Notes on Three Matches
7/30/09 & 8/01/09
Chico Racquet Club

Match #1 with Sydney Thursday morning.

General Overview:

I hadn’t played Sydney for a couple of months. The score: 0-6, 1-6. It would seem that I got squashed here. But not really. I figure there were at least five deuce games and six 30-40 games.

Sydney dictated play much of the time while I never totally relaxed and was always coming from behind. I hit out quite well, though, most of the time. My serving was decent. A couple of double-faults, not bad. I moved forward fairly well when I had the chance. I didn’t finish very well there as usual.

Special Problems:

1. Eldon had told me to have in mind where I was going to return serve before the serve took place. I had trouble doing this in this match thinking I didn’t know if my opponent would hit to my forehand or backhand. I want Eldon to clarify on this aspect of returning serve.

2. I found myself waiting for some of my opponent’s shots to reach me. At the last second I often realized that I needed to move forward to get into an adequate position to strike the ball well. Consequently when I didn’t move forward soon enough, I often ended up lunging at the ball and hitting an off-balance shot that lost me the point. Sydney hits flat or sliced balls that don’t come up on the court; these balls stay low. It is imperative to get up to these balls in order to have half a chance of getting under the ball to make a decent return. The next time I play Syd I will keep this in mind and watch for this type of shot so I can move forward in time to get up to these balls. This is an area I need to improve on since I have noticed that I often wait for balls to come to me instead of aggressively moving into the court to take advantage of attacking a short ball.

Match #2 with Roger Perry Thursday evening in the Singles Night League.

General Overview:

I hadn’t played Roger since last fall. I was amazed at how little pace Roger’s shots had. But maybe one doesn’t need a lot of pace when one is as consistent as Roger at keeping the ball in play. I hit with considerably more pace than Roger, but I made the mistake of trying to end points too quickly and consequently made way too many unforced errors. That is why the score ended up at 0-6, 0-6. And a number of these games weren’t very close. I did move forward in this match, but I did so impatiently and made many mistakes. Roger does hit short balls and it is not that hard to advance to the net against him.

Special Problems:

In this match I was moving to the net incorrectly. Sometimes I would hit a deep ball and try to get to the net in one big run. This was very ineffective. I got difficult balls at my feet a couple of times and then other times I just wasn’t’ able to set my feet properly to hit a good volley when I reached the net. A better approach would be for me to make getting to net and finishing a three step process: A) Hit a deep ball and move into the court to await a short ball in return; B) Hit the short ball with attitude near the mid-court service line forcing my opponent up into the court some; C) Make a crisp volley on my opponent’s return for a winner or back at him.

I like what I’m saying in the above statement so much. I believe this is a concept Eldon has been trying to teach me for a long time. I’m getting excited here because I’m really understanding and learning here. I so much sense that. I am going through the learning process and guess what? One has to learn by doing and committing errors, many errors. So I say to myself get used to it.

When I look back at this match at times I feel embarrassed. I know people were walking by and watching. Others were peering down form the club house terrace. And I was playing in a very impatient style and making novice mistakes. But hey, why should I feel embarrassed. One has to be unafraid to take risk and it is by risk that we learn. So I’m not going to feel embarrassed very long because my desire and motivation to learn is greater.

When I wanted to get to a higher level with my Spanish I had to go through a very similar process. Many times as a beginner I was nervous and afraid of making mistakes when I spoke in Spanish, but my motivation and interest fortunately drove me forward and I wouldn’t let my nervousness stop me from trying and learning and I eventually succeeded due to my passion to acquire the language.

Match #3 with Wally Sturgis Saturday morning at the racquet club

General Overview:

I had never played Wally before. He is a good 3.5 player in his forties. He has good ground strokes that he hits with considerable pace. His serve was suspect. Our rallies only lasted four or five balls. I say his serve was suspect because that is what gave me the 2nd set at 6-3 when he double-faulted excessively. I lost the 1st set 4-6 after almost making a comeback being down 2-5. I really enjoyed playing Wally; he is a super nice guy, very gentle and good natured.

Special problems (or concerns)

Actually, the comments I have here are quite positive:

1) I worked on returning serve with a spot in mind before I received my opponent’s serve. I had questioned Eldon about this before this match and he suggested that if I had a spot picked out to return to that I wouldn’t have a problem not knowing whether the serve was going to my forehand or backhand. Just have a spot in mind and your forehand or backhand will respond accordingly, he said. Eldon was right. I was pleasantly surprised how it helped me to return more effectively. There were times when I lost my focus and didn’t make a decision before I returned and almost without fail I didn’t hit my return of service very well or as well as when I had a spot in mind. So this is something that I will focus on in every match. Know where I am going to return serve to before I receive.

2) I hit down the middle to get into more of a rhythm with my ground strokes and to see how my opponent’s ground strokes would hold up. To my pleasant surprise I found that when I did hit deep down the middle Wally would often net his return. This strategy was part of my plan going into the match and needless to say I am very happy that I truly implemented my plan and it worked! I am going to make this part of my strategy in all of my matches. I have a tendency to go for the sidelines way too early in a match. I often do this before I have really given myself a chance to find a rhythm with my ground strokes. I think this will help me to settle down in a match and become more relaxed.