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.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
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.
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