For a tennis beginner, how many hours of training are required to reach a moderate level?
There are many definitions to a moderate level of skill in tennis. If you mean able to successfully serve and play out a point for at least 5 shots, you should be able to get to that level in 3 months. That is if you play 1 hour and a half everyday. My schedule is two hours every day and four-6 six hours on weekends. You don’t even need a coach, just find someone who can rally a point in tennis and you will be able to figure out everything yourself. If you practice for 6 months, playing 1–2 hours a day, you will definitely be able to play out points and even hit some winners here and there. There are plenty of videos on you tube you can watch to learn perfect strokes.
How long does it take to become a good tennis player?
***How long does it take to be a good tennis player?*** This is a very, very tough sport, as you're obviously finding out. Tilden used to say that it takes five years to make a tennis player, and ten years to make a champion. By "champion," he meant somebody who could win a tour-level event, like an ATP-250, ATP-500, etc. ***how long before I can enter tournaments?*** Many good coaches around the world actually *forbid* their players from playing in tournaments until they've been training for about three years. The reason is that they want their players' strokes to be automatic, such that they don't have to think about how to hit the ball when they're in competition. Their players can focus on tactics, strategy, watching the ball, "simple" things like that, lol :-) If you coach is making you wait for what seems like a long time before entering you in a tournament, he/she is actually doing you a favor, protecting you, IMHO. Just keep working as hard as you can, the results will take care of themselves. Enjoy your practice sets, practice matches. They're not all that different from the "real thing." ***Will I ever be able to enter national tournaments and if so how long?*** That would depend on how far along you are in terms of winning local and sectional tournaments, how high you've been ranked so far, things like that. I wouldn't worry to much about playing nationals if you aren't ready yet. Think about setting short-term goals [for today] that you can actually achieve. Get as many "little" things right today as you can. Whether it's fixing up your serve, your net game, fitness, return of serve, lobs, etc etc. There are plenty of things for you to work on at your favorite practice court. You can work on almost any stroke with a ball machine, if nobody's available to hit with. Sportsmanship might not be #1, but it's way ahead of whatever is in 2nd place :-) Best of luck, stay "in the hunt," as you struggle to become the best player you can be :-)
What are the best techniques to increase skill in table tennis? Answers addressing reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and stance are especially valuable.
Table tennis is a game where one requires his/her reflexes to the maximum extent. It is a game of sheer hand-eye coordination. More the coordination, better will be the reflexes. It also requires a lot of footwork (which people think they don't since it looks pretty easy to hit a ball across). One of the best ways to train yourself and improve your speed is 'shadow practice' (meaning you just polish your actions, say forehand top-sin in the air and not actually hitting any ball). Spot running, sideways running, frog jumps etc. will help a lot in movements. One should try to avoid use of weights in training as lifting weights make your muscles stiff which is not good for your flexibility. Warm up, prior to play is important. You can't give in your 100% when your are stiff. Playing a lot of games in practice doesn't help much, as we don't focus on your strengths and weaknesses. We mainly focus on winning the game. So, pattern practice is an alternative to that. Playing patterns can be boring at times, but it helps improve one's actions and accuracy. Drawing circles on the table with chalk and trying to hit the ball inside that circle is a good way to improve accuracy. You'll know how to hit different kinds of balls in the same area. Likewise is for the services. Try to put the service in the circle. I'm sure you will be weary of it in a little while, but it does help in efficiency. For services to be good, one needs to concentrate on the grip (how one holds his/her racquet). Tossing the ball only to a height where you are comfortable. There are players who have a very high toss. But that doesn't necessarily mean they have a good serve. A service should be clean and deceiving at the same time. By deceiving I mean 'Cut' and 'Loose', side-spin all should come from the same action and at the same level from the net and always preferably inside the table. This way you have a better chance of continuing the point in your way. All the best.
How would you describe tennis strategy used by Federer, Djokovic and Nadal?
ROGER FEDERERRoger Federer is unarguably the Messi of tennis. Their game is based more on talent than anything else. Watching him play is like watching an extremely choreographed performance. It is fluid, precise, creative and simply beautiful. His playing style is as elegant as it can get. There is speed, technique, power, and an exceptional shot making. At his best, there are few who'd walk away from a TV set that has this man play. His serve is very well placed and difficult to predict. His backhand slice is classy. His forehand is one of the best the game has ever seen. He does not feel shy of coming to the net and is a great volleyer. The best thing is his footwork. He might not be the fastest man to run on the court but his court coverage is exceptional owing to his efficient movement. He is simply the epitome of grace.RAFAEL NADALHe is a hard working athlete. Overtly aggressive, his style of play can give any opponent the chills. He prefers to stay behind the baseline and is ruthless on court. He wants to pick every ball no matter at what angles they come to his side of the court and this desire translates into a tenacious court coverage. He is a runner and rarely runs out of stamina. Capable of covering every inch of the court with his speed and a relentless attitude, he is an extremely tough opponent holding the better record against both Djokovic and Federer. His forehand winners spin at an average of 3200 revolutions per minute. That's crazy, right?His topspin forehand is widely regarded as unbelievable and loves to dictate a rally looking to culminate it with his awesome forehand winner. NOVAK DJOKOVICSome people are born great and some people work their way to becoming great. He falls in the latter category. One thing that stands out is his mental toughness. No matter what the conditions are or what the scoreline reads, with this man it is never over till it is over. When you look at match players in the history of tennis, I don’t believe that anybody can equal everything on the court that Djokovic does. I don’t think you can find a weakness in his game. His movement, personality, his return of serve, his serve, excellent touch, not hesitant in coming to the net, great serve. This is how his coach put it. Superbly agile, mentally present with one of the best backhands the game has seen, he's a winner. His serve and fabulous returns make him very difficult to beat. He's a whole package, a complete player.
Which is more challenging, physically and/or mentally: badminton or tennis?
Here's a statistical comparison between two international games of badminton and tennis: Tennis Vs Badminton Statistics don't lie. It concludes with the sentence: Note that the badminton players competed for half the time, yet ran twice as far and hit nearly twice as many shots.Hope this answers your question.