Author Topic: OCDaveP's Journal (Read 1633 times)

ocdavep · « **on:** December 29, 2010, 04:15:22 PM »

I guess I'll start one too.

This week I have played with King Scott

, creator of our forums. He made me look like I have never played tennis before, but we worked on some backhands and footwork. Figured out some issues and talked about some goals. All in all success.

The next night I played doubles with some friends. Forehands were hit or miss (mostly hit - even though Scott would protest this, since he was on the court next to me getting beat up by his wife!) Didn't really need to hit many backhands, but when I did, the work from the night before helped quite a bit. Serves were atrocious... not even going to go into details on this one.

Lined up some lessons with a pro recommended by Scott as well.

Eventful week in the tennis world for me.

Tennis4you · « **Reply #1 on:** December 29, 2010, 04:41:44 PM »

I am super glad you got in with a pro. You have the tools you just need some help refining them.

The one thing that will be more on you than anyone else is the footwork. You are speedy but that does not mean you have good footwork. Check out this video and tell me this doesn't echo what we talked about after we hit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2kp6oMR6uI&playnext=1&list=PLA11F5EB880D734F0&index=52

I think that video is a great example.

monstertruck · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2010, 05:39:41 AM »

Great stuff!
Laying the foundation with a pro early on will pay huge dividends as you continue to progess towards your potential.

Scooter is right as usual.
2 of the most overlooked skills in tennis are balance and footwork.
If you can't move properly then you can't hit properly.

ocdavep · « **Reply #3 on:** January 08, 2011, 06:52:22 PM »

Today I did a lesson with a pro at Scarborough. We made some huge improvements to my backhand. Made some changes to my footwork that REALLY improved my balance on both FH and BH. He changed my forehand grip to more of an eastern than a semiwestern, which is SUPER awkward to get used to. It was a great lesson overall though.

Tennis4you · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2011, 07:02:21 PM »

Interesting to hear he changed your grip closer to an eastern since you want that "Nadal" game. You cool with that?

ocdavep · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2011, 09:34:44 AM »

lol not really, but for initial hitting, i'll give it a shot i suppose. i will mention later if we stick with it.

ocdavep · « **Reply #6 on:** January 15, 2011, 03:50:36 PM »

Weekly lesson update.

Today I was working on building a stable base on both forehands and backhand. He had me hitting right handed forehands to get the feeling of my right hand dominating on backhands.

Over the past 2 lessons, my backhand has DRASTICALLY improved. I am happy about this because I'm starting to gain some confidence in hitting it. Also have been working on more rotation on the backhand and just getting into a better position all together.

After FH/BH we worked on some volleys. My volleys were pretty decent, mostly footwork issues again. Working on building the base on the punch and stepping through, then shuffling back.

We did a little serve practice, but somehow I was magically able to serve pretty much anywhere he told me to., which leads me to believe my inability to do so in matches (or hitting with Scott) is fueled solely but lack of confidence.

That is all. Thoughts?

Tennis4you · « **Reply #7 on:** January 15, 2011, 05:57:29 PM »

Footwork, footwork, footwork, that's the name of the game.

How is the new forehand grip treating you? Hopefully you are getting good spin on the shot and it is working well.

I forget if you posted this already, but what grip does he have you using for the serve?

ocdavep · « **Reply #8 on:** January 15, 2011, 09:39:48 PM »

scot he actually let me hit SW today and I hit SW on serves and he liked my serve. Didn't change a thing, outside of saying to hit it on the rise and not left it fall into the court as I'm tossing

Tennis4you · « **Reply #9 on:** January 15, 2011, 09:58:32 PM »

sweetness. Now go fill out the Grand Slam Bracket Challenge yo!

ocdavep · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2011, 04:34:35 PM »

soooooooooo I have a one handed BH now. This is new. It feels a lot more comfortable than the 2 hander. I always preferred the 2 hander, but after following my Pro's advice, I have a much better 1h than 2h. End result is more important than what I want.

On the FH side, I'm learning my mistakes of breaking my wrist and not moving my whole body as a unit. It's so rough because I am making lots of errors, but I'm starting to enforce the proper technique. Guess it has to get worse before it gets better though.

Tennis4you · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2011, 05:47:38 PM »

Curious to see the new one-hander in action. I hope it treats you well!!!

ocdavep · « **Reply #12 on:** January 28, 2011, 11:16:54 PM »

Catch up time!

New racquet this week!!! On Tuesday, I played old man doubles. I had a good time playing, the entire match just lacked pace and long rallies. They didn't really hit to my backhand, so I didn't get to test drive the one hander much. My serving was atrocious...

Wednesday I played singles. I played a good player. He had really good placement. I started off slow, missing a lot of serves (eye on the ball and confidence issues I guess). Started off down 0-4, however, I battled back and tied at 5-5. Per our fearless leader, I did a lot of serve and volleying. I have a new found appreciation for it!

I ended up blowing two low volleys on 40-15 and 40-30 and giving away the match on a missed forehand after two deuces. Once again, didn't really hit to my backhand much, so I didn't get to test out the 1 hander.

Lesson tomorrow!

ocdavep · « **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2011, 12:44:43 PM »

Lesson on Saturday went very well. 1 handed backhand is starting to feel natural and I'm gaining more control of it. We also worked on short balls down the line. We also tweaked me not leading with my hand on the serve, instead, leading with the racquet and WOW! what an improvement!

ocdavep · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2011, 01:15:34 PM »

Last night I fought the storm to go play some doubles. I served pretty well except for 1 or 2 of the games. groundies overall went well. Volleys/Overheads were 50/50. I was happy about how I played

a little more consistency with volleys would've been nice.

ocdavep · « **Reply #15 on:** February 02, 2011, 09:56:00 PM »

Subbed in a singles league tonight. Match went well. I hit more shots where I wanted than missed. We ended up going to a tie break due to time. I won 7-6 (7-5). We're pretty evenly matched and it's always fun to play with the guy I did. It's nice to see that the lessons are starting to pay off in match play! 1 hander was SOLID tonight. Didn't hit a single BH out of play!

Tennis4you · « **Reply #16 on:** February 04, 2011, 07:06:07 AM »

So how did you do last night yo?

ocdavep · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2011, 06:27:52 PM »

I've been playing soooooo much tennis it's been hard to keep track of! Been subbing just about every night except fridays. However, this week i played Monday - Saturday. My body is happy to be resting on Sunday. I've been noticing myself get a lot more consistent. I love my slice serve, it's pretty much go-to. Flats and Top spins are good too, just not as confident.

I have subbed a couple of times in the 4.0 men's singles league. It's a lot of fun to play in this league, but I find myself getting beat up. I stay in points and I score, I just haven't been executing on the important points. Mental toughness and match play experience are both areas that need work.

My serve returns are probably the weakest part of my game currently, closely followed by my volleys. BH are coming along slooooowly. I'm excited with all the playing and hard work. The lessons are DEFINITELY helping!

Tennis4you · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2011, 06:39:35 PM »

Lessons are cash money and a necessity! A day off was wise, regardless how old.

ocdavep · « **Reply #19 on:** February 27, 2011, 10:13:40 PM »

With the exception of going to get dinner with a friend, I have slept basically the ENTIRE day. I think that's when you know you played ENTIRELY too much tennis in a week!!!

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Author Topic: OCDaveP's Journal (Read 1633 times)