Injury Update

I am still recovering and havent played tennis a while. Basically Entire July and August of this year are lost for me due to the Ankle injuries.

It started out with Right Ankle swelling in July and early August it was left Ankle. After several tests and deliberations, the leading theory is that the new Addidas Barricade shoes i bought seem to the culprit. Interestingly enough both times when i started seeing Ankle issues, i was playing with these new shoes in the days leading upto the injury. Doctors theorized that i do have flat feet and this new shoes arent providing me with enough Arch Support, thereby putting enough stress on my ankles.

I am on the path to recovery and right ankle has already recovered while left ankle is around 80%. I do plan to start rehab exercises and also start playing some tennis , albeit reduced intensity.

With two full months lost to injuries, i am not in a good position leading into the winter season. With no new additions to my game, lack of match practice, lack of conditioning, all indications are that i am not going to challenge the very best in the winter season, if the season were to begin today.

At this stage, health is more important and i am putting more emphasis on ability to play some tennis than not playing at all. I have taken some time off during September and i am hoping that if i can put together a good september, it is still possible to regain some lost edge.

I estimate that i have about 6 weeks of outdoor season remaining. I can probably squeeze in 10-15 sessions of tennis at the best. I have to rework my plan and decided to focus on the following three aspects.
1) Conditioning/Fitness
2) Overheads
3) Cross Court Forehand

Conditioning/fitness isnt new and up until mid June i am probably one of the fittest guys before injury. Hopefully after rehab of my ankles, i can put in a few good weeks of Gym work and be back to full fitness.

Since i dont have time to rebuild and rework my strokes, i thought i would focus on items that doesnt need major work but are still impactful. I believe i have decent serve mechanics (and smash is my go to shot in Badminton) and hence overheads shouldnt be that hard to learn.By having good overhead shot, i can take away opponents Lobs.

This season (or whatever little of it i played), i was hitting the down the Line forehand pretty good. This has become a money shot in those few matches. Off late i am struggling with Cross court forehands , especially on consistency of that shot. If i can turn it around and make it consistent, my forehand will become formidable.

It is about a year ago, i added Two handed Backhand to my game and now my backhand is very consistent. If i can add overheads and strengthen my forehand , i will be within a shot when the Winter tennis league starts.

I hope to start playing tennis this coming weekend. My agent is working on the schedule ;)