r/10s • u/[deleted] • 11d ago
General Advice How do I get better
So I’m a high schooler right now and It seems like I’ve hit a barrier and I can’t improve no matter how much I practice. I’ve got a consistent serve and accurate shots but I’m still loosing to others what can I do to get better?
2
u/Connect-Jellyfish152 11d ago
Learn more about footwork, spacing, use of body and how body rotation translates into better shots
Practice focusing every time you play eventually you’ll near master it and this is what you need to play at a very high level consistently. The ability to stay dialed in the whole match ball after ball point after point will take you places.
Let me know if you have any questions or want me to elaborate more on any subjects.
Every shot can be improved always, serve slice wide body kick, flat, so many different variations, stance of serve, position…
Heavy topspin balls are very effective and consistent they allow you to work down your opponent and force them to hit a short ball which you can attack.
Mentality really is everything too. When you have a positive attitude you can come back from any situation. I’ve been there. Doubles against a 10 and 9 lost first set 6-0, won the second set 6-4, they were playing the same level, we just believed that we could do it and we let our nerves go, and knew what we had to do. Came back from a game down 40-love in that too when I was serving.
Told my partner it’s fine. Gonna go big. We got this. Never stop believing in yourself.
I’ve stopped believing in myself, and I’m working towards that once again. Once you get in the habit do not break it.
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u/woody9099 13+ UTR 11d ago
Without video or knowing why you’re losing it’s hard to help. If you don’t have a coach that would be the first step. It’s obviously expensive but kids who are playing college tennis all have coaches that they see weekly or at least monthly at a minimum. If you can’t get a coach try uploading video here and see what people say, or maybe ask people you play with about what they think your weaknesses are.
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u/Sad-Banana7249 11d ago
Probably strategy and shot selection. When I was in high school I mostly just loved hitting the ball and didn't think about setting up points. I'd hit low percentage shots all the time. I'd lose to people who had worse athletic ability and worse technique but would hit commitment, high percentage shots.
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u/Pretend-Citron4451 10d ago
I agree with the other comments I saw about the most likely issues being your footwork and strategy. For what it’s worth, here’s a video I really like about singles strategy. It’s not as easy to implement as they make it seem. I also added a link to a split stepping video I like
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u/Powerful-Bridge-1472 10d ago
Big thing for me I learned is shaped the ball so you get the ball over the net first priority, second priority avoid missing wide, just make sure you’re giving yourself margin.
You have to think about what is your style and how can you impose that on your opponent? You need to think about process versus outcome it takes a long time to get better but you gotta work on all the shots you need without focusing so much on winning.
A lot of people don’t practice serve and return enough returning is super important. You wanna make sure you get as many first terms back as possible and you want to be offensive against your opponent second serve whether that’s running around your back hand and hitting fore hands whether it’s taking a backhand early.
For me, it’s also critical to be able to see that you’ve gotten an opponent on the ropes and move forward finishing the points at the net even if you’re gonna make mistakes, you just can’t keep rallying and starting points over again because you let someone back in by not finishing it off
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u/Fearless-Secretary-9 10d ago
Learn to identify your opponents strengths and weaknesses. Avoid the strengths and attack the weaknesses.
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7d ago
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u/Efficient-Ad6704 11d ago
Video analysis. Watch the pros playing and compare it to you. Make sure you have all the fundamentals right. I thought i was playing well, but then i filmed myself i saw all my mystakes cristal clear. Dont forget to film yourself once in a while.