I got a bit busy and didn’t get a chance to update my blog.
My badminton on 12/12 is average and nothing much to write about. I played well in patches and won some games and ended up with an overall winning record. The only thing of significance is that I changed my grip and tried to experiment. With this grip I was able to play a finesse game at the net though my power game (smashes etc) suffered.
What I got out of it is that I can play good net game if I can put some more interest into it. I also need to learn to change the grips quickly.
I scored enough tennis points to stay at 0700 PM for the 12/17 session. I had to baby sit during that time and hence opted out of 0700. I did play at 0830 as a Sub. I didn’t do any of my pre-match rituals (warm up , Bottled Propel , stretching ) . I also didn’t get good sleep for the past few nights as I am trying to change my sleep clock to be set for the time zone for my vacation in less than 5 days.
I tried to show case my 2HBH (two handed back hand). My first match was with Mike. I felt that he doesn’t have any weapons that would cause me concern. The final score was 4-3 in his favor. I used western forehand to hit some winners but my server wasn’t working and I double faulted a lot.
I was worse in second match (warren). I lost 6-1 because I wasn’t in it at all. Also he played very good and hit some great shots.
In my Third match (Thomas-Sub) I was down 0-3. Then I suddenly found my range and started making shots and firing some serve. I finally closed it 4-3 .
Over all not a good performance. Serve is bad, forehand was flaky. 2HBH was a disaster. I can’t seem to learn to hit a backhand.
12/19 Badminton wasn’t any different. Glimpses of good shot making followed by some awful mistakes. However I took my baby to the courts and she, being 11 months old had a great time. I am almost certain that she is into sports. Time will tell.
I have a Tennis practice hit session scheduled on 12/24. This is with a friend of mine and my goal is to enjoy the time there. I wont be able to post any updates on that session until New year. I will try to post some updates on my vacation.
This wraps up my 2007 Tennis. My next session will be on Jan 28. Looking back at this year I feel I made progress. My Serve improved and so did my forehand. I didn’t play as much tennis as I would like to in summer but kind of making up for it in Winter.
I would like to use the things I learned in 2007 to launch into 2008. I want to improve my backhand, make my Serve lethal and add more variety into my forehand.
An interesting year thus draws to a close. Enjoy your Holidays. Happy Newyear 2008 and Thanks for all the support.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday Tennis 12/10
The second match is with Carl. His first forehand cross court winner made me very nervous as I realized how good he is with those shots. I won the toss but I asked him to serve. We went with serve until 2-2. I got some read on his style of play. He plays more on baseline though he probably has a better net game than mine. I went aggressive with my shots and broke his serve to go 3-2 up. It is my turn to serve. This is probably one of the best service games I had in recent times. 3 aces and 1 service winner. Basically 4 shots from my racquet and game is over. He held his serve on a deuce game to make the final score 4-3 in my favor. I loved the way I served and I liked the way I played this match. If only I can play so consistent. This guy is a very good player with good power on both wings. I am glad i came out on top.
In the third match, my opponent for the day is Dave. Final score 2-5. my game doesn’t match up well with his style. He keeps points very short. He stands close to the net and punches the ball with good power and backspin. The ball keeps low and then skids. I made a tactical mistake in trying to stay up on his serve. His serve though decent isn’t anything earth shattering and I could have been up the baseline and played it through. He broke my serve once and that was enough as he started the serve. Honestly, except for one game, It was a difficult task to hold my serve. I will have to come up with something different if I have to win against him. One thing i would like to try against him is use a little more western grip. (yes western grip have a disadvantage against balls that keep low. But this guy doesnt have pace. if i get under the ball and go up with lots of spin, i can stay ahead)
My final tally is 9 points. Not bad for my first outing at this level. I am not sure if I stay at 7 pm or drop back to 0830. It all depends on other results but there is some substitution involved so I am not too sure. It hardly matters because next week’s will be the last match before I go on vacation and I will start at the rock bottom once I come back.
I didn’t really get lot of chances to groove in on the tips I learned. However based on my early results, I don’t think my 1hbh will become effective anytime soon against quality opponents. I am thinking of trying 2hbh exclusively next week and see what it does. May be if I give it a little time, I will get confident in using it. I need to fine tune my serve a little bit as basically that is one stroke I have decent mechanics and it is proving to be a match winner.
There are certain styles of play that are more challenging to me. I need to work on them and get better. One thing is apparent to me. My game is as good if not better than most of the 7 PM players. Its all down to me to put it all together.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Badminton 12/05 and Tennis lesson 12/07
I worked out on Tuesday despite feeling a little tired. We (with my car pooling friends) arrived a little late into our Wednesday’s Badminton. I didn’t really have a lot of energy and missed some routine shots. Though I won most of the matches, they are closer than to my liking. All the time I am trying to warm up so to speak and get my energy back. Eventually I did towards later part of the session and shots were flowing more freely. I stayed till 10 pm (closing time) before heading home. Realizing my low energy levels I decided to give myself Thursday off.
On Friday, we had a semi private session with a pro. A semi private lesson is essentially a shared instruction. My friend and I signed up for this session as we felt we could use some professional help. My original goal going into this session was to get some help on Backhand and some technique on hitting a TWIST serve.
The session was enlightening from couple of different aspects. I can say that there are probably a dozen things I got some tips on. It is almost not practical to absorb every bit of information. My key points are
1) Backhand Technique: My chronic problem. The instructor essentially showed me the right technique on my one hander and offered technical improvements for the two handed backhand. I used to hit the backhand like that before unaware that it is the right away. Clearly neither (one hander or two hander) are natural for me and I just need to work myself to have a respectable shot. For now, due to lack of confidence in 2HBH, I will go with One handed backhand (1HBH). However that technique with 1HBH, though offers lots of topspin and margin, takes a lot to hit with power and conviction. I will focus on 2HBH from January.
2) Recovery: I often struggled with the question that why I am late to reaching the ball. A big aspect of hitting a powerful shot is being in position to hit the shot. The instructor showed me the right technique. I have decent foot speed and decent anticipation. Its just that my recovery position is not optimal and I often stay at the same position looking at my shot instead of starting the recovery and be ready for next shot. As the instructor indicated, the ideal recovery position is to be a few feet side of away from centre line, where opponent would hit a cross court shot.
3) Serve : Unfortunately the instructor didn’t offer much on serve other than indicating a contact position of hitting a slice serve. This is something I knew since long time so not much of use. I didn’t get any tips on hitting a Twist serve. I guess I have to learn it on my own or wait for another lesson. Looking at it positively, may be my serve technique is adequate for my level for play and doesnt have any glaring bad traits and hence the instructor didnt offer much.
4) Forehand: The instructed indicated that my forehand flow is ok in general and I need to improve on it to make it more smooth and controlled. I need to focus on my racquet take back and finish. Also I seem to often get out of position/balance after hit a heavy forehand and I got a few tips to prevent it.
In order to implement above tips and reinforce them effectively, I shouldn’t be afraid to lose few matches as it will take some time for these changes to be grooved in and during that period results will be less than one would like. I am glad that I did this session. I probably wouldn’t have done this with out my friend. I guess we both are feeding off of each other to play better tennis.
I made it to the 7 PM ladder due to my results from last week’s tennis session. So tonight is my time at the Show courts. Just like from previous week, I want to go with a simple attitude of just enjoying the game. I will try to implement the tips from above as it is better to work on them now while the instruction is still fresh in my mind (strike while the Iron is still hot!).
Tonight I will be playing some tough opponents. One of them I played before (opponent #3 from Oct 24) and rest I haven’t played them. Since these players are playing steady at 7 Pm for quite sometime, they are generally good and strong players .It will be a tough task to come out with a winning record. Statistically I play well against players I have played before a few times. So things are not looking good from that perspective either. I did lot of weights past two days to compensate for me missing weight sessions past 10 days (big Mistake!). My muscles are sore.
But my plan is go there and enjoy the game. A few inside in forehand winners, a few aces, along with some implementation of above tips , I will be a happy bunch.
There is only 1 session left after todays before I go on my vacation. When I come back I will be starting at the bottom of 0830 ladder anyways as I won’t be able to carry my points while I am on vacation. So if I play well enough, I will stay at 7 pm for next week. If not I will drop to top of 0830 Ladder for next week. Either way I will finish the first part of the season on a high note.
On Friday, we had a semi private session with a pro. A semi private lesson is essentially a shared instruction. My friend and I signed up for this session as we felt we could use some professional help. My original goal going into this session was to get some help on Backhand and some technique on hitting a TWIST serve.
The session was enlightening from couple of different aspects. I can say that there are probably a dozen things I got some tips on. It is almost not practical to absorb every bit of information. My key points are
1) Backhand Technique: My chronic problem. The instructor essentially showed me the right technique on my one hander and offered technical improvements for the two handed backhand. I used to hit the backhand like that before unaware that it is the right away. Clearly neither (one hander or two hander) are natural for me and I just need to work myself to have a respectable shot. For now, due to lack of confidence in 2HBH, I will go with One handed backhand (1HBH). However that technique with 1HBH, though offers lots of topspin and margin, takes a lot to hit with power and conviction. I will focus on 2HBH from January.
2) Recovery: I often struggled with the question that why I am late to reaching the ball. A big aspect of hitting a powerful shot is being in position to hit the shot. The instructor showed me the right technique. I have decent foot speed and decent anticipation. Its just that my recovery position is not optimal and I often stay at the same position looking at my shot instead of starting the recovery and be ready for next shot. As the instructor indicated, the ideal recovery position is to be a few feet side of away from centre line, where opponent would hit a cross court shot.
3) Serve : Unfortunately the instructor didn’t offer much on serve other than indicating a contact position of hitting a slice serve. This is something I knew since long time so not much of use. I didn’t get any tips on hitting a Twist serve. I guess I have to learn it on my own or wait for another lesson. Looking at it positively, may be my serve technique is adequate for my level for play and doesnt have any glaring bad traits and hence the instructor didnt offer much.
4) Forehand: The instructed indicated that my forehand flow is ok in general and I need to improve on it to make it more smooth and controlled. I need to focus on my racquet take back and finish. Also I seem to often get out of position/balance after hit a heavy forehand and I got a few tips to prevent it.
In order to implement above tips and reinforce them effectively, I shouldn’t be afraid to lose few matches as it will take some time for these changes to be grooved in and during that period results will be less than one would like. I am glad that I did this session. I probably wouldn’t have done this with out my friend. I guess we both are feeding off of each other to play better tennis.
I made it to the 7 PM ladder due to my results from last week’s tennis session. So tonight is my time at the Show courts. Just like from previous week, I want to go with a simple attitude of just enjoying the game. I will try to implement the tips from above as it is better to work on them now while the instruction is still fresh in my mind (strike while the Iron is still hot!).
Tonight I will be playing some tough opponents. One of them I played before (opponent #3 from Oct 24) and rest I haven’t played them. Since these players are playing steady at 7 Pm for quite sometime, they are generally good and strong players .It will be a tough task to come out with a winning record. Statistically I play well against players I have played before a few times. So things are not looking good from that perspective either. I did lot of weights past two days to compensate for me missing weight sessions past 10 days (big Mistake!). My muscles are sore.
But my plan is go there and enjoy the game. A few inside in forehand winners, a few aces, along with some implementation of above tips , I will be a happy bunch.
There is only 1 session left after todays before I go on my vacation. When I come back I will be starting at the bottom of 0830 ladder anyways as I won’t be able to carry my points while I am on vacation. So if I play well enough, I will stay at 7 pm for next week. If not I will drop to top of 0830 Ladder for next week. Either way I will finish the first part of the season on a high note.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Spare Racquet
Last Monday I was speaking with another player who said he broke his strings during the match and had to play with an opponent’s spare racquet. That racquet was far heavier and hurt his game. That got me thinking- again. I wanted to invest in a spare racquet for a long time. The cost is around 200$ and beyond my comfort zone.
The spare racquet I carry in my kit is a walmart 15$ special that I bought 6 yrs ago and never restrung. It isn’t a player’s frame and my game will be impacted if I play with that. Imagine- I had problems with a dampener on my existing racquet strings. There is no telling what will happen if I play with a sub par frame. The racquet I am using Babolat APD + isn’t manufactured any more. Besides i have added my own customizations such as Luxilon power ALU poly strings and a Power -V grip. There are more advanced offerings from Babolat on what is essentially the same frame but with more tweaking. So my choices are to get a latest frame in that Babolat family or try checking stores for old demo/discounted frames that closely resemble my racquet and then re do my customizations.
Its times like this i wish i had a sponsor ;)
Looking at it from another aspect, the worst case scenario is that I snap strings on (say a Monday session). All it will mean is I may not play well that day. I can get my racquet restrung before the next week’s session. So may be its not a big deal.
Generally We Architects advise everyone to be very close to the latest versions (n-1). If I apply the same philosophy, I shouldn’t be on a frame that is basically n-3 or n-4. Use this as an excuse and get a new frame?—May be but it wont be until I get back from vacation.
Btw, I did workout yesterday though I didn’t do any weights. I want to keep the fitness streak going. A few friends did comment that I still look fat, I am not sure if they are serious. I think I recovered to large extent from the Cold. Wrist hasn’t fully healed and it still hurts if I try to lift anything more than a few pounds. Some more rest is needed.
Ideally, I would like to drop a few more pounds and build a little more muscle before I go on vacation [in less than 3 weeks]. Between Tennis, Badminton, Holiday shopping, House hold chores, I may get at most 10-12 sessions at Gym (excl tennis\Badminton). So it is probably not that realistic.
I will keep you posted on how I do in Badminton tonight. I want to put some additional focus on backhand.
The spare racquet I carry in my kit is a walmart 15$ special that I bought 6 yrs ago and never restrung. It isn’t a player’s frame and my game will be impacted if I play with that. Imagine- I had problems with a dampener on my existing racquet strings. There is no telling what will happen if I play with a sub par frame. The racquet I am using Babolat APD + isn’t manufactured any more. Besides i have added my own customizations such as Luxilon power ALU poly strings and a Power -V grip. There are more advanced offerings from Babolat on what is essentially the same frame but with more tweaking. So my choices are to get a latest frame in that Babolat family or try checking stores for old demo/discounted frames that closely resemble my racquet and then re do my customizations.
Its times like this i wish i had a sponsor ;)
Looking at it from another aspect, the worst case scenario is that I snap strings on (say a Monday session). All it will mean is I may not play well that day. I can get my racquet restrung before the next week’s session. So may be its not a big deal.
Generally We Architects advise everyone to be very close to the latest versions (n-1). If I apply the same philosophy, I shouldn’t be on a frame that is basically n-3 or n-4. Use this as an excuse and get a new frame?—May be but it wont be until I get back from vacation.
Btw, I did workout yesterday though I didn’t do any weights. I want to keep the fitness streak going. A few friends did comment that I still look fat, I am not sure if they are serious. I think I recovered to large extent from the Cold. Wrist hasn’t fully healed and it still hurts if I try to lift anything more than a few pounds. Some more rest is needed.
Ideally, I would like to drop a few more pounds and build a little more muscle before I go on vacation [in less than 3 weeks]. Between Tennis, Badminton, Holiday shopping, House hold chores, I may get at most 10-12 sessions at Gym (excl tennis\Badminton). So it is probably not that realistic.
I will keep you posted on how I do in Badminton tonight. I want to put some additional focus on backhand.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Decent fare! (Monday Tennis 03 Dec)
I went into This week's Tennis session with out optimal preparation and feelin some effects of cold and wrist pain. I got in a little bit early hoping to get some warmup. I did warm up for 10 minutes on elliptical but i would love to hit a little bit. As I looked at the draw there were few cancellations and they readjusted it. Basically i am supposed to play 2 sets against the same opponent (Paul). I didnt like the format for two reasons.
A) If there is a mismatch, it would be unfair for the loser as there is no way he can make up any points.
B) I played this guy before (Nov 5, Opponent #3) and i lost to him 5-2. basically he is a 7 pm level player.
There isnt much i could do about the format.I had my friend (who played in 7 pm league) just finishing up and i went into his court to warm up with him. It didnt last too long as the 0830 players for that court arrived. I moved onto my assigned court and my opponent is already there waiting for me. My friend was watching us play from the comfort of the Visitors lounge.
After a very short warmup, we started the match. I won the toss and chose to recieve. This way i will have less pressure on my serve because even if i lose the first game (which is on opponents serve) it isnt a big deal as we are still On serve. I remembered our previous encounter with this opponent. Basically he has a wicked spin on his first serve. Once the ball hits the ground, Spin kicks off and there isnt a lot to predict.
The match went on serve until 2-2. I had some trouble holding my serve while my opponent was able to hold it much easier than i did. However i observed something that i thought i could use. My friend , watching from visitor lounge also gave some tips. His presence actually helped me and reminded me of sticking to the basics. I also play a little better when someone is watching. This opponent has a wicked spin on his serve no doubt. But it always moves to my right. Basically his serves had a pattern. First serve wide towards my body\forehand. Second serve slow towards my backhand. His ground game isnt that great and i would say i have a slight edge if my game is on. Armed with that pattern, I broke him on game 5 and i went up 3-2. He tried to put pressure on my serve by attacking my second serve. My second serve, though slow, kicks up high, spins occassionally and not easy to hit. However he couldnt match my ground strokes. I am seeing the ball fairly well at this time and controlling well. There were some key points in the next few games. He put pressure on me by coming to the net but i was able to hit some "outstanding" passing shots especially in the game that won me the set 6-2. The topper was an Inside-In forehand winner that blazed past him.
After a very short drink break, we started the second set with my opponent serving again. I quickly raced to a 2-0 lead thanks to some good defense on my part. My opponent was hitting very aggressive shots all across and i am still not sure how i dug myself out. However he held the serve on his next game and broke my serve to make the score 2-2. This is when i decided to make another adjustment and take the first cut on any ground stroke. He made a double fault to start the game and two whipping forehands on his second serve got me break points and i only needed one. Up 3-2, i started serving. I knew this is a key game because 3-3 could mean a lot of things. I varied the pace on my serve. I served slow and allowed him to attack but whenever i got the chance, i hit some big shots. He had a break point on my serve. I went big on that serve and he was expecting a slow one. Deuce. I hit another big serve with lots of kick and i am up 4-2. I promptly broke his serve again to go 5-2 and then served big to go 40-15. One would think that i should have closed the match right then. Wrong. He went all in and hit some scorching forehand winners to go deuce. Because of No ad what it means is i have the match point while he had a break point. I served a slow one purposefully (as a missed first serve would put too much pressure on my second serve) and he kept the ball in play. Longest rally of the match and finally ended with me hitting a very powerful forehand that my opponent couldnt get enough racquet.
Final score 6-2,6-2. Score board doesnt do much justice here as the match was a lot closer than the final score.
After the match, i had a friendly chat with my opponent. He clearly was surprised because he didnt expect me to play the way i did based on our last meeting. He gave some high marks to my serve and forehand. I liked his spin serve and He indicated how he improved his serve with some coaching from one of the coaches at our club. I am seriously considering having a session with that coach to work on my serve and add a SPIN component , get a decent backhand. I will finalize something in the next few days.
Btw today My backhand isnt bad either. I actually figured out a technique and i think i can hit a better backhand now. we will see if this stands test of time.
Some key take aways
1) Neutralize opponents serve (if possible) by searching for some patterns in their game.
2) Hit ground strokes to the middle of the court until you pull the trigger. This forces opponent to do more on his replies and also cuts off some angles.
3) Vary the pace and placement on the serve. This will keep opponents guessing.
4) Go for some winners.
Though result is in my favor, and in general long matches are to my liking, in this system where # of games won matters, it is probably better to play multiple opponents because it can neutralize mis matches. If i am playing outdoors and all that counts is # of sets, i would always play best of 3 set matches without No-ad scoring. But in this ladder , # of games won is the key and it helps to play some weaker opponents.
I had little bit of time left and i started practing some serves. Thats when i realized something. I have some potential in the serve department if i can harness it. I tried some spin serves and was able to get some serious spin, though inconsistently by altering ball toss. As you play higher up, it is very important to not to have any visual cues , especially on serve. So i am definitely inclined to hiring a pro for a session. The importance of serve cannot be stressed enough at any level of play and it is particularly important at recreational levels and even more important for someone like me who cant generate much offense from backhand wing.
I felt good about my performance as i can see my game coming back. I am not sure if this is a good enough result to move me into 7 Pm slot but i am positive i will be probably very close to the top of 0830 Ladder. Depending on how the other results go , i may play my friend next week at 0830.
A) If there is a mismatch, it would be unfair for the loser as there is no way he can make up any points.
B) I played this guy before (Nov 5, Opponent #3) and i lost to him 5-2. basically he is a 7 pm level player.
There isnt much i could do about the format.I had my friend (who played in 7 pm league) just finishing up and i went into his court to warm up with him. It didnt last too long as the 0830 players for that court arrived. I moved onto my assigned court and my opponent is already there waiting for me. My friend was watching us play from the comfort of the Visitors lounge.
After a very short warmup, we started the match. I won the toss and chose to recieve. This way i will have less pressure on my serve because even if i lose the first game (which is on opponents serve) it isnt a big deal as we are still On serve. I remembered our previous encounter with this opponent. Basically he has a wicked spin on his first serve. Once the ball hits the ground, Spin kicks off and there isnt a lot to predict.
The match went on serve until 2-2. I had some trouble holding my serve while my opponent was able to hold it much easier than i did. However i observed something that i thought i could use. My friend , watching from visitor lounge also gave some tips. His presence actually helped me and reminded me of sticking to the basics. I also play a little better when someone is watching. This opponent has a wicked spin on his serve no doubt. But it always moves to my right. Basically his serves had a pattern. First serve wide towards my body\forehand. Second serve slow towards my backhand. His ground game isnt that great and i would say i have a slight edge if my game is on. Armed with that pattern, I broke him on game 5 and i went up 3-2. He tried to put pressure on my serve by attacking my second serve. My second serve, though slow, kicks up high, spins occassionally and not easy to hit. However he couldnt match my ground strokes. I am seeing the ball fairly well at this time and controlling well. There were some key points in the next few games. He put pressure on me by coming to the net but i was able to hit some "outstanding" passing shots especially in the game that won me the set 6-2. The topper was an Inside-In forehand winner that blazed past him.
After a very short drink break, we started the second set with my opponent serving again. I quickly raced to a 2-0 lead thanks to some good defense on my part. My opponent was hitting very aggressive shots all across and i am still not sure how i dug myself out. However he held the serve on his next game and broke my serve to make the score 2-2. This is when i decided to make another adjustment and take the first cut on any ground stroke. He made a double fault to start the game and two whipping forehands on his second serve got me break points and i only needed one. Up 3-2, i started serving. I knew this is a key game because 3-3 could mean a lot of things. I varied the pace on my serve. I served slow and allowed him to attack but whenever i got the chance, i hit some big shots. He had a break point on my serve. I went big on that serve and he was expecting a slow one. Deuce. I hit another big serve with lots of kick and i am up 4-2. I promptly broke his serve again to go 5-2 and then served big to go 40-15. One would think that i should have closed the match right then. Wrong. He went all in and hit some scorching forehand winners to go deuce. Because of No ad what it means is i have the match point while he had a break point. I served a slow one purposefully (as a missed first serve would put too much pressure on my second serve) and he kept the ball in play. Longest rally of the match and finally ended with me hitting a very powerful forehand that my opponent couldnt get enough racquet.
Final score 6-2,6-2. Score board doesnt do much justice here as the match was a lot closer than the final score.
After the match, i had a friendly chat with my opponent. He clearly was surprised because he didnt expect me to play the way i did based on our last meeting. He gave some high marks to my serve and forehand. I liked his spin serve and He indicated how he improved his serve with some coaching from one of the coaches at our club. I am seriously considering having a session with that coach to work on my serve and add a SPIN component , get a decent backhand. I will finalize something in the next few days.
Btw today My backhand isnt bad either. I actually figured out a technique and i think i can hit a better backhand now. we will see if this stands test of time.
Some key take aways
1) Neutralize opponents serve (if possible) by searching for some patterns in their game.
2) Hit ground strokes to the middle of the court until you pull the trigger. This forces opponent to do more on his replies and also cuts off some angles.
3) Vary the pace and placement on the serve. This will keep opponents guessing.
4) Go for some winners.
Though result is in my favor, and in general long matches are to my liking, in this system where # of games won matters, it is probably better to play multiple opponents because it can neutralize mis matches. If i am playing outdoors and all that counts is # of sets, i would always play best of 3 set matches without No-ad scoring. But in this ladder , # of games won is the key and it helps to play some weaker opponents.
I had little bit of time left and i started practing some serves. Thats when i realized something. I have some potential in the serve department if i can harness it. I tried some spin serves and was able to get some serious spin, though inconsistently by altering ball toss. As you play higher up, it is very important to not to have any visual cues , especially on serve. So i am definitely inclined to hiring a pro for a session. The importance of serve cannot be stressed enough at any level of play and it is particularly important at recreational levels and even more important for someone like me who cant generate much offense from backhand wing.
I felt good about my performance as i can see my game coming back. I am not sure if this is a good enough result to move me into 7 Pm slot but i am positive i will be probably very close to the top of 0830 Ladder. Depending on how the other results go , i may play my friend next week at 0830.
Its Cold!
Due to the right wrist injury worry, I was hoping that I could rest the wrist and focus on cardio for the past 4 days. Instead I spent time resting in my bed. Our whole family came down with cold and I was particularly miserable. Saturday night was worse. Even my Blood pressure went up a bit and I was genuinely worried. After some serious dose of Dayquil and Nyquil (my favorite medicines apart from Tylenol, Mortin) , I felt a little better. I almost called in sick to work but Dayquil helped me a bit there.
So my preparations for tonight Tennis are less than optimal. I find myself in the same situation as before (Nov 5 tennis) where I qualified for top bracket of 0830 ladder and played there sick and reported a dismal score of 5 games out of 21. Will there be an Encore performance? I hope not. I decided not to call in a sub. I will play it on my own terms and take whatever result I get.
Its hard enough to play the “Slice meisters” and a bunch of other “better” players. Now I have to play them with Cold and less than perfect wrist. But I decided not to change any of my game plans or etc. Just go there and try to enjoy. Even if I do badly I don’t have to worry because my results against bottom half have shown that I am only 1 session away from knocking the top bracket and playing these guys.
I watched USA win the Davis Cup against Russia. Except for the James Blake – Mikhael Youzhny match, rest of the results are fairly predictable. USA played very well to deserve the 32 Davis Cup. Andy Roddick has been a warrior for a long time and its time he got one. He is often looked over when compared to the likes of Roger federer and Rafael Nadal but Roddick always played in Davis Cup, representing his country even through his injuries.
One observation on Tennis Doubles. It sucks. Especially when I watched the Davis cup doubles between Mike Bryan/bob Bryan Vs Igor Andreev/Davydenko. There are no rallies. All the players do is stand at the net and wait to whip the volley. No wonder they don’t get tired. Passing shots are like discovering snow flakes in July. If one has a big serve, there is no telling the easier time your doubles partner is going to have. How about a Ivo Karlovic/ John Isner doubles team. I doubt if we see even a single rally.
After today, I will be left with two more Tennis sessions (10, 17) and 3 badminton Sessions (5,12,19) before I go on vacation. I am assuming that Dec 24 Tennis session will not happen as it is Christmas Eve. That is one of the reasons why I am playing today as it will be a long break before I play again (Jan 28 tennis or more realistically Jan 30 Badminton).
So my preparations for tonight Tennis are less than optimal. I find myself in the same situation as before (Nov 5 tennis) where I qualified for top bracket of 0830 ladder and played there sick and reported a dismal score of 5 games out of 21. Will there be an Encore performance? I hope not. I decided not to call in a sub. I will play it on my own terms and take whatever result I get.
Its hard enough to play the “Slice meisters” and a bunch of other “better” players. Now I have to play them with Cold and less than perfect wrist. But I decided not to change any of my game plans or etc. Just go there and try to enjoy. Even if I do badly I don’t have to worry because my results against bottom half have shown that I am only 1 session away from knocking the top bracket and playing these guys.
I watched USA win the Davis Cup against Russia. Except for the James Blake – Mikhael Youzhny match, rest of the results are fairly predictable. USA played very well to deserve the 32 Davis Cup. Andy Roddick has been a warrior for a long time and its time he got one. He is often looked over when compared to the likes of Roger federer and Rafael Nadal but Roddick always played in Davis Cup, representing his country even through his injuries.
One observation on Tennis Doubles. It sucks. Especially when I watched the Davis cup doubles between Mike Bryan/bob Bryan Vs Igor Andreev/Davydenko. There are no rallies. All the players do is stand at the net and wait to whip the volley. No wonder they don’t get tired. Passing shots are like discovering snow flakes in July. If one has a big serve, there is no telling the easier time your doubles partner is going to have. How about a Ivo Karlovic/ John Isner doubles team. I doubt if we see even a single rally.
After today, I will be left with two more Tennis sessions (10, 17) and 3 badminton Sessions (5,12,19) before I go on vacation. I am assuming that Dec 24 Tennis session will not happen as it is Christmas Eve. That is one of the reasons why I am playing today as it will be a long break before I play again (Jan 28 tennis or more realistically Jan 30 Badminton).
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Injury Worry (Badminton 11/28)
I woke up on Tuesday morning with severe wrist pain. I didn’t have full ROM(Range of Motion) on my right wrist and it looked very unlikely that I can play any sort of game for a few days. I don’t like to miss playing sports due to injuries and can’t recollect any instance where I missed a genuine playing opportunity. I am quite familiar with such type of injuries and started working on Icy-Hot (topical analgesics) and Motrin. Towards Wednesday evening I felt better and went to badminton.
We were a little late but started playing right away with no warm up. First game was a tight affair and from then on I won all my matches handily. There were some big match up issues in some matches but I am playing consistently and decently so no problems. It helps to know that I can turn the match into a physical contest and would come through because I can outlast most of the players in that department. I barely broke a sweat when we returned home at 0930.
The wrist though better still is painful. I got 4 days to get ready for Monday Tennis. The results from last week are out and I moved up into the top bracket of the 08:30 league (If I do better at 0830 league I can move into 0700 Pm bracket). I will be playing a known opponent who is a slice master and gave me some trouble last time I played him. I haven’t played against the other 2 players and I don’t yet have a scouting report.
Ideally I would like to play one more round at the bottom bracket to groove in on my shots before taking on bigger guys. For whatever reason I have to admit that I am feeling a little nervous stepping onto tennis court to play the matches and that’s impacting my game. Unfortunately the only answer is to keep playing a lot of them to calm the nerves.
The good part is last week I didn’t really play my A game but I won my matches fairly comfortably. So if I can play my A game, there is no reason why I can’t beat the “Slice masters” and others. Btw my friend has moved up into the 0700 PM ladder and it will be a while before we meet in the league. As I analyze my tennis sessions, I basically has one bad session. In total I played 4 times so far and I won more than a dozen games in 3 of them.
For the next 4 days, I will be working mostly on cardio and legs. I won’t be able to do weights until my right wrist heals. I am not very sure if I can play any tennis or do any tennis specific drills before Monday.
There is one other positive. In the quest to play better tennis, I worked on my fitness a lot. My weight reduced by 9 pounds and the feel good factor returned. That in itself is something I can look back with a smile.
We were a little late but started playing right away with no warm up. First game was a tight affair and from then on I won all my matches handily. There were some big match up issues in some matches but I am playing consistently and decently so no problems. It helps to know that I can turn the match into a physical contest and would come through because I can outlast most of the players in that department. I barely broke a sweat when we returned home at 0930.
The wrist though better still is painful. I got 4 days to get ready for Monday Tennis. The results from last week are out and I moved up into the top bracket of the 08:30 league (If I do better at 0830 league I can move into 0700 Pm bracket). I will be playing a known opponent who is a slice master and gave me some trouble last time I played him. I haven’t played against the other 2 players and I don’t yet have a scouting report.
Ideally I would like to play one more round at the bottom bracket to groove in on my shots before taking on bigger guys. For whatever reason I have to admit that I am feeling a little nervous stepping onto tennis court to play the matches and that’s impacting my game. Unfortunately the only answer is to keep playing a lot of them to calm the nerves.
The good part is last week I didn’t really play my A game but I won my matches fairly comfortably. So if I can play my A game, there is no reason why I can’t beat the “Slice masters” and others. Btw my friend has moved up into the 0700 PM ladder and it will be a while before we meet in the league. As I analyze my tennis sessions, I basically has one bad session. In total I played 4 times so far and I won more than a dozen games in 3 of them.
For the next 4 days, I will be working mostly on cardio and legs. I won’t be able to do weights until my right wrist heals. I am not very sure if I can play any tennis or do any tennis specific drills before Monday.
There is one other positive. In the quest to play better tennis, I worked on my fitness a lot. My weight reduced by 9 pounds and the feel good factor returned. That in itself is something I can look back with a smile.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Better Performance! (Tennis 11/26)
I ended the night with 4-3,5-2,4-3 (13 points for me). Given my recent slump this is a very encouraging performance.
I ran the elliptical for 10 minutes before I headed for the club. This warmed me up a bit. As I walked in I had an opportunity to warm up with my friend before the matches began.
My opponent #1 was a sub and a very decent player. He has good strokes with great depth and topspin. Decent volleyer and extremely good but erratic serve. I won the toss but chose to receive. He quickly raced into 2-0 lead though I had break points on his serve and game points on my serve. There are lots of long rallies and I liked that though score wasn’t in my favor. That’s when I made an adjustment. Instead of baseline bashing and letting opponents use my pace, I altered the pace of my shots and waited for the right one to rip. I won 4 of the next 5 games. I had break points on that one game I lost but couldn’t convert.
Opponent #2 (faiz?) is a very tricky player. When I started the match, I expected that I would win the match 7-0. However during the match I realized that there are certain aspects of his game that are good. He has a mediocre serve but once in a while he gets it in. When it does, it keeps so low and wide and becomes very hard to return. Surprisingly he has a good backhand down the line shot. I didn’t get a read on this shot until later stages of the match. He won and chose to serve and won the first game. I had break points but same story—couldn’t convert. My serve is too hot for him and I had no trouble whatsoever. Final score is 5-2.
Opponent #3 (Bruce) is someone I hadn’t played before but had some scouting report. I lost the toss and he started the match. He can blow hot and cold during the same point. I quickly figured his weakness (his backhand) and gave him a lot of them. He occasionally lost track of score and we ended up replaying some points. There were some shots that were clearly long but close enough. His expressions made me feel as if I am ripping him off. He is a nice guy though and then on I gave him more room on line calls. The final score shows 4-3 but except for 1 game on his serve, I had break points on other two games.
I wish I could convert a few of those break points but overall the results are encouraging. I could have upped my score by few more if i converted any of those break points in the 4 games. Clearly removing the “Dampener” did make a difference to game. I am rediscovering my game and I am back to my winning ways and that’s more important. This new format is not to my advantage as I generally start slow before picking up steam and this format doesn’t allow for such lapses. Btw Fitness issues are history though I picked up a slight wrist pain.
I hope I stay on the bottom ladder for one more week so that I can lock in on my game. It will also help boost my confidence which is important in facing top of the ladder. I have 3 more sessions before I go on my big vacation and hopefully I can crack into the top bracket again before i take the big break.
I ran the elliptical for 10 minutes before I headed for the club. This warmed me up a bit. As I walked in I had an opportunity to warm up with my friend before the matches began.
My opponent #1 was a sub and a very decent player. He has good strokes with great depth and topspin. Decent volleyer and extremely good but erratic serve. I won the toss but chose to receive. He quickly raced into 2-0 lead though I had break points on his serve and game points on my serve. There are lots of long rallies and I liked that though score wasn’t in my favor. That’s when I made an adjustment. Instead of baseline bashing and letting opponents use my pace, I altered the pace of my shots and waited for the right one to rip. I won 4 of the next 5 games. I had break points on that one game I lost but couldn’t convert.
Opponent #2 (faiz?) is a very tricky player. When I started the match, I expected that I would win the match 7-0. However during the match I realized that there are certain aspects of his game that are good. He has a mediocre serve but once in a while he gets it in. When it does, it keeps so low and wide and becomes very hard to return. Surprisingly he has a good backhand down the line shot. I didn’t get a read on this shot until later stages of the match. He won and chose to serve and won the first game. I had break points but same story—couldn’t convert. My serve is too hot for him and I had no trouble whatsoever. Final score is 5-2.
Opponent #3 (Bruce) is someone I hadn’t played before but had some scouting report. I lost the toss and he started the match. He can blow hot and cold during the same point. I quickly figured his weakness (his backhand) and gave him a lot of them. He occasionally lost track of score and we ended up replaying some points. There were some shots that were clearly long but close enough. His expressions made me feel as if I am ripping him off. He is a nice guy though and then on I gave him more room on line calls. The final score shows 4-3 but except for 1 game on his serve, I had break points on other two games.
I wish I could convert a few of those break points but overall the results are encouraging. I could have upped my score by few more if i converted any of those break points in the 4 games. Clearly removing the “Dampener” did make a difference to game. I am rediscovering my game and I am back to my winning ways and that’s more important. This new format is not to my advantage as I generally start slow before picking up steam and this format doesn’t allow for such lapses. Btw Fitness issues are history though I picked up a slight wrist pain.
I hope I stay on the bottom ladder for one more week so that I can lock in on my game. It will also help boost my confidence which is important in facing top of the ladder. I have 3 more sessions before I go on my big vacation and hopefully I can crack into the top bracket again before i take the big break.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Holiday Week (Badminton 11/21, Tennis 11/23)
Last week is simply the best in so many aspects. I took off 2 days to help my wife with her pharmacy test and then there is this Big Thanks giving weekend. I played Badminton on Wednesday followed by some Thanks giving shopping and then some great Tennis practice on Friday. Oh yes, I didn’t miss any work outs.
Badminton was again a Blast. The crowd was sparse expectedly and so most courts are free which means ……More matches! I started at 1900 hrs sharp and kept playing until 21:40 non stop. The only reason I couldn’t continue till 2200 was because we had no one to play with. I didn’t play in a Zone or something like that but just played consistent badminton. There were some real tight matches but we won with plenty of room. I even tried some fine drop shots and had some success. I have more talent than I suspected.
As I fully expected, I didn’t tire out. I am now a fit athlete.
On Friday, I had a practice session with a fellow pro. We hired a ball machine for the first hour and started hitting against it. I tried to use the opportunity to help my Backhand and also do a video of my shots for review. The video was enlightening and I will come to that later. The ball machine is simply Awesome. I felt that if I had about 5-10 sessions with it, my game will improve by leaps and bounds and possibly a grade upgrade.
We then played a practice match. My friend ran away with the first set 6-0. I was very dejected because I expected a better performance from me. My friend played very good and deserved to win but I should have won at least a game or two. I am not that bad a player. I felt like the Tennis slump saga is still ongoing and I am running out of options for a relief. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed time on court and put up a good show. Towards the later part of the set I am thinking to myself, what has changed in the past 1-2 months that is impacting my game.
Fitness is no longer an issue. Grip à No. Shoes à No. Too good opponents à yes some of them are but not all of them. As I walked into the change over after first set, I looked at my racquet and saw the dampener. I removed it. The very first shot I hit in the second set made me feel a lot better. It’s the familiar sound of the racquet and even more importantly the familiar Topspin and control. I quickly raced into a 3-0 lead with each shot making me believe that I am getting my game back. The 4 game was a very tight affair and a pivotal one for me personally. There was lot of 40-40’s in this game until I finally edged it. We stopped right after as we ran out of time with score at 4-0. It’s a matter of speculation of what could have happened had we continued but I am feeling better and better at that time. Can I blame this all on the dampener?. I wouldn’t go that far but it’s hard to explain the coincidence.
Win or lose, I am thankful to my friend and the fact that I had the opportunity to play.
A quick word on the Video analysis. My forehands are looking laborious. There isn’t a smooth and easy flow. It looks as if I am in great pain to hit a shot. Clearly I need to work on my action. I will dedicate another post for the video analysis sometime during the week.
To summarize for tonight’s Tennis session, I am playing as Unseeded at the bottom of the ladder. I am not putting any pressure on myself. My first goal would be to go and try to enjoy the game. There is only one familiar opponent I played before. I have some scouting report on one of the other opponents. So today I am not paying any attention to scores. I know I can’t drop any lower than I already am on the ladder. I can only move up!
Badminton was again a Blast. The crowd was sparse expectedly and so most courts are free which means ……More matches! I started at 1900 hrs sharp and kept playing until 21:40 non stop. The only reason I couldn’t continue till 2200 was because we had no one to play with. I didn’t play in a Zone or something like that but just played consistent badminton. There were some real tight matches but we won with plenty of room. I even tried some fine drop shots and had some success. I have more talent than I suspected.
As I fully expected, I didn’t tire out. I am now a fit athlete.
On Friday, I had a practice session with a fellow pro. We hired a ball machine for the first hour and started hitting against it. I tried to use the opportunity to help my Backhand and also do a video of my shots for review. The video was enlightening and I will come to that later. The ball machine is simply Awesome. I felt that if I had about 5-10 sessions with it, my game will improve by leaps and bounds and possibly a grade upgrade.
We then played a practice match. My friend ran away with the first set 6-0. I was very dejected because I expected a better performance from me. My friend played very good and deserved to win but I should have won at least a game or two. I am not that bad a player. I felt like the Tennis slump saga is still ongoing and I am running out of options for a relief. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed time on court and put up a good show. Towards the later part of the set I am thinking to myself, what has changed in the past 1-2 months that is impacting my game.
Fitness is no longer an issue. Grip à No. Shoes à No. Too good opponents à yes some of them are but not all of them. As I walked into the change over after first set, I looked at my racquet and saw the dampener. I removed it. The very first shot I hit in the second set made me feel a lot better. It’s the familiar sound of the racquet and even more importantly the familiar Topspin and control. I quickly raced into a 3-0 lead with each shot making me believe that I am getting my game back. The 4 game was a very tight affair and a pivotal one for me personally. There was lot of 40-40’s in this game until I finally edged it. We stopped right after as we ran out of time with score at 4-0. It’s a matter of speculation of what could have happened had we continued but I am feeling better and better at that time. Can I blame this all on the dampener?. I wouldn’t go that far but it’s hard to explain the coincidence.
Win or lose, I am thankful to my friend and the fact that I had the opportunity to play.
A quick word on the Video analysis. My forehands are looking laborious. There isn’t a smooth and easy flow. It looks as if I am in great pain to hit a shot. Clearly I need to work on my action. I will dedicate another post for the video analysis sometime during the week.
To summarize for tonight’s Tennis session, I am playing as Unseeded at the bottom of the ladder. I am not putting any pressure on myself. My first goal would be to go and try to enjoy the game. There is only one familiar opponent I played before. I have some scouting report on one of the other opponents. So today I am not paying any attention to scores. I know I can’t drop any lower than I already am on the ladder. I can only move up!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Badminton 11/13 – Average Fare
This badminton session was an average fare. I won most of my matches but I wasn’t playing well. I missed routine smashes and often ended up being a step slow. However nothing to do with Fitness (may be it is but in a different way). It took me a long time to get warmed up. This is one of the disadvantages if you train hard but try playing matches with out good warm up. I had a late meeting at work and reached home late. Since we car pool to Badminton I had less than 10 minutes to get ready (that includes spending time with my cute little baby). We reached there 15 minutes late. Typically we hit for 5 minutes before we start the first match. However most people already warmed up and we (me and my friends) had less than 2-3 minutes of warm up.
I am paying a lot of attention to my fitness and I usually see that it takes 10-12 minutes (and some times almost 15 minutes) of Elliptical exercise before body reaches steady state. I am not exactly sure how it translates on Badminton/Tennis but I would guess it would be around the same.
I am not playing the Monday night Tennis ladder this week as indicated before. I will be playing starting next week (26 Nov). It will be 3 weeks of No Tennis action. My agent is talking to a fellow Pro’s agent and trying to arrange a practice hit session on Friday ( he he he) . I would love to have this session to check myself and make any last minute adjustments if needed before I retrace my steps towards upper berths of the ladder on Monday.
In the coming weeks I want to focus on some finite aspects of the game. For now I will leave out Volleying as a “point” time decision. I will most focus on my movement, Inside out forehand and reliable backhand. Except for the backhand part, rest of them is fairly easy to me and that’s why I hope to enjoy my tennis sessions.
I am paying a lot of attention to my fitness and I usually see that it takes 10-12 minutes (and some times almost 15 minutes) of Elliptical exercise before body reaches steady state. I am not exactly sure how it translates on Badminton/Tennis but I would guess it would be around the same.
I am not playing the Monday night Tennis ladder this week as indicated before. I will be playing starting next week (26 Nov). It will be 3 weeks of No Tennis action. My agent is talking to a fellow Pro’s agent and trying to arrange a practice hit session on Friday ( he he he) . I would love to have this session to check myself and make any last minute adjustments if needed before I retrace my steps towards upper berths of the ladder on Monday.
In the coming weeks I want to focus on some finite aspects of the game. For now I will leave out Volleying as a “point” time decision. I will most focus on my movement, Inside out forehand and reliable backhand. Except for the backhand part, rest of them is fairly easy to me and that’s why I hope to enjoy my tennis sessions.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
How to Enjoy the Game!
One of the keys to a good performance in any sport is to actually enjoy the game. If you like what you are doing, you are more likely to put your best effort and win matches.
So how does one enjoy the game? It depends on what one is looking for in the game. Lets take tennis. What do I like to do in Tennis? If given a choice I would like to serve really well with a barrage of aces, Hit some breath taking forehands and fire up some backhand winners.
With me so far? Good. Most of us might play like that on a Blue moon day. Unless your name happens to be Roger Federer, you are unlikely to do that on a regular basis against competitive opponents.
An extremely important aspect of enjoying the game is to review the requirements of the style you want to play. Eg:- In Basket ball, I would like to play an up tempo game like Kobe Bryant or Dirk Nowitzki. In order to play their style what do I need? Loads of stamina (fitness), explosive, flexible body and extremely good hand eye coordination besides the Game skills.
Next step is to identify gaps and take adequate steps in that direction to acquire those requirements. Start hitting the Gym and work with a fitness consultant to develop that kind of fitness levels. Do some pilates to get that flexibility. Play a lot of video games and other such exercises that help develop great hand eye coordination. Now you have put yourselves in a position to actually play and learn the game in the way you want to play.
I can cite my own example of this. A few years ago when I started playing badminton, I realized that I don’t have the same skill as some of the other gifted players in my club do. I also realized that I am really not the finesse player kind of person. I love to over power opponents. I believed that I can outlast most of these players and run around on my weak spots to get an offensive shot. This has to be done every game for 3 hours. I quickly realized that this style needs lot of stamina and strategy. I worked on my fitness and eventually got to a point where it is no longer an issue. Then I started working on some strength exercises to beef up my offensive shots. Finally I started playing the style I wanted to play regardless of the result. First few sessions weren’t too encouraging but I was able to play the same style of play for whole 3 hours with out tiring myself out. Eventually it started to work (it has to and it will) and results were there to be seen. It improved so much to the point that people no longer hit shots above my shoulder level as they know that I wouldn’t hesitate to fire up an offensive smash and most times make the shot. They chose to keep it to my backhand or drop shot me at the net.
For my Tennis game that I can enjoy, I need fitness and quickness. The mechanics of shot making can be learnt over time and has to be mastered with practice. However in order to put me in that position to learn and master the game, I first need Fitness and then quickness.
Thanks to my hard work over the past 4 weeks. Fitness is no longer an issue. Next up is quickness. There is no magic here, I got to get lighter (drop weight) and work out some drills that can improve it. Then I can start enjoying the game even more because I am actually trying to play the way I want to play (even if it is practice).
So how does one enjoy the game? It depends on what one is looking for in the game. Lets take tennis. What do I like to do in Tennis? If given a choice I would like to serve really well with a barrage of aces, Hit some breath taking forehands and fire up some backhand winners.
With me so far? Good. Most of us might play like that on a Blue moon day. Unless your name happens to be Roger Federer, you are unlikely to do that on a regular basis against competitive opponents.
An extremely important aspect of enjoying the game is to review the requirements of the style you want to play. Eg:- In Basket ball, I would like to play an up tempo game like Kobe Bryant or Dirk Nowitzki. In order to play their style what do I need? Loads of stamina (fitness), explosive, flexible body and extremely good hand eye coordination besides the Game skills.
Next step is to identify gaps and take adequate steps in that direction to acquire those requirements. Start hitting the Gym and work with a fitness consultant to develop that kind of fitness levels. Do some pilates to get that flexibility. Play a lot of video games and other such exercises that help develop great hand eye coordination. Now you have put yourselves in a position to actually play and learn the game in the way you want to play.
I can cite my own example of this. A few years ago when I started playing badminton, I realized that I don’t have the same skill as some of the other gifted players in my club do. I also realized that I am really not the finesse player kind of person. I love to over power opponents. I believed that I can outlast most of these players and run around on my weak spots to get an offensive shot. This has to be done every game for 3 hours. I quickly realized that this style needs lot of stamina and strategy. I worked on my fitness and eventually got to a point where it is no longer an issue. Then I started working on some strength exercises to beef up my offensive shots. Finally I started playing the style I wanted to play regardless of the result. First few sessions weren’t too encouraging but I was able to play the same style of play for whole 3 hours with out tiring myself out. Eventually it started to work (it has to and it will) and results were there to be seen. It improved so much to the point that people no longer hit shots above my shoulder level as they know that I wouldn’t hesitate to fire up an offensive smash and most times make the shot. They chose to keep it to my backhand or drop shot me at the net.
For my Tennis game that I can enjoy, I need fitness and quickness. The mechanics of shot making can be learnt over time and has to be mastered with practice. However in order to put me in that position to learn and master the game, I first need Fitness and then quickness.
Thanks to my hard work over the past 4 weeks. Fitness is no longer an issue. Next up is quickness. There is no magic here, I got to get lighter (drop weight) and work out some drills that can improve it. Then I can start enjoying the game even more because I am actually trying to play the way I want to play (even if it is practice).
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Badminton Blast- 07 Nov 07
The hard work in getting fit seems to be paying off. I was a little skeptical about this week badminton session after dismal performance on the Tennis court, last Monday.
The first match was a tight affair as we were still warming up though we pulled it off. Second match was much better. Third match is when things started turning around. This is against superior opponents. Down 0-8, I decided to go fully offensive. After some tight rallies we won our first point and from then on started getting better and better with a final score of 21-16. Fully warmed up after a very testy match, rest of the evening went very well. Though I wasn’t playing my best Badminton consistently, I am not too far off from it either.
At no point I felt tired. I could have gone on with that level of play for another 1-2 hours with out really tiring out. As I looked around at some of the other players I realized that the fitness regime I subscribed to is now paying off.
Generally my muscles get very sore during my return trip to home after badminton session. Not yesterday.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the session and I fully believe that it’s only a matter of time before I can play even better badminton (this is only the 3 session of the season) and some top class tennis.
The first match was a tight affair as we were still warming up though we pulled it off. Second match was much better. Third match is when things started turning around. This is against superior opponents. Down 0-8, I decided to go fully offensive. After some tight rallies we won our first point and from then on started getting better and better with a final score of 21-16. Fully warmed up after a very testy match, rest of the evening went very well. Though I wasn’t playing my best Badminton consistently, I am not too far off from it either.
At no point I felt tired. I could have gone on with that level of play for another 1-2 hours with out really tiring out. As I looked around at some of the other players I realized that the fitness regime I subscribed to is now paying off.
Generally my muscles get very sore during my return trip to home after badminton session. Not yesterday.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the session and I fully believe that it’s only a matter of time before I can play even better badminton (this is only the 3 session of the season) and some top class tennis.
Retrospect
A day after getting schooled on the tennis court, I am trying to do a post mortem and see if there are things I can use to my advantage.
It is very easy to think that I can dominate with a better backhand. The problem is getting a dominant backhand. I have tried it unsuccessfully over the years with 2Handed backhand, one handed backhand and event play left handed. This is a more fundamental/Architectural problem. I have the same weakness is just about any sport I play (Cricket, Badminton, racquet ball). I frankly don’t believe I can get a better backhand by playing Matches. I need to spend solid hours with a ball machine/ coach. In the coming weeks I will work out a plan. I am too competitive to let go of such an opportunity.
Use of Forehand: In the past I won matches by playing a calculated game. I would wait (push) until the ball is there to be hit. I would setup the point by hitting some heavy topspin ground strokes. However in the ladder, I am trying to go for the shots too early with out working the point. I have to go back to the basics of point construction.
Serve: Undoubtedly best part of my game. However I need to add a Side spin element to the serve to make it fully dominant. Though I hit a decent pace, most players often block the ball back and try to play through the point. I try to mitigate this by varying my serve placement. A side spin serve would ensure that a block to the serve won’t be enough as the ball would just fly out or find into the net due to the spin. However this needs a lot of court time and probably will need to wait until spring.
Quickness: Past two years I was very quick on my feet and used to be in position most of the times. Anticipation is good as well. I don’t think I am that quick this year (Age?fitness??). I am working real hard on fitness. I may need to incorporate jogging/running into the fitness regime as Elliptical alone may not get me to be quick on my feet.
Enjoy the game: I always used to enjoy the time I spend on a tennis court. Since the tennis ladder, I don’t get that feeling. If anything I feel like I have to really win the games. Realistically it doesn’t matter even if I top the league (except for some confidence boosting). The objective of joining the ladder is to experience playing against various players and improve the game. I need to get back to enjoy the time on court. Once you get to that stage, things will automatically work.
It is very easy to think that I can dominate with a better backhand. The problem is getting a dominant backhand. I have tried it unsuccessfully over the years with 2Handed backhand, one handed backhand and event play left handed. This is a more fundamental/Architectural problem. I have the same weakness is just about any sport I play (Cricket, Badminton, racquet ball). I frankly don’t believe I can get a better backhand by playing Matches. I need to spend solid hours with a ball machine/ coach. In the coming weeks I will work out a plan. I am too competitive to let go of such an opportunity.
Use of Forehand: In the past I won matches by playing a calculated game. I would wait (push) until the ball is there to be hit. I would setup the point by hitting some heavy topspin ground strokes. However in the ladder, I am trying to go for the shots too early with out working the point. I have to go back to the basics of point construction.
Serve: Undoubtedly best part of my game. However I need to add a Side spin element to the serve to make it fully dominant. Though I hit a decent pace, most players often block the ball back and try to play through the point. I try to mitigate this by varying my serve placement. A side spin serve would ensure that a block to the serve won’t be enough as the ball would just fly out or find into the net due to the spin. However this needs a lot of court time and probably will need to wait until spring.
Quickness: Past two years I was very quick on my feet and used to be in position most of the times. Anticipation is good as well. I don’t think I am that quick this year (Age?fitness??). I am working real hard on fitness. I may need to incorporate jogging/running into the fitness regime as Elliptical alone may not get me to be quick on my feet.
Enjoy the game: I always used to enjoy the time I spend on a tennis court. Since the tennis ladder, I don’t get that feeling. If anything I feel like I have to really win the games. Realistically it doesn’t matter even if I top the league (except for some confidence boosting). The objective of joining the ladder is to experience playing against various players and improve the game. I need to get back to enjoy the time on court. Once you get to that stage, things will automatically work.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Outplayed—Monday night ladder 05 Nov 2007
I will make this post real simple. I won a total of 5 games out of 21.
I played against players who are more consistent than me. Opponent #1 (frank) is slightly older guy and employs slice of both wings. I had trouble whenever he went to my backhand and he picked my weakness very early. Honestly I have more than enough game to beat this guy but I didn’t play right. I went for shots too early and I lost lot of points. Out of 7 games, 5 games went to deuce and I didn’t win any of them. I employed Volleys and won 50% of those points. My first serve percentage was way off (30%). In total I won 2 games against this guy.
Opponent #2 (Andy) is a better player than me. It’s as simple as that. He can play off both wings and he killed me with his volleys. I couldn’t lob over him as his approach shots are good and I was always out of position. I served good enough to win 1 game. 3 games went to Deuce but I didn’t win any of them.
Opponent #3 (Paul?) is better than me but I felt was beatable. He has a nasty spin on his serve whenever he got in and that troubled me a lot. He is again very consistent off both sides. I won 2 games against him both on my serve. There were like 4 Deuce games and I won only 1 (on my serve).
Disappointing performance? YES. I really didn’t have a clue of what exactly is happening. I played with out any purpose and chose wrong shots at the wrong time. I played catch up all night. I tried being aggressive to see if I can impose my game but that failed miserably. Towards the end I felt very bad about my game.
The good part is I didn’t “PUSH” yesterday. I played positive tennis. I could see that I have more firepower in my forehand than these players (supposedly on top bracket) and a decent serve (albeit not as Spinny as #2 and #3). I didn’t have any fitness issues. It’s a matter of putting it all together. Yes.. Backhand is a liability and I don’t think I can win big matches with out improving that.
(I had a cold attack yesterday and spent a miserable night. However I don’t think that has any bearing on the match)
I won’t be playing the next two weeks. My next session is on Nov 26. Given yesterday’s performance, I will be relegated to the Bottom cellar of the ladder. When I open on Nov 26, I will start with players at the bottom of the draw. Hopefully a good performance then can put me back on top bracket. I would like another crack at the top bracket opponents.
For now the focus will be on Badminton and fitness.
I played against players who are more consistent than me. Opponent #1 (frank) is slightly older guy and employs slice of both wings. I had trouble whenever he went to my backhand and he picked my weakness very early. Honestly I have more than enough game to beat this guy but I didn’t play right. I went for shots too early and I lost lot of points. Out of 7 games, 5 games went to deuce and I didn’t win any of them. I employed Volleys and won 50% of those points. My first serve percentage was way off (30%). In total I won 2 games against this guy.
Opponent #2 (Andy) is a better player than me. It’s as simple as that. He can play off both wings and he killed me with his volleys. I couldn’t lob over him as his approach shots are good and I was always out of position. I served good enough to win 1 game. 3 games went to Deuce but I didn’t win any of them.
Opponent #3 (Paul?) is better than me but I felt was beatable. He has a nasty spin on his serve whenever he got in and that troubled me a lot. He is again very consistent off both sides. I won 2 games against him both on my serve. There were like 4 Deuce games and I won only 1 (on my serve).
Disappointing performance? YES. I really didn’t have a clue of what exactly is happening. I played with out any purpose and chose wrong shots at the wrong time. I played catch up all night. I tried being aggressive to see if I can impose my game but that failed miserably. Towards the end I felt very bad about my game.
The good part is I didn’t “PUSH” yesterday. I played positive tennis. I could see that I have more firepower in my forehand than these players (supposedly on top bracket) and a decent serve (albeit not as Spinny as #2 and #3). I didn’t have any fitness issues. It’s a matter of putting it all together. Yes.. Backhand is a liability and I don’t think I can win big matches with out improving that.
(I had a cold attack yesterday and spent a miserable night. However I don’t think that has any bearing on the match)
I won’t be playing the next two weeks. My next session is on Nov 26. Given yesterday’s performance, I will be relegated to the Bottom cellar of the ladder. When I open on Nov 26, I will start with players at the bottom of the draw. Hopefully a good performance then can put me back on top bracket. I would like another crack at the top bracket opponents.
For now the focus will be on Badminton and fitness.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Preparation for 05 Nov Tennis
My preparations weren’t optimum for tonight’s match. I thought I had very good fitness sessions on Friday and Saturday. However I woke up on Sunday with severe pain in my both wrists. I think I overdid the weights. Left wrist is really painful and bothering me whenever I try to turn it. Muscles still feels stiff though nothing like what I had for last week’s badminton. I didn’t do any fitness work on Sunday (even Cardio) and tried to rest. For reasons unknown to me, I am feeling tired and sleepy though I hope it won’t last all day and should be good for tonight.
Regardless I will still go ahead with Tennis tonight as I won’t be able to play for next two weeks. My next tennis session after tonight will be on Nov 26.
Over the weekend, I spent sometime watching some Tennis videos. I also happened to watch the Paris Tennis masters series semifinals. I took some good pointers from watching David Nalbandian Vs Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal vs Marcos Baghdatis. My assessment after the semifinal was that David would come through in the final and he did. He is striking the ball extremely clean and working various angles and “now” has a potent Serve. He is just playing like “Roger Federer” .
I am keen on using 2HBH today and employ some Serve & Volley. Experts advise against using “untested”, “unproven” options during a match scenario. However Monday evening matches is all the tennis I will have until next spring and hence I decided to start testing these new tools (can’t really call them weapons until proven!). Part of this decision is I was engaged in an online discussion with a Tennis expert and he basically asked me “Do you want to win matches by improving or just win with out getting better until you get knocked out by a more seasoned player up the ladder”. My goal is to improve my skills, Win or lose, I feel good camping at the baseline and while serving. I don’t feel comfortable hitting backhands or volleying. The best way to get comfortable is to start playing that style. I will have bumps and may have to take a few hits but will get better. This is no different from my Serve and Forehand. I lost quite a few matches while developing them. Eventually it will pay off. The only downside is it may impact my results in the ladder. While I would like to dominate the ladder, the fact is that there are better skilled players and I have to extremely good with my current 1 dimensional game to win against them. I may “push” myself to get somewhere towards the top of the ladder but by retooling with a Backhand and volley, I will develop an All court game. Honestly I believe my only weakness in the game are backhand and volley. If I get better on them, I can dominate a lot of matches and ladder. Best part is I don’t have to worry about opponent’s style of play as I can then adapt to any style of play.
I also decided to work the Elliptical for 10 minutes or so before heading out for Tennis court. This should warm me up. I am quite certain that I have more than enough Gas to last the 1.5 hours.
Regardless I will still go ahead with Tennis tonight as I won’t be able to play for next two weeks. My next tennis session after tonight will be on Nov 26.
Over the weekend, I spent sometime watching some Tennis videos. I also happened to watch the Paris Tennis masters series semifinals. I took some good pointers from watching David Nalbandian Vs Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal vs Marcos Baghdatis. My assessment after the semifinal was that David would come through in the final and he did. He is striking the ball extremely clean and working various angles and “now” has a potent Serve. He is just playing like “Roger Federer” .
I am keen on using 2HBH today and employ some Serve & Volley. Experts advise against using “untested”, “unproven” options during a match scenario. However Monday evening matches is all the tennis I will have until next spring and hence I decided to start testing these new tools (can’t really call them weapons until proven!). Part of this decision is I was engaged in an online discussion with a Tennis expert and he basically asked me “Do you want to win matches by improving or just win with out getting better until you get knocked out by a more seasoned player up the ladder”. My goal is to improve my skills, Win or lose, I feel good camping at the baseline and while serving. I don’t feel comfortable hitting backhands or volleying. The best way to get comfortable is to start playing that style. I will have bumps and may have to take a few hits but will get better. This is no different from my Serve and Forehand. I lost quite a few matches while developing them. Eventually it will pay off. The only downside is it may impact my results in the ladder. While I would like to dominate the ladder, the fact is that there are better skilled players and I have to extremely good with my current 1 dimensional game to win against them. I may “push” myself to get somewhere towards the top of the ladder but by retooling with a Backhand and volley, I will develop an All court game. Honestly I believe my only weakness in the game are backhand and volley. If I get better on them, I can dominate a lot of matches and ladder. Best part is I don’t have to worry about opponent’s style of play as I can then adapt to any style of play.
I also decided to work the Elliptical for 10 minutes or so before heading out for Tennis court. This should warm me up. I am quite certain that I have more than enough Gas to last the 1.5 hours.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Update!
I was delayed for this week’s badminton due to Halloween celebrations with my daughter. I wish I could spend some more time with my daughter trick or treating but its cold and dark weather outside. As I went into the club, there were only a few people at the club. The first two matches went real close though we pulled out 22-20 (Badminton scores are first to 21 with a difference of 2 points). Didn’t really settle into a good rhythm. I lost track of rest of the matches. My winning percentage is around 75-80% in Badminton. Yesterday I guess it is probably around 65%. As I indicated earlier, this is pretty common during early part of season and early sessions of a new fitness program. By next week (worst case the week after), I will be good.
I will be playing Tennis next Monday after all. I was able to work out the schedule and looking forward to it. It appears that I carried over my last session results and I am placed in a different group of people. My friend tells me that this group is 1 level up in the ladder than the group I played before. If that’s true, then I am moving up. If not, no big deal.
The challenge now could be, I am playing against supposedly better players and I haven’t played any of them before. So how would I approach this situation? I got scouting information on one of the opponent but I am a different opponent and a different day. So who knows? My gut is that I should just go and play my game (this is what most of the Pro’s say they do). Use Serve to win some easy points and try dictating play. One problem with players in this ladder is that most of them slice the ball a lot. Slices cause the ball to stay low and then bite the court. It is very hard to get an offensive shot of a low slice. The good part is it is more difficult to slice from forehand and my strategy is probably match up my Forehand against theirs. If I play the way I am capable of, I can come out on top. If not, I will probably be relegated back to the old group.
I didn’t get a chance to work out Thursday. So in some ways it is like having a two days break (if I discount Wednesday’s badminton). I am eager to work out today and polish off a few more pounds/calories.
In Summary here is my build up to Monday
1) Work out Friday, Saturday evening and then do some light work on Sunday midday. This way I will get 1.5 days to recover before Monday match.
2) Drink plenty of fluids on Sunday and Monday.
3) Stay Aggressive and use the Kick serve more than first serve.
4) Do some Serve and Volley.
On last point. I am 20-22 so far. Still a loosing record.Not sure how i ended up in upper group of the ladder.
I will be playing Tennis next Monday after all. I was able to work out the schedule and looking forward to it. It appears that I carried over my last session results and I am placed in a different group of people. My friend tells me that this group is 1 level up in the ladder than the group I played before. If that’s true, then I am moving up. If not, no big deal.
The challenge now could be, I am playing against supposedly better players and I haven’t played any of them before. So how would I approach this situation? I got scouting information on one of the opponent but I am a different opponent and a different day. So who knows? My gut is that I should just go and play my game (this is what most of the Pro’s say they do). Use Serve to win some easy points and try dictating play. One problem with players in this ladder is that most of them slice the ball a lot. Slices cause the ball to stay low and then bite the court. It is very hard to get an offensive shot of a low slice. The good part is it is more difficult to slice from forehand and my strategy is probably match up my Forehand against theirs. If I play the way I am capable of, I can come out on top. If not, I will probably be relegated back to the old group.
I didn’t get a chance to work out Thursday. So in some ways it is like having a two days break (if I discount Wednesday’s badminton). I am eager to work out today and polish off a few more pounds/calories.
In Summary here is my build up to Monday
1) Work out Friday, Saturday evening and then do some light work on Sunday midday. This way I will get 1.5 days to recover before Monday match.
2) Drink plenty of fluids on Sunday and Monday.
3) Stay Aggressive and use the Kick serve more than first serve.
4) Do some Serve and Volley.
On last point. I am 20-22 so far. Still a loosing record.Not sure how i ended up in upper group of the ladder.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Interested in Triathlon?.
Here is an interesting blog . http://mangolds.blogspot.com/
Being Triathlete and competing in Ironman contests is very tough. Imagine swimming 2.4 miles, biking 110 miles and then run for 26 miles. I would be extremely content if i did any of the three , forget doing all of them together.
So much for my fitness. It is no comparison with what some of these Athletes do.
Here is an interesting blog . http://mangolds.blogspot.com/
Being Triathlete and competing in Ironman contests is very tough. Imagine swimming 2.4 miles, biking 110 miles and then run for 26 miles. I would be extremely content if i did any of the three , forget doing all of them together.
So much for my fitness. It is no comparison with what some of these Athletes do.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
In Pursuit of Fitness
Wednesday’s are my favorite days during winter. It’s Badminton time and I really enjoy the sessions and I can take a break from Gym. They are even more enjoyable if One is Fit. Unlike singles, badminton doubles is not very tiring. Badminton game is all about wrist and finesse. I play neither. I play what I call as Power brand badminton very similar to that of tennis played by one of my favorite tennis player Rafael P Nadal. I chase down shots as if I am on a tennis court and overpower opponents with powerful smashes. I derive great satisfaction when my opponents fully aware that a smash is coming and can’t do anything about it. Some good players may return a smash or two but my policy has always been, when on offense, don’t back off!
In order to play with that power and do the running like I do (In Badminton, one doesn’t need to run if they have sound foot work, which I don’t. The entire court can be covered in two steps from the centre) for 2+ hours, one needs to be really fit.
I have been very regular at my home Gym and haven’t missed a single evening in the past two weeks (except Wednesdays). I can see remarkable improvement in my Cardio fitness, some drop in body weight, general overall improvement in muscle strength. I feel very good about my fitness and received further boost by the remarks of my wife indicating that I have become slim.
A good test would be tonight and see how “game/Match” fit I am. In the past when I embarked on weights and muscle building, I had tough time playing games like Tennis /Badminton for a few weeks. The muscles are stiffer and that impacted the shots. I took extra precautions this time and did lot of stretching.
There is a chance that I may not play Tennis next week either due to a scheduling conflict. I am trying to resolve it and will know by tomorrow. I really want to play and access my game and fitness levels to further tune my exercise regime. I am very confident that with where I am right now, I have more than enough juice to outlast anyone for 1.5 +hours.
In order to play with that power and do the running like I do (In Badminton, one doesn’t need to run if they have sound foot work, which I don’t. The entire court can be covered in two steps from the centre) for 2+ hours, one needs to be really fit.
I have been very regular at my home Gym and haven’t missed a single evening in the past two weeks (except Wednesdays). I can see remarkable improvement in my Cardio fitness, some drop in body weight, general overall improvement in muscle strength. I feel very good about my fitness and received further boost by the remarks of my wife indicating that I have become slim.
A good test would be tonight and see how “game/Match” fit I am. In the past when I embarked on weights and muscle building, I had tough time playing games like Tennis /Badminton for a few weeks. The muscles are stiffer and that impacted the shots. I took extra precautions this time and did lot of stretching.
There is a chance that I may not play Tennis next week either due to a scheduling conflict. I am trying to resolve it and will know by tomorrow. I really want to play and access my game and fitness levels to further tune my exercise regime. I am very confident that with where I am right now, I have more than enough juice to outlast anyone for 1.5 +hours.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Badminton- will it help or hurt my Tennis
Badminton- will it help or hurt my Tennis
I started the 2007-2008 Badminton Season this Wednesday (Oct 23). I was looking forward for this event as it is always fun and very rewarding. First you get to play a variety of players with varying skills from 7 pm - 10 pm. Second it is real cheap. I get a full season (Every wednesday from Oct - May) for what I pay for two tennis sessions. Above all I really like Badminton.
For some reason, I don’t use a lot of wrist action on any of my games. Badminton is all about wrist and wrist snap. Most of the players in my club can hit punishing smashes and delicate drops and clears with a flick of the wrist. I am probably the only player who generates the power from Shoulder. Since the court is a lot smaller than Tennis, I cover it pretty easily. Most of our games are doubles so it adds another interesting fact.
One thing I often struggle is, I am a very good doubles player in Badminton and a weak singles player. I am completely opposite in Tennis. I am a better singles Tennis player and worst doubles player. I compliment my partner(s) well in badminton and seldom in tennis. May be Practice?
The good part of my badminton game is Smashes. I hit with lot of shoulder power (unlike others who use wrist snaps) and they are penetrating. The weak part is (no prizes for guessing) Backhand. I can correlate some of it to my tennis game that I have a good serve action and weak backhand. Where I need to work is to translate my badminton Smashes into tennis overheads. In badminton, my smashes are smooth and my foot work is flowing. In tennis I don’t quite hit the overheads in same way. I have a good serve in Tennis and my badminton serve is considered to be weak.
All in all, I feel Badminton will help Tennis game. The aspects of improved hand-eye coordination, foot work are common and obvious. Badminton needs more reflexes and that always helps in tennis. Badminton Smashes should translate to tennis Overheads and on court game tactics are similar. Badminton forces you to play at net and that should help Tennis. Badminton net is higher. By hitting higher you can improve the margin on the shots in tennis.
Here is something I tried. I tried to hit Badminton forehands with Tennis like western grip. it works!. The Badminton Bird goes high up in the air and then starts spinning down and it confuses the hell out of opponents and messes up their shots.
I am working on my fitness all along and I am making steady progress. I can feel a big improvement already and I am hopeful it will translate into results.
I decided to not play Tennis next week due to some other commitments. My next Tennis session will be on Nov 05. I will try my level best to put up a good show.
I started the 2007-2008 Badminton Season this Wednesday (Oct 23). I was looking forward for this event as it is always fun and very rewarding. First you get to play a variety of players with varying skills from 7 pm - 10 pm. Second it is real cheap. I get a full season (Every wednesday from Oct - May) for what I pay for two tennis sessions. Above all I really like Badminton.
For some reason, I don’t use a lot of wrist action on any of my games. Badminton is all about wrist and wrist snap. Most of the players in my club can hit punishing smashes and delicate drops and clears with a flick of the wrist. I am probably the only player who generates the power from Shoulder. Since the court is a lot smaller than Tennis, I cover it pretty easily. Most of our games are doubles so it adds another interesting fact.
One thing I often struggle is, I am a very good doubles player in Badminton and a weak singles player. I am completely opposite in Tennis. I am a better singles Tennis player and worst doubles player. I compliment my partner(s) well in badminton and seldom in tennis. May be Practice?
The good part of my badminton game is Smashes. I hit with lot of shoulder power (unlike others who use wrist snaps) and they are penetrating. The weak part is (no prizes for guessing) Backhand. I can correlate some of it to my tennis game that I have a good serve action and weak backhand. Where I need to work is to translate my badminton Smashes into tennis overheads. In badminton, my smashes are smooth and my foot work is flowing. In tennis I don’t quite hit the overheads in same way. I have a good serve in Tennis and my badminton serve is considered to be weak.
All in all, I feel Badminton will help Tennis game. The aspects of improved hand-eye coordination, foot work are common and obvious. Badminton needs more reflexes and that always helps in tennis. Badminton Smashes should translate to tennis Overheads and on court game tactics are similar. Badminton forces you to play at net and that should help Tennis. Badminton net is higher. By hitting higher you can improve the margin on the shots in tennis.
Here is something I tried. I tried to hit Badminton forehands with Tennis like western grip. it works!. The Badminton Bird goes high up in the air and then starts spinning down and it confuses the hell out of opponents and messes up their shots.
I am working on my fitness all along and I am making steady progress. I can feel a big improvement already and I am hopeful it will translate into results.
I decided to not play Tennis next week due to some other commitments. My next Tennis session will be on Nov 05. I will try my level best to put up a good show.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Variety is the Key
Variety is the Key
I have been working on a “Get Fit” regime past week to improve on my fitness so that I can play better tennis. Two years ago when I was a ‘real’ beginner, I worked very hard to remove fitness out of my Tennis game equation and succeeded. 2005 is the fittest I was ever been. Fast forward I am caught in the same situation.
Coming to this week’s tennis, my first match is with my friend from work (opponent 3 from last week). I started the match nervously though I went 2-0, I never really felt good. I had my serve and forehand working in patches. However this opponent seems to have my number for now. We ended up at 4-3 in his favor. Most of the games were decided by the No-ad rule. Which means when the score is 40-40, the winner of the next point takes the game. I nearly forgot this in two games though I won one of them. My opponent is a vastly improved player. You can no longer use streaky offense to win against him. His defense puts lot of pressure on your offense. You need a consistent diet of Offensive heavy topspin ground strokes or a mix match of drops/slices\lobs. Bottom line, he was the better player in the match and the score reflected that. However there were many times I had the point fully under my control only to spur it. I am very hopeful that I can put up a better show in upcoming matches.
Opponent 2 is the same guy from last week. He had his serve and ground strokes working. But I have considerably warmed up and used my serve and forehand to establish a 5-1 lead. He won the last game on a no-ad point as the ball rolled over the net.
Though the score shows that I am dominating, my game is very patchy. It is just that my opponent couldn’t exploit my “lows” and I am too hot on my “Highs”.
As opponent3 walked in, I could sense that this is a pusher kind of player. He has a very good slice, decent net game and for some reason seemed to be very quick. I sensed that it will take a few games before i can get used to this type of player. My patchy game turned low and he went 2-0 up though both games went to Deuce (40-40). In the third game, my opponent cheated the points literally. First it was 30-30. He instead said it was 40-30 and served from the “Deuce” court!. I won that point and it was Deuce (The real score would have been 30-40 in my favor). I won the next point when he said a ball that came on the court bothered him. We replayed and he called my ball (which I thought was in) out. He is now 3-0. I served again. His slices to my backhand are penetrating and I am finding it tough. Some smart serving put me to 40-40. I lost the next point as I missed the mark by a whisker. He is now 4-0. Though score board is showing I am headed for a lopsided defeat , I felt very comfortable that whenever I hit strong forehands he had trouble keeping up. I am also feeling very fit and warm. I reeled of the next 3 games as I knew exactly what needed to be done. On his serve I stood 2 feet behind service line. He doesn’t quite have the same fire power as some of the other big servers. As his serve came in, I hit some hard returns. During rallies I hit some strong top spinning forehands. When he approached the net, I hit strong passing shots. Basically had the match continued for a full set, I would have probably carried this streak for a good win. Though the final score is 4-3, I am fully confident that if I play him again, it will be more favorable for me.
In summary, I need to work even more on my fitness. I should also head into the match with some light jogging or moderate running to get myself warmed up. My backhand is now a liability. I need to switch to my two hander as soon as possible. I also need to develop the variety in my game. No doubt I can pound the forehand and win points.
Our club fixed their Gym and I will be starting Badminton season this week. This is another fun game and I enjoy it a lot. This should also help me to stay fit and improve my movement and reflexes. One of the things I am debating is if I continue playing tennis so regularly. I only have a fixed budget and I want to stretch it as long as possible until Outdoor season begins next spring. May be I should enroll as a Sub and play once in a while until mid winter and then become a regular.
I have been working on a “Get Fit” regime past week to improve on my fitness so that I can play better tennis. Two years ago when I was a ‘real’ beginner, I worked very hard to remove fitness out of my Tennis game equation and succeeded. 2005 is the fittest I was ever been. Fast forward I am caught in the same situation.
Coming to this week’s tennis, my first match is with my friend from work (opponent 3 from last week). I started the match nervously though I went 2-0, I never really felt good. I had my serve and forehand working in patches. However this opponent seems to have my number for now. We ended up at 4-3 in his favor. Most of the games were decided by the No-ad rule. Which means when the score is 40-40, the winner of the next point takes the game. I nearly forgot this in two games though I won one of them. My opponent is a vastly improved player. You can no longer use streaky offense to win against him. His defense puts lot of pressure on your offense. You need a consistent diet of Offensive heavy topspin ground strokes or a mix match of drops/slices\lobs. Bottom line, he was the better player in the match and the score reflected that. However there were many times I had the point fully under my control only to spur it. I am very hopeful that I can put up a better show in upcoming matches.
Opponent 2 is the same guy from last week. He had his serve and ground strokes working. But I have considerably warmed up and used my serve and forehand to establish a 5-1 lead. He won the last game on a no-ad point as the ball rolled over the net.
Though the score shows that I am dominating, my game is very patchy. It is just that my opponent couldn’t exploit my “lows” and I am too hot on my “Highs”.
As opponent3 walked in, I could sense that this is a pusher kind of player. He has a very good slice, decent net game and for some reason seemed to be very quick. I sensed that it will take a few games before i can get used to this type of player. My patchy game turned low and he went 2-0 up though both games went to Deuce (40-40). In the third game, my opponent cheated the points literally. First it was 30-30. He instead said it was 40-30 and served from the “Deuce” court!. I won that point and it was Deuce (The real score would have been 30-40 in my favor). I won the next point when he said a ball that came on the court bothered him. We replayed and he called my ball (which I thought was in) out. He is now 3-0. I served again. His slices to my backhand are penetrating and I am finding it tough. Some smart serving put me to 40-40. I lost the next point as I missed the mark by a whisker. He is now 4-0. Though score board is showing I am headed for a lopsided defeat , I felt very comfortable that whenever I hit strong forehands he had trouble keeping up. I am also feeling very fit and warm. I reeled of the next 3 games as I knew exactly what needed to be done. On his serve I stood 2 feet behind service line. He doesn’t quite have the same fire power as some of the other big servers. As his serve came in, I hit some hard returns. During rallies I hit some strong top spinning forehands. When he approached the net, I hit strong passing shots. Basically had the match continued for a full set, I would have probably carried this streak for a good win. Though the final score is 4-3, I am fully confident that if I play him again, it will be more favorable for me.
In summary, I need to work even more on my fitness. I should also head into the match with some light jogging or moderate running to get myself warmed up. My backhand is now a liability. I need to switch to my two hander as soon as possible. I also need to develop the variety in my game. No doubt I can pound the forehand and win points.
Our club fixed their Gym and I will be starting Badminton season this week. This is another fun game and I enjoy it a lot. This should also help me to stay fit and improve my movement and reflexes. One of the things I am debating is if I continue playing tennis so regularly. I only have a fixed budget and I want to stretch it as long as possible until Outdoor season begins next spring. May be I should enroll as a Sub and play once in a while until mid winter and then become a regular.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Towards better Tennis
The Outdoor tennis season is more or less done and i havent accomplished much. I played very little this season and wanted more. So i joined a tennis league/ladder at a local club.
I was looking forward to playing in the Tennis ladder for quite sometime. I wanted to play some competitive Tennis and play against varying styles. I have never played in a singles league and wasnt sure how it will be. The format was confusing until it became clear. Basically you play 3 matches against 3 diff players and each match consists of 7 games. At the end of the day your score is the number of games you won against all opponents.
My preparations werent optimum. I am not Match Fit. I havent done weights or cardio in months.
My goal tonight was to make a realistic assessment of where my game is and formulate a plan for future. My ultimate goal is to Demonstrate measurable improvement in my Tennis game before next outdoor season.
A little note on my game. on my own assessment, i have a decent serve and a decent forehand. My backhand is a little suspect but it is underrated. I consider myself as a master tactician and have a decent record in pulling out matches from no where. I dont mind being break points or match points down (aka Rafeal Nadal , David Nalbandian).
My first match was against a guy who was a substitute for another player. As it turned out, this guy is a seasoned campainger. As we were warming up i watched for some signs to see if i can read anything. I wasnt trying to hide my backhand from him . On a knock out tournament i would have pulled out some tricks. But in order to be realistic to gauze my level, i wanted to play positively. He has a topspin crosscourt forehand, decent backhand (better than mine). His serve wasnt great but is reliable.I thought i can pick on his serve. As the match started, he was attacking my backhand and he won first game easily. I started my serve and held it comfortably. He was up 2-1 and i was quickly down 15-40 due to two net calls and lost the serve. I began playing more aggresively and immediately broke him. Eventually the score board read 6-3 but they would only consider first 7 games and hence 5-2 in my opponents favour.
There are lot of positives for me in this game. I played positive fearless tennis.My first serve was very potent and i won 100% of the points on my first serve whenever i got it in. My second serve was spinning very well and i probably won 40% of points. My forehand was more powerful than his and he had a lot of trouble whenever i exploded into the shot. What let me down was my backhand. I lost majority of the points. This opponent had a biting slice, that he used effectively against me. These matches are too short for me to recover with a tactical solution once you fall behind. My personal feeling is that in a best of 3 set match, i can push this guy for 3 sets and i can win in tie breaker. However i need to improve a lot on my backhand.
The second match was against a different opponent. I had no scouting report (ie no warmup) and we started the match. He had a very weak serve but with lots action on the ball. He held his serve as i was trying to get bearings on his game. He also has a confusing action on his shots which makes it difficult to read. I started serve and was really hitting high gear and he had no answer. To cut the long story short, this guy couldnt match up with me. I dominated with Serve and forehand and won the match 4-1. I didnt knew at that time that they only count the games and not matches and hence as played for 7 games, i was trying out new things and triyng to get some extra practice. (In the hindsight, this didnt help my tired legs).
The third match was against a friend from work who is also playing in the league ladders. We both played so many times before this season with me having a winning record against him. He is consistent and improving. He doesnt have much offense yet but has great defense and can keep the ball in play.probably not the best opponent to play if you are tired and not ready to run. Its almost 21:45 hrs and By this time, my fitness issues were showing up and my legs started giving up. Playing against this guy in the last match of the day with my conditioning is very punishing. Even before we started i knew my fitness will become an issue and it did. I was spinning serves in instead of hitting them hard. I was Pushing the ball instead of hitting. Very quickly i went into 0-2 hole. with some gritty play i managed to pull it to 2-2. my game was real ugly with no Serve , no forehand , no backhand and i didnt like one bit of it. My opponent , as expected is consistent and using conditions better. I held serve to make it 3-2. I was ready to close out the next game when i made some unforced errors trying to be aggressive. It became 3-3. In normal scenario, i would favor myself to win the next game and match as it is on my serve and against an opponent i am very familiar with. With no energy left in my legs, i fell into a 15-40 hole. I managed to "push" and get myself to deuce (second time in this short match). Since we play in No ad format, the next point is pretty much the match point and winner takes it all. I spun a serve in and tried to lob a net ball that went long and wide.
Though fitness played a big part, the real reason why i ended up with a 3-4 score is because i was neither aggressive nor defensive. I played a no mans game.
I finally finished the evening with 9 points.
My immediate goal is to improve my fitness. I am going to start a fitness regime that will help me to get fit sooner. This is something i tried before and know that it works. However i expect that it will take 2 weeks before i see any tangible results. It gets worse before it gets better. My hope is that by November , i can probably remove fitness as an issue unless it is a very long match.
Improve the damn backhand. This wasnt an issue against my 2 and 3 opponents but clearly was an issue against the first guy. Not sure how i can do this as i been trying this for past 3 yrs. Fact of matter is if i have a better backhand and remove my fitness excuses, I am a tough opponent for anyone at this level. I was wondering what would have happened if i played opponent 1 as my last match. Either i would have gone for broke (as i wouldnt be able to match his consistency with tired legs) and hit few good serves and hard forehands to win games or bury myself in a pool of unforced errors.
On the plus side, my serve is proven today against good opponents and gives me the confidence that it can win easy games for me. My forehand is also looking crisp.
Shot of the day : Down a break point against Opponent 1, on my second serve we engaged in a baseline rally. After 4-5 shots, he hit a backhand cross court to my backhand and expected a backhand cross court from me. I ran around my backhand and hit an Inside out forehand Winner to his backhand. He stood right there as the ball whizzed past him!.
Serve of the day: Against opponent 2, 4 first serves and game. each of them to a diff corner in the service box.
I am working on a mini goal and a plan for next Monday and will post it soon.
Until then......
I was looking forward to playing in the Tennis ladder for quite sometime. I wanted to play some competitive Tennis and play against varying styles. I have never played in a singles league and wasnt sure how it will be. The format was confusing until it became clear. Basically you play 3 matches against 3 diff players and each match consists of 7 games. At the end of the day your score is the number of games you won against all opponents.
My preparations werent optimum. I am not Match Fit. I havent done weights or cardio in months.
My goal tonight was to make a realistic assessment of where my game is and formulate a plan for future. My ultimate goal is to Demonstrate measurable improvement in my Tennis game before next outdoor season.
A little note on my game. on my own assessment, i have a decent serve and a decent forehand. My backhand is a little suspect but it is underrated. I consider myself as a master tactician and have a decent record in pulling out matches from no where. I dont mind being break points or match points down (aka Rafeal Nadal , David Nalbandian).
My first match was against a guy who was a substitute for another player. As it turned out, this guy is a seasoned campainger. As we were warming up i watched for some signs to see if i can read anything. I wasnt trying to hide my backhand from him . On a knock out tournament i would have pulled out some tricks. But in order to be realistic to gauze my level, i wanted to play positively. He has a topspin crosscourt forehand, decent backhand (better than mine). His serve wasnt great but is reliable.I thought i can pick on his serve. As the match started, he was attacking my backhand and he won first game easily. I started my serve and held it comfortably. He was up 2-1 and i was quickly down 15-40 due to two net calls and lost the serve. I began playing more aggresively and immediately broke him. Eventually the score board read 6-3 but they would only consider first 7 games and hence 5-2 in my opponents favour.
There are lot of positives for me in this game. I played positive fearless tennis.My first serve was very potent and i won 100% of the points on my first serve whenever i got it in. My second serve was spinning very well and i probably won 40% of points. My forehand was more powerful than his and he had a lot of trouble whenever i exploded into the shot. What let me down was my backhand. I lost majority of the points. This opponent had a biting slice, that he used effectively against me. These matches are too short for me to recover with a tactical solution once you fall behind. My personal feeling is that in a best of 3 set match, i can push this guy for 3 sets and i can win in tie breaker. However i need to improve a lot on my backhand.
The second match was against a different opponent. I had no scouting report (ie no warmup) and we started the match. He had a very weak serve but with lots action on the ball. He held his serve as i was trying to get bearings on his game. He also has a confusing action on his shots which makes it difficult to read. I started serve and was really hitting high gear and he had no answer. To cut the long story short, this guy couldnt match up with me. I dominated with Serve and forehand and won the match 4-1. I didnt knew at that time that they only count the games and not matches and hence as played for 7 games, i was trying out new things and triyng to get some extra practice. (In the hindsight, this didnt help my tired legs).
The third match was against a friend from work who is also playing in the league ladders. We both played so many times before this season with me having a winning record against him. He is consistent and improving. He doesnt have much offense yet but has great defense and can keep the ball in play.probably not the best opponent to play if you are tired and not ready to run. Its almost 21:45 hrs and By this time, my fitness issues were showing up and my legs started giving up. Playing against this guy in the last match of the day with my conditioning is very punishing. Even before we started i knew my fitness will become an issue and it did. I was spinning serves in instead of hitting them hard. I was Pushing the ball instead of hitting. Very quickly i went into 0-2 hole. with some gritty play i managed to pull it to 2-2. my game was real ugly with no Serve , no forehand , no backhand and i didnt like one bit of it. My opponent , as expected is consistent and using conditions better. I held serve to make it 3-2. I was ready to close out the next game when i made some unforced errors trying to be aggressive. It became 3-3. In normal scenario, i would favor myself to win the next game and match as it is on my serve and against an opponent i am very familiar with. With no energy left in my legs, i fell into a 15-40 hole. I managed to "push" and get myself to deuce (second time in this short match). Since we play in No ad format, the next point is pretty much the match point and winner takes it all. I spun a serve in and tried to lob a net ball that went long and wide.
Though fitness played a big part, the real reason why i ended up with a 3-4 score is because i was neither aggressive nor defensive. I played a no mans game.
I finally finished the evening with 9 points.
My immediate goal is to improve my fitness. I am going to start a fitness regime that will help me to get fit sooner. This is something i tried before and know that it works. However i expect that it will take 2 weeks before i see any tangible results. It gets worse before it gets better. My hope is that by November , i can probably remove fitness as an issue unless it is a very long match.
Improve the damn backhand. This wasnt an issue against my 2 and 3 opponents but clearly was an issue against the first guy. Not sure how i can do this as i been trying this for past 3 yrs. Fact of matter is if i have a better backhand and remove my fitness excuses, I am a tough opponent for anyone at this level. I was wondering what would have happened if i played opponent 1 as my last match. Either i would have gone for broke (as i wouldnt be able to match his consistency with tired legs) and hit few good serves and hard forehands to win games or bury myself in a pool of unforced errors.
On the plus side, my serve is proven today against good opponents and gives me the confidence that it can win easy games for me. My forehand is also looking crisp.
Shot of the day : Down a break point against Opponent 1, on my second serve we engaged in a baseline rally. After 4-5 shots, he hit a backhand cross court to my backhand and expected a backhand cross court from me. I ran around my backhand and hit an Inside out forehand Winner to his backhand. He stood right there as the ball whizzed past him!.
Serve of the day: Against opponent 2, 4 first serves and game. each of them to a diff corner in the service box.
I am working on a mini goal and a plan for next Monday and will post it soon.
Until then......
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