Today was the first day since I injured it that my leg felt 100% . . . which was a good thing as I had to play Uday, the best player in the league-- but I wasn't at full speed because I jammed my toe on a piece of molding and ripped the nail off, so I decided that I was going to play a power game and hit winners (since I've gained some weight and lost some mobility since I pulled my quad) and I went up 2-0 on him . . . but his net play, consistency, and big first serve were eventually too much for me-- I lost 9-7, a result I'm perfectly happy with (especially because last week I played Rey-- probably the second-best player- and he slaughtered me-- I hit the ball, okay but I was slow and stiff, and he punished me for it . . . this is what made me realize I've got to start hitting winners to hang in with these club players) and Uday showed me what I need to work on: I need to hit a deeper two-handed backhand, I need to follow the ball to the net more-- not just get to the center of the court-- and I need to go for it on my first serve more (and I need to go for it whenever a hard first serve is in my wheelhouse).
2 comments:
I will not make any Qusay jokes. You don't want to be in the center of the court, that's no-man's-land. In an old man league you slice down the line so the ball stays low and follow it to the net, or you hang back and hope for a high short ball to your better side and hit back hard with heavy topspin.
yeah, i got in no-man's land a couple of times. this guy is a different level from most of the old men-- he might even be in his thirties and there are no holes in his game. he beat me at the net, fair and square . . .
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