Welcome One and All to the First Annual Box League Games!

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by Timbo's hopeless slice

go get em kid!

Thanks mate!

-Fuji

[corbind]

Are you mostly recovered now from your injury of fully recovered?

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by corbind

Are you mostly recovered now from your injury of fully recovered?

Hey all,

Terrible day today. Got the yips for the first time in probably 5 years. It was such a rookie mistake on my part. We warmed up for way longer then usual as he had a court booked before ours, and we practised using practise balls. As per rules of the league, it's pretty standard to use a fresh can for the match. Here's where it all went to hell. All I had with me were fresh Penn Marathons. For those of you that don't know, they are the fastest ball made right now that we can get our hands on, and I'm at a 3000ft elevation. Needless to say they are like lightning. We end up switching from the half dead US Opens, to these evil balls, and it was like the game suddenly got a million times harder.

I quickly go down 3-0, as he breaks. Yips are in full effect by the 4th game. My hands are literally shaking from what I assume is nervousness, (YIPS), and I can barely serve. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, I twinge my shoulder. It's nothing huge, but I got very panicked about injuring it again, and resorted to hitting ugly topspin serves. Double fault away the next service game, and I'm down 4-0. The guy hits the weirdest "pancake" serve I've ever seen, and places it decently well. I was so far gone mentally that he quickly closed out 6-0.

Since we're first to 11, he wins the match by default. Nice enough guy to deal with, and we finish the next 5 games in a blur as he closes out 11-0.

So there's my story of the yips. I haven't ever gotten so nervous playing tennis before, I don't know what happened.

On the upside: A few hours later the NCAA Div 1 chair tennis player I hit with last week, offered to hit again. It was waaaaay more fun and I ended my day on a great note. We were tied at 3 games all before we ran out of court time. It's honestly the most fun I've had playing in a while, as he hits just a perfect ball to line up with mine.

Anywho to answer questions!

I'm at probably 70-80% depending on the day. My serves are fine when I'm stretched out and warm, but warming up is still a bit tender. Not the greatest sign, but it's improvement from where I was last month, where hitting above my shoulder caused massive throbbing pain. I have the pain in the middle of my shoulder blade / rotator cuff. It's just ugly. Thanks to CharlieFederer however, it's showing signs of improvement.

The shoulder is affecting my mental game more then anything though. I become afraid to really swing out on my serves for on the off chance it will pinch again. I think the Yips was a pretty good sign of that today.

Cheers,

-Fuji

[TomT]

Just checking out and enjoying your thread Fuji. Would love to see some videos of your playing.

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by TomT

Just checking out and enjoying your thread Fuji. Would love to see some videos of your playing.

Thanks a lot Tom! I definitely want to try and get some video soon, the only thing is, is that I need a third person to record on court due to the way the indoor courts are set up. (It's just a "rubber" tarp all the way around the courts, no way to hang a camera or phone up.)

I'm aiming for this spring for outdoor to get a couple match play videos up!

-Fuji

[axel89]

just checked in nice!

[TomT]

Originally Posted by Fuji

Thanks a lot Tom! I definitely want to try and get some video soon, the only thing is, is that I need a third person to record on court due to the way the indoor courts are set up. (It's just a "rubber" tarp all the way around the courts, no way to hang a camera or phone up.)

I'm aiming for this spring for outdoor to get a couple match play videos up!

-Fuji

The solution is a tripod. I've decided to get one after trying out a camera hanger rigged out of a wire clothes hanger on an extremely windy day.

The tripod only needs to extend to about 42 inches to get a satisfactory perspective. Higher is better, but then you have problems with tripod stability unless you want to spend a few hundred dollars. You can get an adequate tripod for basically pocket change.

Looking forward to your vids and tracking your thread Fuji! Best wishes to ya.

[Fuji]

Hey all!

Thanks for the tips Tom! My ladyfriend has more then enough photography equipment, I hope to borrow it one day soon to get some good footage!

Figured you guys would get a kick out of this:

Changed my service motion pretty much completely. I finally figured out what was still irking my shoulder blade, and it was the way I was "dropping" into trophy position. It's amazing that with abbrivating my take back and drop, how much more power I'm able to get, and how much shoulder is feeling 1000 times better. I was able to go and hit extremely comfortable first serves with 99% pain free. I'm so happy that I finally figured out a way to address the issue.

I still will have to get the technique checked out, as I know it's a bit funky toss wise and the way my body torques up definitely is a bit different then normal. Also forgot to add, I switched to a pinpoint stance a while ago. Noticing much better results on my serves. It feels even more natural then platform did, (and I was such a huge advocate of platform!) It's amazing that I didn't experiment earlier, as I am just hitting the cover off the ball. It's still a bit unreliable, but technically April still counts as my off season before outdoor where play gets serious, so I have some time to work on it.

I based it off the Sam Groth model of serving. For those of you who don't know who he is, here is one of my favourite serving videos on Youtube of a pro!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC6BvMSpeOM

This style of serving provided the biggest hit serves of my life, which simply astounded me. It's the first time in my life where I felt that my serve was truly "high level". (What made it better was the Div 1 guys who were playing on a court next to me commented on how big it sounded!) I'm starting to sound like a few other posters on here, but I was extremely happy with how well my serve progressed because I toyed around with a new motion. I can't wait to use it outdoors where it will be an even bigger weapon. I really want to get video to see exactly what I'm doing, as my spacial awareness is sometimes a bit skewed when it comes to serving.

Anywho, Hope everyone is a having a good weekend!

Cheers,

-Fuji

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

hello mate!

that package has come back to me! Would you believe that, when you weren't home to sign it, they just returned to sender???

all the damn way from Canada to Australia!!!

I'll resend it a different way..

as for me, 'the beast' is proving epic! beating people I haven't beaten before, very happy!

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by Timbo's hopeless slice

hello mate!

that package has come back to me! Would you believe that, when you weren't home to sign it, they just returned to sender???

all the damn way from Canada to Australia!!!

I'll resend it a different way..

as for me, 'the beast' is proving epic! beating people I haven't beaten before, very happy!

Hey bud!

That's unreal! I can't believe they would send it back half way around the world LOL! Let me know if you want some shipping costs paypal'd your way!

The Beast looks so solid. I really want to demo the lighter version that is all lime green, just look the paint haha!

-Fuji

[TenS_Ace]

Hey Fuji, I'm a little late to this party BUT in your video on page one, is that Coach Marvin studying your serve? I did play the box leagues at the Saville about 3-4 yrs ago

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by TenS_Ace

Hey Fuji, I'm a little late to this party BUT in your video on page one, is that Coach Marvin studying your serve? I did play the box leagues at the Saville about 3-4 yrs ago

Hey TenS_Ace!

Marvin actually moved to the big Royal this past year! Coach Corey is the one who is filming and working with me. I swear, Saville has some of the best coaching in Canada, it's great here.

Haha, then you know the struggles of box league!

Let me know if you're up for a hit one of these days! I believe I emailed you a while back, correct? I hope you're doing well, and that you will be able to get on court soon!

-Fuji

[TenS_Ace]

Originally Posted by Fuji

Hey TenS_Ace!

Marvin actually moved to the big Royal this past year! Coach Corey is the one who is filming and working with me. I swear, Saville has some of the best coaching in Canada, it's great here.

Haha, then you know the struggles of box league!

Let me know if you're up for a hit one of these days! I believe I emailed you a while back, correct? I hope you're doing well, and that you will be able to get on court soon!

-Fuji

Yupp you did email me! Corey is an awesome coach, had him while I was at the Saville, along with carson Bell. Yah, Coach Marvin is here at the RGC. I can only hit for about 3 minutes so far BUT I will take you up later!! Cheers mate!

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by TenS_Ace

Yupp you did email me! Corey is an awesome coach, had him while I was at the Saville, along with carson Bell. Yah, Coach Marvin is here at the RGC. I can only hit for about 3 minutes so far BUT I will take you up later!! Cheers mate!

Haha deadly combo of Bell and Corey!

That's definitely improvement from nothing! I wish you well in your recovery!

Just shoot me an email when you are up for a hit!

Cheers,

-Fuji

[Fuji]

Hey all,

Somehow managed to get another match in before my exam schedule kicked into overdrive!

I lost 8-3 in a tough match. My serve wasn't doing that well in the start, and it pretty much sealed it. I'm still a bit cautious with my shoulder in match play, as I don't like to heat it up off the start, but it's not really a viable reason to be losing anymore.

The guy I played was super solid with good wheels. No huge strengths, although he aced me a couple times which is rare. I was able to win a few easy points by drawing him in, since his overheads were well below average for our level. The biggest thing was my match toughness and confidence. I had 4 service games where I was at 40-0, and I only held 2 of them. Really showing my lack of match play with my inconsistent match schedule lately. Still lots to work on, and to help remain injury free.

This week is my last week of school until September! (Woo!) And it thus marks the start of my "outdoor" season, (once all this darn snow finally melts that is...) and I hope to start doing more fitness, and to get way more match play in. I'm extremely excited to be gearing up for a full season once more, and I hope to be able to update this with more enjoyable posts!

I do have another match Wednesday night however, and it should be a gooder against a guy I've split matches with in the past. Hopefully I'll be able to serve my way to victory!

Cheers,

-Fuji

[Fuji]

Hey all,

Played a match this past weekend against another forum member for box league! Definitely a surprise meeting someone else from here in my league!

It was a super fun match for my end, as I won 6-1 to close out the win, with the final score being 7-4. I was having one of those "on" nights while my opponent was having a touch of an "off" night. I played quite solid without making any outrageous errors. With a little more focus and a little bit of grinding with some junk thrown in, it's amazing what my game can be.

Luckily, I was returning serves like a beast for the most part. I was just reading them really well and hitting them back with interest. I wish I could play more matches like this one in regards to my preparation on shots and reading of serves.

Overall a really good match for to boost my confidence going into the outdoor season!

-Fuji

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

so, who was it???

I shall be playing our league final on monday night and will be seeing a TTer, although he is playing in a different grade.

good luck, Paul, let us crush the teams of Club Old Guy!