Conversation with Eldon #7

3/5/09   Wednesday 10:00A.M.

Chico Racquet Club

 

Eldon and I were supposed to have a lesson today.  This wasn’t possible due to my laser procedure on my left eye.  (Posterior capsular haze).  My eye doctor didn’t want me to play tennis for a couple of days so we took advantage of the time to have another conversation on strategy and my player development in Eldon’s office.

 

We talked about the following:

 

1.         I talked about getting tight in my last couple of matches and the solutions.   I suggested hitting out harder to allow for a more complete follow-through and to loosen up the muscles of the arm or using more topspin to bring the ball down into the court.  Eldon liked the topspin idea a lot.  He was pleased that I had suggested that possibility.

 

2.         I suggested the main reason behind my tightness was due to my focusing on the outcome of the match too much. 

 

3.         I need to keep the learning process in mind.  The growth and development are what count.  Play one point at a time.  Enjoy each shot in the point as much as possible.  Winning, if it happens, is icing on the cake!

 

4.         Eldon suggested that I hit more topspin until I get a feel for play in the match.  Hit more topspin so I can keep the ball in the court, keep the point in play.  Then go for the compression ball when it is appropriate and I’m feeling more comfortable. 

 

5.         I was discovering that I could hit a slice shot.  I had hit a beautiful slice shot unconsciously to win a point in a recent match.  I wanted to add this to my repertoire.  Eldon concurred that this was a good idea, that I was discovering a range of shot selection naturally as I advanced in my knowledge of the game and in my skill level.  He was pleased.  I told him I just began to work on the slice in practice yesterday.  He said it would be a nice thing to have in my game.

 

6.         We talked about creativity, how I didn’t understand what it meant when Eldon first mentioned it to me a few weeks ago.  Now I get it.  In tennis you have many options when you play a match in selecting shots and setting up points.  That’s creativity and it’s really cool and fun.  It entails more thinking similar to a chess match.  This is something I like when I step onto the court.

 

7.         I talked about how I’m realizing that there is more than one way to hit a forehand or backhand shot.  A few months ago, I thought that basically I was trying to learn to hit the forehand the same every time I stroked a ball.  Now I realize that’s not the case.  One has to develop different forehands for different occasions.  I have arrived at a point in my knowledge of the game where I am seeing more complexity and realizing that I want to develop more complexity in my game in order to be more creative in my matches.

 

8.         We talked about the different kinds of players that I was playing.  Marty was a retriever whereas Sydney plays more aggressively, yet he is not an all-court player.  I am developing into an all-court player.  This is what both Eldon and I want.   It’s more fun and creative from my perspective.

 

9.         Eldon talked about how a player of Sydney’s caliber will rise like a cork in water.  When the tide comes up, he will raise his level of play and prevail to win the match.   A player like Sydney has to be pressured in a way that makes his expertise or skill fall short.  He has to be challenged in such a way that he can’t rise with the cork; it is at this point that he will begin to fold and sink.           

 

10.       I also mentioned how I am seeing more in matches that I watch on TV.  As my knowledge and expertise in tennis grow I am noticing things that I never would have seen at all before.  It’s becoming more interesting.

 

11.       I had seen a match with Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg (1977 Pepsi Challenge) and became interested in how Connors produced his forehand shots.  Eldon said he used a modified continental grip.  I noted how he bent his legs a lot because he never let the racquet head dip below his wrist. The grip might also explain his deep bending knees on almost every shot, too.  He had such great racquet preparation.  I could see him get his rhythm with his early racquet preparation and then as he struck the ball he seemed to squeeze the racquet handle and accelerate the head of the racquet to get more compression on the ball.  Also, I noticed how his follow-through was high over the left shoulder similar to what Eldon wants me to do.

 

12.       I mentioned how Arthur Ashe didn’t bend his knees that much.  He seemed so relaxed and casual as he stroked each ball in play.  Eldon mentioned he was a finesse player.

 

13.       Eldon told Mickey Franco, a long-time tennis instructor, about me and my writing and asked him to read one of my reports.  He liked it.  Eldon repeated that I am learning more rapidly and improving by writing down my ideas and analyzing my matches.

 

14.       I told Eldon that I had observed the principle of “playing in tandem” in matches on TV.  I asked Eldon what was the term he had originally told me.  It’s called “mirror imagining”.  As one player moves forward the other moves back and vice versa.

 

15.       I explained to Eldon how the “squeezing the racquet handle” at impact was improving for me, but that it is still very difficult in matches.  The problem for me has been that I often don’t finish my follow through after squeezing and the ball sails long on me.  I told Eldon how I had been thinking about the squeeze in terms of a “pulse” that was timed at impact with the ball.  He told me he used to say “pow”  as he squeezed at impact and then kept his follow through going to the completion of the stroke.