I Hate the Sun

I got to play a little bit of tennis this weekend. Actually played some matches with my friend Dave. It was about 2 pm in the afternoon and the heat was blistering. Dave hasn't picked up a racquet in quite some time but he has some excellent reflexes and motor skills and was able to block back about everything I gave him. We played a quick 10 pt tie breaker which I took 10 - 8 (after blowing a 6-1 lead). He insisted on some match play and thats about where I unraveled. I've been pretty bad with practicing my serve and coupled with serving with the sun in my eye. I was about 5% on my 1st serve. Just like my issues with Luis, when my opponent doesn't give me some pace to work with, I either overhit or hit into the net. And of course that led to frustration, swearing and just a loss both physically and mentally.

The left shoulder feels fine though, and I'm going to be bringing it back into the mix. This week I'm working on my serve, and next time we play, I'll practice some drop balls to calibrate myself on hitting balls with little or no pace.

State of the Union

Keeping up with this trend of how much I've progressed I think I should clearly define where I was, where I am and where I want to be as a player. I'll be rating them on an NTRP scale (1-7)

Quick Summary - Past, Present, Future
Forehand - 2.0, 4.0, 4.5
Backhand - 3.0, 3.0, 3.5
Serve - 2.0, 3.5, 3.5
Net/Approach - 2.0, 3.0, 3.5
Footwork - 2.5, 3.5, 4.0
Mental - 1.5, 2.0, 3.5
Overall NTRP - 2.2, 3.2, 3.8

Forehand
Before - 2.0

• Power - 3.5
• Control - 2.0
• Consistency - 1.5
• Spin - 2.0

Now - 4.0

• Power - 4.5
• Control - 3.0
• Consistency - 3.0
• Spin - 4.0

Year End - 4.5

• Power - 5.0
• Control - 4.0
• Consistency - 4.0
• Spin - 4.0

The forehand is like the bench press of tennis. Its pretty much a good litmus test of your ability as a player in my opinion. I've always been a strong guy and racquet and arm speed hasn't been a problem. As I've progress i've managed to Incorporate more shoulder turn and better foot work to plant and really unleash on the ball. From here I'd really like my consistency to be almost perfect, and be confident to take risks on down the line and inside out shots.

Backhand
Before - 3.0

• Power - 3.5
• Control - 2.0
• Consistency - 3.0
• Spin - 1.0

Now - 3.0

• Power - 3.0
• Control - 2.5
• Consistency - 2.0
• Spin - 2.5

Year End - 3.5

• Power - 4.0
• Control - 3.0
• Consistency - 3.05
• Spin - 3.0

If the forehand is the benchpress of tennis, the backhand is the Pull ups of tennis. You don't like doing them but you have to (well in my case I love pull ups...). Its funny I don't think my Backhand as gotten "better". My old 2 hand BH was very compact, and flat. It was actually my rock when my forehands were going all over the place. Problem with it was I wasn't able to hit very low shots with it. I'm trying more and more to Drop the head down and add spin. The biggest problem is that I really need to remember to step with the right leg and hit. If I don't do that, I lose all pace and the ball gets "pushed" over. If I can get a grasp on down the line and cross court shots, I'll be happy with it at years end.

Serve
Before - 2.0

• Power - 3.5
• 2nd Serve - 1.0
• Control - 1.0
• Consistency - 1.5
• Spin - 1.0

Now - 3.0

• Power - 4.0
• 2nd Serve - 3.0
• Control - 2.0
• Consistency - 2.5
• Spin - 2.5

Year End - 3.5

• Power - 4.5
• 2nd Serve - 3.0
• Control - 3.0
• Consistency - 3.0
• Spin - 3.0

My Serve is one of my biggest weapons I haven't been able to take advantage of. I've always had good head speed in the beginning but I wasn't priming the legs and jumping enough which I've been doing to negate my height disadvantage. My dink 2nd serve has finally become a decent 2nd serve. My control is nonexistent, I either go in or fault. My over all consistency needs to go up, i'm averaging about a 50%/80% split. I hope to develop my 1st serve consistency to 60% and be able to control it to go down the line or swing out wide. I want to get more power on my kick serve so I'm able to pull an ace every now and then with it.

Net/Approach
Before - 2.0

• Coverage - 2.0
• Consistency - 2.0
• Placement - 1.5
• Power (approach) - 2.0
• Angle (approach) - 2.0

Now - 3.0

• Coverage - 2.0
• Consistency - 2.5
• Placement - 2.0
• Power (approach) - 4.0
• Angle (approach) - 3.0

Year End 3.5

• Coverage - 2.5
• Consistency - 3.0
• Placement - 3.0
• Power (approach) - 4.0
• Angle (approach) - 4.0

I don't play at the net often but I do like to use my approach shot to shorten the court and put away balls. It took me awhile to get a hang of the windshield wiper but its become a staple of my game. Reflexes have always been a weak point for me, as soon as I can improve that, I can improve my coverage at the net. One of the biggest things I can do to improve is instinctively know which alleys to close off when approaching.

Footwork
Before - 2.5

• Footspeed - 3.5
• Split Step - 2.0
• Coverage - 3.0
• Agility - 2.0

Now - 3.5

• Footspeed - 4.0
• Split Step - 3.0
• Coverage - 3.5
• Agility - 3.0

Year End 4.0

• Footspeed - 4.5
• Split Step - 4.0
• Coverage - 4.0
• Agility - 3.5

I've always had quick feet but I definitely lack proper footwork. I did the split for just the sake of it, instead of using it to prime my legs to jump at the ball. I'm getting better with my court coverage and not being caught flat footed. The things to work on is perfecting my split step timing, coming back to the center of the court, and lateral movement agility.

Mental
Before - 1.5

• Focus - 2.0
• Temper - 1.0
• Strategy - 1.0

Now - 2.0

• Focus - 2.5
• Temper - 2.0
• Strategy - 2.0

Year End - 3.5

• Focus - 3.5
• Temper - 3.5
• Strategy - 3.5

Probably the most overlooked aspect in tennis. I have a very weak mental game. I get angered (incensed actually) very easily. If i'm fatiguing I make mental slips like not split stepping, footwork, etc... Strategy wasn't a factor early on b/c I didn't have the tools (like directional control) to employ them. I need to work on staying focused, I've played a few time where I was drained physically but I let that carry over into the mental realm and was just mentally sluggish and lazy.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my tennis game. I'm about a 3.0 - 3.5 NTRP. I know I can hang with players at the NTRP of 5.0 b/c of my raw physical ability. But its technique I need and I know I've been improving and I've identified points in my game that need improvement and I'm making attempts to fix them. I got a good 4 months left and I'm going to make the most of it. Mainly by playing against a high calibre of opponents. I'm getting a bit complacent playing around with lower skilled players (even though the games are fun) and I need to make a serious effort to challenge myself.

Back with a Vengeance

Its been 3 weeks since I've been able to play... why you ask? Because of this... I wreck my leg being very stupid. Being even stupider I refused treatment for a whole week while it didn't heal which lead to a massive infection and so and and so forth.

In any case I've spent the entire time analyzing everyone of my tennis vids and I have a massive hitlist of things I will be working on because as of next week I'm hitting the court with a vengeance...

Footwork
- Split step on time, not late or its useless
- Stay on balls of feet
- Reaction time, quick first step
- get back to middle using cross step, don't get caught flat footed

Serve
- Kick, Kick, Kick Consistency
- Placement and control

Forehand
- More shoulder turn
- Must bend more at the knees and step in, don't open stance every shot
- Hit in front of me, I'm 90% hitting long when I hit late
- Early preparation

Backhand
- Dip the racquet head down, more brush. I'll deal with the net balls for now, I want good form to build off of.
- Get away from hitting too many slices.

Volley
- If stuck in mid court, goto the net, don't back pedal to the baseline
- Finish the point
- Improve coverage area and minimize passing shots

Mental
- Stop hitting to center, default location of all my shots will be the opponents backhand
- Focus on predicting my opponents shot and get there early
- Don't get Angry
- Control the point, don't just react
- Be methodical, every one has weaknesses, I need to be able to exploit them

Basically by summers end I want:
- to be a solid 4.0
- 50% 1st serve, 80% 2nd (non dink) serve
- 90% forehand consistency on easy and med shots
- 80% backhand consistency on easy and med shots
- footwork reflect my quick feet and speed
- to play against andrew and steal 3-4 points off him in a set

5/13/08 Post Match Thoughts

Today was really tough to swallow. I showed up early to my match, got into a good groove with my serve. Made sure my FH slice was still timed ok, bc my opponent had a big serve. During our prematch rallies, I was hitting on fire. Everything was going in, where I wanted it to go, and which great spin and power. We proceed to the match and naturally I lose the 1st point (he serves 1st). Somewhere between all this my opponent remembers I can't shots with no pace and starts to slow play every ball. I'm over hitting, hitting into the net, its horrible. I lose my cool and my serve starts to be affected. I'm hitting double 1st serves to shut him up and force him to play but all that gets me is double faults. I fall behind, try too hard to come back by playing harder not smarter and continue to lose. I go on to lose the match 6 - 3.

Big lesson learned today. I've always had trouble controlling my emotions specifically my temper but today was ridiculous. I'm a mentally weak player which explains why I lose to people with inferior groundstrokes. I'm spending most of the day tomorrow analyzing my groundstrokes and what works for me. Pre-match I'm going to hit some drop shots and make sure I know what to do to hit those junk balls. I'm going to be hitting and placing my 70% power shots and only open up when I've given an opening. I also need to work on preventing my opponent from seeing my 2nd serve. I need to go into the match with no pressure and come out with a win.

My good friend David made some great comments on my game I will carry to tomorrow's match. My forehand set up is way late. In a lot of my videos I'm scooping low too much bc I'm not setting up early enough. I've also started rotation too much into my forehand instead of stepping in. Especially on those stupid junk balls, I need to drive my hips to supply my own power.

Something I read about serving caught my eye. I of course after making contact with the ball, my eyes follow the ball to the net and hopefully to the other side of the court. I read that I should continue to look up and at the blur of my racquet. Tilting your head down will break your shoulder rotation and cause the ball to go into the net. I'm going to try this next time. I'm aiming for a 50% 1st serve percentage. Also I need to analyze my opponent and formulate a strategy and stick to it. Don't let him take my head out of the game.

Well tomorrow, my opponent will most likely just tap the ball back and hope for me to make errors. Like most, his weakness is his backhand. I'm going to hammer his backhand. Only if he gives me the opening, will I open up and hit my deep topspin crosscourt forehand. He also has a tendency to stand in front of the baseline. I'll start off hitting low power, but if I see him come out of the baseline I will hit a penetrating deep shot. If things get desperate, instead of turning up the juice, I will chip and charge or serve and volley. I'm going to deliberately try to shorten the court and make him beat me with a passing shot. Tomorrow is redemption day... I will win...