Matches with Derek Culligan and Marty Kooper
2/21/09 Saturday 8:00A.M.
Chico Racquet Club
Club Champion Tournament
Eight o’clock in the morning came a little earlier than I wanted on Saturday, but that’s what time my first match was and that’s where I wanted to be, competing in the Club’s Champion Tournament at the 3.5 level. The weather was perfect, a little cool in the early morning, but warming up nicely to about 70 degrees a little later on. I had two matches: the first one with Derek Culligan, whom I had never played before, and the other one with Marty Kooper, with whom I have played numerous times.
I will say at the outset that both of these matches could have gone either way with respect to winning or losing. I ended up losing them both (2-6, 7-5, 4-6 and 3-6, 4-6) and was certainly disappointed to a certain degree especially after the first match. I got a little frustrated in that match. You know, it was one of those matches where you instinctively feel the player is not as good as you are. His strokes aren’t that well formed and he’s a little overweight, but he is a competitor and he hustles for every ball and I guess that’s what matters because eventually he won the match. In the second match with my friend, Marty, I had more fun and was considerably more relaxed probably due to the fact that I was tired from the start. Five sets back to back is a lot of tennis!
I had trouble relaxing in the first set in my match with Derek. My nerves didn’t calm down until I got into the 2nd set where I went up 3-0 before Derek started to come back. In a way I was surprised that I got that nervous. I was hitting out pretty well. I was going for my shots and scrambling well. In fact, Derek kept commenting on my court coverage in the crossovers. At times he got frustrated with well hit balls that I was able to retrieve either to stay in the point or to win the point outright.
I think Derek being a left hander threw me off somewhat from the start. I had to keep reminding myself where I wanted to serve the ball. And then as it turned out, I really didn’t think I was serving that well. My toss was all over the place and generally not high enough. My first serve percentage was low. The double-faulting wasn’t bad, though. I think I only double-faulted twice. Eventually, towards the end of the match, I remember just letting myself serve the ball anywhere. It seemed too much to keep focusing on that aspect of facing a left-hander.
Playing a left-hander definitely affected my shot selection in ground strokes. I was totally thinking more about where I wanted to direct the ball. Everything was opposite of what I’m used to doing. If given the chance Derek would smack a winner with his forehand so I tended to hit to Derek’s backhand which was definitely his weaker side. In fact, I won numerous points hitting my two-handed backhand down-the line into his backhand court.
I think the thing that disappointed me the most in this match, though, was the way I stood up on some of my shots on both wings. I think my nerves just made me too excited. I was usually there in position and prepared to hit those shots when all of a sudden at the last moment my body, instead of staying down through the shot, would rise up too soon, sending my shot long or into the net.
I think I also got somewhat frustrated with hitting my forehand long at times. I was trying to put more pop on the ball by squeezing the handle at impact. I have had success with this technique in practice, but in a match it’s not coming easily. I’m not going to stop going for it in matches, though. I want to own that shot!
In my match with Marty Kooper, even though I was tired from the start, I hit out well and scrambled for good court coverage. I had success moving Marty around the court. I hit the ball in the corners, brought him to the net with short balls in order to pass him, moved forward to take short balls and got to the net and sometimes took advantage of his weak second serve. I set up a lot of points really well. I just didn’t always execute the finish to win the point. A lot of our games went to deuce and as I mentioned earlier this match certainly could have been mine.
As I left the court after losing my second match, I was feeling a little discouraged, but fortunately I was able to talk to Eldon, who had seen some of my match with Marty. Eldon was pleased with what he saw:
1. My shot selection was improved.
2. I was setting up points effectively.
3. I was hitting through my shots which I wasn’t doing two months ago.
4. I was loading up well on my backhand strokes.
5. My energy level was high.
6. Even though I was losing, I was carrying myself like I was winning.
Upon hearing Eldon’s observations, I felt totally different; the discouragement was gone. I was so glad that Eldon had taken the time to communicate his thoughts to me. I walked away realizing that I am making progress and that these match losses are just a part of the process of learning to play the game.