Topic: Jamesdster's Tennis (but mostly injuries) Journal

[OSU Buckeye]

the club Andre Agassi's opponent was a no show tonight so I went down and played him.  We took turns serving 10 points at a time and it was very close but I'd probably have to give him a slight edge maybe.  The scoring went something like 7-3 him on his serve and 7-3 me on mine.  Ditto round 2.  Round 3 was maybe 7-3 him on his serve and maybe 6-4 me on mine.  Plus, the dude hooked me in a PRACTICE session!!!!!  On one of his serves to my backhand (ad ct), I inside-outed it cross court and it appeared to hit the line and he said wide.  I gave it a long look then let it go.  He's a good guy and probably just made an honest mistake.

Good stuff!   I don't know, I have seen many "honest" mistakes from "good guys", Postma against Freebird comes to mind!   I don't think they are 'honest' mistakes, I think they are really tight calls (incorrect ones I might add) that should not be made!   Lets remember people, you need to see the ball CLEARLY out to make the call and any of the smallest fraction of the ball that hits the line and the ball is good!  Besides, in this case, for a practice session, if it was that close, then your boy should have played it out anyway!  

[FreeBird]

the club Andre Agassi's opponent was a no show tonight so I went down and played him.  We took turns serving 10 points at a time and it was very close but I'd probably have to give him a slight edge maybe.  The scoring went something like 7-3 him on his serve and 7-3 me on mine.  Ditto round 2.  Round 3 was maybe 7-3 him on his serve and maybe 6-4 me on mine.  Plus, the dude hooked me in a PRACTICE session!!!!!  On one of his serves to my backhand (ad ct), I inside-outed it cross court and it appeared to hit the line and he said wide.  I gave it a long look then let it go.  He's a good guy and probably just made an honest mistake.

Good stuff!   I don't know, I have seen many "honest" mistakes from "good guys", Postma against Freebird comes to mind!   I don't think they are 'honest' mistakes, I think they are really tight calls (incorrect ones I might add) that should not be made!   Lets remember people, you need to see the ball CLEARLY out to make the call and any of the smallest fraction of the ball that hits the line and the ball is good!  Besides, in this case, for a practice session, if it was that close, then your boy should have played it out anyway!  

Wurd up on this!  One of the reasons singles is so tough for me!  This past weekend Scooter was badgering me because in practice I always ask if a ball I hit was really out, and Scooter usually responds "that was 3 inches in", and my reply is "I'm used to that being called out in matches!".  Argh!

[dmastous]

the club Andre Agassi's opponent was a no show tonight so I went down and played him.  We took turns serving 10 points at a time and it was very close but I'd probably have to give him a slight edge maybe.  The scoring went something like 7-3 him on his serve and 7-3 me on mine.  Ditto round 2.  Round 3 was maybe 7-3 him on his serve and maybe 6-4 me on mine.  Plus, the dude hooked me in a PRACTICE session!!!!!  On one of his serves to my backhand (ad ct), I inside-outed it cross court and it appeared to hit the line and he said wide.  I gave it a long look then let it go.  He's a good guy and probably just made an honest mistake.

Good stuff!   I don't know, I have seen many "honest" mistakes from "good guys", Postma against Freebird comes to mind!   I don't think they are 'honest' mistakes, I think they are really tight calls (incorrect ones I might add) that should not be made!   Lets remember people, you need to see the ball CLEARLY out to make the call and any of the smallest fraction of the ball that hits the line and the ball is good!  Besides, in this case, for a practice session, if it was that close, then your boy should have played it out anyway!  

Wurd up on this!  One of the reasons singles is so tough for me!  This past weekend Scooter was badgering me because in practice I always ask if a ball I hit was really out, and Scooter usually responds "that was 3 inches in", and my reply is "I'm used to that being called out in matches!".  Argh!

I think it's important to know whether you are hitting in or out, even in practice, but this applies mostly to serves. But regular line calls are not that important in practice (unless you doing a consistancy drill) and it's really bush league to be calling that kind of thing so tight.

[FreeBird]

I think it's important to know whether you are hitting in or out, even in practice, but this applies mostly to serves. But regular line calls are not that important in practice (unless you doing a consistancy drill) and it's really bush league to be calling that kind of thing so tight.

I've made it a habit over the years to ask my practice partner whether close balls are in or out even while we're rallying, ie not playing a practice set or even points - as it gives me feedback on my ground stroke effectiveness and helps me judge whether my shots are in or out for match play.   For serving, I feel more confident that I can make the calls myself.  For whatever reason, even though the service line is only 25% closer, it seems much easier to see for myself if my serve is in or out.

I agree that in practice matches, it's silly to be calling things so tightly.  Unless you're preparing for a match against a notoriously bad line caller, I suppose  

[OSU Buckeye]

I think it's important to know whether you are hitting in or out, even in practice, but this applies mostly to serves. But regular line calls are not that important in practice (unless you doing a consistancy drill) and it's really bush league to be calling that kind of thing so tight.

I've made it a habit over the years to ask my practice partner whether close balls are in or out even while we're rallying, ie not playing a practice set or even points - as it gives me feedback on my ground stroke effectiveness and helps me judge whether my shots are in or out for match play.   For serving, I feel more confident that I can make the calls myself.  For whatever reason, even though the service line is only 25% closer, it seems much easier to see for myself if my serve is in or out.
I agree that in practice matches, it's silly to be calling things so tightly.  Unless you're preparing for a match against a notoriously bad line caller, I suppose  

Thats because for baseline calls, your short azz can't see over the net to see where it landed and, you clearly have no feel!  

[FreeBird]

Thats because for baseline calls, your short azz can't see over the net to see where it landed and, you clearly have no feel!  

I think that's entirely plausible as an explanation!  Can you see the baseline pretty well?  Also curious what DMast thinks about this, since he's tall as well.

[OSU Buckeye]

Thats because for baseline calls, your short azz can't see over the net to see where it landed and, you clearly have no feel!  

I think that's entirely plausible as an explanation!  Can you see the baseline pretty well?  Also curious what DMast thinks about this, since he's tall as well.

If I remember correctly, I think I have to just raise up a little like on my tip-toes to see the base-line.  Of course this also depends on how close I am to my baseline, so tough to say.

[Jamesdster]

the club Andre Agassi's opponent was a no show tonight so I went down and played him.  We took turns serving 10 points at a time and it was very close but I'd probably have to give him a slight edge maybe.  The scoring went something like 7-3 him on his serve and 7-3 me on mine.  Ditto round 2.  Round 3 was maybe 7-3 him on his serve and maybe 6-4 me on mine.  Plus, the dude hooked me in a PRACTICE session!!!!!  On one of his serves to my backhand (ad ct), I inside-outed it cross court and it appeared to hit the line and he said wide.  I gave it a long look then let it go.  He's a good guy and probably just made an honest mistake.

Good stuff!   I don't know, I have seen many "honest" mistakes from "good guys", Postma against Freebird comes to mind!   I don't think they are 'honest' mistakes, I think they are really tight calls (incorrect ones I might add) that should not be made!   Lets remember people, you need to see the ball CLEARLY out to make the call and any of the smallest fraction of the ball that hits the line and the ball is good!  Besides, in this case, for a practice session, if it was that close, then your boy should have played it out anyway!  

Wurd up on this!  One of the reasons singles is so tough for me!  This past weekend Scooter was badgering me because in practice I always ask if a ball I hit was really out, and Scooter usually responds "that was 3 inches in", and my reply is "I'm used to that being called out in matches!".  Argh!

I have been notorious for playing out balls that my opponent hits.  I have improved greatly through the years but still play too many out balls.  But no one plays more outballs than the magnificent Jeffro.  He's just TOO DANG NICE!!!  

[Jamesdster]

Today's Training journal

Went to the Eddie George Grill 27 here on campus and wolfed down the "Chipotle BB'q Pork" with a few hundred fries.  Since I had water instead of soda/pop, that means I can hit the DQ at afternoon break.  

[OSU Buckeye]

Today's Training journal

Went to the Eddie George Grill 27 here on campus and wolfed down the "Chipotle BB'q Pork" with a few hundred fries.  Since I had water instead of soda/pop, that means I can hit the DQ at afternoon break.  

This is too good!  

[dmastous]

Thats because for baseline calls, your short azz can't see over the net to see where it landed and, you clearly have no feel!  

I think that's entirely plausible as an explanation!  Can you see the baseline pretty well?  Also curious what DMast thinks about this, since he's tall as well.

If I remember correctly, I think I have to just raise up a little like on my tip-toes to see the base-line.  Of course this also depends on how close I am to my baseline, so tough to say.

Me too. I've been known to hop up after hitting a shot I think will be close. I can get off the ground at least 3 or 4 inches. That's enough to see over the tape which is always in the way. I can see the back service line though.

[OSU Buckeye]

Thats because for baseline calls, your short azz can't see over the net to see where it landed and, you clearly have no feel!  

I think that's entirely plausible as an explanation!  Can you see the baseline pretty well?  Also curious what DMast thinks about this, since he's tall as well.

If I remember correctly, I think I have to just raise up a little like on my tip-toes to see the base-line.  Of course this also depends on how close I am to my baseline, so tough to say.

Me too. I've been known to hop up after hitting a shot I think will be close. I can get off the ground at least 3 or 4 inches. That's enough to see over the tape which is always in the way. I can see the back service line though.

LMAO!      I am pretty sure I jumped up 5 inches once!   Now thats serious hops!    

[Jamesdster]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

[OSU Buckeye]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

I will be interested to see if they can return your serve!      The kids definitely have game!

[Jamesdster]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

I will be interested to see if they can return your serve!      The kids definitely have game!

Well, we played and it WAS A BLAST!  These 2 kids just crushed the ball, and being in the 45s, I aint used to that.  It took me a set to adjust to their pace, but once I did, that was the best I've felt on the court in a while.  Playing with a lot of old guys, I feel I am falling into "senior" mode and I don't want to go there.  I need to play young folks more often to prolong that as long as possible.  Well, to make a long story short, JM and I lost the first set in a breaker (4).  JM lost his serve at 2-2 (no thanks to a duck I missed) but we broke back to get to a tiebreaker which we lost.  We owned the 2nd set, breaking twice to go up 5-2 before JM lost serve again (again thanks to me not quite putting away an overhead at 5-2 ad-in, set pt).  But won 6-3 and our 2 hours were up.  i never lost serve (thx Jm for some nice net play).  I don't belive I am going to say this. but here goes...I RETURNED WELL!!!!!!  Oh the humanity!  It was good fun, even when young rocker drilled me square in the chest with an overhead <ouch>.  After playing these youngins as well as we did, I AM PSYCHED TO PLAY SOME SERIOUS TENNIS AGAIN.

On a side-bar, this coming Friday, these 2 kids drew the defending STATE CHAMPIONS IN THE FIRST ROUND!  I hope we helped them at least a little, ; they are nice kids.

[OSU Buckeye]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

I will be interested to see if they can return your serve!      The kids definitely have game!

Well, we played and it WAS A BLAST!  These 2 kids just crushed the ball, and being in the 45s, I aint used to that.  It took me a set to adjust to their pace, but once I did, that was the best I've felt on the court in a while.  Playing with a lot of old guys, I feel I am falling into "senior" mode and I don't want to go there.  I need to play young folks more often to prolong that as long as possible.  Well, to make a long story short, JM and I lost the first set in a breaker (4).  JM lost his serve at 2-2 (no thanks to a duck I missed) but we broke back to get to a tiebreaker which we lost.  We owned the 2nd set, breaking twice to go up 5-2 before JM lost serve again (again thanks to me not quite putting away an overhead at 5-2 ad-in, set pt).  But won 6-3 and our 2 hours were up.  i never lost serve (thx Jm for some nice net play).  I don't belive I am going to say this. but here goes...I RETURNED WELL!!!!!!  Oh the humanity!  It was good fun, even when young rocker drilled me square in the chest with an overhead <ouch>.  After playing these youngins as well as we did, I AM PSYCHED TO PLAY SOME SERIOUS TENNIS AGAIN.

On a side-bar, this coming Friday, these 2 kids drew the defending STATE CHAMPIONS IN THE FIRST ROUND!  I hope we helped them at least a little, ; they are nice kids.

In other words, they are going to get spanked!  They are solid and look like they would be fun to play against!   Jster is back!   BS!  You always got game, sometimes you just let it slip a little........playing those weak leagues against people like Scooter doesn't help!  

[FreeBird]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

I will be interested to see if they can return your serve!      The kids definitely have game!

Well, we played and it WAS A BLAST!  These 2 kids just crushed the ball, and being in the 45s, I aint used to that.  It took me a set to adjust to their pace, but once I did, that was the best I've felt on the court in a while.  Playing with a lot of old guys, I feel I am falling into "senior" mode and I don't want to go there.  I need to play young folks more often to prolong that as long as possible.  Well, to make a long story short, JM and I lost the first set in a breaker (4).  JM lost his serve at 2-2 (no thanks to a duck I missed) but we broke back to get to a tiebreaker which we lost.  We owned the 2nd set, breaking twice to go up 5-2 before JM lost serve again (again thanks to me not quite putting away an overhead at 5-2 ad-in, set pt).  But won 6-3 and our 2 hours were up.  i never lost serve (thx Jm for some nice net play).  I don't belive I am going to say this. but here goes...I RETURNED WELL!!!!!!  Oh the humanity!  It was good fun, even when young rocker drilled me square in the chest with an overhead <ouch>.  After playing these youngins as well as we did, I AM PSYCHED TO PLAY SOME SERIOUS TENNIS AGAIN.

On a side-bar, this coming Friday, these 2 kids drew the defending STATE CHAMPIONS IN THE FIRST ROUND!  I hope we helped them at least a little, ; they are nice kids.

Sounds like some good fun, glad to hear that the blasters helped you to find your game.  I'll toss that little nugget into the back of my mind:  "remember to dink the DSter to take him out of his game"    How did the kids do at keeping the ball in play?  One thing that I've noticed with younger players in general, especially in doubles, is that they have a harder time figuring out how hard to hit the ball - everything gets hit as hard as possible, and consequently they end a lot of points too quickly with errors caused by overhitting.  I figure that when you start to get to state-level high schoolers, though, you're going to run into kids who've learned when to hit hard and when to take a little off and keep it in play.

Also glad to see you're psyched to be playing tennis again.  You'd better make the next get-together at NA high school!

Greg

[OSU Buckeye]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

I will be interested to see if they can return your serve!      The kids definitely have game!

Well, we played and it WAS A BLAST!  These 2 kids just crushed the ball, and being in the 45s, I aint used to that.  It took me a set to adjust to their pace, but once I did, that was the best I've felt on the court in a while.  Playing with a lot of old guys, I feel I am falling into "senior" mode and I don't want to go there.  I need to play young folks more often to prolong that as long as possible.  Well, to make a long story short, JM and I lost the first set in a breaker (4).  JM lost his serve at 2-2 (no thanks to a duck I missed) but we broke back to get to a tiebreaker which we lost.  We owned the 2nd set, breaking twice to go up 5-2 before JM lost serve again (again thanks to me not quite putting away an overhead at 5-2 ad-in, set pt).  But won 6-3 and our 2 hours were up.  i never lost serve (thx Jm for some nice net play).  I don't belive I am going to say this. but here goes...I RETURNED WELL!!!!!!  Oh the humanity!  It was good fun, even when young rocker drilled me square in the chest with an overhead <ouch>.  After playing these youngins as well as we did, I AM PSYCHED TO PLAY SOME SERIOUS TENNIS AGAIN.

On a side-bar, this coming Friday, these 2 kids drew the defending STATE CHAMPIONS IN THE FIRST ROUND!  I hope we helped them at least a little, ; they are nice kids.

Sounds like some good fun, glad to hear that the blasters helped you to find your game.  I'll toss that little nugget into the back of my mind:  "remember to dink the DSter to take him out of his game"    How did the kids do at keeping the ball in play?  One thing that I've noticed with younger players in general, especially in doubles, is that they have a harder time figuring out how hard to hit the ball - everything gets hit as hard as possible, and consequently they end a lot of points too quickly with errors caused by overhitting. I figure that when you start to get to state-level high schoolers, though, you're going to run into kids who've learned when to hit hard and when to take a little off and keep it in play.

Also glad to see you're psyched to be playing tennis again.  You'd better make the next get-together at NA high school!

Greg

This sounds oddly familiar!

[Jamesdster]

Tonight it is Jd-JM vs 2 high schoolers who qualified for the state tournament to be played next weekend.  In the districts, they lost 6-4 in the 3rd against the top seed and won the 3rd place match to qualify.  One of them is the son of one of friends (the Raucker for you locals), so the Raucker called and asked if we would be willing to play them to help get em ready.  We'll see if the old men (ok 1 old man) can hold their own against the young hot shots.

I will be interested to see if they can return your serve!      The kids definitely have game!

Well, we played and it WAS A BLAST!  These 2 kids just crushed the ball, and being in the 45s, I aint used to that.  It took me a set to adjust to their pace, but once I did, that was the best I've felt on the court in a while.  Playing with a lot of old guys, I feel I am falling into "senior" mode and I don't want to go there.  I need to play young folks more often to prolong that as long as possible.  Well, to make a long story short, JM and I lost the first set in a breaker (4).  JM lost his serve at 2-2 (no thanks to a duck I missed) but we broke back to get to a tiebreaker which we lost.  We owned the 2nd set, breaking twice to go up 5-2 before JM lost serve again (again thanks to me not quite putting away an overhead at 5-2 ad-in, set pt).  But won 6-3 and our 2 hours were up.  i never lost serve (thx Jm for some nice net play).  I don't belive I am going to say this. but here goes...I RETURNED WELL!!!!!!  Oh the humanity!  It was good fun, even when young rocker drilled me square in the chest with an overhead <ouch>.  After playing these youngins as well as we did, I AM PSYCHED TO PLAY SOME SERIOUS TENNIS AGAIN.

On a side-bar, this coming Friday, these 2 kids drew the defending STATE CHAMPIONS IN THE FIRST ROUND!  I hope we helped them at least a little, ; they are nice kids.

Sounds like some good fun, glad to hear that the blasters helped you to find your game.  I'll toss that little nugget into the back of my mind:  "remember to dink the DSter to take him out of his game"    How did the kids do at keeping the ball in play?  One thing that I've noticed with younger players in general, especially in doubles, is that they have a harder time figuring out how hard to hit the ball - everything gets hit as hard as possible, and consequently they end a lot of points too quickly with errors caused by overhitting.  I figure that when you start to get to state-level high schoolers, though, you're going to run into kids who've learned when to hit hard and when to take a little off and keep it in play.

Also glad to see you're psyched to be playing tennis again.  You'd better make the next get-together at NA high school!

Greg

I think this means that I play to level of the competition, which is good AND bad.  The Rauckster is very solid, keeping balls in play, knowing when to really tee off, etc.  Having said that, there were some really nice doubles points with all four at the net banging away.  His partner sprayed a few balls but not as bad as most hard hitting youngsters.  They are a pretty good team but they are going to have play out of their mind to beat their opponent.  I told them they REALLY REALLY need to get their first serve in Friday when they play.  They both have good serves and if they can serve a high %, that will really help their chances.  Brilliant advice isn't it  

[OSU Buckeye]

Sadly, they can proly have a great first serve % and the returns are still going to come back consistently!   Good advice though!   I am thinking they will have to play better than they basically think they can........not miss anything really!   Tall task but it could be a fun one!  Have they played them before?