2nd Match with Matt Dorsey
1/14/09 Wednesday—-3:00pm
Chico State University courts
Score: 2-6, 2-6
Matt and I took about 30 minutes to have a complete warm-up before we began our match. We started up close to the net lightly stroking the ball back and forth. We gradually moved back to hit full ground strokes and then moved back up to the net to take volleys and overheads. We hit a few more ground strokes going all out with spin and pace and then finally decided to take a few serves before beginning the 1st set.
I had played tennis previously this day for about two and a half hours in the morning and done some yard work so I was a little tired, but not a lot. It was somewhat smoky this Wednesday. I mean you could smell it in the air but you couldn’t see it.
One of the main things I walked away thinking about from this match was my footwork. It felt awkward. It was puzzling because I’m not sure what was going on to make that happen. My suspicion is that I wasn’t really taking balls where I wanted them a lot of the time. So the question is: was this due to Matt and his ball placement (deep balls — short balls) or me not getting into the proper position to strike the ball well? It was probably some of both. Anyways, it was somewhat frustrating. What I recognize here, though, is that footwork is so key to all tennis strokes; it is the foundation of the stroke. And when that foundation is set, you have at least half a chance to get the shot right. Without it, your chances are much less.
Something related to my footwork was the idea of staying down with knees bent on my backhand throughout the shot. My awareness and correction of this mechanical fault in my stroke is starting to take hold. I only stood up on the stroke twice in the two sets Matt and I played. (I must say, though, I was a little disappointed in the way I struck some of my backhands even though I did stay down throughout the shot. On the other hand, I was pleased that I did make a couple of my backhand strokes skid and penetrate in such a fashion to upset Matt’s timing and return shot.
In general, I was pleased that I hit out throughout both sets on both sides. I believe some of my shots especially on the forehand side must have had fairly good pace on them because Matt’s returns flew long various times throughout the match. I feel relatively relaxed when I play Matt. He and I don’t hold back. We both were going for our shots. I felt quite good about hitting hard. I enjoy this. I hope I can get to a point where this becomes second nature to hit out hard trying to put pace on the ball and compress it when it’s appropriate in a match.
I also felt that I was moving into the court fairly well. I did get up to the net when I had the opportunity. I lobbed effectively from midcourt a couple of times, too. On one particular play I lobbed from the baseline, saw that Matt was in trouble and raced to the net. As he turned around to try to return my deep lob he saw me standing on top of the net and freaked, hitting his return into the net. That one put a smile on my face as I walked back to the baseline for the next point. (I think I even astounded myself by racing up to the net to take my opponent by surprise like that.)
Another positive thing for me in this match was my serve. I am getting more and more confident in it. I would say that I put my first serve in about 60% of the time. I was very pleased with my spin 2nd serve. I am getting some good action on both my 1st and 2nd serves due to my deeper knee bend. The ball is landing and coming up nicely in the service court with good movement. My opponent is having to watch the ball closely. I didn’t hit my kick serve that much in this match. I think I double-faulted maybe twice and it was with the kick. I’m realizing that I need to swing hard on that serve. When I don’t swing hard, it doesn’t go in but catches the net. I just need to have faith that it is going to go in and swing as hard as I do on my other serves. Forget the fact that it is often an ad point!
My opponent, Matt, played quite well today. He says he doesn’t know that much about strategy, but I’m not really sure that’s the case or maybe it’s just that he reacts instinctively really well. He took advantage of nearly any ball I hit in the donut hole and he almost always came up on any short ball in order to try to win the point at net. I think Matt knows something about strategy!
So why did I lose this match by the score of 2-6, 2-6? I would have to point to my return of serve as the biggest factor. I wasn’t returning his serve well, 1st or 2nd. I was hitting a lot of weak returns with nothing on them and Matt took advantage by dictating the point with high paced balls. Essentially, I had no forward momentum at contact with the ball. I wasn’t stepping into my shot in order to put any pace on my ball. This gave Matt the luxury of doing whatever he wanted with his return shots always putting me on the defensive. If the return of serve is the 2nd most important stroke behind the serve I think Eldon and I really need to spend more time on that because that one factor probably lost me this match.
Another factor in my loss, though, could very well have been the deuce games because we had many. I just couldn’t seem to turn the corner here. I remember having had the ad numerous times and just couldn’t win that point to win the game. Very frustrating! I need to learn some strategy in this area!
I would say the last factor in my loss was the donut hole. Too many balls in the donut hole! Matt appropriately took advantage of those balls I put there for him to serve up winners or at the least put me on the defensive.
So in a nut shell that’s my commentary for this match. The only other thing I think I might add is that I need to watch my opponent’s reaction to my shots more closely. I notice that with lesser players I do this easily. It is with better players that I seem to lose this aspect of my game. Hopefully my awareness of this situation will help me to improve in my future matches!