Tennis

[Guest qquinto]

HELP NEEDED!!! FAST!

I'm playing againts a pusher, my entire JV team is a pusher.. I decided to leave Varsity alternates to play JV singles... but than I noticed the entire JV are pushers. I have a good topspin, and can volley.. but than they get all the balls back so freakin softly I can barely hit the ball. When I try to kill the ball, it goes away into the doubles area or out.. I cant topspin without the ball that goes no where, because I try to put in topspin or it'll go to the net.. when I play net, all they do is lob it just high enough so it goes just about my racquet. I need a way to beat them...

are they really consistant?

i'd just rally with them until the point is over (i rely on being consistant in most of my games) orr

wait for an easy lob and smash it / volley;angle it deep

mm and try to control your power?

does anyone have any advice on how to practice slicing?

i played some girls recently that do almost nothing, but slice slice slicee

kinda annoying, but i thought they looked pretty awesome

so now i want to mix some slices in with the usual groundstrokes : D

one more thing too

i've been playing doubles in my recent tournaments

i'm getting second place and third place medals.. always just a bit short of first place

and it's really irritating me,, lol

makes me want to switch back to singles because i'm way better at singles (plus i hate relying on people)

but i don't want to leave my partner

so maybe you guys can help our game strategy?

she has really weak groundstrokes, but really nice volleys

so she stays up at the net almost the entire time

i cover around 3/4 of the courts and i'm always afraid to go up and volley

(we're both 5 feet, so if they lob it over her... we're basically doomed if i'm not back there)

so what should i do?

we play okay though, it's just hard for me to get balls when they angle it to my side and i'm way back there :\

[Guest supa'Wanki]

ack...pushers T_T

i think maybe you should try utilizing the corners and the angles of the court. make them run.

aim for the lines and use good approach shots so that they won't be able to lob.

once you open up the court, go for the winner.

And if you've got a good serve, you can go for a few cheap points

I have that feeling I would always miss the winners when playing in a qualification match... which makes me hella nervous, is there a way to help me overcome this?

[Guest [Deleted User]]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Guest supa'Wanki]

TURIN, Italy – She squeezed her coach's hands and then skated off toward the biggest four minutes of her life. And right then you could see it.

The smile never lies with Sasha Cohen. She is no robot skater, she is all or nothing, wearing her heart on her sequins and this time it looked forced, this time it looked fearful. And that, really was all it took to finish her.

Sasha Cohen fell twice in the first minute of her free skate here Thursday and wound up falling to a silver medal, behind Japan's brilliant Shizuka Arakawa. The only surprise was that Cohen wound up so high.

There is no more pressure-packed moment in athletic competition than the ladies' free skate at the Olympics.

They trot out these tiny women on this big ice, with bright lights and a world watching and there is only one goal – perfection. Anything else – no matter how slight the error, no matter how small the misstep – and you wind up back in your dressing room, stunned, shocked and saddened, changing out of your dress, as Cohen did, because, "I definitely didn't think I was going to get any medal."

There are no time outs. There are no second chances, no second strikes. You can't bloop single your way to Olympic gold. There is no one to block for you, no one to pass to. There is ultimately no one and nothing but yourself to blame.

Once you are on, you better be on. And Sasha Cohen knew, deep down, she wasn't going to be on. She had stumbled through her jumps during two warm-up sessions and now all that confidence, all that charisma that had vaulted the 21-year-old Californian to first place in the short program was gone.

Now it was doubt that was crashing all around her. Her face looked blank.

"I think I was probably not nervous, but probably apprehensive knowing that I missed the lutz and the loop in the warm ups," she said.

That sliver of apprehension was all it took in this meat grinder of a competition – four minutes of perfection, taking down another athlete. They should rename this thing "last woman standing" because if you can be that person, you just might win gold.

"The new system is so demanding and so different," said Cohen's coach, John Nicks. "I've taught for 45 years and in the last two years, I've had to re-do my whole philosophy and thinking."

For Cohen that slow slide to start her program said it all. Before the short program she took the ice with a look-at-me attitude, beaming her smile into the stands, making direct eye contact with the stern-faced judges. Thursday she mustered neither.

"When you go out there and you have all these people watching and you know what you want to do, you know that your practice hasn't gone exactly right it's kind of hard to think you're getting churros at Disneyland," Cohen said, smiling.

She never stood a chance after that. She skated and fell to the theme to "Romeo and Juliet," doomed young dreamers themselves.

The whole thing came as a shock to Cohen, who despite a history of free-skate failures arrived at Palavela full of confidence. She had skipped practice yesterday to rest. She had taken enough pain medication and received enough treatment to make minor injuries irrelevant.

She had skated strong in a morning practice. She had waited her entire life for this. The gold, her gold was there for the taking.

"I felt in a good place," she said. "I was just as surprised as [anyone]."

Post-competition, she tried to put a good face on a painful disappointment. She had quickly changed back into her dress when it became apparent that she would wind up on the medal stand. She was stunned when Russia's Irina Slutskaya fell during a jump and dropped into third.

At the press conference she smelled her bouquet of flowers and talked about heading to the World Championships next month in Calgary, where perhaps that elusive gold in a major international event would happen.

She was asked if she would be remembered as a brilliant short program skater, who always failed in the long.

She bristled, a bit, at the question, at the concept. "I'm a stronger athlete than that," she said, perking up. She wouldn't let it hang out there.

"I would never let myself believe that," she said.

She meant that, too. You could see it. By then the intensity had returned, the nerves of steel, the mental toughness and supreme confidence that it takes just to reach this level, just to compete in the most intense four minutes imaginable.

It was, of course, too late for Sasha Cohen. Too late, for tonight.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Dan is the author of two new books.

sounds kind of like a tennis match... doesn't it?

[Guest KIM_SAYS:]

What are pushers?

Gaaah, the first practice starts on Monday. We don't have tryouts (they pretty much take everyone because our team is so small) but I'm nervous about challenging. My forehand and backhand have improved A LOT since last year, but my serve is still really bad. Wonder if I can do anything with it for the next couple days....

Question: What kind of grips do you guys have for serving?

Oh, and sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I noticed that sometimes when Maria Sharapova hits her forehand, she doesn't follow through across her left shoulder, but her hitting arm just kinda goes up and around her head instead. Is there a reason why she does this? Or is it not done purposely?

[Guest DanTat]

What are pushers?

Gaaah, the first practice starts on Monday. We don't have tryouts (they pretty much take everyone because our team is so small) but I'm nervous about challenging. My forehand and backhand have improved A LOT since last year, but my serve is still really bad. Wonder if I can do anything with it for the next couple days....

Question: What kind of grips do you guys have for serving?

Oh, and sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I noticed that sometimes when Maria Sharapova hits her forehand, she doesn't follow through across her left shoulder, but her hitting arm just kinda goes up and around her head instead. Is there a reason why she does this? Or is it not done purposely?

Hmm, pushers are people who hits the ball softly ensuring that the ball never goes out of bounds.

I dont know the name of the grip i use while serving

Anddddd, i think she serves like that because of personal preferance. (i rarely watch tennis so i dont see her play) Unless she's aiming for topspin or something o_0

Oh, and as for improving your serve, just practice using your "2nd" serve, which is usually softer and with a lot more control, as you get more consistant, go for more power or topspin

[Guest mistapooh]

Ask someone on your team to teach you have to do a spin serve, slice or topspin is fine.

Yah, practice your second serve a lot...I can't hit a flat serve to save my life, but when I was still playing, my second serve was clocked at 94 mph =D.

[Guest supa'Wanki]

lol, we have a german exchange student who's asian, and I asked him to teach me how to serve, and he goes, hey, it took me 2 years to serve like this, look around, no one can serve.. so I was like.. ok? lol

[Guest DanTat]

lol, we have a german exchange student who's asian, and I asked him to teach me how to serve, and he goes, hey, it took me 2 years to serve like this, look around, no one can serve.. so I was like.. ok? lol

maybe he's telling you to practice more?

[Guest KIM_SAYS:]

^lol agreed. He's probably just saying that you should practice to get better.

So today was the first day of the season. Like a million freshman turned out today. The number of freshman that turned out was bigger than our entire team last year, which was like 12 people. And they were all wearing jeans...yet they had racquets. How does that make sense? Anyway, my serve got somewhat better! But it was raining today and we had to go to the tennis center to practice. Each school only gets 1 court. So that pretty much means standing in line for most of the practice and waiting for your turn. Lame. And the assistant coach was being annoying as usual...trying to give advice but talking to fast for anyone to understand it.

Um...well there is my little spiel...Not that anyone cares.

[Guest [Deleted User]]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Guest yobsinnet]

Tennis season starts for me tommorow ^^

[Guest DBSG_ Lover]

AHHH*Screams*Ilove tennis whenever i see anything to do with tennis i scream~!!!^^ My friends think im crazy about tennis cause whenever we go out i always see a tennis court i mention it~!! They call me the princess of tennis~!!!!!!! OO I play tennis in My high school im the best female player in my school~!! kekek....oo i forgot to mention IM an ANDY RODDICK FAN kekeke so hot~!! I LUV TENNISSS~!!! I even played tennis in the rain and got lessons in the rain. I also play tennis when it really cold~!!nothing stops me from playing tennis~!!kekek tennis season is about to start i so can't wait~!! Oh i forgot to mention My tennis strengths serve, forehand~!!

[Guest supa'Wanki]

What are a few doubles strategies that can be used? What are some sign languages can be used in order to make the strategies happen? What are good strings for heavy topspin?

[Guest mistapooh]

If you got the money, get some alu big banger. They are around 15 bucks a set. Really though, it's not going to make a huge difference, at least in my opinion. I've seen some top players using cheap 3 dollar strings and kick richard simmons > <.

If you have to pick a string though, alu is not a bad way to go. Give it a try at least. Try to hybrid some cheap synthetic gut with some polyester strings too, so you can have your personal feel.

[Guest supa'Wanki]

what about the wilson topspin strings?

[Guest mistapooh]

All of those cheap synthetic are all the same. The most popular is prince synthetic gut 16g with duraflex. If you aren't going to hybrid a synthetic/poly, then go for a cheap full poly setup. Try some wilson nrg?...or was it.

Sorry, my knowledge of string brands aren't what they used to be....but the wilson polyester one...starts with n is pretty good. It's soft with decent control and durability. It's all about the comfort and what you like...since I've seen some players that would wipe the floor with you with some dental floss for strings...

[Guest supa'Wanki]

haha, I just need something that'll get me enought topspin... so it doesn't look like I'm lobbing.

[Guest KIM_SAYS:]

Andy lost yesterday...

SO we're supposed to have a match today...it's pouring. Like it has been everyday of this effing week. I wonder what the chances are for it to stop raining by 8 am and being completely sunny til about 6 or 7 tonight?

[Guest mistapooh]

Too bad you aren't in texas Kim. The weather at 10 pm right now, you can wear a tshirt and shorts and feel fine.