This article is dedicated to Bill M. Besides my father, his is THE best tennis coach I ever had. This man could play tennis left handed and right handed, I must add VERY proficiently! . He was also a Vietnam Veteran 11b. Anyway back in 1981 he introduced the concept of tennis and geometry to me. He drew it out on the hard tru courts and it was easy to understand. I will give you a synopsis and a personal example;
The closer to the net, the more angles you have.
The further away the less angles.
Sometimes you have to run parallel or back a little from the ball
optimally you should run towards the ball and cut off the angle
HIT THE BALL ON THE RISE!
Flexible triangle, chin forward .
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Days 28 thru 30
I've been hitting and hitting, things are getting better, things are getting worse LOL! I met my Dad's spirit yesterday in this senior Boriqua yesterday in the name of Andreas(sp), he had me running all over the court like my Dad used to run me! Dinks, slices, cuts, topspin and the occasional flat hard shot as well as high shots. He's a cool guy, I am going to hit with him so I get to lose weight LIKE HE TOLD ME I NEED TO! God bless this brother, he said I had Puerto Rico written all over my face ;).
I added lead tape to my racquet, this stuff works very well! Within reason of course. I was pretty arm weary and kind of flat today, I should have taken a recovery day. I did hit some nice serves and good ground strokes. More good news is that I am able to jog again with good form and endurance. What baffles me is that I can cycle for 46 miles @ approx 20mph average speed on a non windy day and feel great. Make me jog a half a mile and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack! My heart rate was 185 per minute and still I felt like I was going to die! I haven't played good competitive handball in about 2.5 years but I remember jogging 7 miles to Walmart to buy a new bicycle on Long Island when I was playing handball. To make a long story short I introduced jump rope to my workouts. I jogged a total of 1.5 miles with my dogs, in good form. That translates to me incorporating more footwork drill into my training, as well as "road fun" (instead of "road work") nothing is better than knowing that you can carry your own weight!
I added lead tape to my racquet, this stuff works very well! Within reason of course. I was pretty arm weary and kind of flat today, I should have taken a recovery day. I did hit some nice serves and good ground strokes. More good news is that I am able to jog again with good form and endurance. What baffles me is that I can cycle for 46 miles @ approx 20mph average speed on a non windy day and feel great. Make me jog a half a mile and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack! My heart rate was 185 per minute and still I felt like I was going to die! I haven't played good competitive handball in about 2.5 years but I remember jogging 7 miles to Walmart to buy a new bicycle on Long Island when I was playing handball. To make a long story short I introduced jump rope to my workouts. I jogged a total of 1.5 miles with my dogs, in good form. That translates to me incorporating more footwork drill into my training, as well as "road fun" (instead of "road work") nothing is better than knowing that you can carry your own weight!
Friday, December 15, 2006
The Importance of Warming Up
Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch Earl M warm up with his partner. It was a basic warm up drill for players that I forgot. It went i this sequence basically:
volley to volley, half volley (little game), mid-court to baseline to baseline. I used to drill like this all of the time! The "little game" can be LOTS of fun if you try for points or the most rallies without a mistake. Then move it to mid-court and you are working on your mid-court game.
volley to volley, half volley (little game), mid-court to baseline to baseline. I used to drill like this all of the time! The "little game" can be LOTS of fun if you try for points or the most rallies without a mistake. Then move it to mid-court and you are working on your mid-court game.
Days 26 and 27!
On day 26 I had an excellent day doing the drill I saw on the tapes. I also served a good bunch of balls with my new Prince tennis racquet. I like the smaller size of the Prince but it's too damn light! I met another tennis pro named Wayne, he's my age and has a similar mindset as myself regarding the game of tennis. I got into a nice groove yesterday and it paid off today on day 27.
Today I scrounged up loose change and turned it in and it came out to $34.00! The ball machine rental only costs $18.00 per hour! Why did I turn in change? So I wouldn't get into too much trouble with the ole lady ;) I met this other pro at Owl Creek Tennis also named Wayne, he had drill sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays at night time for only $15.00 , after another session on the ball machine, I am going to do this. Even though I had this light Prince racquet(which I am contemplating returning for the Wilson one for now) I was hitting some good shots and generally making some nice strokes. The ball machine is a VERY valuable tool, if you want a workout that almost kills you it will give it to you! If you want an easy groove workout it will give that to you as well. Needless to say, I had to play with the new toy and I am cramping up as I type! I turned the machine from 55 to 70 mph, I hit better on the 70mph, because it doesn't give me too much time to think and I just execute the technique instinctively. I have to say that it was the best $18.00 that I have ever spent. I am going to cut down , now I am going to quit eating any fast food and stop getting my wonderful Guiness Extra Stout sold by the pint and put that into renting that ball machine. My main goal is to buy one, that is battery operated, so I can take it to the free public courts and use it and give lessons.
Wayne, the pro I met in Chesapeake gave me a good education on the newer racquets, I appreciate it.
I also discussed doing drills with Mike P today. After I did an hour and fifteen minutes on the ball machine, I hit with Mike at Red Wing, my footwork and consistency SUCKED! The wind was the main factor for this, but you have to adapt to the weather conditions! Anyway I hope this drill idea works out and I think it will.
Today I scrounged up loose change and turned it in and it came out to $34.00! The ball machine rental only costs $18.00 per hour! Why did I turn in change? So I wouldn't get into too much trouble with the ole lady ;) I met this other pro at Owl Creek Tennis also named Wayne, he had drill sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays at night time for only $15.00 , after another session on the ball machine, I am going to do this. Even though I had this light Prince racquet(which I am contemplating returning for the Wilson one for now) I was hitting some good shots and generally making some nice strokes. The ball machine is a VERY valuable tool, if you want a workout that almost kills you it will give it to you! If you want an easy groove workout it will give that to you as well. Needless to say, I had to play with the new toy and I am cramping up as I type! I turned the machine from 55 to 70 mph, I hit better on the 70mph, because it doesn't give me too much time to think and I just execute the technique instinctively. I have to say that it was the best $18.00 that I have ever spent. I am going to cut down , now I am going to quit eating any fast food and stop getting my wonderful Guiness Extra Stout sold by the pint and put that into renting that ball machine. My main goal is to buy one, that is battery operated, so I can take it to the free public courts and use it and give lessons.
Wayne, the pro I met in Chesapeake gave me a good education on the newer racquets, I appreciate it.
I also discussed doing drills with Mike P today. After I did an hour and fifteen minutes on the ball machine, I hit with Mike at Red Wing, my footwork and consistency SUCKED! The wind was the main factor for this, but you have to adapt to the weather conditions! Anyway I hope this drill idea works out and I think it will.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Days 24 & 25
Day 24 was a nice day. I worked on technique and power yesterday. After an hour and 1/2 on the handball wall, I was lucky enough to hit with a real player. I'll call him Mike P. I saw him hit against the wall and I thought he was a teaching pro, he has nice hand eye coordination and strokes. We had a good time hitting the ball, my racquet was warped and busted from Monday's serve session at Indian River high school but I still hit and had good results. My main nemesis was my footwork and that I need to move forward into the ball. Mike was hitting some good balls, his main problem is putting pressure on himself to hit the shot in the court. This is my problem as well. Many tennis players get to be too polite and want to hit the perfect shot, thus putting pressure on themselves in a regular practice session or a real match. My dad always stressed meeting the ball and just swinging and worry about the shots being in later. The next time Mike and get together to hit, I will make sure to set a precedent or one rule, NO SORRIES! We both know that we each want to hit the shot in the court, so we should drop the sorries and figure the correct way to hit the shot and move on.
After work etc, I watched a good video where the pro demonstrated a drill to hit ground strokes from all over the court, this was my rest and flexibility day so I decided to work on that drill and practice my serves and aiming at my targets(ball cans and plastic water bottles. Everything went well, my serving motion was relaxed yet power full at the right moment and I started grooving on my ground strokes. I am ready for the ball machine but I need to create some drill to work on for myself.
After work etc, I watched a good video where the pro demonstrated a drill to hit ground strokes from all over the court, this was my rest and flexibility day so I decided to work on that drill and practice my serves and aiming at my targets(ball cans and plastic water bottles. Everything went well, my serving motion was relaxed yet power full at the right moment and I started grooving on my ground strokes. I am ready for the ball machine but I need to create some drill to work on for myself.
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