Sunday Tennis 2/24

Due to scheduling conflicts and lack of interest, I won’t be playing on Monday night 2/25. Some part in me wants me to play but I am not fully into it. In my mind the winter Tennis season is over and it is time to focus for the spring. I may play one more session in the ladder but not sure when.

On Sunday I played with Jack. Before we played, we did a little bit of social “work” for the Tennis community by snow shoveling. We started out hitting against the ball machine and then finally played a set. I quickly raced to a 3-0 lead. Jack pulled it back to 3-2 and then I closed it 6-2.

There were some good rallies and we played some positive tennis. The warm-up against the ball machine helped me a lot as I grooved in on my shots. I dictated play with my Forehand. I don’t think I served that well but it wasn’t bad. I lost my serve once and managed to break Jack service except once.

I liked the way I hit forehand shots. I personally felt they had lot of spin and action on them (especially when I used western grip). One particular point really stood out for me. I hit an inside –in forehand that kicked up real high and I didn’t think was coming back. Somehow jack managed to put it back in play. I hit another forehand into the middle of court which kicked up very high and probably had lots of action and ended up winning the point. It’s that Topspin that makes the ball difficult to hit for opponents, especially if it lands around the baseline and skids off.

One of the key strategies against solid counter punchers like Jack /Ramon (and most S&V players) is to strike first. Once you let them control the point, you will end up running a lot and/ or make unforced errors while trying to come up with a low percentage winner. Usually when I play them I try to dictate play. If I start making some of those shots that puts them on defensive. If I don’t, I usually end up putting more pressure on myself and probably resort to Plan B (pushing) and Plan C (all out attack as I have nothing to lose at that point). Today it turned out to be a good strategy.

The more I play with Ball machine, the more I am convinced that I need one. That is one single option I believe can help me move to become a 4.5 player (I personally assess my current tennis game as 3.75-4.15 depending on the day). Before the Spring Tennis season warms up, I will get one. I am not sure how much tennis time I will have come Spring/Summer as I will have to balance tennis and time with my baby.

After our match, I watched the Local University women’s Tennis Team practice. I learned some interesting tips and Techniques. I spent about an hour taking some notes. There were about 7 players at the practice and I saw the coach working out some drills and concepts into them.

I am probably not going to play next Monday either (March 03). So I will not have lot of scores to post in my next few blogs. I will continue to post on General tennis, Badminton and workouts.