Rnd 1. Home Match
First thing to note, weather was terrible, wind blowing gustily from the S/E which is totally bizarro in my part of the world. We always get a wind from the west in the afternoons, so often we take it for granted. So from a court set up it is blowing diagonally from SE corner to NW corner.
Lined up to play against an opponent who used to play in the "premier league" level in our state about 15 years ago then he had about a 10 year hiatus and now he is back again for the last few years, obviously not back to the level he once was. He is notorious for being fit and solid in all catagories, yet spectacular in none. Basically you gotta earn your wins against him. I have never played him but played his club on numerous occasions.
Game Plan : well it never changes so I will get it out of the way first up, I play tennis on my terms, I S&V and I hit aggressively, I also miss a tonne of returns so players do not get much rhythm out of me.
I win the toss to my relief, I'll take the serve every time thanks, I like to lead from the front and never look back, I like to have that "3" game break on the scoreboard just by breaking once in the set. Psychology of tennis is one area of the game I take great interest in. He chooses the wind in his back to return, my analysis : he knows my serve is my weapon and he wants a crack at breaking me into the breeze first up.
For the first few games it couldn't be more typical tennis from me, random serving, solid low volleying and about 25% of returns being made. He starts out S&V and I am taking huge pot shots at passes and missing by miles. A few (read 3) net tapes on some pick ups give blessing to me holding serve thru the set (including one on break point down). I am 99% sure I didnt even have a break point first set. I play the TB really solid, made more returns, plenty on his toes, he misses a few returns and voila 7-3 to me.
Nothing much changes til 2-2 in the second, I float a high defensive ball from the end with the wind behind me and when it lands i see a little puff of chalk, OUT is the call, I raise an eyebrow and he claims "long, hit some chalk behind the line" I stand puzzled but move on, it happens. He holds, we swap and I walk down and inspect said line and no sign of any chalk spots outside the court. Can't say anything now, its too late and I tell myself to forget it and move on, its just one point if there wasn't chalk I would have accepted the out call anyway. Unfortunately with a little distraction I manage to lose serve, now I'm angry that I lost serve and for losing concentration despite trying not to and the idea that he might have hooked me still making my blood boil a little.
A few screams and plenty of self-depricating foul language has me off kilter for the next few games. He holds easily and I'm serving at 2 - 5. With the breeze I manage the hold, he starts getting edgy too, having thrown his racquet at least once and belted a ball at least once, the two of us are starting to really setting some electric tension. He has been gawking at some of my shots that I have suddenly started to make now we are an hour into the match, sure I was missing a heap first set but there is a reason I am at the level I am at, I'm not a bad player! Anyways he holds at 5-3 for the set and I concede a struggle in the third.
Given his notorious fitness and my body struggling already, I feel the momentum might just swell over me and i might get rolled in this final set. Thank heavens I am serving first. I start off at the north end, thus I am into the breeze. My first serve has been terrible all day, very low percentage and I feel all out of rhythm, no timing, no accuracy, this is brutal as its the backbone of my tennis existence. Luckily my second serve has been very faithful and solid without being spectacular, control is reasonable but kick is barely to be seen, just two doubles for the first two sets so can't complain too much.
I could not for the life of me formulate a plan on the deuce side into the breeze, it was slowing down my slider wide which meant he could pummel a FH down the line and breeze brought it around me. I couldn't hit a single bomb down the T either so I felt happless on that side. The Ad side I resorted to throwing in heavy kickers wide which when aided by the slight cross breeze put him out of court and I was just knocking volleys CC for easy points. After holding at 2-2 on yet another CC volley that died on the grass he came screaming fwd and when he dumped his pass in to the net he hurled his racquet down the line and being that I was in volley position it was rather close to my head. I said "Jesus Christ" and he said "It was nowhere near you" and my reply was "but still.. come on".
A couple more holds here and there and its 4 - 3 and I get on a roll and its 0 - 40, 3 chances to almost seal the deal. We have about a 6 shot rally involving mainly slice backhands cross court and I decide I'm gonna rip it down the line for an emphatic break, I miss the court by 3 metres. My head rolls back and I scream as my brain freeze kills me. I lose the next two points still cursing myself for choosing such a stupid shot and we get into a deuce - ad, deuce - ad stand off, 4 break points later I manage not to win the game. Somebody give me a gun I wanna shoot myself in the foot some more.
When I hold serve again after some more into the wind, can't seem to win a deuce side point antics he tosses his racquet in frustration and it lands about a metre from a parked car but luckily bounces back towards him. Officially a nutter. Anyways after some more serve holds we hit the TB again.
Mindset : play aggressive, win the match, don't wait for him to lose it. My returns had been better when I was swinging rather then chipping, his serve wasn't coming thru at a pace I couldn't handle but whether it was nerves or deisre for safety I kept chipping returns. First point, solid serve, no return. Second and third points, no real chance for me just solid points from him. Another standard point from me and it's 2 -2, a good return at my feet and a half volley into the net gives him the mini break. My thoughts, "go round at 3-3" his response a double fault. He makes a nice volley behind me with the breeze on the next point and I lose my first serve point. I'm down 3 - 5, serving to the side I have been struggling with all day. Serve to the backhand, knock a volley into the open court and he throws up a short lob on the backhand side, the BH smash I am comfortable with and everyone moves CC since most people can't hit the BH smash DTL, I can and I do. PHEW! 4 - 5. Gotta make the returns. With sheer amazement I take the next two points, he explodes, launches a ball over the fence and into the carpark. We only play with two balls so I have to wait for my team-mate to go fetch it and throw it back.
6 - 5, serving into the breeze, my heavy kick wide and open court volley had worked for me all day, the only time I remember it not working was one that he nailed DTL in the corner and another he dropped a short lob that let bounce and with the low grass bounce i misjudged it and missed it long. He hadn't found a way to stop me so I had to go with it, predictable ? no doubt, can you find a way to beat it on match point? good luck.
Wide serve, cover the line, punchy BH return, CC FH volley, running FH pass into the middle of the net...game set & match. Racquet launch...nearly hits teammates, you idiot.
W : 7/6, 3/6, 7/6
Evalution : winning without playing well is priceless, serve was terrible and will need some work asap, returning was not as bad, needs confidence and self belief. Passing shots were terrible, need to find someone who wants S&V practice so I can take some pot shots. Volleys were solid, fitness is telling, I'm still hurting 28 hours later.
TTDL :
- find serve rhythm
- try to drive more returns and be positive
- stretch before and after match
until next time... tennis has a unique scoring system, I would have lost on points, I did lose on games, but I won the match. You just never know...turn one point into the four needed to make a game, take that one game into the six needed for a set.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
first day on grass
we are now t-minus 8 days to the start of the season and the grass courts opened this week. So first chance to get out on court was today, first kind of hot day for the season too! Having felt ill last night and having done a few lessons this morning I wasn't exactly peachy keen to be doing any serious training and it showed.
Really lethargic + soft courts = disaster story. I took the prestige out today to convince myself to use it next week and all I managed to do is the opposite, I am now 100% going to use faithful ProStaff, I just can't leave it alone. I am spraying balls everywhere, every time I try to attack at all its flying off the hook, very frustrating given that I attack at the whiff of an opportunity.
Hit with RS today who works with me, he is a well rounded player and a great defender, you might say he is a bit of a pusher but I don't like the negativity of the term. He really plays balls on their merit, he does what is required and can move forward and take the net when required. However his biggest strength is his defense and almost aims to draw players to the net to pass with his accurate groundies.
Unfortunately for me we didn't hit any serves today, my biggest strength and RS's biggest weakness. But anyway back to today, I have really almost given up trying to analyse as I am willing to discard it as "a bad day" I am at the point in my tennis career where I don't want / care to dwell on too much on the negatives. I also don't want to be so naive as to think I cannot learn but I am happy that this is the right attitude for todays session.
The weather really hurt me today, first warm day with little wind, I struggled for fitness and could only manage about 70 mins of any serious hitting which isn't going to hold me in good stead should it be hot next week. Its really strange as I have felt very good at the last couple of hits which surprised me how good I felt to be honest.
ANALYSIS : move on...
THINGS TO DO :
still gotta restring my PS
hit twice next week on grass
try to ease back aggression to match current ability level!
until next time...
if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those imposters just the same
Really lethargic + soft courts = disaster story. I took the prestige out today to convince myself to use it next week and all I managed to do is the opposite, I am now 100% going to use faithful ProStaff, I just can't leave it alone. I am spraying balls everywhere, every time I try to attack at all its flying off the hook, very frustrating given that I attack at the whiff of an opportunity.
Hit with RS today who works with me, he is a well rounded player and a great defender, you might say he is a bit of a pusher but I don't like the negativity of the term. He really plays balls on their merit, he does what is required and can move forward and take the net when required. However his biggest strength is his defense and almost aims to draw players to the net to pass with his accurate groundies.
Unfortunately for me we didn't hit any serves today, my biggest strength and RS's biggest weakness. But anyway back to today, I have really almost given up trying to analyse as I am willing to discard it as "a bad day" I am at the point in my tennis career where I don't want / care to dwell on too much on the negatives. I also don't want to be so naive as to think I cannot learn but I am happy that this is the right attitude for todays session.
The weather really hurt me today, first warm day with little wind, I struggled for fitness and could only manage about 70 mins of any serious hitting which isn't going to hold me in good stead should it be hot next week. Its really strange as I have felt very good at the last couple of hits which surprised me how good I felt to be honest.
ANALYSIS : move on...
THINGS TO DO :
still gotta restring my PS
hit twice next week on grass
try to ease back aggression to match current ability level!
until next time...
if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those imposters just the same
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Training Session 2
TUESDAY Oct 6th : 6.30 - 8.30pm
After not hitting any serves last week I figured I better loosen the shoulder up, grabbed a basket of balls and 3 targets comprising of 2 buckets and a can of balls.
roll my arm over a few times and start to get in to a bit of target practice, now I serve with a pinpoint stance normally but for now just concentrating on my arm and shoulder I just hit my serves from platform stance. Timing is ok, shoulder is a little tender but my whole arm feels like its getting a workout which means I am overly arming the ball. On a secondary note I brought two racquets out on court; PS6.0 #2 gets a birth so I can compare it to #1 from the other day and MGPP which I only just strung up about an hour before.
Can definitely feel the weight distribution difference in the sticks, the PS is so much more head light and feels so comfortable having used it for so long. The PP feels crisper and my serves seem to be coming off slightly better, I can feel the deterioration to my PS as off centre hits can jar a little. I don't feel I can get the spin off the PP on my kick serve but this might be due to the fact im not really throwing the whole body at it yet.
Anyway the serve comes out pretty good overall, pumped the targets a few times and generally felt pretty sweet, for the 564th time told myself that good timing rather then force produces my hardest serves.
CC rocked up at about 7pm and had his warm up, very dilligent of him, I know I never did at his age, still don't at mine. Once we get to the baseline I chop and change between my racquets and decide that the PP is going to get the run tonight, despite not feeling as comfortable the fresh string job provides the control required.
Start out hitting beautifully off the FH, bit short on the BH and definitely didn't feel as good as last week. We had some great rallies and started to build up a good sweat, got some volley practice in and definitely don't like the mavouverability of the PP compared to the PS but the results really arent too different.
Got into some matchplay, tiebreaks to be more accurate. Didn't try to serve properly for the first few, wanted to play some points not get no returns. Felt like I controlled points well even in baseline rallies against a baseliner, as per usual I blew the rallies with overhitting. Lost the first couple of TBs. Very happy with return of serve which is usually my weakness, CC's serve is firm but not spectacular and I felt I could react in time.
Decided to step things up a bit and start serving properly and doing some S&V, played out as expected and had greater success, feels so natural and can do it in cruise mode. Started missing FH's all over the shop, getting good reward for strong serves and solid returns and just butchering FH put aways and approaches. Got embarrassing but I just laughed it off as one of those nights. Can be damaging to play well for the point but not finish it, but at this stage of the pre-season I was happy to be playing such good points to create these opportunities
EVALUATION : Great work out, felt tired but enthused. Really worked much harder then last week and hit lots of balls. Exercise induced happiness. PP was ok, really I might just be looking for excuses not to change, the FEELING isnt the same but I think the RESULTS aren't much different. Can the mind overide itself? Forehand needs some steadiness and backhand needed more depth today. Satisfied with serve and volleys, especially live point volleys were well controlled
THINGS TO DO LIST:
1. Restring PS's
2. Find groove in FH
3. Hit some more 2nd serves, test out spin capability of PP
4. Find some inner calm & execution on point finishing strokes.
until next time...
practice your second serve so you can consistantly hit to the backhand to lessen the attack from your opponent
After not hitting any serves last week I figured I better loosen the shoulder up, grabbed a basket of balls and 3 targets comprising of 2 buckets and a can of balls.
roll my arm over a few times and start to get in to a bit of target practice, now I serve with a pinpoint stance normally but for now just concentrating on my arm and shoulder I just hit my serves from platform stance. Timing is ok, shoulder is a little tender but my whole arm feels like its getting a workout which means I am overly arming the ball. On a secondary note I brought two racquets out on court; PS6.0 #2 gets a birth so I can compare it to #1 from the other day and MGPP which I only just strung up about an hour before.
Can definitely feel the weight distribution difference in the sticks, the PS is so much more head light and feels so comfortable having used it for so long. The PP feels crisper and my serves seem to be coming off slightly better, I can feel the deterioration to my PS as off centre hits can jar a little. I don't feel I can get the spin off the PP on my kick serve but this might be due to the fact im not really throwing the whole body at it yet.
Anyway the serve comes out pretty good overall, pumped the targets a few times and generally felt pretty sweet, for the 564th time told myself that good timing rather then force produces my hardest serves.
CC rocked up at about 7pm and had his warm up, very dilligent of him, I know I never did at his age, still don't at mine. Once we get to the baseline I chop and change between my racquets and decide that the PP is going to get the run tonight, despite not feeling as comfortable the fresh string job provides the control required.
Start out hitting beautifully off the FH, bit short on the BH and definitely didn't feel as good as last week. We had some great rallies and started to build up a good sweat, got some volley practice in and definitely don't like the mavouverability of the PP compared to the PS but the results really arent too different.
Got into some matchplay, tiebreaks to be more accurate. Didn't try to serve properly for the first few, wanted to play some points not get no returns. Felt like I controlled points well even in baseline rallies against a baseliner, as per usual I blew the rallies with overhitting. Lost the first couple of TBs. Very happy with return of serve which is usually my weakness, CC's serve is firm but not spectacular and I felt I could react in time.
Decided to step things up a bit and start serving properly and doing some S&V, played out as expected and had greater success, feels so natural and can do it in cruise mode. Started missing FH's all over the shop, getting good reward for strong serves and solid returns and just butchering FH put aways and approaches. Got embarrassing but I just laughed it off as one of those nights. Can be damaging to play well for the point but not finish it, but at this stage of the pre-season I was happy to be playing such good points to create these opportunities
EVALUATION : Great work out, felt tired but enthused. Really worked much harder then last week and hit lots of balls. Exercise induced happiness. PP was ok, really I might just be looking for excuses not to change, the FEELING isnt the same but I think the RESULTS aren't much different. Can the mind overide itself? Forehand needs some steadiness and backhand needed more depth today. Satisfied with serve and volleys, especially live point volleys were well controlled
THINGS TO DO LIST:
1. Restring PS's
2. Find groove in FH
3. Hit some more 2nd serves, test out spin capability of PP
4. Find some inner calm & execution on point finishing strokes.
until next time...
practice your second serve so you can consistantly hit to the backhand to lessen the attack from your opponent
Training Session 1
FRIDAY Oct 3rd : 4 - 5.30
First hit of the "pre-season". Haven't played a competitive match since mid April, haven't had a proper hit since then either. Pulled my stick out of the bag it has been hiding in for nearly 6 months and checked the tension : loosey goosey! Can't remember when I last strung it, I am guessing about Feb/March. I string tight and reall struggle for control with anything too loose. Its one of my two PS6.0s this one is in slightly better nick and therefore i string it with big banger x head pps 16. My second one is really feeling its age and i string it with ultra tour x pps 16. Both at 60lbs.
Hitting with new team-mate "CC", he is about 19 i think, tall and strong, seems to look after his fitness ie goes for runs and does warm ups etc. Really seems like a player trying to make the most of his game. HIs game? groundies all day long, pretty big backswing on the FH, gets his strings to the back fence ala Djokovic/Hewitt and hits a pretty compact 2HBH. He has just upgraded his old Hewitt Yonex sticks to the new ones and he is pretty happy with the change.
I have never hit with him before but seen him hitting, hits a nice ball, moves ok and pretty reliable serve. First thing i notice after a little mini tennis and we get back the baseline is the amount of spin he gets, really making good use of his full big banger string job. He is keeping pretty good depth with few errors, perfect hitting partner.
Balls are flying from my end, I can feel the tension being underdone and have to consciously put more spin on my FH. BH feels great, good depth from what is just nice timing, surprisingly comfortable. FH errors are prevalent, long, long and loooooooong. No sign of hitting the net which is surprising for me as I hit fairly flat usually.
We play some points off the ground, too many FH U/E from me and to no surprise he beats me in all but one of our 11's. Felt good to be active and hitting balls, happy to get one session out of the way, one step closer to some form. Did not hit serves as need to warm up shoulder
EVALUATION: happy to be on court, very happy with TS backhand, disappointed with spraying forehand long.
THINGS TO DO LIST :
restring required
consider hitting with prestige to bite the bullet and make the switch
Convince myself to hit my TS backhand more often in matches.
until next time....
timing, there is nothing like it, you take it for granted on good days and you can't buy it when your not on form, appreciate the good more then you are discouraged by the bad
First hit of the "pre-season". Haven't played a competitive match since mid April, haven't had a proper hit since then either. Pulled my stick out of the bag it has been hiding in for nearly 6 months and checked the tension : loosey goosey! Can't remember when I last strung it, I am guessing about Feb/March. I string tight and reall struggle for control with anything too loose. Its one of my two PS6.0s this one is in slightly better nick and therefore i string it with big banger x head pps 16. My second one is really feeling its age and i string it with ultra tour x pps 16. Both at 60lbs.
Hitting with new team-mate "CC", he is about 19 i think, tall and strong, seems to look after his fitness ie goes for runs and does warm ups etc. Really seems like a player trying to make the most of his game. HIs game? groundies all day long, pretty big backswing on the FH, gets his strings to the back fence ala Djokovic/Hewitt and hits a pretty compact 2HBH. He has just upgraded his old Hewitt Yonex sticks to the new ones and he is pretty happy with the change.
I have never hit with him before but seen him hitting, hits a nice ball, moves ok and pretty reliable serve. First thing i notice after a little mini tennis and we get back the baseline is the amount of spin he gets, really making good use of his full big banger string job. He is keeping pretty good depth with few errors, perfect hitting partner.
Balls are flying from my end, I can feel the tension being underdone and have to consciously put more spin on my FH. BH feels great, good depth from what is just nice timing, surprisingly comfortable. FH errors are prevalent, long, long and loooooooong. No sign of hitting the net which is surprising for me as I hit fairly flat usually.
We play some points off the ground, too many FH U/E from me and to no surprise he beats me in all but one of our 11's. Felt good to be active and hitting balls, happy to get one session out of the way, one step closer to some form. Did not hit serves as need to warm up shoulder
EVALUATION: happy to be on court, very happy with TS backhand, disappointed with spraying forehand long.
THINGS TO DO LIST :
restring required
consider hitting with prestige to bite the bullet and make the switch
Convince myself to hit my TS backhand more often in matches.
until next time....
timing, there is nothing like it, you take it for granted on good days and you can't buy it when your not on form, appreciate the good more then you are discouraged by the bad
Introduction
Welcome to my blog
For no better reason then self improvement, I have decided to undertake a blog of my upcoming league season. I look back on results from previous years but unless there was something particularly interesting about the match many of them are far from fresh in my memory. Obviously we train to play and matches are really the pinnacle of being a competitive player so you may as well make the most of them by enjoying them and using their results as a way to improve further.
So some background on me :
30 y/o, 6"4 (1.94)
Right handed, S/W Forehand, One Hand Backhand
Serve & Volley exclusively
ITN : Singles 3.5 (probably more realistically a 4.0), doubles 3.5 / roughly a 5.0 NTRP according to this chart : http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/pdf/original/IO_43630_original.PDF
Weaponary : Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 95 for the last 12 years, considering switching to Head MicroGel Prestige Pro
THE LEAGUE : I have played Division 1 league for about the last 4 or 5 years but as a #3 or 4 in the lineup, this season I will be playing as #1 in a Div 3 side as I am playing for the club I am coaching at which is not as strong as the previous clubs I played at. Our competition has around 19 divisions with a premier league above division 1.
MY GAME : Having played mostly on grass courts and having a strong serve and good volleys I have always been a serve volleyer. I move well when in motion but am slow to change direction and i lack good endurance. I am overly aggressive and I play matches on my terms, I win or I lose. I am a prefectionist and am easily agitated at myself, my emotions can get out of control but it is something I am working on. Undoubtedly I make too many errors and lack patience and this is my shortfall in the sport.
MY SEASON GOALS :
1. Retain ITN rating in singles & doubles
2. Make finals
3. Improve emotional control on court
4. Improve shot selection under pressure
5. Be a more positive role model as club coach and team captain
until next time...
For no better reason then self improvement, I have decided to undertake a blog of my upcoming league season. I look back on results from previous years but unless there was something particularly interesting about the match many of them are far from fresh in my memory. Obviously we train to play and matches are really the pinnacle of being a competitive player so you may as well make the most of them by enjoying them and using their results as a way to improve further.
So some background on me :
30 y/o, 6"4 (1.94)
Right handed, S/W Forehand, One Hand Backhand
Serve & Volley exclusively
ITN : Singles 3.5 (probably more realistically a 4.0), doubles 3.5 / roughly a 5.0 NTRP according to this chart : http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/pdf/original/IO_43630_original.PDF
Weaponary : Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 95 for the last 12 years, considering switching to Head MicroGel Prestige Pro
THE LEAGUE : I have played Division 1 league for about the last 4 or 5 years but as a #3 or 4 in the lineup, this season I will be playing as #1 in a Div 3 side as I am playing for the club I am coaching at which is not as strong as the previous clubs I played at. Our competition has around 19 divisions with a premier league above division 1.
MY GAME : Having played mostly on grass courts and having a strong serve and good volleys I have always been a serve volleyer. I move well when in motion but am slow to change direction and i lack good endurance. I am overly aggressive and I play matches on my terms, I win or I lose. I am a prefectionist and am easily agitated at myself, my emotions can get out of control but it is something I am working on. Undoubtedly I make too many errors and lack patience and this is my shortfall in the sport.
MY SEASON GOALS :
1. Retain ITN rating in singles & doubles
2. Make finals
3. Improve emotional control on court
4. Improve shot selection under pressure
5. Be a more positive role model as club coach and team captain
until next time...
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