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.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)