10th Match with Marty
4/25/09 Saturday 10:00A.M.
Chico Racquet Club – 20th St. Courts
Score: 1-6, 3-6, 3-6
While I left the courts feeling a little disappointed, by the time I got home I didn’t feel so bad. Overall, I have to say that my performance was really much more positive than negative.
The positive is that I constructed so many points well. The negative is that I didn’t execute the finish on many of those points. I must have made it to the net at least 30 to 35 times in the three sets Marty and I played. This is one reason I like playing Marty. His style of play allows me to experiment with different shot selections. I feel I can be creative with what his game gives me. Sometimes it’s frustrating not being able to finish those points I have set up, but on the other hand, I know I have to learn to finish some way and at least I’m getting that opportunity to work on it with Marty in match play.
One of the most interesting things about this match to me is the idea that the outcome may well have been shaped primarily by psychological twists.
Somewhere in the first half of the match I had won a series of points that I had constructed when I went in for a finishing volley at the net which I missed two feet wide. Missing that volley could have been a turning point. The aggressive play I was exhibiting was sending a message of dominance to my opponent. If I had finished that point at the net, I sensed that Marty would have caved psychologically and given me the rest of the match. But, I didn’t finish and no turning point took place. The positive here: I noticed the potential for a turning point!
Another psychological twist was the fact that we started our match at the club, but then got bumped off the court due to USTA matches and an hour playing limitation with club members waiting.
Marty and I had to drive over to the municipal courts to finish our match! That definitely put a kink in my game by having to adapt to different surroundings. I noticed that I lost a lot of my focus and concentration in the match. I got distracted by nearby players and two people who were sitting on a court-side bench nearby talking throughout our match. In the third set I was up 3-0 when I lost concentration and totally miss hit numerous ground strokes to roll over for Marty, losing 6 straight games and the last set, 3-6.
So in a nutshell, those are the significant things that happened in this match.
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