I’d like to hear Trey’s opinion at the end of you matches; what have you improved, what surprised him etc. Maybe a post-match interview between the two of you? 😊 Fantastic video as usual!
Love it! One suggestion that I believe is critical: don't gauge your overall success on outcomes. Setup match goals that you fully control, anything from consistent pre-match routine, in between points routine, commitment to short memory / always thinking of the next point, positive self-talk, not hitting a serve when it's a bad toss, making high percentage shot decisions, not hitting scared. Have 2-3 of those per match and your success is based on whether or not you executed well on those. If you are, consistently over time, positive results will be a natural consequence. (And yes - continued work on foot work, technique, etc.)
Terrific video. I love the process, and I was happy to see you guys kept in all the steps. The fitness, the coaching, and the casual/match play. All of it's so important to improve. You'll be a 5.0 in no time.
A couple of things Kyle. First of all, you thinking that you were a lost cause was crazy. Trey improved at a very high pace and you also improved pretty quickly. Trust me when I say this, majority of beginners are not on your level after only a few months/less than a year of playing without coaching lessons. I also want to dive in on your chances of catching up to Trey. He's quite an unorthodox player, his technique is far from perfect, but he makes it work. However, from what I've seen, his unorthodox technique tends to fall apart in tough, high pressure matches. Even though your forehand and backhand are currently weaker than his, I always thought that your swings looked cleaner and more sound, you just often misshit, mostly because of the footwork. So I do see potential of you not only catching up but even surpassing Trey. And I dont mean to diss Trey, cause his growth was incredible and he's got real weapons. Anyway, remember to have fun cause thats the most important part of tennis. Find your identity on the court and stick to it. The way you played your consolation match in the last tournament against a weaker player, should be the way you play against every opponent. Good luck with the journey guys
Kyle loved your hitting at 25:00, that shows wicked improvement! One thing I could add - split step on every ball! This will help you ready yourself on many of those points where you were saying you had trouble reading or getting to. So so good though man, keep it up! Looks like the talent gene runs in the family!
Dude, love this idea for a series. Such a good idea to get a coach too! I'd predict you're going to catch up really quick. Your strokes already were like night and day. Good luck man, we're rooting for you!
I also think you're hitting your ground strokes in better form than Trey. If you can, I'd focus on not hitting back to him like you're practicing. Don't go for the lines exactly, but push him around a little. Mix in some low, deep, and short slices. On the run and under pressure are where the mistakes are made by both of you.
Love the idea for this video series! Other metrics for measuring progress could be shot depth, net clearance, percentage of unforced errors. I'd say these would be better to measure than power of shots. These traits will take you much further in your game than power alone, imo
the improvement on the backhand side is genuinely impressive, it's a completely different shot now and i agree with you, it really seems like the most reliable shot now, love to see it. keep going!
Great progress, Kyle! You definitely have the potential to improve. You have a lot going for you, so don't quit. Tennis is hard and can be frustrating for everyone!
Man! your willingness to apply coaching is great! That has taken you a long way in a short time. Keep up the great attitude. If your mechanics keep improving at this rate, it will soon become all about footwork and fitness.
epic video great editing too but my favorite sentiment from this is when Kyle goes down a break early in the first set and he knows he’s the underdog, and he’s says something along the lines of “yeah I know I have nothing to lose so I have to just go for it regardless” I feel like when I’m down a break or two in a match I will find myself playing scared or timid when in reality I have nothing to lose and I have to just let it rip. I’ve been told before there’s nothing worse than playing someone with no fear or nothing to lose because they just let it rip and play loose which is so hard to play against. Stoked to see the day Kyle takes down Trey, godspeed
This was awesome to watch! I did the same thing with my Dad. He’s way better than me and I just beat him a week ago 8/7. It took me about two months of grinding and consistent losses. But that win is going to feel so good when you finally get it! You got this Kyle!
Hello Kyle, I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I’ve been trying to just get one set off a good friend of mine for the past two years and just a few weeks ago I was up 5-1 and still ended up losing that set in a tiebreak. I also dont get in as many reps but I have at least been conditioning and that alone has given me so much progress. Sometimes we dont see our progress, but believe me if you keep grinding, you will. Don’t ever quit and keep playing for yourself and for the love of tennis.
6:41 I demoed the PS X for a week and did not like it at all for its tendency to sail balls out. Try to string it a bit tighter if you are going to stick with that racquet. In terms of your training, be sure to add short bursts of sprinting to it. I think that the "mirror position" thing is him trying to help you turn your body more efficiently during the forehand. Many people leave their body and legs "stuck" and mainly move their arm back. It's basically the "unit turn" concept. Something that I never see taught is how to learn to observe an opponent in order to improve anticipation. One has to learn to read an opponents body movements to make faster decisions. Eventually that improves one instincts to the point that one makes quick decisions without consciously thinking about them. All in all Kyle is doing great. He is developing at a very quick rate. He is a natural for sure.
If I can go back and tell myself only one thing when I was starting that would be ‘always be aware of empty space on the court no matter how you play’.
Nuts and bolts😊. At 16:20 you hit some backhands. One small but critical change you should make. When you plant your right foot turn your foot towards the court when you plant it. For most people their flexibility will allow about a 45 degree angle relative to the baseline/incoming ball. The reason you want to do this is to maximize and ease your shoulder and hip rotation. 🤔 Skeptical? Stand perpendicular to a mirror with both feet parallel to the mirror. Basically sideways. Twist your shoulders to face the mirror. Return to the starting position. Now turn your right foot towards the mirror. Again turn your shoulders towards the mirror. You should notice two things 1) it’s easier to pivot your shoulders, especially with more of your weight on that front foot. 2) the range of motion of your shoulders is greater. Watch some vids of pros hitting 2HBs. It will be extremely rare to see them plant their front foots with their foots not pointing court ward to some extent. This isn’t a strain stretch thing. Just comfortably turn your foot until it becomes automatic. Frankly the difference between turning and not turning your foot should be quite noticeable and you should be very aware of when you fail to do it once you’ve done it a few times.
Don't dip you back shoulder!!! It a bad habit that will stick with you. You are not moving to the right position. Going side to side is worthless. Play tennis like there is no court just cement and a net. Follow the ball only Move to where the ball will bounce (assend) or drop ( desend) to your preferred hitting zone. This way your not hitting low balls falling on you or high balls bouncing at your shoulder. You should practice to the point you can take the ball on the rise. 1. Identify the balls path 2. prep for the shot. 3. move to the location, 4. swing racket. 6..recover repeat. Everyone does 3 first.and just shifts left to right running or balls like a wild man. Sliding side to side sitting at the base line the balls are dropping became trey is hitting a weak ball. When you identify this, you can then prep your shot ,(take back), then move into desired position and "drive!" through the ball punishing him because now you have a angle vs you don't at the base line. Remember the closer you are to the net the shorter your swing needs to be. You got this. Stay level
Even when we train a lot, sometimes we have off weeks, and other times we have good weeks - but over the long haul we make large strides in our game that result in playing our best tennis!
One of your big advantages over Trey is you don’t seem to have as big of a “hit winners only” mind set. Only recently has Trey started hitting under spin shots when put on the defensive instead of just going for winners and losing the point outright 90% of the time. You lack this handicap and won’t waste as much development time because of this. From a defensive standpoint you’re really not very far behind him. Another thing to remember is you’re a Growth stock, major short term gains are possible or likely. Treys rate of development has already started to slow allowing you to catch up to him even quicker. He will start to plateau soon. He won’t be able to beat players who are at a level that allow them to recognize and consistently exploit his weaknesses. Everyone goes through this. Either you correct the weakness’s that are holding you back or you Plateau at a given level. Most tennis players just think “Well this is as high a level as my abilities will take me” and never work to change weaknesses. That’s why 3.0-3.5 NTRP are the biggest ranking categories and 4.5 and up are the top 11% even though I contend that with some exercise about 33% + of league players have from a purely physical standpoint the ability to play 4.5 level tennis. There are two ways to get better at a given skill. 1) Get better at what you’re already doing. This will happen with Time and repetition regardless of the actual correctness of the technique and doesn’t require any mental input. (Up to a point you simply get better at anything you do over and over.) Thus all beginners will see improvement over time but this improvement will stop once they approach the limitations of weak techniques. 2) You change the what you’re doing to a more effective/efficient technique. This requires mental energy and will, and thus is harder to implement than method #1 as it doesn’t just occur automatically over time. Guess which method most tennis players implement. 😢
Love this series! I think I'm team Kyle now WOOP WOOP also I like the coaching segments only criticism is maybe your analysis is redundant since Asaf is already a master at explaining tennis. Otherwise I'm here for this!
One year ago, I wouldve beat Trey 2 and 2 (I’m 6.81 UTR). Well, look at Trey now. It would be a war and he’d have a very good chance to beat me. Keep playing matches against all kinds of other players. That’s what Trey has done. There’s more to winning than perfect strokes. It’s about recognizing your opponents’ weaknesses and exploiting them ruthlessly.
Personally I really dislike the "pinched elbows" cue on the 2HBH - to me it encourages you to start with tension in the arms/shoulders, which isn't the case on the forehand "mirror" position where we have a nice loose arm
Gotta read the Inner Game of Tennis if you haven't, would definitely help your mental game! Don't attach emotion or feelings to any of your shots, practices, matches.. Eliminate negative self talk and practice your ability to get into that flow state!
Trey's putaway volley is relatively weak. I like that you don't try to lob him at the net. Biggest vulnerability you have is your service. He can really step on it, hard. Get some basic pointers, don't overthink, go to the court with a big basket of balls, and grind your way forward. You should feel great about that 25 ball rally. Go back to it and see if there was any place you might have shortened it. Ask your pro the same question.
As like a varsity level player at Seven Lakes HS, who got runners up at state, I think the biggest difference between you two is definitely how many free points Trey wins compared to you. He makes less errors and wins more points from serve, which is probably what separates you guys right now
Trey obviously does have the better strategy and shot selection because he's been playing longer, but I see a lot of potential in Kyle's serve and forehand, which feel much more offensive than and likely to be winners than Trey's.
Hitting-off your front foot is NOT how-to hit most forehands. If the ball is low (like when the ball is fed to you) and you need to step forward, then yes that works wonderfully. The reality is very different with most balls being waist level or above and the vast majority of forehands will be hit with an open stance and driving off the rear (right) leg. Watch this video to see the reality of how pros hit: th-cam.com/video/0VSlMrEGdJA/w-d-xo.html This is the way!
I’d like to hear Trey’s opinion at the end of you matches; what have you improved, what surprised him etc. Maybe a post-match interview between the two of you? 😊
Fantastic video as usual!
Love you guys, great content, keep up the amazing work.
Trey entering his villain phase
😂😂😂
Love it! One suggestion that I believe is critical: don't gauge your overall success on outcomes. Setup match goals that you fully control, anything from consistent pre-match routine, in between points routine, commitment to short memory / always thinking of the next point, positive self-talk, not hitting a serve when it's a bad toss, making high percentage shot decisions, not hitting scared. Have 2-3 of those per match and your success is based on whether or not you executed well on those. If you are, consistently over time, positive results will be a natural consequence. (And yes - continued work on foot work, technique, etc.)
Thanks Assaf for letting you film him coaching you. He seems great, learned a lot from the coaching sessions.
been watching you guys for awhile, but this video takes the cake for all-time favorite, cant wait for more of this.
Terrific video. I love the process, and I was happy to see you guys kept in all the steps. The fitness, the coaching, and the casual/match play. All of it's so important to improve. You'll be a 5.0 in no time.
Asaf's a natural, really enjoyed this one! You definitely improved, too
Hahaha the Wii tennis pose kills
I'm on team kyle. lets gooo. 22:56 recognizing the short ball and attacking with the backhand really shows the improvement
Gonna love this series I can tell! This vid inspired me to get coaching lessons myself
A couple of things Kyle. First of all, you thinking that you were a lost cause was crazy. Trey improved at a very high pace and you also improved pretty quickly. Trust me when I say this, majority of beginners are not on your level after only a few months/less than a year of playing without coaching lessons.
I also want to dive in on your chances of catching up to Trey. He's quite an unorthodox player, his technique is far from perfect, but he makes it work. However, from what I've seen, his unorthodox technique tends to fall apart in tough, high pressure matches. Even though your forehand and backhand are currently weaker than his, I always thought that your swings looked cleaner and more sound, you just often misshit, mostly because of the footwork. So I do see potential of you not only catching up but even surpassing Trey. And I dont mean to diss Trey, cause his growth was incredible and he's got real weapons. Anyway, remember to have fun cause thats the most important part of tennis. Find your identity on the court and stick to it. The way you played your consolation match in the last tournament against a weaker player, should be the way you play against every opponent.
Good luck with the journey guys
Kyle loved your hitting at 25:00, that shows wicked improvement! One thing I could add - split step on every ball! This will help you ready yourself on many of those points where you were saying you had trouble reading or getting to. So so good though man, keep it up! Looks like the talent gene runs in the family!
Perfect music for this part at 24:59 also just fell in love with the channel because of this point between brothers. Lets go!!!
Loved that as well. It's a Fantastic Planet sample.
I learned a lot in this video ! Love the tip with the left hand being a measurement
The storytelling was awesome great job Kyle 🫡
I casually watch this channel when it gets recommended in my feed. I have to say, though, I’m pretty pumped for this series. It’s a great idea.
Kyle, your editing and journey is amazing! Must watch
this was one of my favorite videos i've ever seen from this channel
Dude, love this idea for a series. Such a good idea to get a coach too! I'd predict you're going to catch up really quick. Your strokes already were like night and day. Good luck man, we're rooting for you!
Love this kind of content. Yall keep it up and let me know if you want to hit in the Dallas area someday!
I also think you're hitting your ground strokes in better form than Trey. If you can, I'd focus on not hitting back to him like you're practicing. Don't go for the lines exactly, but push him around a little. Mix in some low, deep, and short slices. On the run and under pressure are where the mistakes are made by both of you.
amazing production on this, love it
Love the idea for this video series!
Other metrics for measuring progress could be shot depth, net clearance, percentage of unforced errors. I'd say these would be better to measure than power of shots. These traits will take you much further in your game than power alone, imo
Love this man great to see you happy while playing makes a massive difference ❤
the improvement on the backhand side is genuinely impressive, it's a completely different shot now and i agree with you, it really seems like the most reliable shot now, love to see it. keep going!
Great progress, Kyle! You definitely have the potential to improve. You have a lot going for you, so don't quit. Tennis is hard and can be frustrating for everyone!
Man! your willingness to apply coaching is great! That has taken you a long way in a short time. Keep up the great attitude.
If your mechanics keep improving at this rate, it will soon become all about footwork and fitness.
epic video great editing too but my favorite sentiment from this is when Kyle goes down a break early in the first set and he knows he’s the underdog, and he’s says something along the lines of “yeah I know I have nothing to lose so I have to just go for it regardless”
I feel like when I’m down a break or two in a match I will find myself playing scared or timid when in reality I have nothing to lose and I have to just let it rip. I’ve been told before there’s nothing worse than playing someone with no fear or nothing to lose because they just let it rip and play loose which is so hard to play against.
Stoked to see the day Kyle takes down Trey, godspeed
Love this series of brother love and competition
Love the content keep positing videos guys
This was awesome to watch! I did the same thing with my Dad. He’s way better than me and I just beat him a week ago 8/7. It took me about two months of grinding and consistent losses. But that win is going to feel so good when you finally get it! You got this Kyle!
Hello Kyle,
I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I’ve been trying to just get one set off a good friend of mine for the past two years and just a few weeks ago I was up 5-1 and still ended up losing that set in a tiebreak. I also dont get in as many reps but I have at least been conditioning and that alone has given me so much progress. Sometimes we dont see our progress, but believe me if you keep grinding, you will. Don’t ever quit and keep playing for yourself and for the love of tennis.
6:41 I demoed the PS X for a week and did not like it at all for its tendency to sail balls out. Try to string it a bit tighter if you are going to stick with that racquet.
In terms of your training, be sure to add short bursts of sprinting to it.
I think that the "mirror position" thing is him trying to help you turn your body more efficiently during the forehand. Many people leave their body and legs "stuck" and mainly move their arm back. It's basically the "unit turn" concept.
Something that I never see taught is how to learn to observe an opponent in order to improve anticipation. One has to learn to read an opponents body movements to make faster decisions. Eventually that improves one instincts to the point that one makes quick decisions without consciously thinking about them.
All in all Kyle is doing great. He is developing at a very quick rate. He is a natural for sure.
If I can go back and tell myself only one thing when I was starting that would be ‘always be aware of empty space on the court no matter how you play’.
The form is much better between lesson 1 and the 2nd one
keep it up, and the montage between was inspiring don´t worry, keep it up!!!!
Incredible video - great advice for average joe as well as storyline
Nuts and bolts😊. At 16:20 you hit some backhands. One small but critical change you should make. When you plant your right foot turn your foot towards the court when you plant it. For most people their flexibility will allow about a 45 degree angle relative to the baseline/incoming ball. The reason you want to do this is to maximize and ease your shoulder and hip rotation. 🤔 Skeptical? Stand perpendicular to a mirror with both feet parallel to the mirror. Basically sideways. Twist your shoulders to face the mirror. Return to the starting position. Now turn your right foot towards the mirror. Again turn your shoulders towards the mirror. You should notice two things 1) it’s easier to pivot your shoulders, especially with more of your weight on that front foot. 2) the range of motion of your shoulders is greater.
Watch some vids of pros hitting 2HBs. It will be extremely rare to see them plant their front foots with their foots not pointing court ward to some extent.
This isn’t a strain stretch thing. Just comfortably turn your foot until it becomes automatic. Frankly the difference between turning and not turning your foot should be quite noticeable and you should be very aware of when you fail to do it once you’ve done it a few times.
Don't dip you back shoulder!!! It a bad habit that will stick with you. You are not moving to the right position. Going side to side is worthless.
Play tennis like there is no court just cement and a net. Follow the ball only
Move to where the ball will bounce (assend) or drop ( desend) to your preferred hitting zone. This way your not hitting low balls falling on you or high balls bouncing at your shoulder. You should practice to the point you can take the ball on the rise.
1. Identify the balls path 2. prep for the shot. 3. move to the location, 4. swing racket. 6..recover repeat.
Everyone does 3 first.and just shifts left to right running or balls like a wild man.
Sliding side to side sitting at the base line the balls are dropping became trey is hitting a weak ball. When you identify this, you can then prep your shot ,(take back), then move into desired position and "drive!" through the ball punishing him because now you have a angle vs you don't at the base line.
Remember the closer you are to the net the shorter your swing needs to be.
You got this. Stay level
Kyle has more potential than his brother I thought and from the first hits using his non dominant arm correctly,I’m sticking with it..
love this content! reminds me of the jake - trey days from the beginning.
This is great to see
Looove the content. Kyle plays very similarly to me, hoping to grow with this series in my personal league play.
Great video. Great teacher. Great student.
This is gold. Thank you
good stuff! you look more confident in your strokes already
Oh this series is a great idea!
At 6:29, Kyle hit a 129 mph flat serve. Keep it up!
Even when we train a lot, sometimes we have off weeks, and other times we have good weeks - but over the long haul we make large strides in our game that result in playing our best tennis!
One of your big advantages over Trey is you don’t seem to have as big of a “hit winners only” mind set. Only recently has Trey started hitting under spin shots when put on the defensive instead of just going for winners and losing the point outright 90% of the time. You lack this handicap and won’t waste as much development time because of this. From a defensive standpoint you’re really not very far behind him. Another thing to remember is you’re a Growth stock, major short term gains are possible or likely. Treys rate of development has already started to slow allowing you to catch up to him even quicker. He will start to plateau soon. He won’t be able to beat players who are at a level that allow them to recognize and consistently exploit his weaknesses. Everyone goes through this. Either you correct the weakness’s that are holding you back or you Plateau at a given level. Most tennis players just think “Well this is as high a level as my abilities will take me” and never work to change weaknesses. That’s why 3.0-3.5 NTRP are the biggest ranking categories and 4.5 and up are the top 11% even though I contend that with some exercise about 33% + of league players have from a purely physical standpoint the ability to play 4.5 level tennis.
There are two ways to get better at a given skill. 1) Get better at what you’re already doing. This will happen with Time and repetition regardless of the actual correctness of the technique and doesn’t require any mental input. (Up to a point you simply get better at anything you do over and over.) Thus all beginners will see improvement over time but this improvement will stop once they approach the limitations of weak techniques. 2) You change the what you’re doing to a more effective/efficient technique. This requires mental energy and will, and thus is harder to implement than method #1 as it doesn’t just occur automatically over time. Guess which method most tennis players implement. 😢
Won’t take too long lol. Trey’s footwork/follow thru on his forehand and backhand are clunky and his volleys are pop fly stinkers. You got this .
1:25 min in and already a thumbs up from me 😂👍
Love this series! I think I'm team Kyle now WOOP WOOP also I like the coaching segments only criticism is maybe your analysis is redundant since Asaf is already a master at explaining tennis. Otherwise I'm here for this!
One year ago, I wouldve beat Trey 2 and 2 (I’m 6.81 UTR). Well, look at Trey now. It would be a war and he’d have a very good chance to beat me. Keep playing matches against all kinds of other players. That’s what Trey has done. There’s more to winning than perfect strokes. It’s about recognizing your opponents’ weaknesses and exploiting them ruthlessly.
Personally I really dislike the "pinched elbows" cue on the 2HBH - to me it encourages you to start with tension in the arms/shoulders, which isn't the case on the forehand "mirror" position where we have a nice loose arm
lol I remember those courts from living in Austin late in the last century, presumably before you were born!
Gotta read the Inner Game of Tennis if you haven't, would definitely help your mental game! Don't attach emotion or feelings to any of your shots, practices, matches.. Eliminate negative self talk and practice your ability to get into that flow state!
Love this
it's crazy how much you improved, Kyle. If you guys ever come to Japan, let me know 😁
Trey's putaway volley is relatively weak. I like that you don't try to lob him at the net. Biggest vulnerability you have is your service. He can really step on it, hard. Get some basic pointers, don't overthink, go to the court with a big basket of balls, and grind your way forward. You should feel great about that 25 ball rally. Go back to it and see if there was any place you might have shortened it. Ask your pro the same question.
As like a varsity level player at Seven Lakes HS, who got runners up at state, I think the biggest difference between you two is definitely how many free points Trey wins compared to you. He makes less errors and wins more points from serve, which is probably what separates you guys right now
gl kyle
sick series boys - I might have to hit Asaf up too
Honestly I am surprised Treys UTR is so high. His serve is legit but not much else.
👀👀👀👀
Tennis RTG. Great video
Trey obviously does have the better strategy and shot selection because he's been playing longer, but I see a lot of potential in Kyle's serve and forehand, which feel much more offensive than and likely to be winners than Trey's.
Getting a legit coach is a great idea!
you got this
Bro in tennis u have to be patient and train the right technics , and be ready physically
Buy a gripfixer. Cheapest and best training aid you can get for beginners.
6 months of tennis you already look better than my years of tennis lol
nice man
Training montage goes crazy
wow well done, your back hand is way better
I guickly realized Asa was a really good looking dude.
nintendo WIIIIIII OUT HERE 😤😤
What’s Trey’s string setup?
This is so sick.
Hitting-off your front foot is NOT how-to hit most forehands. If the ball is low (like when the ball is fed to you) and you need to step forward, then yes that works wonderfully. The reality is very different with most balls being waist level or above and the vast majority of forehands will be hit with an open stance and driving off the rear (right) leg. Watch this video to see the reality of how pros hit: th-cam.com/video/0VSlMrEGdJA/w-d-xo.html
This is the way!
A Kyle video on winners only? What happened to winners only deuce?
IKR. I liked that they had 2 different channels.
Never really took off - only had 900 subscribers. It's a lot easier to build ONE brand.
Stud
Gunna take private lessons and training every day bro 😎
Your coach is so gay haha
Read the Inner Game Of Tennis. And try to keep the progress positive. You’ll be doing great in a few months!
There is such a thing as playing too much tennis.
If you think losing to your brother is a humbling experience, try losing to your 10 year old kid….
I think your brother will get you within a year. He looks more coordinated than you Trey.
Ur grip both of u and ur bro which the western grip and this grip isn't good , and also both of u u have to learn the tennis footwork drills