00:00I'm Taylor Fritz. I'm here today to answer your questions from the internet. This is Tennis Support.
00:09TTMF says, has anything significantly changed about how tennis has played over the last 10 to 15 years?
00:15I've had this talk with some other players. I feel like people mix up their second serves substantially more than
00:21they used to.
00:22And I think the reason for that is the balls.
00:24The ball that we use predominantly, it just doesn't bounce as high as a lot of other balls that we
00:31use and that we used to use more often.
00:32So for me, I think when the balls really jumped more and kicked more, you were seeing most people, I
00:40kind of feel like they just threw and kicked second serves.
00:43And that was kind of the go-to. I feel like it's changed a lot. People mix up the location,
00:49the spin a lot more.
00:51And I've been saying that for a while, and I kind of recently kind of put it together that I
00:55think it's the balls that are influencing that because you just don't get the same out of a kick serve
01:00with the balls that we play with now.
01:02It's a harder ball, more pressurized. If you bounce a basketball that's full of air, it's going to bounce higher
01:08than one that's not as blown up.
01:11So I think the balls nowadays that we play with more often, they're just a bit softer, which it feels
01:15great off your racket when you're hitting because it kind of sticks on your strings a bit longer.
01:19That softness, it makes the ball a bit easier to control, but it also makes everything a lot slower.
01:25It's not going to bounce off the court as much. I mean, I can talk about how people are constantly
01:29complaining about how the game is a lot slower.
01:31The courts are slower. All the statistics say that the court speeds haven't changed.
01:35I agree. The court speeds probably haven't changed. The balls are just substantially slower than when I started playing.
01:42Extraordinary Addy Who is asking, does grunting make you hit better? Probably not, but it's like a, almost like you
01:49get into like a rhythm and it's, you're just like exhaling.
01:52Some people it helps realistically. Probably not.
01:56From Spack and Morty, what's your best serve improvement tip?
02:00I've got lots, but for me, the serve is a lot of different things working together at the same time.
02:08And I think the keys to that are have good balance, keep your weight back in the beginning.
02:15You know, I think a serve should be very slow. Everything should be slow up until that moment when you're
02:20about to hit it.
02:21That's when everything kind of speeds up. Think of a serve like an archer pulling a bow back.
02:25This is something my, my dad told me a lot growing up.
02:28You're slow, slow, slow, slow until it's time to hit it. And then, then that's the release.
02:33Austin underscore Aaron underscore Hanlon asks, is Nadal Djokovic the most competitive rivalry in tennis history?
02:42I think Nadal Federer is, to be honest, but when you word it like most competitive, to be honest, I
02:49don't know.
02:49If you look at the numbers and the stats, it might be.
02:57Ben, 5544477.
02:58I don't understand why there's big momentum shifts in tennis matches sometimes.
03:01Confidence is such an underlooked factor in tennis, not just in matches, but just in careers as well.
03:08So I'd say that's a big reason for the momentum shifts.
03:10One person plays a couple good points, hits some good shots, they're going to feel like they can go after
03:14that more.
03:15They feel good about doing it. Whereas, you know, a player that's maybe been playing well, they've been playing aggressive.
03:21They've been making these aggressive shots. They start missing some, giving some free points away.
03:25Now, maybe they're going to hold back a little bit. It's, it's, it's easy for things to switch.
03:30And some people especially are just such strong front runners.
03:33Like they'll play so much better. If they just have a bit of a lead, they'll just kind of run
03:36away with a match.
03:38Revolutionary Wall 42 asks, do lefties have an advantage?
03:41The short answer would be yes, because when you think about it, tennis is very much a game of, of
03:46rhythm and feel.
03:48And throughout the course of your life playing tennis, you will be playing upwards of 80% righties.
03:54So you're going to be much more versed in, in hitting off of a righty ball.
03:58Lefties just have the advantage of people aren't as practiced playing against them.
04:03Reddit user asked, what to do when someone is constantly lobbing?
04:07That is very annoying. It still annoys me today.
04:10Annoyed me a lot when I was 10 or 12 years old.
04:13When I was 10 or 12 years old, I just lobbed back and said, I'm going to do it better
04:16than you.
04:17I would say really try to develop a high flat forehand.
04:20If they lob it up, go catch it on the rise as it's coming up.
04:24Step up, just get that out of here and they won't do it again.
04:27Or, or you can lob back. And then when they go to lob, run in the net.
04:31The worst thing you can probably do is, if you don't feel comfortable lobbing yourself, is let it bounce.
04:37Go all the way back. Let it come up. Let it come down.
04:40Just take it on the rise and just, just crank that ball.
04:44Boring Boo asks, what's tennis elbow feel like? I think I might have it.
04:48That or Fiddler's elbow. What's the difference?
04:51What's funny is tennis elbow is not even like really caused from playing tennis.
04:55I feel like people get tennis elbow from like golfing.
04:58A Reddit user asks, is more spin always better?
05:01No. The short answer is no.
05:03A lot of times you're going to play in situations where, to finish a point, you want to drive the
05:08ball flat and through the court.
05:09Because if you get balls that are pretty worn out and you spin it, it's kind of just going to
05:13hit the court and just sit up and just bounce there.
05:16And it's not going to really go through the court.
05:18If you're playing someone who's a good mover, they're going to love it.
05:20They're going to get all these balls if you're just overspinning.
05:22So it's important to know when it's a good time to lift and spin and when it's a good time
05:27to really line a ball out and flatten it and hit it through the court.
05:33OKDrummer9073, has a tennis player arguing with an umpire over a decision ever yielded any positive results?
05:39Probably not.
05:40I feel like once they make a bad call, a call even if it is a bad call, it's going
05:45to stand.
05:45You know, I think we have some video review in place.
05:48That's not arguing with the umpire, you know.
05:50But arguing with the umpire maybe lets you get some anger out and lets them know that you're not happy
05:55when they made a bad decision.
05:56But nothing looks stupider than when a player is arguing with the umpire and they are completely wrong.
06:03Kappa Betting says, tips on reading opponents' serves and receiving them.
06:08If you've looked at my return stats the last couple years, then I would also need the answer to this.
06:13But for me, the best thing is just pattern recognition.
06:15Typically people are going to want to go back to the spots, the serve spots that they're having success with.
06:20Over the course of playing someone, you can probably get a feel of where their favorite spot is, where their
06:25least favorite spot is.
06:26So in the moment of seeing their serve, maybe it's not easy.
06:30But you can definitely make an educated guess by just the patterns that they're looking to serve and what they've
06:36had success with.
06:38Enjoy my downvote says, what's your go-to strategy when you're down 0-3 or 0-4 in a set?
06:440-3 and 0-4 are two very different things.
06:46Let me just first start saying that.
06:47If you're 0-3 but serving, it's one break.
06:51For me, one break, two breaks, entirely different ballgame.
06:56To be honest with you, if I'm down 0-4, I'm probably taking the L in the set.
06:59And I'm going to try to figure out what I need to do to win some games.
07:05Or, controversial take, lose the set 6-0.
07:08Because I have a theory that when you lose a set 6-0 against someone you're not supposed to lose
07:12a set 6-0 against,
07:13you're going to win the next set.
07:14Like, the person just, it kind of messes them up mentally.
07:18Try it sometime.
07:200-2000 asks, he doesn't ask actually, he just says, my forehand's got worse.
07:25Dude, I'm sorry to hear that.
07:26A big part of it is, like, my forehand, anyone that was saying, I have a bit of an unorthodox
07:30forehand.
07:31But by no means is it a bad forehand, I make it work.
07:34I think the fact that it was very, just, different, kind of made me want to, like, change it, make
07:38it look a little prettier.
07:39I kind of thought it could get better, so I kind of, I think, in a way, tinkered with it
07:44a bit.
07:45And then, just lost that feel of what made it so good.
07:50And it took me a while, but eventually I kind of just looked back.
07:53And this is something you could do, too.
07:54You just, if you have video, what were you doing when it was good?
07:58And for me, it took me going back and watching some old video and breaking down some things.
08:02And then kind of just repetition, just doing it over and over again in practice.
08:05And, you know, I feel like I kind of started to get it back.
08:08I started to feel what works for me.
08:10But it's easy to kind of just lose the rhythm and, you know, create some bad habits.
08:14Because the littlest thing can make a big difference.
08:21Each ball, as you're playing with it, it gets more worn out.
08:25I'm looking for the newest one, the one that's got the least use on it, if I'm the server.
08:30Because the balls move faster through the air, faster off the bounce when they're newer.
08:36When you look at these, they're all brand new.
08:37I can tell.
08:38They just came out of a can.
08:39As they get play, you'll notice that just the fuzz kind of comes up and out on the ball.
08:46And then that just makes it substantially slower.
08:49Con Wilde asks, what's the best spring tension for my tennis racket?
08:53There's tons of different things that go into this.
08:55And so I'll break it down for me.
08:58I've got an 18 by 20 string pattern, which is a more closed string pattern.
09:02Not as popular nowadays on tour anyways.
09:04Most people play 16-19, 16-18, 16-20, a more open pattern.
09:08What a more open pattern is going to do for you is going to give you a bit more pop,
09:10a bit more spin.
09:11I like the closed pattern because it's easier to control a flat ball.
09:15It's easier to kind of go after the ball a bit more, which, you know, I like to do.
09:19So I try to generate the power myself and get the control out of my racket.
09:23I string, depending on the conditions as well.
09:25I'd say I typically hover around 53 pounds on the main.
09:29I go a little bit looser on my cross strings.
09:32That is also pretty common.
09:33If you play with mixed strings, a lot of people will string the cross a little bit looser.
09:40If you use an all-poly racket, all the same string, then it's more common just to go same tension
09:46throughout.
09:46I'd say the more open string pattern, you might want to go a little bit more tighter to get control.
09:51A more closed string pattern like mine, you can maybe go a bit looser.
09:54I'd say where I'm at is pretty in the middle.
09:58You know, you just got to feel it out.
09:59If you feel like the ball is flying on you, string it tighter.
10:02If you feel like the ball is, you're not getting enough spin, it's not going,
10:06not getting any, you know, pop off your racket, string it looser.
10:14When I was a junior, I was playing a very big tournament in the lead-up to French Open.
10:22Very strong.
10:22Everyone in the tournament was top 100 in the world for 18 and unders.
10:26I wasn't a favorite by any means.
10:28I think I was ranked 60-ish in the world juniors at the time.
10:31So I was very average level to be playing this tournament.
10:34We're going to Belgium.
10:35I left my racket bag on a train.
10:37Happened very fast.
10:37I noticed that I left it when I stepped out.
10:40Doors were closing.
10:41Gone.
10:41It was going to take a couple days for me to get my exact racket there.
10:46So I used, at the time, my girlfriend's racket, who was also playing the event.
10:52And you couldn't get a more different racket.
10:55Different strings, because I didn't even have my own string.
10:57So different strings, different grip size, different string pattern, different brand.
11:02It was nowhere near my racket.
11:04And I didn't even practice with it before the match.
11:05I practiced with, like, one friend's racket one day, another.
11:07And anyways, I took it out, played my first round.
11:10It's the only time in my entire life I've golden-setted someone, which is 24 straight
11:15points.
11:16You win a set without losing a point.
11:17This does not happen often, really ever, in tennis, and especially at a high level.
11:22And the guy I was playing was, you know, he was making jokes about it.
11:27He's like, wow, I've never thought I'd play my whole life with a, you know, not win a
11:30set in a, not win a point in a set.
11:31And it was pretty funny after the match when he heard from someone that I wasn't even playing
11:35with my own racket.
11:38But I guess the answer is no, I don't think I'd underperform.
11:41You know, I think potentially in a tight situation, that's when the issues could come up because
11:48you're playing with something that you're not used to.
11:51But, you know, overall, I, for me, I feel like I can kind of pick up any racket and, you
11:56know, perform to a close to same level.
11:58So, middle annual 836OS, how do you deal with pressure and fear during a tennis match?
12:04Sometimes you just feel that pressure and fear more, and sometimes you don't.
12:07But you can't be scared to lose the match.
12:10That's when the fear and the pressure really sets in.
12:15Spackamorty asks, where do you serve high percentage versus more difficult to return?
12:19For me, it's both.
12:21I'm going for the lines.
12:22I'm always going for an ace.
12:23And I'm trying to do it at a high percentage.
12:25And at the end of the day, if I'm serving above 65%, it's a great day for me because
12:30the quality of those 65% serves that are going in that I am going for, I'm always going for
12:34aces.
12:35At Farhip asks, can someone more versed in tennis please explain the no coaching during matches
12:41rule why every sport allows coaching during games?
12:44This must be an old question because we now do allow coaching, which I hate.
12:50Coaching is allowed in other sports, which they're like, you know, team sports.
12:54I think what makes tennis so special is it's such an individual sport and not just the physical
12:59aspect of you are playing another person.
13:02There's also this mental battle going on of having to figure things out on the court for
13:05yourself.
13:06So I've always been a big advocate of no coaching.
13:09And, you know, I hope we go back to that at some point.
13:12A Reddit user asks, courts being slow or fast, what does this mean?
13:16This means different things to a lot of people.
13:18On a very just basic note, some courts are a lot slower.
13:23There's a lot more sand laid on it.
13:25It's a lot rougher.
13:26So the ball really sticks in the court and just stops almost.
13:30So it really slows down the court.
13:32And then fast is like you ever go play at like a public park.
13:35The courts haven't been resurfaced in 10 years.
13:37You hit a ball, it just shoots through.
13:38It's like it's a fast court.
13:39The sand on the court is very worn down and it'll shoot through.
13:45All right, guys, that's all the questions.
13:47Hope you learned something new today.
13:48Until next time.
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