Thursday, April 28, 2011

End of Indoor Season-Impressive Season Comes to an End

Its Official. Indoor Tennis season is over. After 7 months (season began on Sep 20), It is now officially a season with the April 28 session.

The last session also included prizes and i ended up finishing #3 for the season with a 25$ earnings.Considering that i missed a significant portion of the season due to my travel and injuries, this is a good accomplishment.

The highlights of the season definitely include me hitting the #1 spot quite a few times. In total, i had 7 weeks at #1. Prior to this season, i came close but couldnt become #1. The most significant achievement this season still is my run to the top after i ended up at the last position on the ladder due to travel and injuries. Even if one wins every week it will take 6 weeks for someone to become #1 and i did it in 7 weeks which in itself is quite an achievement.

The season ended for me the way it started.I won 17 points 6-1 against Dan,5-2 against Darren and 6-1 against my other favorite player in the ladder Carl. Both my serve and forehand clicked and i counter punched well.I probably hit a dozen aces and a good number of forehand winners.

Before the season began, my recipe to getting #1 was to work on cross court forehand,improve my backhand and work on fitness.I truly believed that i needed a better backhand and some more pop on my forehand to become #1. After 7 weeks of #1 with what is my most dominating season, my tennis game can be summarized as --"Hammer the serve and play defense". My forehand and backhand didnt improve much but they held steady. Instead my serve, especially the first serve pace, accuracy and consistency improved a lot.I am not sure how this happened either. Only big change since last year is that i am a little heavier (thanks to the addl 5 pounds i put on).

I dont know if my serve form carries forward or not. But as far as this season goes, i am arguably the best server in the ladder. Except for Jack, no one was able to read it well in the ladder. After the initial successes, my confidence in my serve improved. Originally i was only able to hit a couple of spots on court with my serve. Now i can go down the T or wide or into the body and i am able to do it on Deuce and Ad courts.Several times i was down break points and some of them are at hopeless 0-40 but was able pull those games with big serves. This clutch performance is the key to win close matches and moving up.My W-L ratio is very impressive.I lost to Luciano twice which caused me drop down in rankings. I lost once to Carl and Jack but it didnt cause any rankings impact. Next indoor season is quite far away and i plan to perform even better.Now that most players in the ladder have taken notice of my game, i expect even tougher games when we return in the winter.

Jack also had an impressive season capping with two appearences at the top of rankings as #1.His game came a long way and is one of the best counter punchers in the ladder today besides having a beautiful all court game.

The outdoor season is here and i plan to work on my game during the Outdoor season and have fun.Me and Jack are planning to play some local circuits during the outdoor season besides hitting and practicing with each other.

Lot of credit for my results belong to my good friend Jack. Besides being my hitting partner, His scouring reports, insights are always spot on and i can always count on him for support. He is also a very good sport often to a fault.I have seen him calling out balls in , in favor of his opponents.I have never seen him ever erring on a line call/score to his favor.People took advantage of him but he doesnt seem to mind and is a symbol of Tennis spirit. Another Colleague Dave ,Iron man, Canoe racing and Volley ball champion provided some great fitness tips to help me get fit faster.

I am eagely looking forward to playing in the warmth of the Sun and enjoying slight outdoor breeze. Outdoor tennis has its own challenges. Wind and sun become a factor. Court speeds are also a factor. It requires some adjustments from the indoor game.

I also plan to work on improving cross court forehand and backhand.

Hopefully i can repeat the magic of indoor season outdoors !.