About 3 years ago our opponents were up 9-8 with an absolutely serve bomber. To this day I have no idea how my partner fought off that serve and I got an easy duck to make it 9-9.
3.5 tennis. Guy had a 4+ serve and 3- ground game. He absolutely put it right in the corner of the ad box with some real weight.
We took it 13-11 I think. One of my fave team matches.
The guy was just shaking his head. We’d gotten very few points on his serve all match, especially his first.
3.5 like you
I use a Wilson Steam 99S (has the open string pattern for more topspin)
This is first time in awhile my elbow has hurt; prolly just a little tweak, but I do turn 40 next month so I’ve heard I may start tweaking things more in the near future.
Tennis
Tennis elbow
Jumpers knee
Significant hammy requiring a plasma rich injection (a year ago)
Achilles (6 months ago)
Needless to say my PT place has done miracles to keep me playing.
Non tennis
Lower back. Mostly good now
Shoulder impingements- serving is the best thing. I have more problems with it when I can’t play.
I used to hit with Head mid and mid plus but it kept getting more difficult as people could spin everything easily with poly. Went to that Wilson nCode 95 for a while and settled on a Babolat 98. It was a pretty good modern racquet but nothing I’ve ever hit felt as good as the Head Prestige mid (the vintage ones from the 80s and early 90s that all the pros used with paint jobs on top).
Do you people better than me use topspin strings? Are those still a thing? I have a John McEnroe left handed serve that kicks to the wrong side hard and a horrible top spin forehand so used the spin strings in high school.
I used to use them. Prince Topsins. I use the Technifibre NRG2 multi-filament strings now for arm comfort.
My stringer put something different in when the strings I gave him broke on him. I am unsure if I like them or not. I have not been using that racquet on my recent run of better play.
(I have 3 of the same racquet with the same lead tape setups. My favorite frame has a hairline crack that is going to go during stringing eventually so I picked up a third for insurance). Great thing is after two years you can get barely used frames for 1/2 price on eBay.)
Finally, a tennis thread!
I’m also a 3.5 player, picked up a racquet for the first time at 30yo, but didn’t play seriously until I met my wife 10 years later. She’s a life long tennis player who got me into the game. We started playing mixed doubles, and now I captain several men’s and mixed teams. It’s a pain, but I enjoy it.
We also watch a lot of tennis on TV, and actually enjoy watching smaller tournaments, lower ranked players, and doubles play.
This talk of ratings is something I’ve never heard of from the Midwest. Can someone link a grading or something?
We also used cat gut top spin iirc. I’ve had a few girls to volley with in the last few years but both have moved. Now, it’s just stoner buddies who can’t even volley that will play. I’m not good enough or interested enough to do competitive tennis club shit.
I actually fit the description of 4.0 listed here but I cannot beat actual 4.0 players. Most semi serious reviews players fall in the categories 3.0-3.5-4.0. These are how I assess players as a captain.
3.0- you can maintain a solid rally, you hit occasional clean winners, you may have a weapon but probably also a huge weakness
3.5- you can hit some really good shots. Inconsistency is a problem. 2nd serve is generally week. Usually pretty good defensively. Consistent depth and pace is a problem. I like to joke I’m 3.0 one day and 4.0 the next. A lot of 3.5 are older guys that were 4.0 prior to age/injury robbed them of movement.
4.0. Consistent depth and paste. Decent 2nd serve. At least one big weapon AND/OR super consistent. Finish most of your opportunities.
4.5 and up is just a different game.
D1 college players are ~6. I used to hit with a coworker that played D1. I could rally with him when he was keeping it in the middle of the court. Then we played points. LOL.
Pros are off-scale “7”
If you can hit with a friend and keep the ball in play with strokes that look like tennis shots then your are 2.5 and there is hope for you.
Some regions may rate a little different. I had a guy move in from NC as a 4.0. He is def a 3.0 here.
If you play USTA team tennis your match results will determine your rating. Club pros can assess.
I played USTA in Michigan and played intra-club matches that used USTA scale in Chicago and Minnesota.
Where are you? I can easily look up if there are travel teams nearby. We are always looking for players.
I say captaining a men’s tennis team is like herding cats. I cannot send an email with more than once concept and more than once requested response without generating confusion. I want a YES or NO answer. MAYBE is a four letter word.
I enjoy it though. We are the take all comers team and generally the bad news bears with some oddballs on the roster. But we won our flight in ‘18 (it was the weaker flight but hey), lost a playin match 2-3 to make districts as a wildcard in ‘19 and we went undefeated in ‘20 (0-0 but we did not lose).
What is the number for someone who does complete swing and miss backhands once in a while and every 10th forehand is a “homerun” out of the court?
Probably 3.0?
Herding cats is absolutely right. I took over as captain of our team when our former captain got fed up with some player’s flakiness. Since then things have gotten better, mostly because we’ve kept the same core group playing together and now the guys are more committed.
In 2019 we had our best season to date, a 3-way tie for second. We ended up missing the playoffs because of sets lost. The spring season for 40+ starts this Sunday, we’ll see how that goes!
Our club (a YMCA) had two men’s teams, one playing 18+ and one 40+. Apparently the younger guys on the 18+ team decided to form their own team, so the old guys on the old team are going to play at 40+. I’m sure I’m going to lose a couple of valuable guys to balance the numbers to support two 40+ teams.
Previously we had some guys rostered on both teams and it worked out fine.
Highly recommend these socks for calf-ankle-Achilles-plantar fasciitis-etc. Wear when I play under my thorlos. On other days I wear for a few hours a day (but not to sleep). It seems like alternating a few hour on a few hours off is best.
My Achilles recovery had plateau’d and was thinking about going back to PT but it just keep getting better since starting these socks 3 weeks ago. Basically the stiffness on sitting/laying is greatly minimized.
If you want a good topspin then get the TopSpin Pro off Amazon or their website. Then you can use it at home to build muscle memory with the right swing path to get good top spin
Never heard of it. Thx! I need to find a partner to volley with again. I had a few girls to play with that moved and a buddy that messed up his ankle in hockey so I have a brand new Prince 2018-19 racket actually that I’ve used like 3-4 times.
The McDavid Achilles sleeve with gel is amazing when your Achilles hurts. Even if pulled and you can’t walk if you wear that sleeve you can play tennis no problem.
My friend has one of those or something similar. I needed something that included the calf as part of my issue stretches up. When I play it’s my calf that gets tired first.
Do you wear your over or under your sock? I get blisters easy so the thick thorlos are a must for me. The only thing that has completely stopped my blisters.
I’m sure I’ll get this brace as well. I have a collection. 
Under
Only when I pull/strain my Achilles tho
I like the thorlos but I put holes in them pretty quickly so I use some more compression type socks that have a left and right for whatever reason; come in different colors but I usually get the cobalt blue ones