Sets 304-305:
Stuart v. S. at Westlake High. Winner: Stuart. 6-3,6-2.
My Mojo: Steady And Solid, With Almost A Dream-Like Calm
Mmmm...I can hear the brown rice bubbling in the background. I don't know why, but I was craving brown rice and vegetables on the way home from this match. So I fired up the rice cooker.
I almost thought I would be late for this match. I spent almost twenty minutes traversing one particular mile on the way there. Luckily traffic opened up like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon and sped me right to my destination.
This was the first time I had played S. She was new to town, and said she hadn't played since April. I could see her playing a little bit loosely toward the beginning, then tightening it up a bit to become more precise, then toward the end, we were both playing intense-heat-tennis, that is, just doing what it takes to try to get the ball over.
I felt really peaceful and centered throughout this match. There was none of the agitation that sometimes hits me and turns my mental state into gelatinous goop. Occasionally, I did let out a little yelp when I misjudged a shot, but none of them were really angry; I was just trying to get the little bit of extra oomph that would get me to the shot. My serves were solid and sometimes drifted into outstanding. My groundstrokes were getting the job done, and I felt like I had a slight advantage in long rallies, though I did lose some. And even though the score was a bit lopsided, many of the games were closer than the score reflected.
The placid state I was in almost bordered on hallucination when the heat funk really started blasting in the second set. Not in a bad way, though, I was still pretty centered and solid. I played my usual game well; that is, there were not a lot of big forehands or winning blaster shots, but I played a good positional game and shifted into defense easily when it suited the situation. In both sets we started off close, than I took the lead at the end.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Slow Going Towards My Goal
Set 303:
Stuart Vs. Y. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 4-2 (retired).
My Mojo: A Couple Of Shades Above Average.
Dang, another retirement. I haven't been able to play much lately, since it's been raining alternating with heat-that-makes-people-not-want-to-play-weather. And these conditions are probably why nobody's been responding when I ask people if they want to play. I guess they're afraid that it will either be too hot, or it'll get rained out.
I felt like nothing out of the ordinary was going on with my play today, but it was solid enough. My serve was mostly good but fading at times, and my anticipation was decent. One thing that I really had going for me that I usually don't get was my ability to pull my opponent wide and then hit blazing angle shots to his blind shot. Usually people do that to me more than I do it to them, but today I was mostly the protagonist.
As I got to playing better, my opponent was fading. Maybe I was making him run a little more than he was used to, because i was getting pretty good court coverage with my shots. It was pretty darn humid, which made it feel hotter. I think it was only in the eighties, but both of our shirts were soaked after just a couple of games. On one early changeover, I wiped off all the sweat, took a drink of water, and then was covered with sweat again!
He looked like he was having a difficult time recovering during the changeovers, but I was kind of surprised when he retired. I didn't know he was feeling that badly, and his outward cues didn't reflect any major problems. But right after retiring, he went over into the grass and leaned his head over like he was going to throw up. I asked him if he was all right, and he indicated that he was OK, but he took a minute to recover. I packed my stuff slowly to make sure that he wasn't passing out, and left when I saw him gather enough strength to get his stuff together.
Stuart Vs. Y. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 4-2 (retired).
My Mojo: A Couple Of Shades Above Average.
Dang, another retirement. I haven't been able to play much lately, since it's been raining alternating with heat-that-makes-people-not-want-to-play-weather. And these conditions are probably why nobody's been responding when I ask people if they want to play. I guess they're afraid that it will either be too hot, or it'll get rained out.
I felt like nothing out of the ordinary was going on with my play today, but it was solid enough. My serve was mostly good but fading at times, and my anticipation was decent. One thing that I really had going for me that I usually don't get was my ability to pull my opponent wide and then hit blazing angle shots to his blind shot. Usually people do that to me more than I do it to them, but today I was mostly the protagonist.
As I got to playing better, my opponent was fading. Maybe I was making him run a little more than he was used to, because i was getting pretty good court coverage with my shots. It was pretty darn humid, which made it feel hotter. I think it was only in the eighties, but both of our shirts were soaked after just a couple of games. On one early changeover, I wiped off all the sweat, took a drink of water, and then was covered with sweat again!
He looked like he was having a difficult time recovering during the changeovers, but I was kind of surprised when he retired. I didn't know he was feeling that badly, and his outward cues didn't reflect any major problems. But right after retiring, he went over into the grass and leaned his head over like he was going to throw up. I asked him if he was all right, and he indicated that he was OK, but he took a minute to recover. I packed my stuff slowly to make sure that he wasn't passing out, and left when I saw him gather enough strength to get his stuff together.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Crossing A Bad Line
Sets 301-302:
Stuart v. D. at Caswell. Winner: D. 6-4, 6-0.
My Mojo: Starting Strong, Quick Deterioration.
I was really feeling good when I started this match. At the beginning, I was playing really well, and I was really happy with the amount of offensive play I was getting in. At first, we were trading leads. I won the first game, feeling like it was fairly easy. Then he won the next two games, and I was down 2-1. Then I picked up the next two, and was up 3-2. Then he took the next couple, and I was down 4-3. During the changeover, he asked me if I was seeing a pattern. I agreed.
I had been happy with my play, and chalked up my losses to nothing big; I just failed to correct a few times and I thought that I could easily adjust. But I didn't win any more games after this. It was like I just suddenly crossed a bad line. All of a sudden, I was not anticipating well enough to get to the balls early enough, and he was taking control of the points almost all of the time. I was also taking longer than usual to recover on the crossovers; probably it was because of the heat. He seemed to be having the same problem but was handling it better. I was trying to get good shots in so I wouldn't have to run so far, but my shots were all backfiring on me. He was hitting with really good topspin, and stayed consistent even though his shots were not terribly hard. And I was watching his form, which was very good. He was doing a good job of taking the offense, closing in, and closing the deal. I was being pulled to corners and then failing to properly recover, and then he would hit the predictable angle shot to the area of the court I couldn't get to. I was seeing this happen over and over, and still I was unable to do anything about it. I kept telling myself that I need to hit hard shots near the baseline, and then watching my returns come back weak too often from just barely getting to the ball in time to hit it, and then just barely returning it without the ability to control it. Toward the end, I felt like there was just about nothing I could do. And my serve, which had been in and out for the first six games, just checked out and went on vacation. At least I wasn't double-faulting a lot. I was getting my serves in the box, but not hitting them with enough pizazz to rumble on the points I served.
Though the score in the second set was lopsided, many of the games were close. I wasn't completely gazorched, but I was failing to get an edge, and that made the difference. Several games I was up forty-love or forty-fifteen, and he came back and won the game. This ate away at my mental state, and though I wasn't in a state of fury, I was mildly to moderately disgusted with my play. I was probably a little harder on myself than I should have been, because he was playing well and not making too many errors, and using great strategy.
I've now crossed the "300" line, so I'm pretty far ahead on the way to my goal, even though I'll take some time off for a vacation soon. I have been slowing down on how often I've been playing, but when I do play, I have gotten in a lot of sets with many of my opponents. I haven't been as aggressive as I was a few months ago on looking for opponents, but I'm also getting a higher number of people either turn me down (always the reason is "too busy right now") or just not respond. It must be the summer heat, I'm guessing. Afternoon matches are getting to me sometimes (today was no picnic, and part of the collapse in my playing quality was probably heat-related). But I'm definitely on track. I think I'll have met my goal but the end of October, which will make it within a year even though I started early, having started playing last November. I just hope that I can stay healthy and avoid severe injuries. Once I have met my goal, I think I'll try for 365 from the first of last January until the next first of January, which will add another 34 sets. Then I'll slow down on the number of matches I'm playing, try to get on the ball machine more, and try to get more lessons and drills in the mix. And I think I'll find something else to obsess on for a year and start another blog with some goal. I'll keep this one going; I'm definitely not going to quit.
Stuart v. D. at Caswell. Winner: D. 6-4, 6-0.
My Mojo: Starting Strong, Quick Deterioration.
I was really feeling good when I started this match. At the beginning, I was playing really well, and I was really happy with the amount of offensive play I was getting in. At first, we were trading leads. I won the first game, feeling like it was fairly easy. Then he won the next two games, and I was down 2-1. Then I picked up the next two, and was up 3-2. Then he took the next couple, and I was down 4-3. During the changeover, he asked me if I was seeing a pattern. I agreed.
I had been happy with my play, and chalked up my losses to nothing big; I just failed to correct a few times and I thought that I could easily adjust. But I didn't win any more games after this. It was like I just suddenly crossed a bad line. All of a sudden, I was not anticipating well enough to get to the balls early enough, and he was taking control of the points almost all of the time. I was also taking longer than usual to recover on the crossovers; probably it was because of the heat. He seemed to be having the same problem but was handling it better. I was trying to get good shots in so I wouldn't have to run so far, but my shots were all backfiring on me. He was hitting with really good topspin, and stayed consistent even though his shots were not terribly hard. And I was watching his form, which was very good. He was doing a good job of taking the offense, closing in, and closing the deal. I was being pulled to corners and then failing to properly recover, and then he would hit the predictable angle shot to the area of the court I couldn't get to. I was seeing this happen over and over, and still I was unable to do anything about it. I kept telling myself that I need to hit hard shots near the baseline, and then watching my returns come back weak too often from just barely getting to the ball in time to hit it, and then just barely returning it without the ability to control it. Toward the end, I felt like there was just about nothing I could do. And my serve, which had been in and out for the first six games, just checked out and went on vacation. At least I wasn't double-faulting a lot. I was getting my serves in the box, but not hitting them with enough pizazz to rumble on the points I served.
Though the score in the second set was lopsided, many of the games were close. I wasn't completely gazorched, but I was failing to get an edge, and that made the difference. Several games I was up forty-love or forty-fifteen, and he came back and won the game. This ate away at my mental state, and though I wasn't in a state of fury, I was mildly to moderately disgusted with my play. I was probably a little harder on myself than I should have been, because he was playing well and not making too many errors, and using great strategy.
I've now crossed the "300" line, so I'm pretty far ahead on the way to my goal, even though I'll take some time off for a vacation soon. I have been slowing down on how often I've been playing, but when I do play, I have gotten in a lot of sets with many of my opponents. I haven't been as aggressive as I was a few months ago on looking for opponents, but I'm also getting a higher number of people either turn me down (always the reason is "too busy right now") or just not respond. It must be the summer heat, I'm guessing. Afternoon matches are getting to me sometimes (today was no picnic, and part of the collapse in my playing quality was probably heat-related). But I'm definitely on track. I think I'll have met my goal but the end of October, which will make it within a year even though I started early, having started playing last November. I just hope that I can stay healthy and avoid severe injuries. Once I have met my goal, I think I'll try for 365 from the first of last January until the next first of January, which will add another 34 sets. Then I'll slow down on the number of matches I'm playing, try to get on the ball machine more, and try to get more lessons and drills in the mix. And I think I'll find something else to obsess on for a year and start another blog with some goal. I'll keep this one going; I'm definitely not going to quit.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
A Marathon Match
Sets 296-300:
Stuart v. P at Perry Park. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
My Mojo: Enough To Do The Job.
This was a marathon match. We played for nearly three hours, but luckily, the points didn't go long most of the time; if they had, there probably would have been no way we could have played five sets. We were playing a game that cut off the points quickly, either in my favor or his, but I was the beneficiary of most of the treasure.
Most of the play was pretty straightforward. I managed to pull him out of position a lot and then shoot bullets to unprotected areas of the court. In most of the sets, he got in one or two games where he took the lead, but I was pretty confident in my ability to win. It wasn't that my play was superb or brilliant, it was more that I just managed to hit one more ball into the court than he did. And we both were holding up well enough to agree to more sets. It's been a while since I played five sets.
By the time it ended, I probably could have even played more, but he said that the set ended just in time, because he had pulled a calf muscle. It must not have been too bad (at least not crippling), because he was walking OK back to his car, but I know how it feels to have an injury that makes you stop playing.
Stuart v. P at Perry Park. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
My Mojo: Enough To Do The Job.
This was a marathon match. We played for nearly three hours, but luckily, the points didn't go long most of the time; if they had, there probably would have been no way we could have played five sets. We were playing a game that cut off the points quickly, either in my favor or his, but I was the beneficiary of most of the treasure.
Most of the play was pretty straightforward. I managed to pull him out of position a lot and then shoot bullets to unprotected areas of the court. In most of the sets, he got in one or two games where he took the lead, but I was pretty confident in my ability to win. It wasn't that my play was superb or brilliant, it was more that I just managed to hit one more ball into the court than he did. And we both were holding up well enough to agree to more sets. It's been a while since I played five sets.
By the time it ended, I probably could have even played more, but he said that the set ended just in time, because he had pulled a calf muscle. It must not have been too bad (at least not crippling), because he was walking OK back to his car, but I know how it feels to have an injury that makes you stop playing.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Man, I Just Can't Get Anything Going...
Sets 292-295:
Stuart v. S. at His Apts. Winner: S. 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
My Mojo: Up Against An Impenetrable Wall
I came to this match ready to play some of the best tennis I've ever played. I mean, I knew I would have to really bring something to the table to beat S. He is one of the toughest players I play and I've only beaten him once. Not only would I have to play at a pretty high level, but I would have to be innovating as well. That's a tough bar to jump over.
So I started off playing really well. I was not unsatisfied with my level of play, but he seemed to be playing absolutely flawlessly. His play has been going well for him lately, as he has recently rocketed to near the top of the ladder, while I've been going up too, but at a slower rate.
In the first two sets, my serve was occasionally on fire, but I could not get the blazing-hot serves in consistently. My groundstrokes were doing better than usual, but I felt like at least 25% of the time that I hit a shot over, he did something with it that I had no chance of getting a response to. And I had a very small percentage of offensive plays, but when I did get them, I managed to hold on for a good number of those points. Even though the score was lopsided in the first two sets, we didn't have a huge number of blowout games where I got skunked and didn't get any points in. So I was about as satisfied as you can be when you're losing.
In the third set, I started surging forward a little, but was still coming up against an impenetrable wall. I think this was the set in which we both played the best. There were very few errors in this set, but when they were there, I made more than he did. Also, in this set, I didn't get back as many weak returns as I had in first two sets, although I had a few.
The fourth set was where I surged forward; at least, I did so at first. And he was starting to get a little tired. He made a comment that this was the set he was there for. My serve became better, my groundstrokes were catching well in front of me, were well-planned and went deep consistently. His passing shots were catching more errors, either long or into the net, and I was also recovering better. I won the first three games of the set, and then we each won one, so I was ahead at this point by 4-1.
Of course, I was thinking about the last time we played and this exact thing happened, and he came back to win the set. I thought that I had to be careful, and I could still blow it. After this point, I was still playing well, but he changed his game around a lot. He started playing less for pace and more for consistency, and he also relied a lot on drop shots after he had pulled me deep. It was starting to piss me off that this drop shot technique was working for him. I was unprepared for the change in his tactics, and by the time I realized what was going on, it was not only too late, but my confidence was shattered and my mental state was in ruins. By the time he caught up to 4-4, it was pretty much over. I think I had already disgustedly tossed my racquet out of my had a couple of times by this time. The last two games, I wasn't even close. I have to be ready to respond to changes in tactics. I think if it hadn't been so hot, my mind would have worked a little better, but I do need to work on recognizing a changed plan.
Stuart v. S. at His Apts. Winner: S. 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
My Mojo: Up Against An Impenetrable Wall
I came to this match ready to play some of the best tennis I've ever played. I mean, I knew I would have to really bring something to the table to beat S. He is one of the toughest players I play and I've only beaten him once. Not only would I have to play at a pretty high level, but I would have to be innovating as well. That's a tough bar to jump over.
So I started off playing really well. I was not unsatisfied with my level of play, but he seemed to be playing absolutely flawlessly. His play has been going well for him lately, as he has recently rocketed to near the top of the ladder, while I've been going up too, but at a slower rate.
In the first two sets, my serve was occasionally on fire, but I could not get the blazing-hot serves in consistently. My groundstrokes were doing better than usual, but I felt like at least 25% of the time that I hit a shot over, he did something with it that I had no chance of getting a response to. And I had a very small percentage of offensive plays, but when I did get them, I managed to hold on for a good number of those points. Even though the score was lopsided in the first two sets, we didn't have a huge number of blowout games where I got skunked and didn't get any points in. So I was about as satisfied as you can be when you're losing.
In the third set, I started surging forward a little, but was still coming up against an impenetrable wall. I think this was the set in which we both played the best. There were very few errors in this set, but when they were there, I made more than he did. Also, in this set, I didn't get back as many weak returns as I had in first two sets, although I had a few.
The fourth set was where I surged forward; at least, I did so at first. And he was starting to get a little tired. He made a comment that this was the set he was there for. My serve became better, my groundstrokes were catching well in front of me, were well-planned and went deep consistently. His passing shots were catching more errors, either long or into the net, and I was also recovering better. I won the first three games of the set, and then we each won one, so I was ahead at this point by 4-1.
Of course, I was thinking about the last time we played and this exact thing happened, and he came back to win the set. I thought that I had to be careful, and I could still blow it. After this point, I was still playing well, but he changed his game around a lot. He started playing less for pace and more for consistency, and he also relied a lot on drop shots after he had pulled me deep. It was starting to piss me off that this drop shot technique was working for him. I was unprepared for the change in his tactics, and by the time I realized what was going on, it was not only too late, but my confidence was shattered and my mental state was in ruins. By the time he caught up to 4-4, it was pretty much over. I think I had already disgustedly tossed my racquet out of my had a couple of times by this time. The last two games, I wasn't even close. I have to be ready to respond to changes in tactics. I think if it hadn't been so hot, my mind would have worked a little better, but I do need to work on recognizing a changed plan.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
A Solid Match Not Quite Interrupted By Rain
Sets 289-291:
Stuart v. R. at McCallum High. Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-1, 6-0.
My Mojo: Solid.
I was worried that this was going to get rained out. We had gotten rained out once on this match, and I was hoping it wouldn't happen again. One thing or another has seemed to happen a lot lately to keep me from playing. Not only has there been a lot of rain, but I've had back problems, finger problems, and a painful kidney infection that has all cramped my style and my ability to play huge numbers of matches. So I haven't been able to get out and play as often as I would like.
Though it was cloudy, it wasn't raining. That was a good sign. I started off playing strongly; Iwasn't playing super-aggressively, but I was getting good placement and making him run a lot. My serve was not blazing most of the time but it was solid. I was also anticipating well enough to set up strongly for my shots. At the beginning of the first set, he got very few points in, but started getting a few more in towards the end of the set.
In the second set, he was playing a little bit stronger and trying for more assertive plays. He won one game and there were a lot of games in which there were several deuce and ad points back and forth. I had a little trouble in one game after the sun suddenly came out briefly, and only for that game, and it was right in my eyes whenever I served on ad court and whenever I hit cross-court on ad court. It gave me a bit of a bother, and I did win the game, but it was one of the ones that there were a lot of back-and-forth deuce and ad points.
I asked him if he wanted to play a third set, and he agreed. He is one of the more energetic players that I play against, and he is good at running a lot of stuff down. I like playing people like that, because I do that too. In the third set, I did my typical late-in-the-long-match surge, and was playing almost as well as I could hope. My serve became stronger, and I was able to play more offensive points. Also, my energy level really crescendoed upwards. Late in the set, it started raining, and it got a little wetter than I usually like to play, but it stopped quickly. By the time the set was over, it had almost dried out again. But I don't think we would have been able to play another one; on my way home it started raining again, and this time it was enough to soak the ground.
Stuart v. R. at McCallum High. Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-1, 6-0.
My Mojo: Solid.
I was worried that this was going to get rained out. We had gotten rained out once on this match, and I was hoping it wouldn't happen again. One thing or another has seemed to happen a lot lately to keep me from playing. Not only has there been a lot of rain, but I've had back problems, finger problems, and a painful kidney infection that has all cramped my style and my ability to play huge numbers of matches. So I haven't been able to get out and play as often as I would like.
Though it was cloudy, it wasn't raining. That was a good sign. I started off playing strongly; Iwasn't playing super-aggressively, but I was getting good placement and making him run a lot. My serve was not blazing most of the time but it was solid. I was also anticipating well enough to set up strongly for my shots. At the beginning of the first set, he got very few points in, but started getting a few more in towards the end of the set.
In the second set, he was playing a little bit stronger and trying for more assertive plays. He won one game and there were a lot of games in which there were several deuce and ad points back and forth. I had a little trouble in one game after the sun suddenly came out briefly, and only for that game, and it was right in my eyes whenever I served on ad court and whenever I hit cross-court on ad court. It gave me a bit of a bother, and I did win the game, but it was one of the ones that there were a lot of back-and-forth deuce and ad points.
I asked him if he wanted to play a third set, and he agreed. He is one of the more energetic players that I play against, and he is good at running a lot of stuff down. I like playing people like that, because I do that too. In the third set, I did my typical late-in-the-long-match surge, and was playing almost as well as I could hope. My serve became stronger, and I was able to play more offensive points. Also, my energy level really crescendoed upwards. Late in the set, it started raining, and it got a little wetter than I usually like to play, but it stopped quickly. By the time the set was over, it had almost dried out again. But I don't think we would have been able to play another one; on my way home it started raining again, and this time it was enough to soak the ground.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
I Grind Another One Out, But Briefly Go Nuts
Sets 286-288:
Stuart v. M. at The Quarries. Winner: Stuart 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
My Mojo: Tenacious, With A Momentary Mental Collapse.
This was another really long match. It was stifling heat yet again, and we played for nearly three hours. My opponent was another guy who had really good ball control,though he lost it a little toward the end of the match when he got tired. I pretty much just played tougher as I went on, though I completely lost my mental state for a little while in the third set.
In the first set, we kept pace with each other at first, then I started slowly drifting into worse play as his play subtly got better; the worst combination for me. I lost the last three games of the set to lose 6-3. My serve was great during the warm-up and so were my groundstrokes. But my serve was not as hot when I started the match, and my groundstrokes were good at first but deteriorated as I lost momentum. I started cussing myself under my breath.
My loss of momentum continued into the second set. He was getting some really good shots in, especially when he would pull me to ad court and then slam a hard low whizzer cross-court in deuce court. Those seem to get me a lot, and I was falling into my usual trap with them. Before I knew it, I was down 5-2 in the second set. Then composure and energy hit me like a rock in the head. I told myself that I had to take this into a third set. I just kept repeating the mantra in my head. "every shot counts." And amazingly, I patiently won the next five games. I could feel strength and composure growing with each point and each game. On the changeover, all I could think about was calmness. I had even been recovering to the right place in the court from hard angles to ad court, so i wouldn't get slammed with cross-court deuce winners. I had been getting to almost all of those!
When the third set started, I was still keeping that momentum going. I lost only one game out of the first four, and was up 3-1. I was just cool and relaxed, playing with great anticipation, fantastic body position, and good strategy. Then in the fifth game something happened that just immediately reversed my mood.
I was up 40-love in the fifth game, and I played the next point aggressively, taking the initiative from the beginning, and each shot was better than the last. The last shot was just a burner cross-court down deuce court that there was no way he could get to. So I'm thinking I just won the game and it's 4-1.
But suddenly I notice that there are about 10 balls in my opponent's court from the cardio tennis class in the next court. There is a sheepish-looking woman from the next court saying, "Sorry, that point is a let." Wait a minute. You can't call a let after a point has gone out of play. I wouldn't have minded if he had called it during the point. He didn't even call it; the player from next door did. And I was so into playing that I have no idea how all those balls got there or when. So I said to him, "That's game, isn't it?" And he responded that, no, it was a let.
I wanted to say, "YOU CAN'T CALL A LET AFTER THE POINT IS OVER!" I was really steamed, but I let the let stand. And for some reason, I completely lost my mental composure. It just shook me that I hadn't just won the game to bring it to 4-1. So it was 40-15. And then I just was so rattled that I didn't win any more points that game. Nothing was going right for me. I lost that game to bring the score to 3-2. Then I couldn't do anything right in the next game, and the score was 3-3. Then I fumbled all over myself, getting even angrier, and suddenly I was losing 4-3. He hadn't been going for winners any more; he was just trying to be consistent, and I was just blowing it every time.
I let out an agonized scream and hurled my racquet over the fence, into the grass on the other side. Everybody around stopped to look. Oh, crap. That was the most unsportsmanlike thing I've done probably ever. But it snapped me back to reality. I felt immediately embarrassed, and more composed. A woman from the next court asked me, "Did you mean to do that?" and the only answer I could come up with was to sheepishly mumble, "Sorry."
How could I immediately go from being calm and on top of everything to mentally shattered just instantly like that? Why did I let something unexpected bother me so much that it just instantly cremated my composure? Anyway, I built my composure back piece by piece over the next few points, playing methodically and consistently, only doing a little bit better than he did with the same type of game because I had a lot of energy, but I think he was just about out of gas. This was my game. I grind out the long ones in intense heat regularly, and run for everything. That's what I do best. And I started being able to do it again. I won all the rest of the games; the first one felt tough and competitive, but the last two felt easy. I felt like I had a huge amount of strength for the last few games and was able to run difficult shots down and even place them well when I got there, while he was hardly even running at all any more for anything that was out of reach. I was able to get my head back and win the third set 6-4 and win the match.
Stuart v. M. at The Quarries. Winner: Stuart 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
My Mojo: Tenacious, With A Momentary Mental Collapse.
This was another really long match. It was stifling heat yet again, and we played for nearly three hours. My opponent was another guy who had really good ball control,though he lost it a little toward the end of the match when he got tired. I pretty much just played tougher as I went on, though I completely lost my mental state for a little while in the third set.
In the first set, we kept pace with each other at first, then I started slowly drifting into worse play as his play subtly got better; the worst combination for me. I lost the last three games of the set to lose 6-3. My serve was great during the warm-up and so were my groundstrokes. But my serve was not as hot when I started the match, and my groundstrokes were good at first but deteriorated as I lost momentum. I started cussing myself under my breath.
My loss of momentum continued into the second set. He was getting some really good shots in, especially when he would pull me to ad court and then slam a hard low whizzer cross-court in deuce court. Those seem to get me a lot, and I was falling into my usual trap with them. Before I knew it, I was down 5-2 in the second set. Then composure and energy hit me like a rock in the head. I told myself that I had to take this into a third set. I just kept repeating the mantra in my head. "every shot counts." And amazingly, I patiently won the next five games. I could feel strength and composure growing with each point and each game. On the changeover, all I could think about was calmness. I had even been recovering to the right place in the court from hard angles to ad court, so i wouldn't get slammed with cross-court deuce winners. I had been getting to almost all of those!
When the third set started, I was still keeping that momentum going. I lost only one game out of the first four, and was up 3-1. I was just cool and relaxed, playing with great anticipation, fantastic body position, and good strategy. Then in the fifth game something happened that just immediately reversed my mood.
I was up 40-love in the fifth game, and I played the next point aggressively, taking the initiative from the beginning, and each shot was better than the last. The last shot was just a burner cross-court down deuce court that there was no way he could get to. So I'm thinking I just won the game and it's 4-1.
But suddenly I notice that there are about 10 balls in my opponent's court from the cardio tennis class in the next court. There is a sheepish-looking woman from the next court saying, "Sorry, that point is a let." Wait a minute. You can't call a let after a point has gone out of play. I wouldn't have minded if he had called it during the point. He didn't even call it; the player from next door did. And I was so into playing that I have no idea how all those balls got there or when. So I said to him, "That's game, isn't it?" And he responded that, no, it was a let.
I wanted to say, "YOU CAN'T CALL A LET AFTER THE POINT IS OVER!" I was really steamed, but I let the let stand. And for some reason, I completely lost my mental composure. It just shook me that I hadn't just won the game to bring it to 4-1. So it was 40-15. And then I just was so rattled that I didn't win any more points that game. Nothing was going right for me. I lost that game to bring the score to 3-2. Then I couldn't do anything right in the next game, and the score was 3-3. Then I fumbled all over myself, getting even angrier, and suddenly I was losing 4-3. He hadn't been going for winners any more; he was just trying to be consistent, and I was just blowing it every time.
I let out an agonized scream and hurled my racquet over the fence, into the grass on the other side. Everybody around stopped to look. Oh, crap. That was the most unsportsmanlike thing I've done probably ever. But it snapped me back to reality. I felt immediately embarrassed, and more composed. A woman from the next court asked me, "Did you mean to do that?" and the only answer I could come up with was to sheepishly mumble, "Sorry."
How could I immediately go from being calm and on top of everything to mentally shattered just instantly like that? Why did I let something unexpected bother me so much that it just instantly cremated my composure? Anyway, I built my composure back piece by piece over the next few points, playing methodically and consistently, only doing a little bit better than he did with the same type of game because I had a lot of energy, but I think he was just about out of gas. This was my game. I grind out the long ones in intense heat regularly, and run for everything. That's what I do best. And I started being able to do it again. I won all the rest of the games; the first one felt tough and competitive, but the last two felt easy. I felt like I had a huge amount of strength for the last few games and was able to run difficult shots down and even place them well when I got there, while he was hardly even running at all any more for anything that was out of reach. I was able to get my head back and win the third set 6-4 and win the match.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
An Early Finish
Set 285:
Stuart v. D. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 7-5, 1-0, D. retired
My Mojo: Strong And Tenacious.
I felt pretty good this match. The last couple of matches I had not been feeling too good; I didn't realize it, but I was kinda sick. I think I had some bug that got to my left kidney; I didn't realize it because my back had a muscle spasm and I thought that my back just was taking a long time to get better. But it has been definitely more than that, with the chills, weakness and cramps that I had been feeling. So I drank a bunch of fluids, got some pure cranberry juice and started chugging that, and got some antibiotics from the doctor. Now I'm much better, but still have some pain in my side that is starting to diminish.
I got to the park early and all the courts were open. I picked out the court next to the shade tree. I figured it was hot and we would want the shade. The problem was, there was a little bit of ground water percolating up into that court. It wasn't a huge problem, but there was a line about two feet long that was kinda damp. With all of the rain that we had been getting in the last few months, I guess the ground water is getting close to the surface there.
When D. got there, he didn't like that court because of the water, so we moved one court over. Okay, I thought, but it's going to be hot. I was worried, too, because of my recent weakness. But I held up with my customary resilience to the heat, so I must be over my recent malaise at least enough so playing a vigorous round of tennis won't sap my strength. D. seemed to have a hard time with the heat, though. His shots were really good when he lined them up. He had great ball control, and used both topspin and slice well. My advantage was my consistency and ability to get to the impossible-looking shots. My hard serve did not seem to be working for me that well, so I switched to a higher serve with more spin, which seemed to at least get in the box more.
In the first set, I took an early lead, getting to 3-1, and then 4-2. Then his play seemed to surge and he was overwhelming me strategically for a few games. He got good momentum going and I felt briefly frustrated by my inability to break through in any of those games. From 4-2 he won the next three games, so he was up 5-4. Then I managed to come back in the next game, which was a good psychological point because I broke his momentum and evened it up. After that, I won the next two games pretty easily. He seemed to be not handling the heat too well; he asked for longer breaks on the changeovers, which I didn't mind. I felt cool as a cucumber, and strong in the heat. I could definitely feel the heat bearing down on me, but it didn't bother me at all and I held on well. I was doing some mental relaxation exercises on the changeovers to stay cool and focused.
After the first set, he said he was having a hard time in the heat, and he needed a break even though we were on an even game. He said he might have to forfeit, but he'd play at least another game. In the first game of the second set, I won every point, and he threw in the towel, conceding at that point. We sat in the shade of the tree by the first court for a while and talked while he recovered. He would probably have a better game against me in cooler conditions.
Stuart v. D. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 7-5, 1-0, D. retired
My Mojo: Strong And Tenacious.
I felt pretty good this match. The last couple of matches I had not been feeling too good; I didn't realize it, but I was kinda sick. I think I had some bug that got to my left kidney; I didn't realize it because my back had a muscle spasm and I thought that my back just was taking a long time to get better. But it has been definitely more than that, with the chills, weakness and cramps that I had been feeling. So I drank a bunch of fluids, got some pure cranberry juice and started chugging that, and got some antibiotics from the doctor. Now I'm much better, but still have some pain in my side that is starting to diminish.
I got to the park early and all the courts were open. I picked out the court next to the shade tree. I figured it was hot and we would want the shade. The problem was, there was a little bit of ground water percolating up into that court. It wasn't a huge problem, but there was a line about two feet long that was kinda damp. With all of the rain that we had been getting in the last few months, I guess the ground water is getting close to the surface there.
When D. got there, he didn't like that court because of the water, so we moved one court over. Okay, I thought, but it's going to be hot. I was worried, too, because of my recent weakness. But I held up with my customary resilience to the heat, so I must be over my recent malaise at least enough so playing a vigorous round of tennis won't sap my strength. D. seemed to have a hard time with the heat, though. His shots were really good when he lined them up. He had great ball control, and used both topspin and slice well. My advantage was my consistency and ability to get to the impossible-looking shots. My hard serve did not seem to be working for me that well, so I switched to a higher serve with more spin, which seemed to at least get in the box more.
In the first set, I took an early lead, getting to 3-1, and then 4-2. Then his play seemed to surge and he was overwhelming me strategically for a few games. He got good momentum going and I felt briefly frustrated by my inability to break through in any of those games. From 4-2 he won the next three games, so he was up 5-4. Then I managed to come back in the next game, which was a good psychological point because I broke his momentum and evened it up. After that, I won the next two games pretty easily. He seemed to be not handling the heat too well; he asked for longer breaks on the changeovers, which I didn't mind. I felt cool as a cucumber, and strong in the heat. I could definitely feel the heat bearing down on me, but it didn't bother me at all and I held on well. I was doing some mental relaxation exercises on the changeovers to stay cool and focused.
After the first set, he said he was having a hard time in the heat, and he needed a break even though we were on an even game. He said he might have to forfeit, but he'd play at least another game. In the first game of the second set, I won every point, and he threw in the towel, conceding at that point. We sat in the shade of the tree by the first court for a while and talked while he recovered. He would probably have a better game against me in cooler conditions.
Monday, July 9, 2007
More Difficulty In The Heat
Sets 283-284:
Stuart vs. J. at Buttercup Creek Park. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 (J. retired due to injury).
My Mojo: Struggling
I don't know why this match and the last one have been so physically difficult for me. I have felt like I am running out of energy and couldn't get it back, only to have it return later in the match. Maybe it has something to do with the heat. My hands have also been cramping up toward the end of play.
My serve seemed to be mostly working well, but it ebbed and flowed. I had a lot of errors due to misfacing my racquet and my body. I had been doing better on that, but it seemed like it was creeping back. Also my back was hurting, so I wore a back brace. I didn't seem to be able to get to net much, while he was able to get to net more often than me. When he played net, he got good control most of the time, but there were a few occasions in which I was able to get some angled winners by him. He seemed to nail most of my lobs with overheads, but a few of those got by too. We were both running each other around the court a lot.
In the first set, I was keeping pace, but pulled ahead in the end. He didn't hit really big shots, but he had some effective slice and a mean power cross-court shot in deuce court that got me a few times. Mostly I got nailed with that shot because I failed to recover to the proper position.
In the second set, I felt weaker and it was harder for me to recover. He took an early lead and I never did quite catch up, even though I got a few powerful games in. In the third set, we were playing neck-and-neck again. He won the first game, but I won the next two. Then he had to retire because a cut on his hand was bothering him too much. We had played for a little over two hours, and it was probably going to be close to three hours by the time we finished if we had played out the third set. Of course, I only counted two sets in my running count since the last one was not finished.
Stuart vs. J. at Buttercup Creek Park. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 (J. retired due to injury).
My Mojo: Struggling
I don't know why this match and the last one have been so physically difficult for me. I have felt like I am running out of energy and couldn't get it back, only to have it return later in the match. Maybe it has something to do with the heat. My hands have also been cramping up toward the end of play.
My serve seemed to be mostly working well, but it ebbed and flowed. I had a lot of errors due to misfacing my racquet and my body. I had been doing better on that, but it seemed like it was creeping back. Also my back was hurting, so I wore a back brace. I didn't seem to be able to get to net much, while he was able to get to net more often than me. When he played net, he got good control most of the time, but there were a few occasions in which I was able to get some angled winners by him. He seemed to nail most of my lobs with overheads, but a few of those got by too. We were both running each other around the court a lot.
In the first set, I was keeping pace, but pulled ahead in the end. He didn't hit really big shots, but he had some effective slice and a mean power cross-court shot in deuce court that got me a few times. Mostly I got nailed with that shot because I failed to recover to the proper position.
In the second set, I felt weaker and it was harder for me to recover. He took an early lead and I never did quite catch up, even though I got a few powerful games in. In the third set, we were playing neck-and-neck again. He won the first game, but I won the next two. Then he had to retire because a cut on his hand was bothering him too much. We had played for a little over two hours, and it was probably going to be close to three hours by the time we finished if we had played out the third set. Of course, I only counted two sets in my running count since the last one was not finished.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
The Heat Gets To Me A Little
Sets 281-282:
Stuart v. J. at McCallum High. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 7-6(4)
My Mojo: Above-Average Until The Heat Hit Me, Then In And Out.
Man, this was a tough match. Not only was this guy really good, but the heat was nearly unbearable. Yesterday it was nice and cool because of the rain. And some rain came through early this morning, but the whole rainy weather pattern seemed to have moved out by the time we played, and right about then the heat started ramping up. When we started, it was 86 degrees, and by the time we finished, it was 97 degrees. And this was in grotesquely high humidity, too, because of all the water in the ground from the rain of the last few days and this morning.
My opponent had great technique. He stepped into his shots really well, and when he hit one right on, it was tough for me to get to. He also ran me all over kingdom come; not only did he hit a lot of shots back and forth, but he also varied the depth of his shots quite a bit. But once again, I got to most of the seemingly impossible shots (with decent returns, even), and shocked myself by getting to some of his extreme angles. He was about half-and-half at net. Sometimes he was super-dominant when he got to net, but probably about 60% of the time I was able to either get lobs over him or passing angles that nullified his net game. Towards the end, he stopped coming to net as much.
My first serves were only lukewarm today. I wasn't getting the greatest aim on my first serves, and I was missing a lot of them. My second serves were above-average, though, so it made up for it. I got some of my best offensive games off of my second serves.
In the first set, I was taking a huge lead at first. Even though he won the first game, I felt like I was just getting ramped up, and I didn't feel terribly outplayed. I wasn't anticipating as well as I did yesterday, but my strategy was a little better. My shots were good too and I was not misfacing my racquet or mispositioning my body on a sizable minority of them. He had been running me around a lot, though, and usually I am just fine with that, but this time I think that the heat made that hard for me. By the time I got ahead by 4-1 in the first set, I was starting to feel a little bit heat-sick. I was feeling woozy and sick to my stomach, and was having trouble recovering from running around. My shots were starting to get crappier, and I had almost no offensive game at all. I considered retiring, but I wasn't quite close enough to death to actually do it. I took the next few games to try to conserve some energy, and kept icing down my face and body on the changeovers. I also kinda panted like a dog (I was becoming one with my inner dog) through the icy towel. The next few games didn't go as well as the beginning of the set, and I lost two for the next four games, but that was enough to win the set.
I started out the second set still badly affected by the heat. I was suddenly playing like I was buffalo vomit. I lost the first four games, and was down 4-0. Crap. At this point, I thought I would be playing a third set for sure. I knew if I played a third set, I would have to take the ten-minute break between the second and third sets just to try to recover, which I haven't done in an awfully long time. But then in the next game, the sickness suddenly lifted, and I felt much better. I won that game, and felt like it was easy.
Now I was feeling really good, and determined to make every shot count. I told myself that there was no way I was going to lose this set. I won the next four games and brought the score up to where I was winning 5-4. When I was down by 4-3, though, I felt like I was at an advantage just by virtue of my comeback and the fact that I had such great momentum.
My opponent still had some surprises for me at this point, though. Also, the heat sickness started creeping back a little, though not as bad as before. And both my hands were starting to cramp up, so I could tell that I was low on electrolytes. I started chugging Gatorade big time on the changeovers. Damn, I always forget to bring Pedialyte or cider vinegar with me; either one of those helps me with cramps though I would give the edge on that to the vinegar. He roared back to win the next game and brought the score to 5-5. His game was so strong I didn't even get a single point in that game. I won the next game on my serve, barely squeaking ahead and still weak, so now I was ahead 6-5. And then he won the next game to take it to 6-6 and a tiebreaker.
I was a little bit down mentally at this point, because I had expected to win with all of the momentum I had coming back from being so far behind, and I was somewhat discouraged by the return of the heat sickness. I won the first point of the tiebreak just because I hit a well-placed shot, despite the weakness and nausea I was feeling. Then he won the next two points of the tiebreak and was ahead 2-1. Then I lost another point and I was down 3-1. Both of us were playing pretty conservatively, with no major whizzers. We were both hitting mostly shots that would get into the court, but not improving either of our positions through shot strategy. We both pretty much became backboards at that point. Maybe he was as tired as i was. I was thinking at this point that I had been feeling like crap, but I'd play a third set after a break. Maybe I'd ride around in my car in the air conditioning for a few minutes. But wait...the heat sickness lifted again! Yippee! I was feeling strong again, my mental state was good, and my shots started clicking. I played really strongly and won all but one of the succeeding points to win the tiebreak 7-4 and win the set.
Suddenly, as I sat down on the bench after the game, all that heat sickness came flooding back. I guess I hadn't really gotten over it, but was somehow suppressing it when I needed to. I could barely move, and I felt seriously weak and nauseous. I took my wet towel out of my ice cooler, and let it soak my face and my arms and legs. I panted through it to cool the breath coming from inside my body. After a few minutes, I was able to pack up my gear and pour myself into my car to leave. I saw a snow-cone stand in the parking lot of the bowling alley across the street and got a snow cone to help cool me off. Damn, it was sickeningly sweet. Next time I'll tell them to squirt in only about half the syrup that they usually put on it. But then again, sucrose is a good anti-nausea medicine, so maybe it worked out. It took me a few hours to feel fully recovered, and my hands were still cramping up after I got home. I took a cool bath and sat on the couch and watched movies on TV. My back was starting to throb a little too. I had worn a back brace during the match, but it didn't really bother me while I was playing. Or maybe I had just kind of shut it off like I had done with the heat zonk. So I did some of the exercises the chiropractor had showed me for my back, and it helped a little. Also, I took some muscle relaxants and hydrocodone, and then I felt like melted butter. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing as I just stayed on the couch and watched movies. The kids are gone--one is in Arkansas, and one is with her mom.
Stuart v. J. at McCallum High. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 7-6(4)
My Mojo: Above-Average Until The Heat Hit Me, Then In And Out.
Man, this was a tough match. Not only was this guy really good, but the heat was nearly unbearable. Yesterday it was nice and cool because of the rain. And some rain came through early this morning, but the whole rainy weather pattern seemed to have moved out by the time we played, and right about then the heat started ramping up. When we started, it was 86 degrees, and by the time we finished, it was 97 degrees. And this was in grotesquely high humidity, too, because of all the water in the ground from the rain of the last few days and this morning.
My opponent had great technique. He stepped into his shots really well, and when he hit one right on, it was tough for me to get to. He also ran me all over kingdom come; not only did he hit a lot of shots back and forth, but he also varied the depth of his shots quite a bit. But once again, I got to most of the seemingly impossible shots (with decent returns, even), and shocked myself by getting to some of his extreme angles. He was about half-and-half at net. Sometimes he was super-dominant when he got to net, but probably about 60% of the time I was able to either get lobs over him or passing angles that nullified his net game. Towards the end, he stopped coming to net as much.
My first serves were only lukewarm today. I wasn't getting the greatest aim on my first serves, and I was missing a lot of them. My second serves were above-average, though, so it made up for it. I got some of my best offensive games off of my second serves.
In the first set, I was taking a huge lead at first. Even though he won the first game, I felt like I was just getting ramped up, and I didn't feel terribly outplayed. I wasn't anticipating as well as I did yesterday, but my strategy was a little better. My shots were good too and I was not misfacing my racquet or mispositioning my body on a sizable minority of them. He had been running me around a lot, though, and usually I am just fine with that, but this time I think that the heat made that hard for me. By the time I got ahead by 4-1 in the first set, I was starting to feel a little bit heat-sick. I was feeling woozy and sick to my stomach, and was having trouble recovering from running around. My shots were starting to get crappier, and I had almost no offensive game at all. I considered retiring, but I wasn't quite close enough to death to actually do it. I took the next few games to try to conserve some energy, and kept icing down my face and body on the changeovers. I also kinda panted like a dog (I was becoming one with my inner dog) through the icy towel. The next few games didn't go as well as the beginning of the set, and I lost two for the next four games, but that was enough to win the set.
I started out the second set still badly affected by the heat. I was suddenly playing like I was buffalo vomit. I lost the first four games, and was down 4-0. Crap. At this point, I thought I would be playing a third set for sure. I knew if I played a third set, I would have to take the ten-minute break between the second and third sets just to try to recover, which I haven't done in an awfully long time. But then in the next game, the sickness suddenly lifted, and I felt much better. I won that game, and felt like it was easy.
Now I was feeling really good, and determined to make every shot count. I told myself that there was no way I was going to lose this set. I won the next four games and brought the score up to where I was winning 5-4. When I was down by 4-3, though, I felt like I was at an advantage just by virtue of my comeback and the fact that I had such great momentum.
My opponent still had some surprises for me at this point, though. Also, the heat sickness started creeping back a little, though not as bad as before. And both my hands were starting to cramp up, so I could tell that I was low on electrolytes. I started chugging Gatorade big time on the changeovers. Damn, I always forget to bring Pedialyte or cider vinegar with me; either one of those helps me with cramps though I would give the edge on that to the vinegar. He roared back to win the next game and brought the score to 5-5. His game was so strong I didn't even get a single point in that game. I won the next game on my serve, barely squeaking ahead and still weak, so now I was ahead 6-5. And then he won the next game to take it to 6-6 and a tiebreaker.
I was a little bit down mentally at this point, because I had expected to win with all of the momentum I had coming back from being so far behind, and I was somewhat discouraged by the return of the heat sickness. I won the first point of the tiebreak just because I hit a well-placed shot, despite the weakness and nausea I was feeling. Then he won the next two points of the tiebreak and was ahead 2-1. Then I lost another point and I was down 3-1. Both of us were playing pretty conservatively, with no major whizzers. We were both hitting mostly shots that would get into the court, but not improving either of our positions through shot strategy. We both pretty much became backboards at that point. Maybe he was as tired as i was. I was thinking at this point that I had been feeling like crap, but I'd play a third set after a break. Maybe I'd ride around in my car in the air conditioning for a few minutes. But wait...the heat sickness lifted again! Yippee! I was feeling strong again, my mental state was good, and my shots started clicking. I played really strongly and won all but one of the succeeding points to win the tiebreak 7-4 and win the set.
Suddenly, as I sat down on the bench after the game, all that heat sickness came flooding back. I guess I hadn't really gotten over it, but was somehow suppressing it when I needed to. I could barely move, and I felt seriously weak and nauseous. I took my wet towel out of my ice cooler, and let it soak my face and my arms and legs. I panted through it to cool the breath coming from inside my body. After a few minutes, I was able to pack up my gear and pour myself into my car to leave. I saw a snow-cone stand in the parking lot of the bowling alley across the street and got a snow cone to help cool me off. Damn, it was sickeningly sweet. Next time I'll tell them to squirt in only about half the syrup that they usually put on it. But then again, sucrose is a good anti-nausea medicine, so maybe it worked out. It took me a few hours to feel fully recovered, and my hands were still cramping up after I got home. I took a cool bath and sat on the couch and watched movies on TV. My back was starting to throb a little too. I had worn a back brace during the match, but it didn't really bother me while I was playing. Or maybe I had just kind of shut it off like I had done with the heat zonk. So I did some of the exercises the chiropractor had showed me for my back, and it helped a little. Also, I took some muscle relaxants and hydrocodone, and then I felt like melted butter. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing as I just stayed on the couch and watched movies. The kids are gone--one is in Arkansas, and one is with her mom.
Friday, July 6, 2007
A Little Wetter Than I Would Have Liked, But I Played Anyway
Sets 279-280:
Stuart v. P. at Anderson High. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 6-1.
My Mojo: Strong
We were going to play at Northwest Park, but on my way there, it started raining really hard about five minutes before I got there. Then I passed through an area that was completely dry. Then I got to another rainy area, and passed through more bone-dry stuff. When I got to Northwest Park, it was raining really hard, and the courts were completely slick. What weird weather it's been. It's done this a lot lately; there have been these tiny cells of clouds that come through and drench one area, while 500 feet away, there's not a drop.
My opponent showed up just a few minutes after I did. We both agreed there was no way we could play at Northwest Park, but I suggested that we try to find some dry courts. He suggested Anderson High, so we headed over there.
It was pretty dry when we got there, but it started drizzling almost immediately. It wasn't enough to soak the courts right away, but it didn't ever let up, and by the time we finished, it was definitely wetter than I will usually play. I know I've played "wetball" in the past, but I've gotten to where I really don't like it.
My back had been really bothering me, too. I hadn't played since I really messed it up a week ago, and it was healing very slowly. Usually when I mess up my back it heals pretty quickly, but this time, it has been really painful and prolonged. Since my attitude is, "Let's see if THIS kills me," I strapped on a back brace, took a handful of hydrocodone and muscle relaxants (I had taken prescription-strength naproxen earlier but it hadn't really made a dent), and headed out to play. Also, today I had run to work to see if that would help my back. It seemed to help a little.
I don't like being under the influence of codeine much when I have to do anything of consequence. But it was making my body relaxed enough that I was playing really loosely and freely, and I was hitting really well for some strange reason. I felt like my anticipation was great, even though I had been worried that my reaction time would be too slow. It didn't really seem that way at all. And I didn't feel like getting pissed off at all when I flubbed shots, which only happened rarely. But later in the match I was starting to feel like it was a slight hindrance, and if I had been playing a much stronger player that I had had to be more on the stick with, it could have been a major bummer.
Rainball is a different game. The balls were pretty much soaked after the first five games or so. I was up 5-2 in the first set, and then I think he figured out how to use some advantageous spin on the wet courts and I was having a terrible time trying to hit some of the hydroplaning balls that spun out in unexpected directions or dropped like a stone and increased their speed when they hit a water patch. He won the next two games to bring the score to 5-4. Then it was my serve, and I was able to get such an advantage out of my serve that I took the next game easily to win 6-4.
In the second set, I stayed ahead easily. I was at my peak, and hitting most of my shots right where I wanted them to go. I learned that I needed to hit serves that normally would be out, but I could put a lot of power into them and they would stay in because the balls were so wet. I would definitely not have started playing when it was this wet, but I figured I might as well finish. Also, I was worried about the lightning strikes that were falling all over the place, and was dreading getting zapped when I lifted my racquet high in the air to deliver a serve. But, hey, I didn't end up dead (obviously, otherwise my prose would have been much more stilted). Woo-hoo! I live to play yet another day. Who can ask for more than that?
Stuart v. P. at Anderson High. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 6-1.
My Mojo: Strong
We were going to play at Northwest Park, but on my way there, it started raining really hard about five minutes before I got there. Then I passed through an area that was completely dry. Then I got to another rainy area, and passed through more bone-dry stuff. When I got to Northwest Park, it was raining really hard, and the courts were completely slick. What weird weather it's been. It's done this a lot lately; there have been these tiny cells of clouds that come through and drench one area, while 500 feet away, there's not a drop.
My opponent showed up just a few minutes after I did. We both agreed there was no way we could play at Northwest Park, but I suggested that we try to find some dry courts. He suggested Anderson High, so we headed over there.
It was pretty dry when we got there, but it started drizzling almost immediately. It wasn't enough to soak the courts right away, but it didn't ever let up, and by the time we finished, it was definitely wetter than I will usually play. I know I've played "wetball" in the past, but I've gotten to where I really don't like it.
My back had been really bothering me, too. I hadn't played since I really messed it up a week ago, and it was healing very slowly. Usually when I mess up my back it heals pretty quickly, but this time, it has been really painful and prolonged. Since my attitude is, "Let's see if THIS kills me," I strapped on a back brace, took a handful of hydrocodone and muscle relaxants (I had taken prescription-strength naproxen earlier but it hadn't really made a dent), and headed out to play. Also, today I had run to work to see if that would help my back. It seemed to help a little.
I don't like being under the influence of codeine much when I have to do anything of consequence. But it was making my body relaxed enough that I was playing really loosely and freely, and I was hitting really well for some strange reason. I felt like my anticipation was great, even though I had been worried that my reaction time would be too slow. It didn't really seem that way at all. And I didn't feel like getting pissed off at all when I flubbed shots, which only happened rarely. But later in the match I was starting to feel like it was a slight hindrance, and if I had been playing a much stronger player that I had had to be more on the stick with, it could have been a major bummer.
Rainball is a different game. The balls were pretty much soaked after the first five games or so. I was up 5-2 in the first set, and then I think he figured out how to use some advantageous spin on the wet courts and I was having a terrible time trying to hit some of the hydroplaning balls that spun out in unexpected directions or dropped like a stone and increased their speed when they hit a water patch. He won the next two games to bring the score to 5-4. Then it was my serve, and I was able to get such an advantage out of my serve that I took the next game easily to win 6-4.
In the second set, I stayed ahead easily. I was at my peak, and hitting most of my shots right where I wanted them to go. I learned that I needed to hit serves that normally would be out, but I could put a lot of power into them and they would stay in because the balls were so wet. I would definitely not have started playing when it was this wet, but I figured I might as well finish. Also, I was worried about the lightning strikes that were falling all over the place, and was dreading getting zapped when I lifted my racquet high in the air to deliver a serve. But, hey, I didn't end up dead (obviously, otherwise my prose would have been much more stilted). Woo-hoo! I live to play yet another day. Who can ask for more than that?
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