Tennis Warehouse-Central Florida Chapter (Greater Orlando Area) - Page 10

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_call

to clarify for the unknowing...the Citrus has a club and an open draw going on at the same time.

To further clarify, the club division is typically 4.5s and 5.0s. Any lower and you will lose in the first round. The Open division has most of the local pros, but it pays a few grand to the winner, so you also can get some decent out of town players too.

ssgator80, the forecast does not look good...

Today: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. North northeast wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Tonight: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. East northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Wednesday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. East wind around 5 mph becoming west northwest. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 90. West northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Thursday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. North wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Power Player · 09-01-2009, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinz

Not all of the Azalea members are thrilled with e-tennis winning the bid. There's a ton of emails going around for both sides. I cant blame him for appealing since he was told he had the gig. At the same time, I can't blame e-tennis for appealing him. As I've said, my only interest is quality courts and being able to get a court when I want one.

Mikeler, I thought you posted that Frank had appealed and that was what I responded to. I don't have a link on it.

I can't speak for all the members, but I know a lot of the folks who went to the meetings..etc. One concern is that Frank's hours will not jive. A lot of people here (including myself) play later until 10pm and play on weekend evenings. Currently that is not an option at OTC.

Etennis is more involved in the Winter Park area and knows all the players since most of them are patrons of the store. That being said, I am a fan of Franks because he is cool and he strings my racquets for a good price.

Regardless those hardcourts MUST be repaired. I know Etennis committed to it, and Frank told me he would do the same. I also agree with all you guys. I want to show up and play. I don't want to see lessons filling all the courts..that is just the worst thing. Azalea's all end around 6 or 7, and OTC right now has plenty so it is not an issue. Hopefully this all changes. This Citrus tournament sounds pretty good. I may do it just to get a gauge for where I am at so far.

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 07:35 AM

10-4 on the "missing link" Power Player. I have never had issues with the hours at OTC because of my schedule, but I can understand your concerns.

I should caution you about the Citrus. Sign up several weeks in advance. It is a very popular tournament and the 32 man draw fills up quickly.

Another thing about the draw, Frankie actually seeds 8 people and then decides the rest of the draw. He favors anyone who sponsors the tournament or takes lessons from him. He has always given me a low seed which I have been a little peeved about considering a few of the players he put above me, but at least I have gotten seeded each year.

Power Player · 09-01-2009, 09:37 AM

Hmmm..I talked to Carlos about hitting with him. The Monday session he said is set up by 4-5 OTC guys who are all friends and I probably can't get in on that.

It is 40 bucks to get a lesson from Carlos. I really don't need lessons, but I would like to take 1 to make sure my serve is being grooved right. I wonder if I should go with Frank for that.

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Power Player

Hmmm..I talked to Carlos about hitting with him. The Monday session he said is set up by 4-5 OTC guys who are all friends and I probably can't get in on that.

It is 40 bucks to get a lesson from Carlos. I really don't need lessons, but I would like to take 1 to make sure my serve is being grooved right. I wonder if I should go with Frank for that.

Interesting dilemma. Carlos has a pretty good serve, but Frank has more experience. Can't beat the lesson prices either way.

bad_call · 09-01-2009, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Power Player

Hmmm..I talked to Carlos about hitting with him. The Monday session he said is set up by 4-5 OTC guys who are all friends and I probably can't get in on that.

It is 40 bucks to get a lesson from Carlos. I really don't need lessons, but I would like to take 1 to make sure my serve is being grooved right. I wonder if I should go with Frank for that.

what's with your serve that you don't like? thought the older good players at Azalea were helping your game out.

btw - the hard courts at OTC (at least the ones i played on) are really bad. not sure of the har-tru court conditions.

Power Player · 09-01-2009, 11:30 AM

Consistency with my serve. The azalea guuys helped me get my groundstrokes and volleys down, but we don't serve and return. I want to just make sure I am on the right path and 1 lesson should get me going.

Basically I can serve great for 2 games then double fault like crazy the next 2..not going to cut it in a tourney, but I planned it all out when I started playing tennis again. The serve was what I knew would take me the longest, so I'm on track.

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_call

what's with your serve that you don't like? thought the older good players at Azalea were helping your game out.

btw - the hard courts at OTC (at least the ones i played on) are really bad. not sure of the har-tru court conditions.

The best hard courts in the area are Sanlando and Lake Cane. Fort Gatlin is not bad. OTC's hard courts are in bad shape. I wish they would rip those up and put clay in.

The har-tru courts are in decent shape. They could use more clay on them. They have underground watering which to me is insane. The pipes leak all the time. I'm a much bigger fan of sprinklers for watering.

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Power Player

Consistency with my serve. The azalea guuys helped me get my groundstrokes and volleys down, but we don't serve and return. I want to just make sure I am on the right path and 1 lesson should get me going.

Basically I can serve great for 2 games then double fault like crazy the next 2..not going to cut it in a tourney, but I planned it all out when I started playing tennis again. The serve was what I knew would take me the longest, so I'm on track.

A consistent toss (not chasing it) and extended eye contact seem to be the 2 things that help my serve the most. This is assuming that the rest of your service motion is good.

Power Player · 09-01-2009, 01:05 PM

Sanlando is where I grew up playing. Love those courts.

My service motion is not bad. Bad Call saw it at it's beginning stages. My toss was low as he pointed out..still sometimes is , but I'm working on that one.

I am thinking it's like my backhand..where I was just missing a couple little things to get the consistency where it needs to be.

I'm pretty happy with my progress all in all. I have gotten a very consistent slice and power topspin forehand. My 2hander is getting back to where I had it as a kid, I can rally with and have beaten a few 4.5ers where earlier I was losing to 3.5s. So all this has happened in under 6 months. I have given myself a year before I think I will be ready to play tournies.

Spinz · 09-01-2009, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeler

The cool thing about the Citrus is you can finish your match and then go over and watch a guy who is 250 in the world play on the court next to you. Amer Delic won it a few years ago. One year they payed Robert Kendrick an appearance fee to come out and hit with people. Seeing that huge serve up close is impressive.

I havent been over to watch it in awhile, but the last time I went Michael Russell won the tournament. It was good to watch, although he was quite a bit above everyone else. His opponent tried hard though. I've seen Kendrick at Azalea a couple of times but not for awhile.

Spinz · 09-01-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Power Player

Hmmm..I talked to Carlos about hitting with him. The Monday session he said is set up by 4-5 OTC guys who are all friends and I probably can't get in on that.

It is 40 bucks to get a lesson from Carlos. I really don't need lessons, but I would like to take 1 to make sure my serve is being grooved right. I wonder if I should go with Frank for that.

I wonder what he charges for a hitting lesson?

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 03:44 PM

That is impressive Power Player. When I first got back into tennis 6 years ago after Roddick won the US Open, I was probably a 4.0+. It took me 6 months or so to get my tennis fitness back. At that point, I was also strong enough to switch back to my 1 handed topspin backhand. Before that, I used my crappy 2 hander which I used my first 2 years of high school.

After 9 months, I was probably a 4.5+. I stayed that way until I started playing up at OTC. I lost against almost everybody there more than I won for the first year or so. It was also tough getting used to playing on clay. After that, the tide turned in my favor against most of those guys. Now with lack of playing time and injuries, I'm middle of the pack again.

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinz

I wonder what he charges for a hitting lesson?

1 on 1 or group? Hopefully I'll be down there tomorrow night (not if it rains like tonight) with ssgator80 and I can ask. I think Frankie is $45/hour now, but I'm not sure.

Spinz · 09-01-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeler

1 on 1 or group? Hopefully I'll be down there tomorrow night (not if it rains like tonight) with ssgator80 and I can ask. I think Frankie is $45/hour now, but I'm not sure.

Thanks. It is just for a hit - no instruction, just points tiebreaks, elevens, whatever.

mikeler · 09-01-2009, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinz

Thanks. It is just for a hit - no instruction, just points tiebreaks, elevens, whatever.

That I don't know about. You probably already told us, but what is your NTRP rating (or self rating)?

Power Player · 09-01-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeler

That is impressive Power Player. When I first got back into tennis 6 years ago after Roddick won the US Open, I was probably a 4.0+. It took me 6 months or so to get my tennis fitness back. At that point, I was also strong enough to switch back to my 1 handed topspin backhand. Before that, I used my crappy 2 hander which I used my first 2 years of high school.

After 9 months, I was probably a 4.5+. I stayed that way until I started playing up at OTC. I lost against almost everybody there more than I won for the first year or so. It was also tough getting used to playing on clay. After that, the tide turned in my favor against most of those guys. Now with lack of playing time and injuries, I'm middle of the pack again.

Yeah, I am a little ahead of schedule. I am lucky because in my family my grandad was a scholarship tennis player so I think I got some of that tennis gene. Only reason I am not doing matches right now that often is because I want to really have my strokes and serve developed so I can represent myself well. I was a solid Junior player and I want to get that back.

The first 3 months were brutal when it came to fitness, but I had been running and working out for years and the BF% was pretty low..so I just had to get my body used to the beating. I would come home many nights and just shower, wake up and hobble to my office..lol. It still hurts, but have survived the summer and did marathon 3-4 hour sessions of just rallying to really push myself. I like rallying for getting back in shape because matches do not tire me out as much as extended rallying.

Spinz..Carlos is $40 an hour at OTC. He is cool as hell. You should check into it.

Photoshop · 09-01-2009, 08:33 PM

any of you in the waterford area? I need a hitting partner

mikeler · 09-02-2009, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Photoshop

any of you in the waterford area? I need a hitting partner

You may want to provide your NTRP Photoshop.

Power Player · 09-02-2009, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Photoshop

any of you in the waterford area? I need a hitting partner

I used to be. I avoid that place as much as possible now..lol.

09-01-2009, 09:37 AM	#184
Power Player G.O.A.T. Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: On my iPhone Posts: 13,541	Hmmm..I talked to Carlos about hitting with him. The Monday session he said is set up by 4-5 OTC guys who are all friends and I probably can't get in on that. It is 40 bucks to get a lesson from Carlos. I really don't need lessons, but I would like to take 1 to make sure my serve is being grooved right. I wonder if I should go with Frank for that. __________________ 🐐ing

09-01-2009, 11:30 AM	#187
Power Player G.O.A.T. Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: On my iPhone Posts: 13,541	Consistency with my serve. The azalea guuys helped me get my groundstrokes and volleys down, but we don't serve and return. I want to just make sure I am on the right path and 1 lesson should get me going. Basically I can serve great for 2 games then double fault like crazy the next 2..not going to cut it in a tourney, but I planned it all out when I started playing tennis again. The serve was what I knew would take me the longest, so I'm on track. __________________ 🐐ing

09-01-2009, 01:05 PM	#190
Power Player G.O.A.T. Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: On my iPhone Posts: 13,541	Sanlando is where I grew up playing. Love those courts. My service motion is not bad. Bad Call saw it at it's beginning stages. My toss was low as he pointed out..still sometimes is , but I'm working on that one. I am thinking it's like my backhand..where I was just missing a couple little things to get the consistency where it needs to be. I'm pretty happy with my progress all in all. I have gotten a very consistent slice and power topspin forehand. My 2hander is getting back to where I had it as a kid, I can rally with and have beaten a few 4.5ers where earlier I was losing to 3.5s. So all this has happened in under 6 months. I have given myself a year before I think I will be ready to play tournies. __________________ 🐐ing

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