From Volley cam

http://hdtenniscamera.com/tennis-video-training

high lights of the article are:  it's a step by step way to improve your strokes

Step 1:  Identify a technically “perfect” stroke on YouTube.

We’ll call this the “control” video.  It should be of a pro hitting in slow motion with a good view of the player from head to foot.  This video of Thomas Berdych’s 2 hand backhand is perfect:

go to the site for this video

Step 2:  Film 3-5 of your sessions on a ball machine.

Set up a camera on the baseline.  It doesn’t need to be my VolleyCam, or anything expensive, but high definition will be a big help.  Hit a few hundred balls at a time and return home to compare your stroke to your “control” video (in my case, Berdych hitting backhands).  Identify one thing to work on during your next session (ie, shoulder turn, extension of left hand into court, etc.).  Keep it simple, and focused:  you can’t learn it all in one session.  With each session, compare videos and “check off” each element (shoulders, knee bend, footwork) until you have a fundamentally solid and repeatable stroke.

You have to hit about 10,000 tennis balls to learn something new.  With video analysis, I’ve cut that number in half.

Step 3:   Real world testing.  More video.

Find a partner or instructor good enough (and patient enough) to isolate your new stroke.  You’re about to find out the vast difference between “ball machine” confidence and “real world” confidence.  The ball will be coming at a varied pace, angle and height.  You will struggle.  It will be frustrating.  At this point, some players give up and return to their flawed but familiar strokes.  But if you’re diligent about filming, comparing to the test video, and working on just one thing at a time, you’re reducing a large problem into a series of smaller, more manageable problems.  And you have the benefit of video to verify your progress.

SLoMo Forehand: University Player from Manila, Philippines Man

What NTRP are we NOW? July 2010

Real Tennis: Takes a look at our Progress

day 1


day 2


one week prior


doing a live ball drill

Burn OUT

Coming back from INJURY


Day one Wall work



Day one court work


comeback trail

Great website and slow mo Roger

this great website was just discovered.

http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/steps.html

we're going to explore this site for awhile, it's different and controversial, and makes things interesting.

slo mo roger

Cool Tennis Tricks

Junior Tennis in Thailand Boys 10 12 14

I was very impressed with the level of the 10's and 12's


The hardest shot...or if you ever play some hotshot little kid do this


Boys 16


the level is very high along with the tactics, but the boys aren't very tall or big.

Tennis in Thailand--boys 10's through 16's

I was really impressed with the younger levels of tennis in Thailand--well, at this major PTT tournament--apparently, there are four or five different circuits--not unified...so weird--there's dunlop, toyota, ptt (oil company), lawn tennis (the biggie as they are tied to the national team development, itf, and another one so this PTT is the biggest in January and affliated with Thai Tennis magazine and Lawn Tennis.

ages 10


very good level and very skilled with court management

boys 16's


another solid level, but the boys aren't that big as their counterparts at the 16's and 18's Nationals in Hawaii.

Deadliest shot for boys 10


So similar to America...

I don't get why the Thai kids don't break through, the level is so high, but they do have boys 8 here and 10... so maybe that's alot of pressure at a very young age.

Midnight Weary

It's almost midnight, in my life and this day.

My mother once told me a lot of things, and it's funny because at this moment, they are all so fleeting. Nothing sticks in my head. She warned me to beware of women because like your father, you can love more than one woman at a time. I never understood that. She told me to think more with my head and not with my heart. She wanted what was best for me. In the maelstorm called life, chaos often reigns yet within the insanity there is often order.

so as this night gets quite dreary--on a hot, humid night somewhere where my heart is. I do what I always do. Check up on where I am.

Maybe tonight is a night to offer some wisdom and warnings for the next generation. 1) There is more than one One. 2) Be good at something. 3) Live the dream.

I have numerous settled friends and equally numerous unsettled ones. I can understand both of them to a degree. The settled ones are out of the game completely, they have accepted the life of 2.5 kids and a dog while the unsettled ones are questing for the perfect woman.

there is no perfect woman. wake up. you're like the stock market, everything is going down, losing value, yet your eyes want more bang for your buck so to speak. It's not about settling, it's about valuing what is truly important in a woman. It's always been three things--loyalty, love, and honor. You can find a woman with those three--your good. The beauty and the passionate sex will fade. Life will be about the bills, work, and cleaning. But if she is loyal to you and truly loves you with honor. Don't get me wrong. I've been loved by some women, disdained by most, but the truth is if you can find that. Stay with it. It's hard to find. and Honor her.

And honor can mean many, many things. Read the actions, not the word. Understand the motives... and yes, unfortunately, trust her so you can be burned because with one foot out the door, that's not love.

Be good at something to separate yourself.

I have spent an eternity with a racquet, but it does not define me, it's a part of me. Life will go on without tennis. But I'm good at it. I can play with 90% of the people in the world--if I don't know you, the odds are after hitting with you. I will. Tennis tells me everything about you--do you cheat when you play? Are you aggressive, passive, or simply, there. Do you have fire and passion? why do you play?

Be good at something whatever it is.

Never ever let the dream die. This is Flashdance. Once the dream dies,you are simply a drone in the beehive of life. There is no purpose. Have a grand plan. 5 year, 10 year, 25 years. Live it. And don't get me wrong. Life isn't easy. Life is a bitch on pms. Life can be the hardest thing in the world, but you know what, tomorrow, the sun will come up and the day will continue.

Trust me. I have been in cold, bleak places alone and eating spam. There is more to life than just living.

the moral of the story. You're probalby going to live your life the way you want to. But if you could just take some advice in the road of life. If it helps, than so be it.

life with honor

because there is karma. everyone who lives without honor that i know has suffered for it.

Microsoft Warning as well as SIGN UP warnings

so this past week in the never ending quest for more hits on my youtube site--hey it's about networking, you know. I'm so close to making a dvd--now I just got to get a hot model to teach and demonstrate and we're off...

I do like that idea.

Anyways so I'm signing up for hi5, bebo, orkut, mixx, digg, etc... and doing all the registration blah blah blah. It took about 30 minutes or so...then, Wham...

I'm getting these emails the next day like hey what's with the internet sites blah blah..and I'm like...what are you talking about? and then, i'm like hmmm... apparently it sent out something using my address book BUT it didn't ask me. My friend said it might be a pre-click thing--like it's clicked already... WT...

so be careful.

I just updated my windowslive and this time, I was looking for it. They had something to make my search engine yahoo or something like that--no msn... and I was like HUH? and it had words like this would preclude any requests to change... I'm like... MAN Heck no.. WT... and so now I'm looking at everything, it wanted to make my default email windowslive which is no problem, but it also wanted to make msn messenger my default. um... I only have two friends on msn messenger.

so words--BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR FREE STUFF.

A question about formations and strategy from a fan

hi, whats your advice on this.
Date:
Feb 10, 2009
Message:
I want to fist say thx for your advice last time it was really helpful. but i have a few more questions to ask. when i play doubles with my partner we are very different but we work well together. He has the sharper vollys while i have the more powerful vollys. he has a big flat serve, but his spin serves are not very good. i have a big flat serve to but neither of ours are consistant, so i use a topspin serve during doubles. i swich it up between slice and topspin and sometimes flat.
i have a much more powerful drive and baseline game but he is somewhat more consistant. i move a lot to run around my forehands while he uses a good two handed backhand.
do you know what formation or statagys we might use. We randomly choose who will be which side when reciving.
we are both very aggressive and attack orientated but sometimes its up to me to be defensive cause he won't.
any advice?

is it better if you're on the ad.

i have a partner who hits a great inside out on the ad side. he rarely misses it. we tried switching with him on the fh, but it's pretty normal on that side. he hits the forehand and ends up just rallying with the other person's forehand, But when he plays the ad side, his forehand goes to the backhand, he has a great slice crosscourt backhand, and a very good overhead.

so my answer:

can your partner hit the two hander away from the net person from the deuce side? if he cannot, have him play the ad while you play the deuce. when you play the deuce, hit all forehands. you run around everything and just nail it crosscourt mixing in some down the lines.

you play the spin game so your serves are different from your partners mixing in an occasional flat serve--all your spin serves aim it to the backhand of your opponent 80% of the time. same thing on the replies, you just hit all forehands. it's half a court. hitting a forehand should be kind of easy. if you get a backhand, can you lob? or slice it away from the net person?

you can play one up and one back. it's the easiest. if you can both play up at net, do it. but if worse comes to worse, play two back on the first serve, and move up on the second. alot of pros are doing that now.

good luck

Roger--a great article

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/04/opinion/opinion_30094950.php

STOPPAGE TIME
Men don't cry, but when Roger Federer does....
By Tulsathit Taptim
The Nation
Published on February 4, 2009

I WASN'T much of a Roger Federer fan. Well, that was until the Australian Open tennis final three days ago. Until AFTER the final, to be exact. In fact, as an admirer of Pete Sampras, whose astonishing record of 14 Grand Slam titles is in danger of being broken by the Swiss player, I was quietly hoping Rafael Nadal would put Federer to the sword on Sunday, which is what happened.


When Federer's last shot sailed long to give Nadal the elusive Australian Open title, I was satisfied. But I had no idea what was to follow. I had no idea, most of all, that tears could also be a man's most powerful weapon.

Don't get me wrong. I liked Barack Obama's presidential inauguration spectacular, and I thought his speech was inspirational and simply great. But boy, maybe only Roger Federer can sweep you off your feet with just a couple of sentences and a couple of teardrops.

The tennis showdown was up there with the best sporting encounters in history. But to me, the real "moment" of the Australian Open final came after the match was over. And it wasn't even when Federer tried unsuccessfully to fight back tears. The guy is well known for crying easily and his fans are no strangers to his outbreaks of emotion. This time it was rather different, though. His were not tears of joy because he was on the losing end of a major final he wanted so much to win. He approached the microphone during the trophy presentation ceremony trying very hard not to cry. He even said a few words to loosen himself up and distract his own heavy heart. When someone in the audience shouted, "We love you!", his efforts at self-control were in vain.

Speechless and choked with emotion, there was no way in the world Federer could utter a word to the crowd without crumbling like a heartbroken schoolgirl on her best friend's shoulder. The organisers decided to let him retreat and have Nadal, the winner, address the spectators first. (For a few seconds I had this scary feeling that Nadal, who was looking emotional himself, might be infected and break down, too. That would have turned a beautiful, touching moment into something a bit ridiculous. I mean, two heartthrob athletes crying at the end of a Grand Slam final? That would be one man too many.)

But Federer, who started it, rescued it. And he did so graciously. As the organisers were looking rather awkward and unsure after handing Nadal the trophy, Federer stepped up toward the microphone. "Let me try again," he said. "I don't want to have the last word; this guy deserves it."

With that, he had me. What can I say? We have all been in situations where everyone wants to have the last word and opponents are there to be humbled, not respected. Federer showed us the soft side of a man and his sense of sportsmanship and fair play at the same time. It's easy to praise your rivals when you are on the winning side; handling a devastating defeat in such a manner is different.

The five-set Australian Open final took our breath away. Federer was absolute tennis poetry in motion, and Nadal's extension of his mastery of clay to other surfaces continues to amaze the world. It was the kind of game you didn't really want either man to lose; a classic clash of different skills that were equally superb; a demonstration of unbelievable composure and stamina; and a great example of what healthy and constructive rivalry can give us.

Without Federer, Nadal would not be where he is, and vice versa. That must have been the thought on Federer's mind when he decided that, despite the trophy and fan's deafening roars of approval, Nadal's deserved honour would not have been complete without the most important element - true respect from his fiercest rival.

Like someone said, the two players are becoming the best things in tennis since the racket itself. That's surely arguable, but we can't take anything away from the touching and inspiring drama that happened after the game. For more than four hours, the two men played like battling angels unleashing balls of fire against each other, nothing on their minds except victory at the other's expense. But in the end the rivals became a pair, and glided down to earth to show us the good side of human beings.

Nadal beats the Fed--three reasons why also

Nadal will beat Fed in the Aussie. There are three reasons why.



First, Nadal's basic groundstroke drives Fed nuts. The Fed hates high backhands and forehands. They require him to work more, and he hates more balls out of his zone. Thus forcing him to get into long rallies. Normally, Fed would just come to net, but Nadal is a demon on the court, his coverage is absurd, and his passing shots are way too good. Hey i just found out, the ITF has a new ball--that is slower, and courts have been made slower. That's bad news for Roger.



Second, Roger's serve is neutralized by Nadal's game. Nadal can return most of Roger's serves, but the sheer length of the rallies consumes all that energy that Fed would normally use in his serve. If you watch Roger enough, the matches he dominates are the ones where the points are three shots or less. Few people can stay in the rally that long with him, but Rafa can.



Finally, the Aussie is a marathon now. It's not as grueling as the French, but with the high temperatures--you ever play tennis in a bowl that blocks the wind. The Aussie is tennis in a bowl under the sun. IF it rains, and they close the roof, turn on the air conditioning, Fed wins, but if the match goes 4 sets, he loses. I really think Nadal will wear him out within the first set with his high loops, great gets, and improved serve. Throw in 30 degree weather and humidity, the Fed will wilt.



Tennis now a game all about defense--Verdasco almost hit 100 winners in his match with Nadal, but Rafa had 5 unforced errors in set one, 5 in set two, 4 in set three... I mean how do you do that? when the sets are 6-7, 6-4, 7-6those are max number games and you're hitting 5 unforced errors? Unless the Fed is on fire, Nadal takes this.

Aussie Semis... BEST MATCH EVER since Wimbledon 2008

I'm a fan.

Nadal is unbelievable. I had trouble lying in bed watching this match for five hours while Superman was running all around the court playing Verdasco--who played the best tennis for a guy named Verdasco, that I never ever heard of. I truly felt whomever won this beats Roger. Verdasco is an Offensive Version of Nadal--where Nadal makes no errors--5 first set, 5 second set, and 4 third, Verdasco hit 91 winners in the total match. 91 winners... That's unbelievable.

Tennis has become a game of speed, power, and spin. Lots and Lots of spin. If you can touch it, you can dig it, and life goes on. Verdasco can cover so much court as to be ridiculous while hitting it flat. Lefties rule. Giles Simon is pretty fast and solid also.

It's funny that Roger at 27 is ancient.

The amount of spin on the ball, the type of ball which is slower, and the court surface slowing down favors the clay courters. And Nadal is the most amazing clay court ever.

I want to know what was Verdasco drinking....

I'm inspired. I think I want to change the way I play from my serve and volley style to a massive topspin style... but back in the day, when I was more mobile, I could stay on the court and just dig and move the guy around... hmm we'll see.

pattaya open is coming up--WTA style. I'll see how that goes.

Ladies thoughts in the Aussie

I neglected the women.

My thoughts after watching Safina storm back is...How did she get into trouble with Alize Cornet? But she is Marat's sister...

Venus is done--she's out so fast, I didn't get to see her play.

Ana is once again the Paper Tiger--I really think Rolex goofed on that one--but the Ladies side is so difficult. Maria is hurt. Jankovic is probably the weakest Number One player ever--How can you be NUMBER ONE without winning a Grand Slam... Tennis rankings always make me mental.

Serena is one big woman, but she moves very well and hits a ton. and I love Zheng--I loved her from Wimbledon BUT although she is a hitting machine, she is a small hitting machine and serves like she's a small hitting machine.

Bartolli plays Zvonerava? Bartolli beat Jankovic--I keep thinking about Weird Al Yankovic--but to me--Jankovic has no serve--BUT she has beaten the Williams sisters--one of them, and that is saying a lot... Alot about the women's game--come on. Davenport came back from laying off for like 8 months after being pregnant and Hingis was out a few years... along with Jennifer... McEnroe missed 6 or 7 months, and he couldn't come back... hmmm

Anyways Bartolli is hot right now, and the truth is I don't know who Zvonerava is soooo...push, going with Bartolli against the higher seed. Comment... why are tennis girls so BIG... I mean you are a professional tennis player not the stay puff marshmallow man... come on. Bartolli... the girl Dokic beat. course, they do move, but gosh, if they lost some kilos...harsh. I know. but hey, if you can't tell your shoe laces are tied by looking down... I mean really. Even Alisa Kleybanova who lost to Dokic... She's a big girl also--and honey, when you're playing an Aussie at the Aussie, try to be nice, don't give fuel to the fire by being so...harsh.. Up 5-2... man.

Safina plays Dokic. That's really bad news for Safina. 1) Dokic is a hitting machine, than move, serve, and volley plus HIT. She hits a ton. 2) She's an Aussie--how she is an Aussie with a name like Elena Dokic beats me, but hey, I'm American with a name like Sakuma... Dokic is going to beat the up and down Safina. That pains me to write... I dig Safina--I don't know why. BUT DOKIC is an ICE MAIDEN... watch her play, she does this weird looking at the service line or something mesmerizing thing before she hits her return...hmmm no emotions...none, but she has a history of parental interference so maybe she learned to zone it all out.

Navarro who beat Venus plays Garrigues the 21 seed. Hmmm. I don't even know who Navarro is or Garrigues...and my name is Gary. so I go with the hot player--Navarro.

Dementievea---you got to love that name plays another women with more vowels than consonants...cibulkova... I'm not making this up so I go with Dementieva...gosh, sounds like a disease more than a tennis player. Dem--she can hit, but her serve is so stinky...and she's number four in the world...hmmm

Kuznetova plays Zheng... I love Zheng. She's hot, hits a ton, and runs forever. Course, she's three feet tall. i am pulling for Zheng, but the courts are slow, the ball will bounce high, and size kills... Zheng in three? I'm hoping...

Serena plays Azarenka. Never saw her play. got to give this one to Serena. She's a big, hitting, and movable machine... Her biggest weapon is her serve and her return, if you get her into long rallies and wear her down--her serve weakens as does her return plus she'll start going for bigger and bigger shots. Those are the matches she loses, but Az--is one small looking lady... Best of luck, but Serena looks like the money pick.

Navarro advances against Dementieva to face the winner of Zheng/Serena--sorry Zheng, but Serena is way too powerful. Dementieva has beaten Serena before, but this is women's so it just matters which Serena shows up. Money pick is serena...sorry. Hey I want Zheng..

On the other side, whomever wins Safina/Dokic advances. I actually think Dokic has a shot at Serena...but the others...no. DOkic in three over Serena...

But I'm biased--she is an Aussie and I swear ice runs in her veins...

Lots of variables though, I don't watch a lot of the women so I really don't know who the vowel girls are. BUT dang, Russia is doing something right, there are so many in the draw. and the Americans... We got Serena who wasn't even playing in the USTA circuits as a junior...hmmm

Thoughts on a Australian Open

I just watched about eight hours of tennis today. First, it was Safina taking out Cornet. Physically, Safina casts an impressive figure with size and speed, plus add in the tone she has gained since the last time I saw her--Wimbledon, and she looks solid, but she suffers from the Safin Curse of going for a bit much, not enough, and being mentally unstable. Cornet who is 19 impressed me, but she seems to be not as fit.

The next match was Del Potro vs Cilic--and that was a battle of Giants--both men tower at least 195 cm or taller. The power, the court coverage, and the speed were impressive. It will be interesting to see where things fall for them.

Roger's epic battle with Berdych was very interesting. First, it's always impressive how the higher ranked player stages the comeback while the contender seems to falter. Cornet above was up 5-2, and she had two match points. Berdych, as my wife was saying--"You have no luck. He was playing un-ffff believable." She knows I love to see Roger lose, and when she swears it's truly stunning, but Berdych had solid court coverage and rallies--why he went to net so much boggles my mind, but Roger showed the grit and determination. To me, it's becoming obvious--Roger needs his first serve to go in. His slice backhand sits up on the new sloooowwweeerr Courts of the Aussie, and in crunch time, his forehand is breaking down. Yet he is still Roger and capable of some magic. The length of the match helped him as the heat of the day faded away.

Nadal looked really sloppy against Haas, but Nadal's game is built on groundstrokes. The longer the match, the longer the rally, and the more likely he will win. The courts suit his game. It is unfortunate that his playing style is so reckless on his body--the new Beefier Nadal along with the very unfashionable outfit--kind of a black--with an ugly shade of blue stripe on it. Just doesn't do it. Roger's outfit is Nike also, but he looks gooooddd.

Nowak just struggled through Baghdatitis--but the Roller Coaster that is Baghdatitis couldn't keep up with the steady play of the sleepy Nowak. The match finished at 3 a.m. Aussie time, which is a travesty. You could sense Nowak was starting to slip away. Marco had the second set up 3-0, but his play is just too up and down to sustain it. In five, Baghdatitis would be still in, but the Djoker came through--and he is ever so serious.

Andy Roddick looks pretty much the same, and I've been meaning to catch Murray, but I'm having a bit of bad luck.

IT looks like Andy draws Nowak. And unless Andy is on fire, Nowak will beat him down. The Djoker is so solid off the ground--I do think his forehand is weaker, but not by much, and his return will neutralize the Roddick serve. And after the serve, what else do we have? Andy's backhand is so so, and he has this new net rushing thing, but his volley isn't up to par and Nowak passes like a demon. Djoker pulls out three of a kind in straight.

Roger plays DelPotro--Roger is still Roger, but DelPotro is very similar to Berdych but better. I have a feeling Fed gets expressed out in four. But I'm reaching on that one. Why? I think Roger isn't that fit and it just seems he can't finish from the baseline--and Del Potro is the baseline.

Blake plays Tsonga, which is going to be interesting. Tsonga can be a tsunami or a lil surf break. Blake seems to be very stable, but his backhand seem so bad. I tip it to Tsonga with the serve and weapons outlasting the speed and brains of Blake. Tsonga typhoons through in four.

Murray takes on Verdasco... yeah. I know who he is, but do you. Murray stormbreaks through in straight.

The battle of France where a Monfil against a Simon-- and Simon Says--a Gael is coming. On paper and on the court, Monfil is a Simon with more weapons. Monfils in three.

Nadal takes on Gonzo, but to me, after going four hours with Gasquet. Gonzo is bananas now. Plus you got a guy who pretty much is the Sweetest Forehand on tour playing a guy that pretty much hits only to your backhand, and you get Nadal in Three....

It's not often I watch that much tennis so it's interesting.

In the end, I see Murray playing Tsonga and losing, but Tsonga losing to Nadal. Nowak takes down Del Potro with Nadal beating up on Nowak in the Final, but I'm biased. I don't like the Djoker and Murray just doesn't impress me yet.

Sorry Roger, but it's a what have you done lately world...and 27 seems so old now.

My friend, Fabian, and I warming up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ha4xGLE8c

It's always good to look at yourself every now and then

thoughts on a cold day

Wear a sweater.

Today I started to re-organize my videos on youtube. What started out as a simple thing has grown into a massive thing as I try to put my knowledge online--that is kind of nice that I'm at 700 videos and counting, yet there is still so much to talk about. It's the nuances of the game.

It would be sad if I made a video that was minute long and that was everything I knew about the game.

And no, those that can't do, do not teach. Well, in my case, I play just like I teach, which seems to be so logical. I love those coaches that teach something yet don't play? that's like telling a man how good steak is if they're a vegetarian....riiiiggghhhhttt.

I also discovered or realized a long time ago, that I'm a bad business man. Yes, I have a MBA, but in reality, even if I feel I'm worth it, I feel shy about asking for it so the youtube is perfect--subtle fame and enjoyment.

Today was cold. And tomorrow will be colder.

the funny thing in this whole thing is I'm home without my wife, which should be like the best times of my life...but it totally sucks. the house is a mess. i am tired of eating out. and I miss her. this is why I'm married so I have someone to clean my house? hmmm. no. I'm married because ...she's the mother of my child? she is sexy? she's sweet.

I can't quantify it without sounding like a total sap, but it's true I love her. I don't want to be with anyone else. And don't get me wrong. I'm not looking, but I am in Bangkok right now, and it's not the hardest place in the world to meet women. There are one million more women than men here and 50% of the population that is male is homosexual...hmmm. You got to like those odds.

Hey, I don't mess with destiny. I met my wife in the most random of circumstances, it was literally one in a million, well more like one in a couple hundred. I was at this Halloween ball for ex-models... no, I wasn't but it would make a cool story.

my friend took me to meet his friends as i had been single for awhile--about two to three hours. that's a joke, son. But my friend wanted me to meet people so I went out the first night and met a bunch of people and it was okay... my other friend was so concerned with how depressed I was that she took me to a Buddhist temple to make merit. It must have worked. That night I met my future wife...

life is funny like that.

you have to believe in karma and be honorable. everything will work out one way or the other, and life will go on.

boy, it's pretty cold tonight, and tomorrow is supposed to be worse--and I'm playing tennis tomorrow night.

I played really bad last night...hahaha