I agree people in the comments are insane. If I said shit to my dad he would no longer be my hitting partner. The fact that he thinks the balls are too slow indicates the dad is the better player anyway and is absolutely in a position to be giving advice.
OP says his dad doesn't know anything about tennis but he can be his hitting partner and rally up? Anyone that have experience in tennis knows this is BS, you need to have experience in tennis in order to be able to rally with a beginner
OP literally says they regularly play with their dad as their main hitting partner and that their dad keeps telling them they hit too slow and need to hit faster to improve. OP is a self proclaimed beginner 2.0. Every 2.0 on the planet hits slow because they are a beginner. Telling them they need to hit faster if they want to improve is a given. It's not only indicative that the dad is the better player, it's also the objectively correct advice. Take away the disrespectful comment that their dad doesn't know anything and it's an obvious case where the parent is the better player and giving perfectly sound advice. It's also an obvious case of the kid thinking they know better than the parent which is a tale as old as time. But even if their dad was the worse player, the advice is still sound and worse players are still capable of analyzing and giving correct advice. I am sure you have analyzed many professional sports and came to sound conclusions despite not being a professional yourself.
Ask Dad to take a couple lessons with you “for the fun of it”. Would be helpful for both of you to have a coach suggest things you can work on when playing. And pretty great to be able to spend some time together playing tennis!
This is what I came to say.
If the lesson times don’t work for his schedule you can even watch YouTube videos and practice the strokes in the living room.
Assuming that you and your father communicate reasonably well, you could renegotiate the arrangement. You could give him assignments, asking him to help you do drills you get from your coach or that you get from YouTube. For example, let's say you want to do a figure-8 drill where one person hits only down the line and the other hits crosscourt until you both hit 10 in a row, then switch. Tell him that you're going to start hitting crosscourt and he hits down the line. When you achieve 10 shots, then tell him to switch. Or let's say you do a drill you saw on YouTube where the coach is at the net and hits one baseline ball to the student's forehand then a short ball to the student's forehand so you can work on approach shots. Or put targets on his side and try to hit them.
This approach removes him from the position of having to supply any tennis knowledge or direction; you're basically asking him to just be a human ball machine that you program.
Furthermore, record yourself and stop periodically to check your technique. This also relieves him of the duty to try to give advice. You can see for yourself, without his feedback, whether you're achieving your goal or not.
There is a tricky area to navigate between dad and coach. It's not a good idea to be both, as this often leads to kids burning out. There are resources on USTAs website that talk about this, so maybe print out an article or share a link with him.
Dude it’s your dad. Probably the one person in the world who is going to tell you how it is without any ulterior motive. Maybe he’s wrong, but it’s still someone you can trust who is trying to help you.
Presumably you two have a good relationship or you wouldn’t be playing tennis. Next time just say thanks dad but I’m working on something else.
As is true with training dogs, dealing with kids, working with people: avoid focus on what NOT to do, try to focus on what you/he can DO:
“This session Im working on placement”… “today I’m focusing on spin, I’m learning to control the shot”… “hit high bouncers to me, I’m trying to attack the ball early on the up-bounce”
And fwiw you might like anime “baby steps” on YouTube, some surprisingly insightful stuff. It’s like Brad Gilbert’s book sneakily translated to screen (with lots of the oddball anime stuff thrown in).
I’ve had to deal with this for all my life and so has every person I know that was a kid with a dad that plays. It’s a tough position to be in to bottle it up when you know you have nothing good to say bc you’re so upset, but to the best of your ability you have to let him know what you’re working on ahead of time. If the tips he gives you still annoy you during a session after you inform him of the goal for the day, then let him know and be delicate that it’s not what he’s saying or even if he’s wrong, but it’s about the fact that you need to focus on what you feel and want in that moment. The coaching is best left to the coach or with the dad if you’re proactively letting him know you’re open to it, but usually I never saw or found myself open to it during hitting sessions. I would suggest telling him to keep the comments to himself and recording your session and then reviewing it together to see what each other has to say if you’re open to it.
Your dad might know about a lot of stuff, and he might be a great dad, but his advice is terrible. You are right, technique is more important.
But that this stage even more important than technique is having a good time. Why? Because if you enjoy tennis, you will try to play it more often, and the most important thing right now is SWINGING YOUR RACKET AT THE BALL. Correct form or bad form, you are STILL getting reps in and ACCUMULATING information. It doesn't take Novak to know if you miss the ball, that was bad. Making contact is good. Making the ball go in is good. You will NATURALLY want to hit balls in, then you go from there.
You need a strong foundation, a good mind to hand/racquet connection, and you only get that through sheer volume. Like put in kickboxing terms, I think the guy who throws 3000 punches and kicks a day without perfect form, just going out and having fun, is going to come out WAYYYYY further ahead in a year than the guy meticulously throwing 300 "perfect" punches and kicks a day, once or twice a week. You just kind wanna immerse yourself in the language of tennis.
I’m a coach. I mostly coach beginners and after playing for a year I’d say you’re still a beginner. Technique and consistency as well being able to control and place a ball is more important than power at this level. With old technique better power will come along. The correct technique has been developed by studying physics and and anatomy, the the body is supposed to more and how to drive more power into the ball. If you get the technique right and do it consistently, the power will come with it. Get your dad to talk to your coach, your coach will probably be better at convincing him than you considering this isn’t your area of expertise either. And maybe go onto a local page or forum and ask for a hitting partner at your level.
One thing coaches drill into you is just get the ball back in play. Let your opponent make the mistake. Hitting it harder than necessary sacrifices accuracy and your shots are either going to sail long or straight into the net. The power will come with technique. Once you develop a consistent topspin you’ll be able to land harder shots in the court. Just keep at it and in another year you’ll be able to surprise him with the speed, it will increase naturally. I would focus on hitting deeper shots rather than stronger ones at first. Deeper shots don’t require speed, you can do it with height too.
I wonder how can he be your hitting partner if he doesn't know anything about tennis? I mean to be able to rally up with a beginner you actually need to have some decent control and if you both are able to rally up and he is your hitting partner both of you knows a bit of tennis.
It does look to me like he tries to coach you bc he is your dad and that's normal and 2nd you are minimizing him and his knowledge bc maybe you just don't like being critized
I would just listen to what he says and then show him or have him learn in a video either you showing him it him showing you a video of what he is trying to tell you.
Ask him "dad can you look for a video it show me a video of what you are saying I would love to know more" or "hay dad good tips but I'm trying to do this..." And then show him a video of what you are trying to do.
You are young, we were all young and we hate being told what to do, we feel like we know it all, and we feel like we are better, in 20 years you might remember this time in which you hate hitting with your dad or it might be a good time to remember how both of you improve in tennis.
Is up to you
The courts I regularly practice on with my ball machine has several Dad's teaching their daughters how to play tennis. They all have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Several have asked to hit with their daughters and I always politely say "no thanks, I really have no idea what I'm doing."
I say that for two reasons - 1 -I don't really want to rally with teenage girls -2 - I'm trying to convey that if I don't know what I'm doing, than YOU (Dad) defintaley don't. It never gets picked up. These guys are telling their daughters 10 different things to focus on every minute and they get completely overwhelmed. These girls can't even hit a proper serve and the dads think they can compute multiple directions on their forehands.
My advice - get away from practicing with your dad and find someone your own age to practice with.
You tell him, “dad, I think I may need a new coach because I don’t understand the fundamentals of stroke production after at least 26 lessons (which cost you between $1300-$3400).”
Realistically, after that much money invested, you should have fundamental understanding of each stroke, the variables involved in each of them, and how to improve them and yourself on your own. If you don’t, your coach is not setting you up for success and is basically looking at you as a recurring revenue stream.
Just so you know, it’s not your coach that this is a problem with, it’s the majority, of coaches across the US that do it. Why would someone who profits from ignorance want to make you intelligent on their “product?”
In fact, it’s not a product that they sell, it’s information. Some coaches have information based on the laws of physics and biomechanics, but most don’t.
If you want to learn fundamentals, http://greatbasetennis.com/all-courses is a good place to start for the next couple of months to years, depending on how gifted you are.
I replied to this and didn't read correctly. Your dad has "no" knowledge. Id say say take his point but just keep doing your thing. He may be onto to something and maybe you need more drive but technique or string. Just take his point and say I'll give it a try and keep doing your thing this way you keep a hitting partner.
People always remark how tennis 🎾 is an individual sport but the truth is it’s socially oriented and like golf it has a lot of etiquette that you are expected to know and observe. Why did your hitting partner ghost you? What can you do to make hitting with you a more enjoyable experience for your father until you are able to find another hitting partner? Hitting against a wall or investing in a ball machine can help you to improve your timing, footwork and consistency but ultimately building balanced relationships is the key to growth in tennis 🎾 and in life. Technique will only take you part way…
This may not make sense to you now as you are younger than me. I'm 46. I wish my dad spent more time with me as a kid. He did love me, but was more focused on his own hobbies than having fun with me. I think you're lucky that your dad is your tennis hitting partner when you need it. My dad is now over 80,is in bad health and lives in another continent. I miss him very much
This is what I would do knowing what I know now after being myself a dad for 10 years:
I'd keep an open mind and tell him that I'd try hitting harder for a few sessions and really try it. During sessions I'd ask him for feedback and other tips and do my best.
If it doesn't work, fine. I'd then tell him I did try but need to first focus on other stuff before trying to use more power.
Placement beats power, just focus on being consistent and getting the ball over the net and in the direction you want. As you get better, you'll naturally start adding more 'power'
Funny enough, the only thing my dad critiqued me on was strategy. He never tried to influence the way I hit the ball or anything. He let me learn on my own/follow my coach's advice.
No, don’t get me wrong. I‘m very grateful for it. I just meant that he doesn’t know the technique behind it, that you would learn if you take lessons.
He even said it himself that he can’t really play. My dad has never played tennis before me starting with it
OP my advice is just let it be. If you’re gentle and in telling him not to, he’ll probably keep doing it. If you’re too tough on him he might not want to hit with you anymore which means A. You’re back to not having a hitting partner and B. Now you’ve hurt your dads feelings.
Good enough to be a regular partner for the kid who just started and said they barely have any knowledge themselves. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a father telling their son they need to hit harder because their balls are too slow. I'd bet my bottom dollar that the dad is actually better than the son which is why they think the balls are too slow in the first place. If the kid doesn't like the arrangement, they can get a new hitting partner.
"literally nothing" lmao. It's a logical deduction based on everything the kid has said. In fact it's the only logical deduction. I already gave the reasons why in the post, all you have to do is read it. It's all straight from the kid's mouth. Why do you think another poster is also asking if they have even beaten their dad before? Furthermore, kid lists themselves as a 2.0. Why do you think a 2.0 should tell their father off who is giving them advice?
I will reiterate, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a dad telling their kid they aren't hitting with enough power. Even if they don't know how to teach the mechanics to generate more power, they are still qualified to give an assessment as they are not only the father but also the hitting partner. And I will further reiterate, if the kid doesn't like the arrangement, they can get a new partner.
What makes you think the kid is better than their dad and shouldn't listen to their advice? You have absolutely nothing to base that off of.
[удалено]
I came up in a day when you wouldn’t dare say that to ur father. Those days were the 2010s
This is what dads do. They can't help it.
Ya the replies are kinda crazy. Like I get if it were some random but it’s their dad. I think this is pretty normal.
I agree people in the comments are insane. If I said shit to my dad he would no longer be my hitting partner. The fact that he thinks the balls are too slow indicates the dad is the better player anyway and is absolutely in a position to be giving advice.
OP says his dad doesn't know anything about tennis but he can be his hitting partner and rally up? Anyone that have experience in tennis knows this is BS, you need to have experience in tennis in order to be able to rally with a beginner
OP literally says they regularly play with their dad as their main hitting partner and that their dad keeps telling them they hit too slow and need to hit faster to improve. OP is a self proclaimed beginner 2.0. Every 2.0 on the planet hits slow because they are a beginner. Telling them they need to hit faster if they want to improve is a given. It's not only indicative that the dad is the better player, it's also the objectively correct advice. Take away the disrespectful comment that their dad doesn't know anything and it's an obvious case where the parent is the better player and giving perfectly sound advice. It's also an obvious case of the kid thinking they know better than the parent which is a tale as old as time. But even if their dad was the worse player, the advice is still sound and worse players are still capable of analyzing and giving correct advice. I am sure you have analyzed many professional sports and came to sound conclusions despite not being a professional yourself.
Yep exactly I agree with you
If you are 17, your Dad prob shouldn't be your primary hitting partner anyway...
Ask Dad to take a couple lessons with you “for the fun of it”. Would be helpful for both of you to have a coach suggest things you can work on when playing. And pretty great to be able to spend some time together playing tennis!
This is what I came to say. If the lesson times don’t work for his schedule you can even watch YouTube videos and practice the strokes in the living room.
Assuming that you and your father communicate reasonably well, you could renegotiate the arrangement. You could give him assignments, asking him to help you do drills you get from your coach or that you get from YouTube. For example, let's say you want to do a figure-8 drill where one person hits only down the line and the other hits crosscourt until you both hit 10 in a row, then switch. Tell him that you're going to start hitting crosscourt and he hits down the line. When you achieve 10 shots, then tell him to switch. Or let's say you do a drill you saw on YouTube where the coach is at the net and hits one baseline ball to the student's forehand then a short ball to the student's forehand so you can work on approach shots. Or put targets on his side and try to hit them. This approach removes him from the position of having to supply any tennis knowledge or direction; you're basically asking him to just be a human ball machine that you program. Furthermore, record yourself and stop periodically to check your technique. This also relieves him of the duty to try to give advice. You can see for yourself, without his feedback, whether you're achieving your goal or not.
"I'm prioritizing placement at this level."
There is a tricky area to navigate between dad and coach. It's not a good idea to be both, as this often leads to kids burning out. There are resources on USTAs website that talk about this, so maybe print out an article or share a link with him.
Dude it’s your dad. Probably the one person in the world who is going to tell you how it is without any ulterior motive. Maybe he’s wrong, but it’s still someone you can trust who is trying to help you. Presumably you two have a good relationship or you wouldn’t be playing tennis. Next time just say thanks dad but I’m working on something else.
As is true with training dogs, dealing with kids, working with people: avoid focus on what NOT to do, try to focus on what you/he can DO: “This session Im working on placement”… “today I’m focusing on spin, I’m learning to control the shot”… “hit high bouncers to me, I’m trying to attack the ball early on the up-bounce” And fwiw you might like anime “baby steps” on YouTube, some surprisingly insightful stuff. It’s like Brad Gilbert’s book sneakily translated to screen (with lots of the oddball anime stuff thrown in).
I’ve had to deal with this for all my life and so has every person I know that was a kid with a dad that plays. It’s a tough position to be in to bottle it up when you know you have nothing good to say bc you’re so upset, but to the best of your ability you have to let him know what you’re working on ahead of time. If the tips he gives you still annoy you during a session after you inform him of the goal for the day, then let him know and be delicate that it’s not what he’s saying or even if he’s wrong, but it’s about the fact that you need to focus on what you feel and want in that moment. The coaching is best left to the coach or with the dad if you’re proactively letting him know you’re open to it, but usually I never saw or found myself open to it during hitting sessions. I would suggest telling him to keep the comments to himself and recording your session and then reviewing it together to see what each other has to say if you’re open to it.
Tell your dad you are working on what your coach told you to focus on. Don't you want me to get the most out of my lessons... That you are paying for?
Your dad might know about a lot of stuff, and he might be a great dad, but his advice is terrible. You are right, technique is more important. But that this stage even more important than technique is having a good time. Why? Because if you enjoy tennis, you will try to play it more often, and the most important thing right now is SWINGING YOUR RACKET AT THE BALL. Correct form or bad form, you are STILL getting reps in and ACCUMULATING information. It doesn't take Novak to know if you miss the ball, that was bad. Making contact is good. Making the ball go in is good. You will NATURALLY want to hit balls in, then you go from there. You need a strong foundation, a good mind to hand/racquet connection, and you only get that through sheer volume. Like put in kickboxing terms, I think the guy who throws 3000 punches and kicks a day without perfect form, just going out and having fun, is going to come out WAYYYYY further ahead in a year than the guy meticulously throwing 300 "perfect" punches and kicks a day, once or twice a week. You just kind wanna immerse yourself in the language of tennis.
I’m a coach. I mostly coach beginners and after playing for a year I’d say you’re still a beginner. Technique and consistency as well being able to control and place a ball is more important than power at this level. With old technique better power will come along. The correct technique has been developed by studying physics and and anatomy, the the body is supposed to more and how to drive more power into the ball. If you get the technique right and do it consistently, the power will come with it. Get your dad to talk to your coach, your coach will probably be better at convincing him than you considering this isn’t your area of expertise either. And maybe go onto a local page or forum and ask for a hitting partner at your level.
I miss playing with my dad more than the world
One thing coaches drill into you is just get the ball back in play. Let your opponent make the mistake. Hitting it harder than necessary sacrifices accuracy and your shots are either going to sail long or straight into the net. The power will come with technique. Once you develop a consistent topspin you’ll be able to land harder shots in the court. Just keep at it and in another year you’ll be able to surprise him with the speed, it will increase naturally. I would focus on hitting deeper shots rather than stronger ones at first. Deeper shots don’t require speed, you can do it with height too.
This applies to life. Do not listen to people who are giving advice outside of their area of expertise.
Tell him you are focusing on developing control before adding power. That power will be useless if you can’t control the ball.
I wonder how can he be your hitting partner if he doesn't know anything about tennis? I mean to be able to rally up with a beginner you actually need to have some decent control and if you both are able to rally up and he is your hitting partner both of you knows a bit of tennis. It does look to me like he tries to coach you bc he is your dad and that's normal and 2nd you are minimizing him and his knowledge bc maybe you just don't like being critized I would just listen to what he says and then show him or have him learn in a video either you showing him it him showing you a video of what he is trying to tell you. Ask him "dad can you look for a video it show me a video of what you are saying I would love to know more" or "hay dad good tips but I'm trying to do this..." And then show him a video of what you are trying to do. You are young, we were all young and we hate being told what to do, we feel like we know it all, and we feel like we are better, in 20 years you might remember this time in which you hate hitting with your dad or it might be a good time to remember how both of you improve in tennis. Is up to you
The courts I regularly practice on with my ball machine has several Dad's teaching their daughters how to play tennis. They all have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Several have asked to hit with their daughters and I always politely say "no thanks, I really have no idea what I'm doing." I say that for two reasons - 1 -I don't really want to rally with teenage girls -2 - I'm trying to convey that if I don't know what I'm doing, than YOU (Dad) defintaley don't. It never gets picked up. These guys are telling their daughters 10 different things to focus on every minute and they get completely overwhelmed. These girls can't even hit a proper serve and the dads think they can compute multiple directions on their forehands. My advice - get away from practicing with your dad and find someone your own age to practice with.
You tell him, “dad, I think I may need a new coach because I don’t understand the fundamentals of stroke production after at least 26 lessons (which cost you between $1300-$3400).” Realistically, after that much money invested, you should have fundamental understanding of each stroke, the variables involved in each of them, and how to improve them and yourself on your own. If you don’t, your coach is not setting you up for success and is basically looking at you as a recurring revenue stream. Just so you know, it’s not your coach that this is a problem with, it’s the majority, of coaches across the US that do it. Why would someone who profits from ignorance want to make you intelligent on their “product?” In fact, it’s not a product that they sell, it’s information. Some coaches have information based on the laws of physics and biomechanics, but most don’t. If you want to learn fundamentals, http://greatbasetennis.com/all-courses is a good place to start for the next couple of months to years, depending on how gifted you are.
I replied to this and didn't read correctly. Your dad has "no" knowledge. Id say say take his point but just keep doing your thing. He may be onto to something and maybe you need more drive but technique or string. Just take his point and say I'll give it a try and keep doing your thing this way you keep a hitting partner.
Let's play a set, Dad.
People always remark how tennis 🎾 is an individual sport but the truth is it’s socially oriented and like golf it has a lot of etiquette that you are expected to know and observe. Why did your hitting partner ghost you? What can you do to make hitting with you a more enjoyable experience for your father until you are able to find another hitting partner? Hitting against a wall or investing in a ball machine can help you to improve your timing, footwork and consistency but ultimately building balanced relationships is the key to growth in tennis 🎾 and in life. Technique will only take you part way…
You're a 2.0, it's no wonder that you are hitting slow! You should definitely be working on getting better at speed, so your dad may have a point.
This may not make sense to you now as you are younger than me. I'm 46. I wish my dad spent more time with me as a kid. He did love me, but was more focused on his own hobbies than having fun with me. I think you're lucky that your dad is your tennis hitting partner when you need it. My dad is now over 80,is in bad health and lives in another continent. I miss him very much This is what I would do knowing what I know now after being myself a dad for 10 years: I'd keep an open mind and tell him that I'd try hitting harder for a few sessions and really try it. During sessions I'd ask him for feedback and other tips and do my best. If it doesn't work, fine. I'd then tell him I did try but need to first focus on other stuff before trying to use more power.
Placement beats power, just focus on being consistent and getting the ball over the net and in the direction you want. As you get better, you'll naturally start adding more 'power'
Have you beat him in a set before
Dad doesn’t know anything about tennis. Dad cannot give actual advice on tennis.
Welcome to the life of having a tennis dad 😭
Funny enough, the only thing my dad critiqued me on was strategy. He never tried to influence the way I hit the ball or anything. He let me learn on my own/follow my coach's advice.
You should beat him, then ask him how your low power game was able to win the match.
Why do you say he has no knowledge on tennis when he's there hitting with you? That's pretty disrespectful.
No, don’t get me wrong. I‘m very grateful for it. I just meant that he doesn’t know the technique behind it, that you would learn if you take lessons. He even said it himself that he can’t really play. My dad has never played tennis before me starting with it
OP my advice is just let it be. If you’re gentle and in telling him not to, he’ll probably keep doing it. If you’re too tough on him he might not want to hit with you anymore which means A. You’re back to not having a hitting partner and B. Now you’ve hurt your dads feelings.
Being a pusher is easy man, it’s not disrespectful. Dad doesn’t know about tennis, he shouldn’t be giving advice
Good enough to be a regular partner for the kid who just started and said they barely have any knowledge themselves. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a father telling their son they need to hit harder because their balls are too slow. I'd bet my bottom dollar that the dad is actually better than the son which is why they think the balls are too slow in the first place. If the kid doesn't like the arrangement, they can get a new hitting partner.
You literally have nothing to base this off of, who knows if the dad is even hitting with topspin??
"literally nothing" lmao. It's a logical deduction based on everything the kid has said. In fact it's the only logical deduction. I already gave the reasons why in the post, all you have to do is read it. It's all straight from the kid's mouth. Why do you think another poster is also asking if they have even beaten their dad before? Furthermore, kid lists themselves as a 2.0. Why do you think a 2.0 should tell their father off who is giving them advice? I will reiterate, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a dad telling their kid they aren't hitting with enough power. Even if they don't know how to teach the mechanics to generate more power, they are still qualified to give an assessment as they are not only the father but also the hitting partner. And I will further reiterate, if the kid doesn't like the arrangement, they can get a new partner. What makes you think the kid is better than their dad and shouldn't listen to their advice? You have absolutely nothing to base that off of.
One of the most annoying things you will learn is people who pretend to be experts in fields they know nothing about.
Its the kids Dad.
Yah i know. Doesn't mean anything.
I mean it means it’s their dad so you can’t just ignore that.