court and make the other player hit that extra shot. I am a bit younger than you are but I never underestimate the older players. As you say they anticipate and understand the geometry of the game and that can make up for a lot speed differnce. I have played players much younger than me and much older, often I find the older players more difficult because of their court sense. I like pace, and the young guys give that to me to work with but an older player who takes it early and gives me variety or understands the uncomfortable place to put the ball can be daunting at times.

Socal ... This the British Tennis Association (LTA) guide to how you move up ratings
You have to play a certain number of matches within a set period to sustain, or improve your rating.

http://www.lta.org.uk/players-parents/Competition/AEGON-British-Tennis-Ratings-Guide/


In terms of what each rating is standard-wise this page nearer the bottom describes the playing level of 10.2, 9.2, 8.2, 7.2 etc....Andy Murray would be a 1.1 for example. There are a number of 1.1s in the country. Anyone above 6.1 (below actually...) is a very good standard to be honest.

http://sedlescombeltc.co.uk/know-your-standard/

I use an Eastern Grip. I made that change a few years back after struggling with the lower balls with the Semi-Western grip I had.

I can serve ok. Always aim for down the middle and usually if my serve breaks down, I end up going for kickers and usually the pace goes down and ball can get the treatment.

I tend to play very aggressive and I always look to come in. I love doubles and like JHM I play locally in a league. I implore anyone to take the game up. It is real fun and you will get what you look for whether it is competitive match ups or just a friendly game.

I am a righty and have a SHBH. The weakness of the BH is that I play far too much up the centre of the court.

I love a drop shot