Topic: imkonadian88's tennis Journal

[imkonadian88]

hey, so i pulled a rotator muscle in my right leg after a practice..it still hurts
the worst thing is that the days i don't (or more like can't) play tennis are the BEST days ever to get out there and start hitting balls.

i hope i can get out tomorrow and start hitting some serves...

[Jamesdster]

So, how's the injury doing?  I hope the lack of posting doesn't mean you can't play yet.

[imkonadian88]

So, how's the injury doing?  I hope the lack of posting doesn't mean you can't play yet.

well, it's a long story.
my trainer and my mother seem to have conflicting interests. but i follow my trainer's advice and just try to ease into the game..

on tuesday in racquet sports class (yes, we play tennis) i played with the boys. and of course, they all try to tattoo me. i try to escape, and in turn i do huge turns and leaps on the court. not a great idea when you pulled one of your leg muscles.

so i go home, complain in whiny voice to my mother, who then lashes out at me. i do deserve it.

so today, despite my mother's warning to not go to tennis, i did play tennis with other girls on my tennis team. it was awesome, in fact. i have a lot more consistency in my serves (particularly ones in deuce court--the right one, yes?) so that they end up saying 'nice serve'. i felt very proud and deserving of finally a distinguishable serve, after serving up about 14 carts of tennis balls so far...

i also did some nice returns though. better than just watching it pass by or being too scared to hit it, right?

we played a set, won 6-3. it was sweet.

after the practice, i KNEW that my leg would sore up like it did the other day after that racquet sports class...so i was sitting on a heating pad for like an hour...i don't know if it was just me, but i felt some tension release on the back of my leg, like someone was massaging it and felt as if a cool sheet of ice was just put on the muscle itself.

i really do hope to gain more experience in my servings and such.
here are my problems with my game so far:

1] being too nervous in a game (in general)
2] being too excited for the ball coming towards me and choking up, flying the ball up and out.
3] return of serve (especially when it is fast)
4] hesitant to move to the net.

good luck with all of your games too :D

[wilsonboy]

1] being too nervous in a game (in general)

The best way I found to conquer this is to ask yourself "Why am I nervous?" Just focus only on the ball. YOu have to have the mentality that u are the sh!t all up in this and that no one can touch you!!! It helps a lot

2] being too excited for the ball coming towards me and choking up, flying the ball up and out.

It really comes down to moving your feet; get out of the way of the ball. If it's deep and coming straigh at you, then u have no choice but to resort to a weak shot w/ relatively zero spin in order to get it back. It takes confidence to overcome that type of problem.

3] return of serve (especially when it is fast)

Picture this: How many times have u been warming up and your opponent does some practice serves that u could literally walk to? It's the same in matches. I've just recently overcome that issue by just having that mentality. It really helps. Also, watch this video and it should help some.
http://uspta.com/html/Macci%20staying%20relaxed.wmv

4] hesitant to move to the net.

Basically, if u're well within the no-man's-land, and you have ur opponent on the run, just jump up to the net. It really just takes practice.

HOpe all that helped

[Tennis4you]

So, how's the injury doing?  I hope the lack of posting doesn't mean you can't play yet.

well, it's a long story.
my trainer and my mother seem to have conflicting interests. but i follow my trainer's advice and just try to ease into the game..

on tuesday in racquet sports class (yes, we play tennis) i played with the boys. and of course, they all try to tattoo me. i try to escape, and in turn i do huge turns and leaps on the court. not a great idea when you pulled one of your leg muscles.

so i go home, complain in whiny voice to my mother, who then lashes out at me. i do deserve it.

so today, despite my mother's warning to not go to tennis, i did play tennis with other girls on my tennis team. it was awesome, in fact. i have a lot more consistency in my serves (particularly ones in deuce court--the right one, yes?) so that they end up saying 'nice serve'. i felt very proud and deserving of finally a distinguishable serve, after serving up about 14 carts of tennis balls so far...

i also did some nice returns though. better than just watching it pass by or being too scared to hit it, right?

we played a set, won 6-3. it was sweet.

after the practice, i KNEW that my leg would sore up like it did the other day after that racquet sports class...so i was sitting on a heating pad for like an hour...i don't know if it was just me, but i felt some tension release on the back of my leg, like someone was massaging it and felt as if a cool sheet of ice was just put on the muscle itself.

i really do hope to gain more experience in my servings and such.
here are my problems with my game so far:

1] being too nervous in a game (in general)
2] being too excited for the ball coming towards me and choking up, flying the ball up and out.
3] return of serve (especially when it is fast)
4] hesitant to move to the net.

good luck with all of your games too :D

imkonadian88,  it sounds like most of your problems just come with match experience.  The more you play the better you get at all situations.  School matches, leagues, tourneys, they are all great to toughen up mentally.

[imkonadian88]

1] being too nervous in a game (in general)

The best way I found to conquer this is to ask yourself "Why am I nervous?" Just focus only on the ball. YOu have to have the mentality that u are the sh!t all up in this and that no one can touch you!!! It helps a lot

2] being too excited for the ball coming towards me and choking up, flying the ball up and out.

It really comes down to moving your feet; get out of the way of the ball. If it's deep and coming straigh at you, then u have no choice but to resort to a weak shot w/ relatively zero spin in order to get it back. It takes confidence to overcome that type of problem.

3] return of serve (especially when it is fast)

Picture this: How many times have u been warming up and your opponent does some practice serves that u could literally walk to? It's the same in matches. I've just recently overcome that issue by just having that mentality. It really helps. Also, watch this video and it should help some.
http://uspta.com/html/Macci%20staying%20relaxed.wmv

4] hesitant to move to the net.

Basically, if u're well within the no-man's-land, and you have ur opponent on the run, just jump up to the net. It really just takes practice.

HOpe all that helped

wow, thanks wilsonboy, that really does give me some confidence... :] i just have to get out there and play more games often...practice practice practice..
more self confidence i think will definitely go a long way in helping my game. oh, add footwork to that list too...

well today i didnt actually play, my drumline had a state competition which lasted all day. it was windy out, so it would have been hard to practice anyhow. i despise wind with passion...

if i have time to go outside tomorrow and practice, maybe hit some balls with my friend, i'll let you know! thanks so much wilsonboy and scott

[imkonadian88]

imkonadian88

basic info:

Age: 18

Gender: female

Height: 5'9''

Weight: light enough to be running around the court.

Hand: right

backhand: two-handed

strengths: defense, backhand, serves

weaknesses: consistency, placement, footwork, afraid to move up to the net.

level: 2.5 ~ 3.0

signature winning shot: a backhand winner down the T or an overhead that tattoos my opponent :] it feels awesome.

favorite stroke: backhand

style: baseliner

serve resemblace: nothing alike any pros just yet. i'll let you know.
 
doubles/singles specialist: i prefer singles, though i can play doubles too...but only when they are reliable.

:] happy tennis.

[thephoenixforce]

imkonadian88

basic info:

Age: 18

Gender: female

Height: 5'9''

Weight: light enough to be running around the court.

Hand: right

backhand: two-handed

strengths: defense, backhand, serves

weaknesses: consistency, placement, footwork, afraid to move up to the net.

level: 2.5 ~ 3.0

signature winning shot: a backhand winner down the T or an overhead that tattoos my opponent :] it feels awesome.

favorite stroke: backhand

style: baseliner

serve resemblace: nothing alike any pros just yet. i'll let you know.
 
doubles/singles specialist: i prefer singles, though i can play doubles too...but only when they are reliable.

:] happy tennis.

nice!

haha

anyway, you shouldnt be scared to get up to the net, you are not short, which means that you should have good reach, so just try it, dont worry, you'll love it,  its great

[Chris1987]

imkonadian88

basic info:

Age: 18

Gender: female

Height: 5'9''

Weight: light enough to be running around the court.

Hand: right

backhand: two-handed

strengths: defense, backhand, serves

weaknesses: consistency, placement, footwork, afraid to move up to the net.

level: 2.5 ~ 3.0

signature winning shot: a backhand winner down the T or an overhead that tattoos my opponent :] it feels awesome.

favorite stroke: backhand

style: baseliner

serve resemblace: nothing alike any pros just yet. i'll let you know.
 
doubles/singles specialist: i prefer singles, though i can play doubles too...but only when they are reliable.

:] happy tennis.

Yay- somebody who's 18- that's good to see. Just keep practicing hard and working on all aspects of your game and then things will start coming naturally to you. Also try to enjoy yourself when you're on court (I know that is mega tough if you're getting beat) but by enjoying yourself you will get more out of your game. Just keep going to the courts all the time and watch the improvements that come about.

[imkonadian88]

XD i love it when ppl reply to my post like 2 seconds after me! aww...you care about me! (cough)

[thephoenixforce]

yeah, you know we do

[imkonadian88]

well our tennis team ("Fairview High School") will play against our "archenemy" on the other side of the town, Boulder High Schooll...it shall be interesting. today i played a bit, worked on my serves...now that i have a faster swing, it often makes me jump(ish) a bit when i actually hit the ball. are you supposed to consciously jump? i know some people don't do it with their serves, but w/e...

and i'm playing with this girl that i just found out the name to. molly. don't know anything about her. we'll find out tomorrow i guess.

right now i'm working on being calm before i hit the ball. now i think i move my feet too much..without that much purpose. i should fix that.

that's it for now...i'll let you know how the matches went. nighty night.

[Chris1987]

Good luckin your match today. I like the sound of the idea of playing for a team in your region, there seems a few people who do that. Don't think that's the case in GB- well I've always just played for myself or my partner. Try not to be tense when you are about to hit the ball, just try to enjoy yourself on the court and that will help you relax.

[wilsonboy]

well our tennis team ("Fairview High School") will play against our "archenemy" on the other side of the town, Boulder High Schooll...it shall be interesting. today i played a bit, worked on my serves...now that i have a faster swing, it often makes me jump(ish) a bit when i actually hit the ball. are you supposed to consciously jump? i know some people don't do it with their serves, but w/e...

uh... any peson with a good serve, jumps. I think it's different w/ ground strokes though. It kinda depends on what kin dof shot it is...

[imkonadian88]

hi,
so i played with this girl that i just found out who she was like 15 minutes before the match started. molly. cute name. awesome player. she's on the same level-ish as I am, except that she doesn't come to practices too often. still pretty good though.

we played as a JV #3 doubles...i really enjoyed this match. somehow i was relaxed on the court, returning the serves consistently and calm..ly. i had some great shots, some lucky shots. at the end, we lost, 6-8 (it was 6-6 and then we lost two games...btw, we played pro sets of 8 games match or win by two.)

i have to say, it was the best tennis match i've played yet. (out of like 5 matches that i've had..lol) it was really..enjoyable. i had lots of fun out there, and i know that molly and our opposition had some fun out there as well.

molly went home, i stuck around and it was decided by my assistant coach that i shall play another game with a new doubles partner. hooray. we won this one, 8-1. this was kind of disappointing because the opposing team didn't even try to win. they were like "here's the ball....there it goes...oh woops i got it out)

well i'm about to doze off to sleep....ttyl.

[Chris1987]

Although you lost the match, from hearing about it you  definitely seem to be improving and are enjoying being on the court, which in turn is helping you relax a little more. These are all key aspects so just keep going out on the court and practicing hard, and the results will start to come and you will see a rise in your performances.

[imkonadian88]

Although you lost the match, from hearing about it you  definitely seem to be improving and are enjoying being on the court, which in turn is helping you relax a little more. These are all key aspects so just keep going out on the court and practicing hard, and the results will start to come and you will see a rise in your performances.

thanks. that really does mean a lot to me.

today i didn't go to practice...i had to take a test after school because i wasn't there this morning because i was sick. :S then i came home, and i'm just worn out even without playing tennis.

i hope i can get to play more matches soon though. :]

[thejackal]

Can you explain your screenname to me?

[imkonadian88]

Can you explain your screenname to me?

sure!! that was the first time i was asked that...and you would think that ppl would ask me this question a lott...

im = i am

konadian = korean + canadian...i have double citizenship and have lived in both countries.

88 = my year of birth.

and if you know canadian beer commercials, (for the brand Canadian Beer), they always say at the end, "I AM CANADIAN!"
and i remember that I really liked that commercial. (no, not because it was a beer commercial.)

so there you go. my name is imkonadian88.

[Chris1987]

Can you explain your screenname to me?

sure!! that was the first time i was asked that...and you would think that ppl would ask me this question a lott...

im = i am

konadian = korean + canadian...i have double citizenship and have lived in both countries.

88 = my year of birth.

and if you know canadian beer commercials, (for the brand Canadian Beer), they always say at the end, "I AM CANADIAN!"
and i remember that I really liked that commercial. (no, not because it was a beer commercial.)

so there you go. my name is imkonadian88.

I got that one right then  as I looked at it the other day and thought it must be I am Canadian and then realised you lived in the USA so thought maybe I hadn't got it right, but now I find out I did get it right which is good, I knew the 88 would be your birth year, as is the same with my user name. Must say it's a good one to come up with.