It's plodders. They plod across the court between points. They pllodd to get the third ball even when you've got two and you're ready to serve. They plllllooddd to the net and back when they biff their first serve. They pplllllooooddd to the bench to take a nice long sit on the changeover, then ppplllllloooooodddd back to the baseline to start the next game. Tennis is a game of focus and rhythm, and nothing kills it like these damn plodders.

I see a lot of posts here asking:

• Am I good enough to play college tennis?
• Is Division III worth it?
• How does recruiting work?

I played four years of Division III tennis, and after graduating, I realized most people only hear about recruiting—not what it's actually like once you're on a team.

I wrote about the experience from a player's perspective and hope it's helpful for anyone considering college tennis or just curious about what DIII is really like.

I'd also love to hear from other former college players or players looking to play college tennis—what do you think people most often misunderstand about the amateur level of college tennis?

On free courts in Griffith Park, Los Angeles there’s a guy who ties up a court for hours teaching a series of students. The general rule is if people are waiting for a court only one more set can be played and then it’s handed over. There is another sign saying teaching is strictly prohibited. Understandable that teaching isn’t allowed on free courts, it is massively unfair to everyone else. I guess this person has gotten away with it because no one is checking on it.

Do you think this should be reported?

For the sake of everyone's privacy I'm going to keep it slightly vague.

I had no idea who he was during the match. He looked to be late 60s early 70s. Seemed to be in decent shape (age appropriate). After a couple games it became clear he was like a brick wall. If you hit to him, it was coming back. And the finesse was incredible. The ball was either at your feet, or a beautiful angle.

After the match, I looked him up. Turns out back in the late 70s/80s, he was an All-American in college, won a few ATP doubles titles, and had deep runs at Grand Slams.

Pretty crazy to run into a tour pro in a USTA league!

Have you ran into a former high level player in your USTA leagues?

I bought a used rafa 290g from a local tennis club and wanted a backup. I bought one off ebay that was in new condition. The colors of the used one seem more muted, besides that they both look the same. Do you think this is just from sun damage or a qc issue? I would find it hard to belive there is a huge fake racket market.

I got an unexpected chance to try the Defyer 98 Pro today. For context, I’m a 55 year-old NTRP 5.0 and I currently play with a Head Radical MP strung with MSV Hex Soft 17 gauge at 50lbs. I have had ligament tears in both elbows in the last 6 years so since then I have tried to find an arm friendly setup.

The demo was strung with ALU Power, which I’ve never used before, at 50lbs, so I’m uncertain how much of what I felt was string vs frame.

Initial thoughts on picking up the Defyer is that the weighting and balance felt fantastic. I also thought that the butt of the grip was too wide but I didn’t notice that when hitting. At first I loved it - it felt very solid, the ball seemed to jump off the strings more powerfully than I’m used to but did not fly out of control. As I started playing points and hitting on the move I noticed that off center ball strikes didn’t feel good. The sound and feel was bad and I felt like there was arm impact that I’m not used to (I’m admittedly paranoid about that so it could just me being oversensitive to it.). My ball striking is much better on my backhand than on my forehand and the racket made a noticeable difference on how powerful and penetrating my backhands were. My off center forehands felt like record scratches but well struck forehands had increased spin and depth and felt great. My overall takeaway is that it will be a great racket for very consistent ball strikers, and I that I might not fit into that category enough to sacrifice the forgiveness of my current racket. I look forward to trying the 100. I also am interested to hear others thoughts on the racket and string setups.

Finally took my Ezone 100 Tour on court last night, and oh my god. Feels like I'm seeing colour for the first time. Forehands? Big. Backhands? Also big. Arm soreness? What arm soreness? Felt like I coulda kept hitting all night! The serve? ...Well I'm still figuring it out but the ones I made were also big! I understand why they're nigh on impossible to get now, it's a completely different experience.

TLDR: That Yonex EZONE is a pretty nifty racket.

I’m 27 and just started learning how to play tennis. Here is a little video of my backhand. Any tips and tricks are welcome :)

I apologize for my English, it is not my first language.

So, I've been using the Pro Staff 97 V14 since the start of the year. For context, this is how it is set-up: 315g unstrung + 5g for Wilson Pro Performance Leather Grip + 10g for two Wilson Pro Overgrip + 5g for Luxilon Legacy Dampener Black + 15g Head Lynx Tour 17 strung at 50 lbs mains/crosses. However, since June, I've been experiencing wrist, elbow, and shoulder pain every time I use the Pro Staff. Thus, I decided that I needed to change from a heavy, 350g racket, to a lighter racket.

With Wilson announcing the Defyer, I bought one right away. The Defyer comes at 305g unstrung. My set-up is 305g unstrung+ 10g for two Wilson Pro Overgrip + 5g for Luxilon Legacy Dampener Black + 15g Head Lynx Tour 17 strung at 50 lbs mains/crosses, total of 335g set-up.

I used the Defyer today in practice, and here are my thoughts:

• Balls went long. In order to generate depth with the Pro Staff, which is really heavy on the arm at 350 g, I have to prepare early, swing fully, put my weight behind the ball while completely following through till the end of the swing. This is not entirely the case with the Defyer. The balls are flying long if I swing the Defyer with the same swing style I have as the Pro Staff. With the Defyer, I have to reign in my swing and just feather the ball and not fling the racket violently in order to control it.
• Slightly more forgiving. In terms of forgiveness, the Defyer still rewards proper form and technique. In late shots, you will still feel it in your arms if you missed the sweet spot. Although I would say, the drop-off in power for out of sweet spot hits with the Defyer is less when compared to the drop-off in power for out of sweet spot hits with the Pro Staff. The forgiveness aspect is more noticeable in late shots. With the Defyer I can still keep the ball in play since it is much easier to swing as compared to the Pro Staff which I feel like Thor's Mjolnir.
• Less feel. In connection with the forgiveness aspect of the Pro Staff, there is high drop-off in feel with the Defyer. This is because the Pro Staff feels raw and connected, while the Defyer has a lot of technology for power and dampening. Although there is a drop off in feel with the Defyer, I feel that I am still connected with the ball and I can still control where I want to place the ball, albeit not in the same degree as with the Pro Staff. With the Defyer, it didn't seem that Wilson sacrificed feel for power and spin, which is important for me since it's easier for me to control the ball flight when I feel connected to the ball.
• More access to spin. The Defyer has a more open mains string pattern towards the center whereas the Pro Staff has a more tighter mains string towards the center. Moreover, the string I've used with the Defyer and the Pro Staff is a shaped string. Thus, its easier to access spin with the Defyer. With the Defyer, I noticed that the ball might fly long but it will dip at the last second due to spin.
• Less stable at the net. In terms of volleys, it still is the Pro Staff that is better when you play around the net during doubles, or if you play a serve-and-volley playstyle. The Defyer feels less stable when I volley. I don't want to add additional rackets to the 3 and 9 to mirror the PWS system of the Pro Staff, as it will be counterintuitive to my switch to a lighter racket if I add any additional weight for how heavy the Defyer is.

Note that these are my personal, initial experience with the Defyer 98 Pro. I could be wrong that I could have solved my physical issues with proper strength and conditioning, and that I have merely given myself an excuse to buy a new racket (hehe). But, so far, I am loving the Defyer 98 Pro as someone who switched from Pro Staff 97.

After almost a year of being fearmongered by the internet and avoiding the Pure Aero 98 2023, I finally said YOLO and got one on sale for around $230, since it was quickly running out of stock everywhere and I always wanted to play with it (in my country racket demoing is not a thing).

HOLY CRAP do I wish I had gotten it sooner, it feels like my shots now come out exactly as I imagined them, and I cannot understand how everyone says it "destroys your arm" or "ruins your wrist", I felt no pain at all after 2h of hitting.

A week ago I just realized I had no reason to use 98 when most pro/high level players use a 100. I mean 100 offer more benefits than a 98 especially if you are just a recreational player.

More power? Nice.

Bigger sweetspot? Nice.

Easier to play? Nice

But its only 2 sq difference, does it make that much of a difference? Should I just go buy ezone 100 and replace my 98 or stick with what I have.

Hey all. Was looking to play in some kind of group setting, but so far I haven't had a very fruitful search. LVBL exists in the area, but it's sparse and I haven't had the best experiences with it in other cities. Tried reaching out to a few clubs that host group classes but got completely ghosted.

Any experience from bay area residents?

Took a tumble while playing the other day and scraped my racket pretty badly. It's now scuffed like this all around the frame. I think it's just cosmetic damage, don't see any cracks or anything.

Is there anything that can be done about this or does my racket just have some battle scars now?

I’m a 3.0 and play 2x a week with my much more skilled husband. He plays doubles in standing for-fun-only meetups with neighborhood friends …and they want me to sub. What do I need to know to hang with them? Basic etiquette wise, strategy wise- anything you yourself would have wanted to know as a doubles newbie.

Note: not all of them are in fantastic shape so their games tend to be slice-a-thons to compensate for reduced mobility lol.

If you want to include hard-learned lessons that you can look back and laugh at for the rest of us to be entertained by- I encourage that.

https://youtu.be/si11-9fmwr8?is=YJlnqa5og7PEe1o2

According to the court owner my old racquet is fully dead, he cant understand how I was hitting anything, that my strings are begging for mercy and the frame would be too light even for a little kid lol. Now I got myself the pure drive 2025, and oh boy the owner was right

I started playing tennis in 2024 around August and I’m turning 16 this november. ever since I first played the sport I have fell in love with it and have immensely improved my skills physically and mentally since I began playing. I quickly realised I want to get really far in tennis like college tennis or even professional tennis. but i am struggling to keep myself motivated because ever since I realised I wanna go far I also realised I started too late. but I tried to tell myself that if I push myself beyond my limits and focus on myself maybe,just maybe I will get there. but as time went on I didn’t seem to be able to ignore it. it just keeps getting into my head. As of right now I am using every spare day to train myself and I’ve put myself on a diet and signed up for as much competitions as possible. But my only problem is that I want to get far but started Late and I am not in a wealthy family. I just want some Opinions or advice for me. I have considered being a coach but there is always that huge determination to become a pro player. And by pro I don’t mean number 1. that was never my goal in the beginning I just wanna do what I love as A job.

Played everyday for the last month, now need to help to see improvement. 6 months into tennis and my forehand has hit a roadblock. Any advice is helpful, finding myself missing many in the net. TIA!!!!

Video here.

Full text: "Carlos Alcaraz’s junior coach watched me hit for 10 minutes at 14 and what he said to my dad afterwards I’ve never forgotten.

He’d flown over to Edinburgh to run a few sessions with some of the best juniors in Scotland.

I was 14, ranked top 10 in the UK, and I’d been preparing for this session for weeks.

I hit my best stuff for 10 minutes, big forehands, clean backhands, sharp footwork, the whole show.

He stopped the session, called my dad over to the side of the court, and said something I’ve thought about every week since.

He said your son hits a beautiful ball, he moves well, he competes hard, but he’s been trained to look like a tennis player not to win like one.

He explained that in Spain they don’t train juniors to have textbook strokes, they train them to figure out how to win the next point against the opponent in front of them.

British juniors get rewarded for clean technique in lessons, Spanish juniors get rewarded for ugly winners in matches.

By the time you’re 18, the British junior has a beautiful game and a losing record, and the Spanish junior has scrappy technique and a draw of opponents he’s already figured out how to beat.

That session reframed how I see development at every level.

The point isn’t what the stroke looks like, the point is whether the player wins the match in front of them"

END

I can imagine the push back, that this guy was already good, so you need to focus on technique in the beginning. Not totally wrong. But as a kid (10 to 17), me and friends just played so many matches. We were too young to think of drills and ways to constantly tweak technique, we would just play matches. I think Karue said he was the same way. I don't know. Just something to think about if you want to be a good tennis player as opposed to somebody who can hit well.

Hey so I have been playing tennis like almost 1.5 years now, I would say I progressed really well in this span of time
I started with an oversized head racket ix16, switched to head MX speed novak (beginner racket fs) and then switched to head prestige mid graphene 360+. Ive been using that for 4 months now, love it honestly not much to complain about but I have always loved the head speed design and also the endorsements on it so I was thinking about getting the head speed pro 2024 as its on a discount too, theres also an option for head speed MP 2024 its the same price but im unsure which one to choose and if i should switch or not.
If any of you could advice or give opinion Id love that!!

Hi everyone, I’ve never used Yonex before, want to give it a try. But can’t decide between 100 or 100L.

Which racket is better for a female 2.5-3.0 player? What are the major differences between these two?

Thank you 😊

How does a solid performance at state/sectionals affects one's USTA/NTRP rating?

This question is likely to trigger those who judge people who ask questions about ratings.

I'm not obsessed with my rating. But I do enjoy trying to understand the sphinx that is the USTA algorithm. I realize this is lame. I should only love the game for the game and not care about ratings and algorithms. I know, I know.

Also, I do not think I am awesome at tennis. I am objectively not awesome at tennis.

Just curious if anyone has a sense of how one's post-season record factors into the overall rating formula.

Thanks in advance for not dragging me or judging my lame questions!! 😆

Hello! I am a 2.5-3.0 player and I've recently started taking lessons to try and actually improve my game.

My back hand is somehow better than my forehand. With my forehand, I struggle immensely with hitting in front of me and "through" the ball.

My coach had me change my grip to a more western style to help with spin but I can't seem to get the windshield wiper motion AND hit through at the same time. So, I either have a spinny weak shot or a blasted flat shot that goes long.

Do you have any tips or drills I can use to make sure I'm hitting in front and still creating some spin?

Casual Rec player starting tennis again (~ 6 months now) from a 15 year hiatus. I play tennis for fun, I am not playing ranked matches but strive to constantly improve.

My ideal version of tennis is rallying with friends - hitting around 8-10 shots between us and then trying to finish the point from there. Occasional doubles points as well along with weekly tennis clinics (drills and games such as king of the court, etc).

Bought an Ezone 100 for myself and content with the performance with poly tour pro at 52lbs. I am able to hit deep, powerful shots (that often go long) and have a lot of confidence at net. Of course, I would love more control. However, after playing with it for a few months, I find myself really missing the joy of being able to feel your shot - something that makes me addicted to tennis. Currently, when I hit the ball I can barely even feel any connection. After hitting it’s so hard to tell from feedback whether the shot was good or not - I need to visually watch the ball to see where it ends up.

I am asking for any recommendations for either strings for my current Ezone or other rackets that may provide me with that joy of actually feeling connected to the shot again. Nothing is wrong with the ezone performance but just missing that raw connection to hitting. I know 15 years ago I had a prince racket that felt amazing that way.

Below is some information about rackets I had demoed before buying the ezone 100 and other string setups. The caveat being I have no control or knowledge of the string setups for these demos, so I understand they may behave differently than my opinions:

Pure drive 100: loved it! But at least the way the demo was strung (tried both rpm blast and hyperg) after 1.5 hr of play I definitely felt some arm soreness. Decided not to push my luck

Wilson blade 100 v10: absolute gem and so whippy and maneuverable. Felt more connected to the ball than the ezone but could barely get ground strokes past the service line. Could be a string issue with overly high tension.

Speed MP: felt sluggish in comparison to the other rackets. Shots felt kind of dead like hitting the ball with a board. Again could be a dead string issue with the demo. I think it was rpm blast.

Ezone 100 with hyperg at 54lb: way too high of tension for me. Felt no ball pocketing whatsoever in comparison to my now content 52lb PTP

Below is a list of rackets I have on my shortlist:
Retrial of head speed MP
Prince tour 100p
Prince tour 100 (either 290 or 310)
Technifibre Tfight 300

What are others that I should add for a trial to feel more connected? Any alternative string recs for the Ezone 100? Perhaps higher tensions multi or synthetic gut?