Yesterday Jack and I decided we will try to play outdoors. So we showed up around 5 pm. As we got on the courts, there is cold breeze and occasional gusts. It was hard to setup Jack’s ball machine as the wind didn’t allow us to get consistent readings.
We still managed to hit for a bit and then played a no limit tie breaker. Jack played very good under the cold conditions. We stopped tracking score towards the end but I know at one point he is leading like 16-5. His serving was good and he hit a lot of winners. Other than one or two serves where I really hit the spots, there wasn’t much to write about on my game.
Good start I guess though weather conditions could have been better. There was a time when I felt that I needed gloves to keep my hands warm.
Yesterday I lost a bid on a ball machine. So the search continues.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Getting Ready for Outdoor Tennis
I haven’t posted in a while as stuff at home kept me very busy. I did not play any Tennis and my badminton performance is average at the best. I am losing to players I used to comfortably beat before. I am not too overtly concerned as I know some of the reasons. I am trying to hit the Badminton Bird (shuttle) as if I am hitting a Tennis ball with a low to high motion and often with topspin finish. This usually sets up the bird to be hit by opponent. Most of my opponents are now picking my Backhand. In the past I used to run around and force the shot with my forehand. These days I am content on trying to hit with a backhand as I know in the long run it will help me improve my backhand. My smashes aren’t effective sometimes as I am more emphasizing the back scratch position (like Tennis serve).
So even though my Badminton game isn’t great guns at the moment, my moment on the court is crisp. I am still doing my work outs. I dropped a few pounds and I am doing weights to improve strength. I have incorporated some special exercises to focus on Abs and core. Cardio is great.
I am basically getting ready for Outdoor tennis. I am very keen on taking my tennis game to the next level and some of the steps I have taken above will help me accomplish that goal. I have watched lot of Indian Wells Tennis (pacific Life Open) and observed some great strategies by Nadal and Mardy Fish. I watched one of my favorite players Juan Carlos Ferrero in his victory to Quarter finals (he lost to another favorite player David Nalbandian).
The biggest concern I have for Tennis season is the schedule. Between Day care, wife’s career and my own, lawn mowing, gardening, it will be tough to squeeze out lot of time for Tennis. I will be happy if I can play twice a week (may be 3 times with an optimistic look). I also need to carve out some Ball machine sessions. I haven’t bought it yet but I have narrowed down my choices. If I can get an Ebay machine for 500$ , I will take it. Otherwise I will buy the Silent partner Lite (goes for 675) with the oscillator (helps spray the ball side ways) and Spin (helps simulate topspin and slice). I will wait until the outdoor season heats up (probably late April – early May).
I pulled a neck muscle last Thursday. Luckily Ibuprofen and lot of IcyHot helped. I recovered to probably 90%.
Schedule and weather permitting, I will attempt to play some outdoor tennis with Jack. If this week doesn’t work out I am sure the next week will.
So even though my Badminton game isn’t great guns at the moment, my moment on the court is crisp. I am still doing my work outs. I dropped a few pounds and I am doing weights to improve strength. I have incorporated some special exercises to focus on Abs and core. Cardio is great.
I am basically getting ready for Outdoor tennis. I am very keen on taking my tennis game to the next level and some of the steps I have taken above will help me accomplish that goal. I have watched lot of Indian Wells Tennis (pacific Life Open) and observed some great strategies by Nadal and Mardy Fish. I watched one of my favorite players Juan Carlos Ferrero in his victory to Quarter finals (he lost to another favorite player David Nalbandian).
The biggest concern I have for Tennis season is the schedule. Between Day care, wife’s career and my own, lawn mowing, gardening, it will be tough to squeeze out lot of time for Tennis. I will be happy if I can play twice a week (may be 3 times with an optimistic look). I also need to carve out some Ball machine sessions. I haven’t bought it yet but I have narrowed down my choices. If I can get an Ebay machine for 500$ , I will take it. Otherwise I will buy the Silent partner Lite (goes for 675) with the oscillator (helps spray the ball side ways) and Spin (helps simulate topspin and slice). I will wait until the outdoor season heats up (probably late April – early May).
I pulled a neck muscle last Thursday. Luckily Ibuprofen and lot of IcyHot helped. I recovered to probably 90%.
Schedule and weather permitting, I will attempt to play some outdoor tennis with Jack. If this week doesn’t work out I am sure the next week will.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday Tennis 03/10
I chose the wrong day to show up at the ladder. I didn’t gain much and felt like I should have chosen another day.
I went there just on time and looked at the draw sheet. First match against Bruce, second against Faez and then with Andy (#1 player of the ladder). I was very happy as this draw sets up nicely. I can warm up against Bruce and Faez for a showdown with Andy. Cant go wrong here. Then I looked around --Attendance was extremely light. Out of the 13 players, only 4 of them showed up. Two for the top bracket and two for the bottom bracket. For my part of the draw only Bruce showed up. So we ended up playing a best of two sets (and a tie breaker if we split sets) in No Ad format. I prefer the longer full set matches (as opposed to best of 7 games on the ladder) as the full matches give more time to get used to the opponent and work out a counter attack strategy.
I played Bruce in the past and he is tricky. He can play great tennis and worst tennis in the same point. After warm up he started the serve. I broke him at Deuce but immediately got broken back to go 1-1. He started match by repeatedly attacking my Backhand. He had some good pace & placement on the serve towards my backhand that I was unable to counter (especially with my new “Sword from Sheath” technique). We both held serve until we are 3-3 when I broke him and then held my serve and eventually served out the set for 6-4. I hit a lot of heavy top spinning forehands and he had trouble returning them.
Now fully warmed up, I took over the second set 6-1. My forehand is grooved in and my serve has loosened up and started kicking out very well. After the match we played ground strokes for about 10 minutes and it was good drill. Overall it is a good match but apart from a few backhands, I didn’t learn much. My opponent has a good backhand and I was able to see his technique.
I will once again move up the ladder though it won’t make much difference. I will be sending out my withdrawal shortly. Unless Snowy weather returns and I miss tennis badly, this is it for this season. The manager indicated that the ladder runs till end of April (probably another 6 weeks) however I don’t see a lot of attendance once the outdoor temperatures climb to 50’s. I am more aggressively pursuing the ball machine and hope it get one before outdoor season catches fire.
On a positive note, I am ending the ladder on a high winning note.
I went there just on time and looked at the draw sheet. First match against Bruce, second against Faez and then with Andy (#1 player of the ladder). I was very happy as this draw sets up nicely. I can warm up against Bruce and Faez for a showdown with Andy. Cant go wrong here. Then I looked around --Attendance was extremely light. Out of the 13 players, only 4 of them showed up. Two for the top bracket and two for the bottom bracket. For my part of the draw only Bruce showed up. So we ended up playing a best of two sets (and a tie breaker if we split sets) in No Ad format. I prefer the longer full set matches (as opposed to best of 7 games on the ladder) as the full matches give more time to get used to the opponent and work out a counter attack strategy.
I played Bruce in the past and he is tricky. He can play great tennis and worst tennis in the same point. After warm up he started the serve. I broke him at Deuce but immediately got broken back to go 1-1. He started match by repeatedly attacking my Backhand. He had some good pace & placement on the serve towards my backhand that I was unable to counter (especially with my new “Sword from Sheath” technique). We both held serve until we are 3-3 when I broke him and then held my serve and eventually served out the set for 6-4. I hit a lot of heavy top spinning forehands and he had trouble returning them.
Now fully warmed up, I took over the second set 6-1. My forehand is grooved in and my serve has loosened up and started kicking out very well. After the match we played ground strokes for about 10 minutes and it was good drill. Overall it is a good match but apart from a few backhands, I didn’t learn much. My opponent has a good backhand and I was able to see his technique.
I will once again move up the ladder though it won’t make much difference. I will be sending out my withdrawal shortly. Unless Snowy weather returns and I miss tennis badly, this is it for this season. The manager indicated that the ladder runs till end of April (probably another 6 weeks) however I don’t see a lot of attendance once the outdoor temperatures climb to 50’s. I am more aggressively pursuing the ball machine and hope it get one before outdoor season catches fire.
On a positive note, I am ending the ladder on a high winning note.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Farewell for Winter Tennis
I decided that I would go and play tonight. Unless the weather turns too cold and I miss Tennis too much, this will be the last session with the Ladder. The only reason why I am playing today is my email system was down over the weekend and the email I sent out for a Substitute bounced back. I don’t want to pull out at the last minute (unless of course there is a valid reason). Another reason is since I play in the bottom group, I can test my Sword from Sheath Backhand (read my last post).
My preparations are far from ideal. I haven’t played recently and based on badminton sessions, I am not playing optimal. My family got sick over the weekend and we spent considerable time trying to recover from it. However the past 3 workout sessions are good and I once again started to enjoy them. I started doing weights as well – so back to full fledged workouts. I also bought a new machine to work out the Abs, lower body and builds core strength- many Tennis pundits say key for more power in tennis. We will see how it goes. The heart rates and etc (including the warming up part) have returned to normal.
It will also give me a chance to test my theory. As I indicated in the past my performance dips when I start doing weights. I want to see how tonight goes.
With any luck I might play Andy (the #1 player of the ladder) who is currently at the bottom of the draw because he hasn’t played in a long time. In the same boat as me. I want to use this last session to collect some readings against him.
Weather looks decent these days and I am hopeful we may get to start the outdoor season early.
So looking forward to this session. I will be officially quitting the ladder tomorrow.
My preparations are far from ideal. I haven’t played recently and based on badminton sessions, I am not playing optimal. My family got sick over the weekend and we spent considerable time trying to recover from it. However the past 3 workout sessions are good and I once again started to enjoy them. I started doing weights as well – so back to full fledged workouts. I also bought a new machine to work out the Abs, lower body and builds core strength- many Tennis pundits say key for more power in tennis. We will see how it goes. The heart rates and etc (including the warming up part) have returned to normal.
It will also give me a chance to test my theory. As I indicated in the past my performance dips when I start doing weights. I want to see how tonight goes.
With any luck I might play Andy (the #1 player of the ladder) who is currently at the bottom of the draw because he hasn’t played in a long time. In the same boat as me. I want to use this last session to collect some readings against him.
Weather looks decent these days and I am hopeful we may get to start the outdoor season early.
So looking forward to this session. I will be officially quitting the ladder tomorrow.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Sword from Sheath
I haven’t played Tennis since Feb 24. I am still officially in the ladder currently at the bottom cellar (not exactly, I still have 5 guys who are ranked behind me) though I haven’t played since Feb. 14. I am contemplating on playing one last time at the ladder for this season. I may play this Monday.
Flu season or something, I am not feeling 100% most of the days though I still haven’t skipped any workout session. I started weights again and they will be part of my program. So I am on target as far as the goal of staying fit and ready for the Outdoor tennis season.
A word on my badminton last two weeks. Very bad, especially the last week. No rhythm- no execution- poor results. Part of the problem is it is taking a very long time for me to warm up. I don’t know if it is good or bad. I have seen this in my work outs as well. Usually in my work outs, I warm up somewhere around 10 minute mark. In the past week, for whatever reason I didn’t really feel the exercising zing until 20+ minutes , leaving too less a time as I don’t spend more than 30 minutes. In badminton, it translated to almost 2 hrs—basically a game or two before I am ready to head back home. However yesterday’s workout felt good after a long time. May be the Flu/congestion is going away.
Coming to the topic, I have been researching a lot on improving my backhand. I came across this analogy/concept that accurately describes hitting a one handed Backhand (1HBH). The motion of hitting a 1HBH is similar to drawing a sword from the sheath. Great way to easily describe the concept. I took a few practice swings and it feels natural. I will post my On court experience. May be this concept with the ball machine will get me the backhand I am looking for.
While “drawing the sword from sheath”, I came across this article by Peter Bodo. In here he suggests recreational tennis players work on Inside-In, Inside-out forehands than spending time on learning a 1HBH that only few can hit with command. Unlike what he says, I DO run around a lot on my backhands and work forehands. My offense runs on Forehand and I don’t expect that will change anytime soon. I actually feel very happy whenever I hit Inside-in/Inside-out forehands.
Flu season or something, I am not feeling 100% most of the days though I still haven’t skipped any workout session. I started weights again and they will be part of my program. So I am on target as far as the goal of staying fit and ready for the Outdoor tennis season.
A word on my badminton last two weeks. Very bad, especially the last week. No rhythm- no execution- poor results. Part of the problem is it is taking a very long time for me to warm up. I don’t know if it is good or bad. I have seen this in my work outs as well. Usually in my work outs, I warm up somewhere around 10 minute mark. In the past week, for whatever reason I didn’t really feel the exercising zing until 20+ minutes , leaving too less a time as I don’t spend more than 30 minutes. In badminton, it translated to almost 2 hrs—basically a game or two before I am ready to head back home. However yesterday’s workout felt good after a long time. May be the Flu/congestion is going away.
Coming to the topic, I have been researching a lot on improving my backhand. I came across this analogy/concept that accurately describes hitting a one handed Backhand (1HBH). The motion of hitting a 1HBH is similar to drawing a sword from the sheath. Great way to easily describe the concept. I took a few practice swings and it feels natural. I will post my On court experience. May be this concept with the ball machine will get me the backhand I am looking for.
While “drawing the sword from sheath”, I came across this article by Peter Bodo. In here he suggests recreational tennis players work on Inside-In, Inside-out forehands than spending time on learning a 1HBH that only few can hit with command. Unlike what he says, I DO run around a lot on my backhands and work forehands. My offense runs on Forehand and I don’t expect that will change anytime soon. I actually feel very happy whenever I hit Inside-in/Inside-out forehands.
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