Hey Manu... It's been sometime since I've posted but here goes. I've read many other posts about volley/smash practice in the training mode and I tend to agree with most of them. While I remember that you said that to practice the volley/smash that we should position our player close to the net and that's cool, but sometimes we need to practice one or the other, not both simultaneously. For instance, when I watch the pros warm-up before a match, the player at the baseline hits the ball BACK to the volleyer so he/she can also warm-up their volleys, then AFTER that they give the signal to practice their smashes. In TE it's so random that it's difficult to concentrate on making good contact on the racquet sweetspot/cords what with the baseline player striking the ball for winners all over the place and lobbing whenever he wants to. I know that in real tennis when I'm at the net trying to practice/warm-up it really pisses me off when players do that as it's considered poor tennis etiquette. I would rather they hit the ball BACK to me for a while and THEN practice passing me. Like someone else suggested it would be nice if there was a mode for the baseline player to also hit the ball TO the volleyer and one to hit lobs TO the volleyer as well as the CURRENT random mode, as it's also good practice. Since in TE for some reason the volleying has to be soooo perfect/sensitive/difficult (far more difficult than in real life to me) and so much is predicated on striking the ball precisely in the sweetspot or you will really botch it up, it would be nice to be able to really practice making GOOD contact repeatedly. The same goes for smashes. I don't know if I have so much difficulty positioning my player for volleys and then especially BACKING UP for the smash because I use a keyboard and not a joystick or hand-held controller, but the addition of these modes would only aid in making the game more enjoyable for me as well as others. I know that you said that you were becoming bored with just tennis games but additions like these hopefully will present a little more challenge for you
(and if it's a financial strain on your budget, I for one wouldn't mind paying a little more to help out
p.s. I, for one, don't feel that serving practice is all that important as it's almost impossible to screw-up the serve even if you've only played the game for a little while....
by btaylor » 13 Jan 2009, 06:52 
Is it easier to move backwards to cover the lob if you use a joystick or gamepad? If so, could you tell me the type, make and model that you use or recommend?