NTRP 4.5 Practice Set - Vlad "the Spin Doctor" vs Andy 

The black dude’s name is Andy. Lol

tried to kill everything lol

@@tenniswithandy hey Andy - never seen a dude as built as you playing tennis before! are you a body builder? your technique could improve (everyones could though) but looks like you get a lot of power just from your size anyway. i also use a yonex vcore 95 now - they're a great racquet. the babolats produce a crazy amount of spin.

@@markj6302 thank you. I’m not a body builder but I just like to mix in exercise (mainly calisthenics) with tennis. Technique can always improve but my focus is on staying grounded and stepping in to every shot and trying to get the ball where I want. I was happy with my ability to do that and the consistency will continue to improve with more reps.

@@tenniswithandy haha jeez mate just a natural unit then! just came back to watch the rest of the video. some more thoughts... one thing you on defense: you could try to develop is your forehand slice. its an often over looked shot, i didn't develop one for years either. when he stretches you to the forehand and you have to run to get it, you'd just go to slap a big shot but it would miss. i think in this situation its just too risky. notice how Vlad whenever he doesnt have time he slices it, even on the forehand. i don't think you should slice it as much as him since your strength is the power, but on those positions where it isnt possible to get your body behind it, it might be worth doing. another option could be a lob, both should help buy you more time to get to a more neutral position in the next ball. another thing on offense: i also really liked when you came in. if he starts doing lots of those slices its because your power shots rush him, thats a good time to come in to volley and allows to you exploit your strengths more. your volleys and overhead looked dangerous. you definitely have an aggressive power game and you should lean into that as much as you can. you start coming in and chopping off those slices and the dynamic of this match is completely different. i think i've got a similar game to Vlad, and i feel really uncomfortable against big hitters who start taking the match out of my hands. removes all my rhythm and doubt creeps in.

Thanks Vlad, it really was a lot of fun and I’m glad I made the trip into the city. There is really no where that is safe to attach against you and I don’t want to get into long groundstroke rallies because you definitely have the advantage there.

Hi, thanks so much for the feedback. I’ll try that the next time I play and let you know how it goes. The toss usually decides how good my serve is and it has been a struggle for awhile.

I’ll keep playing and thank you. My fitness and focus have led to the most improvement.

Thank you

Thanks Bryan. I think they mean well, but it is still kinda awkward and funny.

K-pop is a lovely string. It is good for folks who like control and want a softer feel but adequate spin. It feels like it loses tension after the first 6-8 hours and at that point, you should consider cutting it out. But it still felt good at that point, just some shots were sailing if I wasn’t intentional about taking cuts. The string color is a bit loud but from afar, it actually looks decent in the vcore 95. The vcore 95 already has a lot going on in terms of colors so I would have preferred just a duller string color.

interesting. What's your go-to string for the vcore95? I've previously been using head hawk touch red to match with mine (I like the all red) but they've discontinued it in reels and I recently moved to high altitude so I've been messing around to find more control. The restring zero lasted about 8-10 hours. I was quite impressed with it in that time. Lots of control and not as stiff as I'd worried it might be.@@tenniswithandy

@@fretstain I test a lot of different strings and change the strings depending on the racquet. I’ve liked musetti’s combo, 4G, hyper G, and diadem solstice power.

Thank you for the feedback. I’m working on my serve.

My shoulder is actually quite fine. I was doing handstand push-ups the other day.

@@tenniswithandyYou are blessed with an insane shoulder and upper body strength that I have rarely seen in a tennis player.

@@pencilcheckthank you. I owe to calisthenics and loads of stretching. My technique isn’t perfect but it has gotten better over the years. I really think that in addition to working on technique, it is good to work on strength and mobility of the shoulder joint to protect it from overuse injuries or subpar technique.

It does have really good pop. It is my favorite toroline string.

Hopefully they land me a tshirt modeling contract because they don't really help my game.

@@tenniswithandy at this point idk why you even wear a shirt

thats a good point

btw you can hit pause just before contact on your serves and use the , and . buttons to go frame by frame. you're not always making contact when you come down i think but you definitely want to be rising upwards when you make contact. some times you are just hanging there at contact too. should give you a nice free power boost!

The term jump is incorrect. He has a strong leg drive and unloads that stored energy as he is swinging up. Trust me, he gets plenty of pop and/or spin because of it.

@@tenniswithandy lol ok andy, it's an intentional jump that he's doing, and it's not amounting to any power whatsoever. It's a 4.0 serve and that's fine. If he wants to improve, I'd recommend serving on the ground for a while and focus on exploding up.

@@tenniswithandy i prefer to use the term "rising up through contact" yeah his serve is decent, but it could always be better. our serves would be nowhere near the level of pros, and we all have these tiny weak chains in technique which could be improved to bring us closer. this isn't meant as a criticism of him - just a quick win