Goodbye 2011 Season

Well, the season is over for 2011. Another year down and I'm still rated 4.0. To be fair, I have played better this year than last. I have won more matches, competed better and yet I still feel that I haven't achieved my goal.

But what was my goal?

Truth is - I didn't really have one. I guess I wanted to get bumped to 4.5, I also wanted to win tournaments and I wanted to qualify for the end of season Grand Prix.

This season saw a number of new faces and a lot of activity in tournaments. Draws were deep with players seeking points for the Grand Prix which made qualification a struggle towards the season end.

Thankfully, I made the cut albeit through players above me withdrawing. Not the way I would have liked to qualify but I made it all the same.

So, for the new season it's going to change. There will be a single focus that's maintained through the year and that is to finish the season ranked as high as possible. In turn, that will lead hopefully to securing promotion to the 4.5s.

Looking forward to the new season my friends!!

Ocean? What ocean?

...Happy times were spent here previously.
Despite the slow start with damp courts. The day turned out to be beautiful.

A solid win at 6-2, 6-1 capped off a great start to the season.

Looking forward to a quater final tomorrow.

2011 tournament season begins...

...This years events begin at the site of previously good results.

Let's hope this year starts on a positive note...

And then it was no more...

So all good things must come to an end but there will be many good memories that will endure from this trip, not least of which is the tennis.




It has been a whirlwind week of thousands of balls, aching muscles, tired legs and cold mornings but I would definitely come back.

Thanks to Patti for inviting me!


Here are a few parting images as I sign off from Saddlebrook.

Day five: Horse men of Rohan

OK, no horse men at all, just some part time coach who showed up today to put us through our paces. Rohan had some great strokes - we saw him demonstrate the service return at the start of the session and he had an awesome forehand. The one handed backhand was rockin' too. Anyway, on to today's lesson.

The day started out with some steady hitting - down the line then cross court. The theme for the day was 'repetition'! We hit lots of balls. Lots of drills, all aimed at grooving our shots.

The tips from today started to sound familiar from previous days. Stay lower on ground strokes and volleys. Turn shoulders into volleys. Don't change the direction of the ball too early in rallies.

One new tip was on the serve - throw the ball straight up above the head. Currently, I'm tossing the ball too far out to the right. In addition, I need to raise both my arms at the same time to achieve the trophy position a little earlier.

Here is a little footage of a few serves I hit at the end of the session.

Day four: Rest Day....

Well, technically it wasn't actually a rest day but compared to the previous two days, it sure felt like it! We had another member to our little group today, Barret. We also had a new coach - John. It was a day more focused on playing point games and drills. We spent more time going through the rules of games than playing them or just chatting in general but a couple of tips that I did pick up:

Forehand:

1. When hitting open stance, keep the right foot (back foot) behind the left to be able to load up on the back foot and drive through the ball.
2. Keep the center of gravity low - keep the knees bent and drive through the ball.

Backhand:

1. Release the back leg after hitting - the left leg side should turn into the court after contact.

Volley:

1. Keep the center of gravity low - bend those legs!!
2. Split step on contact and move towards the ball.
3. When playing dubs, move left and right based on the ball position in the opponents court.
4. Turn sideways at point of contact and move forward to the ball.
5. Shorter swings and punch the ball.

Point Play:

1. Keep hitting in line with the ball until there is an opening for a change of direction.
2. Don't pull the trigger too early - stay relaxed and hit rally balls.
   

Day three: Shawn McGee...

The day started out wet, very wet! We were on standby to play due to persistent rain but after a couple of hours, the courts were dry enough to hit. We were down to 2 people today so we had Shawn all to ourselves. We went straight into some baseline exchanges and picked up on an issue with the backhand. We went onto volley drills, overheads and serves. Here are the key notes from each drill.

Backhand key notes:

1. Plant the leading leg heal first then transfer weight onto toe.
2. Keep the weight going forward through the point of contact.
3. Make the swing go around the plane of the ball, not in line with the ball.
4. Extend the tip of the racquet towards the target after making contact.
   

Volley key notes:

1. Keep the nose level with the head of the racquet and watch the ball onto the strings.
2. Push the head of the racquet through the line of the ball.

Overhead key notes:

1. Get in the trophy position ASAP.
   
2. Hold the left hand open and watch the ball into the hand.
3. Hit the ball at the maximum height.
4. Snap the wrist at point of contact.

Serve key notes:

1. Take both arms up at the same time.
2. Open the racquet face earlier on take back.
3. Bend knees and extend when ball is at high point.
4. Accelerate racquet through point of contact.
5. Snap wrist at point of contact.

Day two with James Blake

Sadly, we were only watch James Blake but it was good to see a top pro in action. Many people think we have seen the best from James already but he can still hit a great ball and you can always learn a thing or two from watching the pros in real time. That was our lunch time entertainment so lets start at the beginning....

After an early night last night, the 6.20am alarm call still seemed too early. I wasn't too tired from the previous days activities but the body was certainly a little banged up. We had bought some provisions yesterday so as to avoid running up unnecessary food expenses. I cooked up a sausage scramble to get us on the way and that did the trick. At the courts again by 7.50am for the routine stretching session. This is something I have enjoyed as I think it's something that is vital if we are to stay injury free with all this hitting.



Today's players board had the same pairings as yesterday except that Patti, Karl and I would be working with Shawn McGee today. Shawn seemed to be a little more intense than Evan and so it would prove to be the case. We started out with some down the line ground strokes followed by cross courts.

The first drill had two people on the baseline one on forehand side, the other person on the backhand side. The third person was on other side of the net hitting forehands. The idea was to was alternate cross court and down the line forehands to learn how to change the direction of the ball. This proved to be an easy drill on the forehand side but really tough on the backhand side. We followed with some intense work on the backhand side which proved really helpful.

We then followed with point play but the point only began when the single player was able to hit a corner, then the ball was in play. First t0 15. sounds simple but someone went through around 200 balls before we reached a count of 15!!

We finished the session with a drop shot recovery drill. We started at the baseline and had to run down 6 drop shots, running backwards to the baseline between each attempt. We had to reach the drop shot and get it in play on the other side of the net for it to count. After nearly 3 hours of tennis, this was a brutal exercise.


For lunch, we took some time to go watch James Blake hit some balls. He practices each weekday from 10-12 then from 1-3 in the gym. Not a bad life really but I wasn't a fan of his silver Porsche. Come on James - you can do better than that!?

The afternoon session started with a similar drill from the morning, with one person hitting volleys from the down the line, the other person cross court forehands. The third person was alternating down the line and cross court feeds. The idea of the drill is the different timing from hitting a ball from someone at net compared to the baseline as well as the change of direction.

We followed with some volley drills - really working on movement and consistency. Then it was some quick service practice then some points. Phew, what a day......

That's a wrap for day one...

So day one is officially in the books. We started at the Tropics restaurant for breakfast at 6.30am. There wasn't that much on offer really and a trip to the grocery store later will be a better for tomorrow's morning feast. Still, we stocked up with bagels, fruit and a couple of pastries.

The activities began at 7.50am with a jog around the cluster of courts used for our group which is cluster #3, just above the main pool.

Our apartment is a 2min walk from the courts, pool and the spa - cash bonus!

After the stretch which followed the jog, the groups were divided based on ability level that had been determined before the session began. There were 3 of us in the only advanced group which turned out to be the perfect number. Fewer would have been too little rest between feeds and one extra (4:1 being the max student to coach ratio) would have been too much rest and not enough hitting. We worked through the morning with a series of hitting drills that focused on ground strokes, forehand then backhand, with cross court, down the line and inside out all having a focus. Then it was on the approach shots and volleys, then overheads. Next we worked through a number of drills for shot consistency, then service returns before ending the session by playing out a few points. The was our morning done.

We headed back for a quick lunch in our 2 hour break before heading back to the courts. The courts that we are playing on are the American green clay which is much easier on the body and a welcome break from the hard courts.

The afternoon session was focused on cycles - approach shot, volley, overhead. Or inside out forehand, forehand down the line, backhand drop shot pick up. There was always a focus to the drill which seemed to progress as the session developed. We then worked on serves and played out a few games aimed at either holding serve or trying to break the opponent. The winning server moving to returns, the returner stays put and the 3rd rotating in on serve until someone switches to returns. We finished with a set of doubles.

Now it's time for the jacuzzi and I'm ready for it.......until tomorrow, peace.

Hot tub...

....I think so!

Not just tennis

Will be checking the water sports out later...

Racquets

Freshly strung, new grip applied - let's get it ooowwwwnnnnnn!

We arrived....

...finally made it and looking forward to hitting the courts in the morning.