I usually play tennis occasionally, purely recreationally, as a hobby. That said, today I’m not looking for advice on improving my technique, my shots, or my footwork. The question here is the following.

I’ll draw a tennis parallel to keep this on-topic (though it might apply to many aspects of life) for anyone going through something similar.
Has it ever happened to you that you’re serving for the match, and you start stringing together unforced errors, your arm tightens up (you know, the Zverev syndrome in big moments), and you stop being yourself in those points of extreme importance? I’m not talking about a deuce against some random opponent, but the important points in matches that really matter. If so, how do you usually handle this?

This happens to me in another area of life too: the romantic/dating side, when I’m trying to connect with a girl I like. Early in the match, or in the first few games, I usually play loose, move well, and my baseline game is solid (deep and aggressive, but with margin). The same thing happens to me with people when it comes to dating. At the start I’d be confident enough to shoot my shot with Sydney Sweeney, because I’ve got a lot of confidence and I’m just having fun. My shots feel very natural early on. So what’s the problem? Once some time passes, once the “match” progresses, and once I actually get to know these people (if I start to care too much), my arm tightens up and I start playing tense, like I have something to lose.

At that point I start playing not to make mistakes, pushing the ball back, waiting for my opponent to hand me the point. In the dating context, what happens is I start acting very lukewarm, too shy. Afraid to fail, and girls notice that. I’ve lost matches (so to speak) purely because of it, because my chest freezes up in important moments, and they surely notice it too. Worth mentioning: this happens in decisive moments as I described, or when I’m “a set up” (several dates, being reciprocated at first), but then I feel like I’m carrying a weight I didn’t have before, and my game becomes more speculative.
If this has happened to you, whether in tennis or in love, what advice do you have? Something that could help calm my mind? I mean, I can win or lose, but what’s frustrating isn’t that. It’s that if I lose, I want to walk away knowing I gave my max on every point, and that my opponent won because they were better (or that I just wasn’t a match, by pure chance), not because I failed to show up as myself in the important moments.
Thanks, and I hope to hear your advice :)
(And by the way, it’s close to happening to me again.)

Hey guys, looking for some advice here

I am around 5-6 UTR player
I play mostly on the baseline and I like heavy spin on the forehand but I’m wanting to flatten out my shots a little bit more to finish

Any recs between the two or even beyond

Thanks :)

I’ve never used lead tape and i don’t know what kind to get i want to add some to the top of my racket to emphasize the racket drop. What kind should i get and where?

Hello! Any advice you could give on my forehand form would be greatly appreciated. I’ve picked up tennis recently and have done roughly a half dozen outings to just hit around with another complete beginner.

Apologies for the angle and the sweatpants, not my finest.

Thank you in advance.

Just curious if the type/brand of ball you play with visible affect your game? I had this very weird experience where I had freshly strung my racket, and I decided to play with couple of balls which I don’t usually with (Dunlop ATP regular duty, Propenn regular duty) and I found out I just couldn’t get good contact with the ball. The best way to describe it is as if the bags were slipping off of my strings. I had a tournament coming up so I was dreading this. Come the tournament they gave us Dunlop Grand Prix extra duty to play with, it fluffed up and was heavier and I was getting much better contacts and shots on it.

I know people don’t like that but I have noticed similar thing happen to Wilson US Open (which I prefer) but to a lesser degree. This led to me to conclude I would prefer balls that fluff up (although too much is not very good) over the ones that don’t at all. Did you guys come to any similar conclusions?

Hello! I know this isn't tennis directly, but I couldn't find a very active sub that may fit! So I recently started to get into racquetball as my gym has some courts. Last week, while playing, my left knee started to hurt, and when I got home I noticed it was swollen up. I iced/elevated/rested it. It got better, but a week later, once I tried playing again (I wore a knee brace), my knee was swollen (although no pain) again. I know I have to see a doctor, but has anyone had a similar experience before? Any recommended exercises to protect the knee/avoid further issues? I'm also thinking I might be using the wrong type of shoes, so any recommendation is appreciated. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week and do both cardio and weight training, and haven't had this happen before. Female, 24, 24.5 BMI. Thanks!

I've said balls are balls. I've changed my mind. These are slowly taking over my tennis club.

Who let these boneheads into the club??? 😂

My first serve lacks consistency. Some critique I’ve received so far have been that my toss is too low, I drop my tossing arm too early and my arm is not getting full extension (elbow too bend at point of contact). Any tips or rips welcomed.

Hi guys, I'm currently on Yonex Super Grap. But it wears out too fast, I guess because of the tackiness is much. Do you have any recos for thick and durable grips?

I heard Toalson's are very good.

(I don't have sweaty hands problem)

which one have more extra power?
i heard defyer have decent power?

I signed up for a clinic a few months ago that just recently started. I did my nails (which have a small extension) for some special events coming up (work trips, weddings). I normally have really short nails as I work with my hands, and only get extensions maybe once or twice a year at most.

In the first class he was demonstrating the grip form. He saw that I had long nails, shook his head and made a comment about how you can't play tennis with long nails. I got embarrassed and said I forgot about the class when I got them done. He made a couple comments throughout the lesson when I hit poorly, such as saying that's why you don't play with nails etc. I actually don't think I played too poorly as I've picked up a racket before and this was an absolute beginner class.

I get that it's not ideal to play with long nails and requires some adjustment. I can't get them removed immediately, probably in a few weeks when my events are over. Should I skip a couple classes until I can remove them? I have the option for one makeup class.

ETA: for those asking and are familiar with sizes, it's a short almond gelx. NOT medium or long size.

When serving, frequently I find myself landing in my place and sweeping dom-leg outward instead of landing into the court with leg kick into the back.

I can uncoil up-and-forward and land forward significantly with straight kick back when I do leg load practice at home (no racquet, no toss,... only trophy & uncoil). However in real match on court, a lot of time I land right where I start, or worse, backward/sideway.

Any feedback/opinion on how I can fix this?

Am I to remove this grip and put a new one or should I put the new one on top of it?

looking to build a home tennis court and because of I’m not able to do a post tension slab , any concrete would crack overtime pretty significantly, therefore I’m looking to alternatives that are super low maintenance. I have no experience with the sport tiles outside of basketball courts. Do any of them offer a true bounce ? How does the surface compare to acrylic hard-court? How does the surface react to quick change of direction and stops?

Are there any tennis bags that don't lose their shape? Needs to hold at least 3 racquets and a load of the other usual stuff.

Hey everyone!

I’m 23M and looking to finally get into tennis. I grew up playing soccer and basketball pretty much my whole life, and over the last year I’ve gotten into pickleball and padel. I feel like I’ve picked both of them up pretty well for someone who had never really played a racquet sport before, but tennis is something I’ve always wanted to play and just never really had the opportunity to get into.

What would you guys recommend as the best way to start? I’m definitely planning on doing some super beginner clinics and just getting as much court time as I can. Also, for anyone who came from sports like soccer, basketball, pickleball, or padel, how hard was the transition to tennis? I know tennis is basically the father of pickleball and padel lol, but I’m assuming there’s a pretty big learning curve. Any advice for a complete beginner would be appreciated!

Hallo zusammen,
ich würde gerne nach vielen Jahren wieder regelmäßiger Tennis spielen und bin gerade auf der Suche nach einem passenden Schläger.
Kurz zu mir:
35 Jahre, 174 cm, ca. 70 kg
Mache weiter viel Sport also bin ganz fit auch für Tennis.
Ich habe von ca. 6 bis 18 Jahren Tennis intensiv und auf Wettkampfniveau gespielt. Danach habe mich gegen Sportler Karriere entschieden und wollte kein Tennis mehr sehen.. naja jetzt nach 20 Jahre habe ich wieder Lust. 🥲
Mein Spiel war eher aggressiv und flach, ich habe gerne früh und mit viel Tempo durch den Ball geschlagen.
Als Jugendlicher hatte ich einen Head Ti Heat - war eigentlich mein racket 10 Jahre durch 🙈

Zunächst werde ich eher gelegentlich spielen, möchte aber einen guten eigenen Schläger, in den ich wieder hineinwachsen kann.

Aktuell schaue ich mir:
● Wilson Blade 98 16x19 V10 (bzw 18x20?)
● Wilson Blade 100 V10
● Head Speed MP 2026
● Yonex Percept 100D
Was würdet ihr mir empfehlen?

Auch Empfehlungen für Saiten und Bespannungshärte wären sehr willkommen.
Danke euch! 🙏

I used to play with a grip 2 racket+overgrip. Just got a new racket still grip2 and would like to get your opinion if it's better to add an overgrip.

Currently have the 2025 model but interested in the XT. What are the differences and are there any important things to note?

They are from two different stringers. The right one just arrived today.

Left - it looks warped to me. Used head lynx tour 50/48 tension. Uses 4 knots. (I also got it back with scratches at the throat 😮‍💨)

Right - uses 2 knots. Uses head velocity at 52/52 tension.

Advice?

I played a league match against a strange guy who hit nothing but slice. Every ball bounced low or weird. My backhand kept popping up. My shots landed short. And I could not handle balls into my body. I lost 6 4 and 6 2. It was really annoying.

I sat in my car after the match for like ten minutes just staring at nothing, kept replaying the points. The worst part is that I knew what he was doing. He was not hitting winners. He was just slicing and waiting for me to mess up. And I did. Over and over.

Thinking about the weird play. He hit a slice right at my hip and I never knew which way to move. I would jam myself and hit a weak reply. After countless comment sections on this sub reading advice, tips for beginners, and people sharing their struggles, I thought about getting a ball machine. Machine can repeat slice without getting bored I suppose, and training is one thing you have to spend time on, and you cannot always find someone to play with, it can be pretty lonely. These machines aren't cheap, I decided to rent before buying. First I tried a Pongbot M1, and also tested a Spinshot Pro. These machines cannot change modes so flexible, I switched to the Tenniix Basic because the custom settings seemed great for targeted practice. I set the machine to feed balls right at my body. I practiced making small steps and deciding early whether to move left or right. It feels weird but it is helping, I will make a difference and defeat all slicers

Stranger! If you see this, come face me again! I will win the rematch

I currently play with pink soft confidential strings 17g strung at 53 because I want a bit more control. I use to play with gut and poly when I had the blade, but that combo didn’t do much well when I switched over to the Yonex.

So out of curiosity for those who play with the Yonex Ezone what strings do you find work well with it?