Hi Herman,
You asked for my feedback on your overall strategy so I’ve tried to layout my thinking on it here.
What I’d like to do is to both improve my technique and get better at remaining calm in matches (mindset). There are no league matches or tournaments that I’m playing in until the end of August so I would like to use this time to work on my technique/strategy without the pressure of those matches. However, when I’m about to play a match or in a match I think that mindset is probably more important than technique since the wrong mindset can destroy all the work I’ve done with technique. This is especially true on the serve, but affects all aspects of my game. So I would definitely like to work with you on mindset and strategy as well as technique.
Right now I’m playing mostly singles and enjoy that the most, but play doubles in the league matches so I need to improve that as well. I often will not know who my partner is going to be until we walk on the court and a lot of them are 3.5 players who were bumped from winning at singles and who do not know how to position themselves so I need to be cover more shots with them.
Overall I play against players with a variety of levels and the strategy and shots needed against one player are completely different from another. For example, a practice set against a player around 20 years old rated 5.0 and I was rather frustrated he was crushing my 2nd serves and even getting me on the defensive after my 1st serve. It’s also difficult for me to setup for my shots against the pace and depth he had and it seems like he was very good at putting away any short balls or sitters I hit him.
On the other extreme I’ve played against older guys about the 3.5 level who hit with a lot of spin and use drop shots and moonballs and I know I can beat them, but I’d like to be able to do without working so hard where I can attack their sitters and short balls and finish points at the net the way the 5.0 player or even that female player I’ve posted points with can do to me.
I just recently was able to practice and get more comfortable with the platform stance and I think it’s helping my consistency and power. I’d also like to keep improving the elbow and shoulder turn if that would help as well. With the early racket drop how can I tell if I do it correctly? Shouldn’t the racket drop as I’m driving with my legs? When I toss too low I feel like I’m rushing, but it’s something I can try.
Just for practice I played against someone who normally plays singles on my league and I think he is a good practice opponent to work on strategy and mindset as he is a defensive player that usually dares me to beat myself by unforced errors and having me come to the net and passing me and just wearing me down. Aside from the serve drills I did yesterday I thought I’d upload games and see what you think from a strategy perspective. It’s extremely hot and I’d like to keep points short and/or not have to exert so much energy
I’ve attached videos of doing the half serve drill from the service line and baseline as well as the 3/4 serve I’ve been using