Tennis: Eglinton Flats Mens C
On a whim, I decided last week to enter an OTA-sanctioned tennis tournament. After a few e-mails, the kindly OTA person sent me my player number by e-mail a few hours before the tournament entry deadline. Great! I signed up. Then came the realization: now what? I hadn't actually played tennis this year, and only a handful of times last year. The last time I played an OTA sanctioned tourny was about 15 years ago.
Ebay to the rescue! I managed to get a great deal on a tennis ball-machine. I'd been thinking that I'd like to do some robotics, and had been considering building a ball machine. When I returned from bizarro land I realized that it would be more efficient to buy one instead. I don't rule out building one for fun, or modding this one, though!
It turned out that the manufacturer's in Toronto, and I didn't need to ship the item from New York. I picked it up on Monday, and they even gave me a new machine instead of the refurbished demo model I expected. Sweet!
So, I spent 1-2 hours each day, from Monday to Thursday, training. I was trying to get in some kind of shape without injuring myself. Ball machines are great for developing one's technique. Most people just rally with an opponent, but you hit like 3 shots and then it's into the net. That's a very slow way to improve.
On Wednesday night, I checked the draw to see who I'd be playing. Some dude named Rumi Meierhofer. Hmm. Looks like he's ranked #10 in Ontario ... oh wait that would be #6 after winning the last class C tourny. Ouch!
So what happened? Well he beat me 6-1, 6-2, but I think we had a good match. I wasn't sure what the level of competition would be. I was worried that I'd show up and just be completely out of my league, but it looks like class C is a good fit. It's supposedly for players with an NTRP rating of 3.5 and below. That said, a lot of the guys who would get knocked out in the first round of a class A tend to play C, since there are hardly any B tournaments in the schedule. You end up with 4.5-5.0's in the draw. I'm about a 4.0.
What went right?
Heavy topspin, deep forehands. I didn't always have tremendous pace on these, but they were landing deep enough to keep my opponent back. I've gotten more consistent than I used to be with these.
Half-volley to return serves on backhand. I was trying to go for topsin at first, but this side's weaker for me. I switched to half-volleys and was able to get nice depth to retain initiative.
Topspin serve. I've been practising these this week, and they're more consistent than my old style. With enough spin, anything'll go in. I used to go more for fast flat serves, but unless I was grooved, these were horribly unreliable. It's nice to know that my 2nd serve will go in.
What went wrong?
Consistency. In class C, my opponents are still going to be making unforced errors. If I can just be a bit more consistent, I can get more of these points. I'd win a lot more points if I could just last on average 1 more shot in a rally.
Double faults. I still had about 3 double-faults. One of these on set-point for this first set. This is actually low for me, but it still needs to come down. I wasn't trying for huge serves; I didn't serve a single ace, so there's no reason for faults.
I missed 4-5 easy balls that were short and high to my forehand. These were gimmees -- the kind where I seemed to have all the time in the world to consider where I wanted to put the shot -- I'd crank up and hit them out, or in the net. I need to incorporate these kind of rally finishers into my training. I've been practising entirely from the baseline. These could have been very decisive.
Approach shots. I can't seem to decide whether I'm a serve and volleyer, or a baseline player. I've got fast reflexes at the net and often surprise myself at what I'm able to return. The problem was I couldn't get in to the net. I'd get stranded in no-mans-land halfway in, in that uncomfortable position where I know I'm dead, and he know's I'm dead and he's just taking his time deciding which way to pass me. I need to train to approach only after a strong, deep shot.
Conditioning. Most days I drive a desk, and it shows. I sprinted to get a drop shot and felt something in my right-upper quadriceps go *boing*! It doesn't seem like a serious sprain, but I was tentative about really sprinting for the rest of the match. I'll rest and ice and ibuprofen it into submission. Conditioning takes time, and the first priority is to avoid injury.
All in all, I had a great time. I love competitive tennis! Somewhere in all the programming and computer-game playing I'd forgotten this. I think that by the end of the season I could win a tournament. We'll see.
Ebay to the rescue! I managed to get a great deal on a tennis ball-machine. I'd been thinking that I'd like to do some robotics, and had been considering building a ball machine. When I returned from bizarro land I realized that it would be more efficient to buy one instead. I don't rule out building one for fun, or modding this one, though!
It turned out that the manufacturer's in Toronto, and I didn't need to ship the item from New York. I picked it up on Monday, and they even gave me a new machine instead of the refurbished demo model I expected. Sweet!
So, I spent 1-2 hours each day, from Monday to Thursday, training. I was trying to get in some kind of shape without injuring myself. Ball machines are great for developing one's technique. Most people just rally with an opponent, but you hit like 3 shots and then it's into the net. That's a very slow way to improve.
On Wednesday night, I checked the draw to see who I'd be playing. Some dude named Rumi Meierhofer. Hmm. Looks like he's ranked #10 in Ontario ... oh wait that would be #6 after winning the last class C tourny. Ouch!
So what happened? Well he beat me 6-1, 6-2, but I think we had a good match. I wasn't sure what the level of competition would be. I was worried that I'd show up and just be completely out of my league, but it looks like class C is a good fit. It's supposedly for players with an NTRP rating of 3.5 and below. That said, a lot of the guys who would get knocked out in the first round of a class A tend to play C, since there are hardly any B tournaments in the schedule. You end up with 4.5-5.0's in the draw. I'm about a 4.0.
What went right?
Heavy topspin, deep forehands. I didn't always have tremendous pace on these, but they were landing deep enough to keep my opponent back. I've gotten more consistent than I used to be with these.
Half-volley to return serves on backhand. I was trying to go for topsin at first, but this side's weaker for me. I switched to half-volleys and was able to get nice depth to retain initiative.
Topspin serve. I've been practising these this week, and they're more consistent than my old style. With enough spin, anything'll go in. I used to go more for fast flat serves, but unless I was grooved, these were horribly unreliable. It's nice to know that my 2nd serve will go in.
What went wrong?
Consistency. In class C, my opponents are still going to be making unforced errors. If I can just be a bit more consistent, I can get more of these points. I'd win a lot more points if I could just last on average 1 more shot in a rally.
Double faults. I still had about 3 double-faults. One of these on set-point for this first set. This is actually low for me, but it still needs to come down. I wasn't trying for huge serves; I didn't serve a single ace, so there's no reason for faults.
I missed 4-5 easy balls that were short and high to my forehand. These were gimmees -- the kind where I seemed to have all the time in the world to consider where I wanted to put the shot -- I'd crank up and hit them out, or in the net. I need to incorporate these kind of rally finishers into my training. I've been practising entirely from the baseline. These could have been very decisive.
Approach shots. I can't seem to decide whether I'm a serve and volleyer, or a baseline player. I've got fast reflexes at the net and often surprise myself at what I'm able to return. The problem was I couldn't get in to the net. I'd get stranded in no-mans-land halfway in, in that uncomfortable position where I know I'm dead, and he know's I'm dead and he's just taking his time deciding which way to pass me. I need to train to approach only after a strong, deep shot.
Conditioning. Most days I drive a desk, and it shows. I sprinted to get a drop shot and felt something in my right-upper quadriceps go *boing*! It doesn't seem like a serious sprain, but I was tentative about really sprinting for the rest of the match. I'll rest and ice and ibuprofen it into submission. Conditioning takes time, and the first priority is to avoid injury.
All in all, I had a great time. I love competitive tennis! Somewhere in all the programming and computer-game playing I'd forgotten this. I think that by the end of the season I could win a tournament. We'll see.
posted by Jaba Adams at 11:46 PM
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