Climbing Back Up The Mountain

Sets 145-146 (of 365):

Stuart vs. D. at Connally High. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 6-2

My Mojo: Cautiously Optimistic

I am starting to get my game back. I am still not completely there, as I feel I am making a few more errors than usual. But this is also giving me an opportunity to readjust my form a little too, and I think my game will come out at a little higher level when the dust settles.

The first set was tough. We were pretty even in points and games for the first eight games, and after we got to 4-4, I won the next two games to win the set. None of the games in the first set seemed really easy to me and the whole set was a struggle. But this was the first match since my injury that I felt my performance improved throughout the match rather than having deflated as play went on. I feel encouraged by that.

In the second set, my play cleared up a little more, and I started feeling like my shots were giving me strategic advantages more often. My arm was moving smoothly and my footwork was not tremendous, but was getting the job done. I was hitting good, fluid backhands with great timing, excellent directional control and decent topspin, which is usually not something I have a history of doing consistently. I was also working in my new serve more, especially with a kick movement that I still am not getting in the box very often, but it worked a couple of times. With a little more practice I think I can make this a pretty high-percentage offensive shot. I still need to work some more to get back to where I need to be because against a better player, I think I would have more apparent weaknesses.