# Tennis wall for practising?



## terrythomas (Jul 30, 2009)

Hi all

I had a knock about at tennis the other day and it was a total disaster.  Great game just really difficult! What I really need is a wall to practice against... there seems to be plenty of public courts but nothing like that to help beginners improve.  

I've tried playing with someone of a similar level but spent most of the time hitting the ball out of control and getting pissed off so really need somewhere to practice on my own...

Anyone know of anything that would help?


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## Sunray (Jul 30, 2009)

Take up squash, its a very similar racket action and you can practice that all year round.   Get better at squash and you will be able to hit a tennis ball with more control.


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## terrythomas (Jul 30, 2009)

Sunray said:


> Take up squash, its a very similar racket action and you can practice that all year round.   Get better at squash and you will be able to hit a tennis ball with more control.



I did think about that funnily enough, I wanted to sneak in with a tennis raquet and ball...


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## London_Calling (Jul 30, 2009)

Well, you can practice against a machine that'll deliver balls at all kinds of angles and pace, but I don't know where; an upmarket gym maybe? I'd be tempted to contact the council - parks and rec, sports,  . . . 

Maybe you just need to find a partner who's as happy knocking up as playing. Can't think of anything else.


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## Sunray (Aug 2, 2009)

terrythomas said:


> I did think about that funnily enough, I wanted to sneak in with a tennis raquet and ball...



Too small for that, you'd hit it and instantly get it in the head, tennis balls are really bouncy.  Squash balls aren't very bouncy at all.  

David Lloyd Clubs prolly have a machine, but they are 80pm or so peak time with 100 quid joining fee for the racquet sports.


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## Wolveryeti (Aug 2, 2009)

If you walk down Regents Canal between hackney and islington you'll come across a railway bridge that is perfect for it. I've seen people hitting balls to themselves there. There's even a line on the bridge at the same height as a tennis net IIRC.


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## T & P (Aug 2, 2009)

They're fairly common in Spain. You can book one and hit the ball for practice by yourself, or play with friends the actual sport it is designed for, _fronton_. Though to play it proper you need a different kind of ball altogether.









I'm not aware of any in England. Shame, because it's a good way to work on your shots if you can't bother with/afford a coach or a ball machine.


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## Etymologist (Aug 3, 2009)

"The thing about tennis is that no matter how much I play, I'll never be as good as a wall. I played a wall once. They're fucking relentless."

Mitch Hedberg.


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## mattie (Aug 3, 2009)

It's really best not to practice against a wall.  The ball is too bouncy and you're trying to control spin (mostly topspin, but occasional slice) which will react differently off a wall.  If you can rally against a wall you'll struggle in a real game as the shots you'll need to hit are completely different.

If you do practice against a wall, focus upon height over the net and spin, and don't worry about where it rebounds.

To try to be constructive, I'd recommend looking for council-subsidised lessons.  I take some in Bath which is of a similar level of price to London and I get lessons for seven quid.  Not dead cheap, I realise, but that's for 4 of us with a coach.  The advice you'll get re. practice will be really useful as well.

Failing that, (as I appreciate many people just want to keep it social and relatively informal) my best advice would be to find a friend who also wants to play, and when you rally concentrate on getting it in, near the baseline, preferably with topspin.  Hit it as gently as you can get away with, and agree with your mate to keep doing this and not just whale it at each other.  Anyone can smack a tennis ball, not everyone can hit a tennis shot.

eta: The reason I advocate lessons is that it's a hard game to pick up without someone demonstrating the basics, and it's very easy - and very damaging long-term - to train in bad fundamentals, not only in terms of ultimate ability but also for shoulder and elbow joints.  A recent report into tennis in Lonodn noted that free acess to tennis courts did not lead to continued playing of the game unless comined with lessons (I think the referneced study was from the US).

http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/culture/tennis.rtf

eta2:

This looks none-too-shabby, a fiver for an hour of coaching in Camberwell:
http://www.butterflytennis.com/


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