Monday night Tennis (no Play) 02/18

I couldn’t play this week due to scheduling conflicts. I am not sure of next week either. My baby returns from her vacation on Monday evening. Depending on how much time is left after I get her home, I will make a last minute decision (if I slip to 0830, I may play anyway). I also have other commitments on March 17 and hence won’t be able to play.

Well, a few factors are preventing me from playing Monday tennis. I am almost there in terms of $$$ for a Ball machine. Some more savings would boost my chances greatly. Another reason is that Jack quit the ladder. Part of the fun is the Lunch time discussions that surround our matches, opponents, tactics, strategy and performance. Now that will be lacking, I don’t quite have the same interest. Finally I am almost near the allocated budget for Winter Tennis. So it’s partly financial and partly interest.

One thing that still keeps me motivated is that I have lot of unfinished business in the ladder. I didn’t make it into the top4 at 7 pm. Based on where my game is right now, only my serve can get me there i.e. to Serve really well and hold my games and hope to break the opponent on his serve. As you traverse up the ladder it becomes that much more difficult. There are people with good serves and good ground strokes and some of those match ups are not in my favor.

In other words, the top of the ladder consists of Strong 4.0/ Weak 4.5 players. Read the definitions here . Only my Serve and Forehand are at that level. My backhand is probably a 3.0. I need lots of practice (esp on backhand side) to make my game more consistent—hence the ball machine. I am very confident that after 5-10 sessions on a ball machine, I can pretty much take on anyone in the 4.0/4.5 space.

Confidence in one’s game is very important and practice will improve confidence. I am usually confident about my serve and forehand but not always sure on my backhand and definitely second guessing on volleys and etc. Hitting against ball machine should improve my backhand and slowly I may work on volleying aspect as well. It will be in my best interest to learn volleying as it can compliment a good serve.

I am continuing my work outs. I haven’t started weights yet. It is a little strange but whenever I do weights my performance in Tennis/Badminton takes a noticeable dip. Not sure why though. It is not like I am lifting huge weights. Need some more analysis. For now I wont start weights until I fully break from Tennis (My current scheduled last session is on Feb 25). I feel very good about my cardio. It’s almost like I picked from where I left off before my vacation. I am planning to further improve on this and come spring, I can focus on the game and not worry about fitness.

Badminton on 2/20 was good. Some great games and my cardio fitness are helping a lot. I am feeling lot better about my backhand. I definitely improved my net coverage of the game and able to finish few points at the net. I am focusing on delicate soft points when I play with opponents where I am hugely favored to win and it seems to be paying off when I play bigger and better opponents. I improved my backhand technique and have a better feel for it. Hopefully before the badminton season winds down (mid May) and Tennis season catches on, I have a better technique (having a ball machine wouldn’t hurt either).