SOA in Tennis

As an Architect in IT Industry, SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) is part and parcel of my daily work life. As I started reviewing my Tennis game recently, it now forms crux of my tennis game.

Welcome to “Service” Oriented Architecture in Tennis. Unlike in IT, where SOA offers multiple abilities (flexibility,expandability,maintainability,reusability, blah blah), In Tennis it makes ones game One dimensional. Just to be clear , SOA in tennis means “Serve oriented game”, in other words ones game is based on their Serve.

In the pro circuits, there are tons of players who built their game around their serve and were vastly successful. From a top 50 player like IvoKarlovic, John Isner, Slobodan zivizinovic to ex-world #1 like Goran IvaniSevic, Pete Sampras, and Boris Becker all used their Serve to reach the pinnacle of tennis.

They also have something else in common. They are great Serve and Volley players Ie their game plan is more or less simple. Serve well, expect a weak return, move into the net and close it with a volley. Even during rallies they try to seize the net position as quickly as they can by coming behind on a good approach shot (usually towards opponents back hand) and close it with a firm volley.

My game as it stands now consists of a serve and a forehand (Forget zip code,Not even in the same state code but if i have to look up a similarity in pro circuits, it will be Andy Roddick). I have a dependable serve (not always potent but doesn’t give away easy returns for opponents) and what I call as my dependable shot- forehand. Usually my game plan involves moving the opponent around with deep baseline shots until there is an opening to go for the winner. I am very comfortable at the baseline and enjoy the baseline rallies. There are two shots I particularly enjoy ; The Inside-in forehand à run around the back hand and hit a forehand down the line towards opponent right corner. The Inside-out forehandà a variation of the cross court forehand directed towards a right handed opponents backhand corner.

Needless to say it is very one dimensional baseline game. Even if I assume that I hit very good serves every single time my game is still one dimensional. The challenge I have is that I don’t have a good net game (or the soft touch needed at net) that can compliment a good serve and end the point quickly (not too mention the pressure it adds for an opponent returning the serve). For now all the opponent needs is to somehow get the serve in play (and most opponents are good at this) and from then on we are in a rally and it can be anybody’s point. I don’t have a good backhand (forget it- I don’t even have a passable backhand) that can help me to be aggressive from backhand side of the court.

My point is Service oriented game is bad for Tennis. One should have a well rounded all court game where one can rely on Forehand, backhand, counter punching, volleying to score points quickly. What we need is Agile Architecture.

I am hoping that I can quickly get a ball machine and hone my backhand and volleying while further improving on the consistency of the Forehand. Even a marginal improvement in backhand or Volleying can make a big difference to my game and results.

My friend Jack has quit the ladder playing his last session this last Monday. A powerful counter puncher with good hands at the net, he made a steady progress since last April when I first played him. He is playing a 4.0 game and there is no telling where his game would be if he can tweak his serve. As long as we both stay fit, we will still be playing in spring/summer though we wont be playing the same opponents.

My knee hasn’t fully healed but I am going to give a shot at today’s badminton (if it’s not cancelled due to snow). I may have to Baby sit next Monday in which case I have to skip Tennis. I will know more tomorrow. Otherwise based on the requests of my fans, I plan on playing one more session and give the fans another opportunity to say adieus for this winter.