Somewhat-Less-Than-Excellent Adventures Of Topaz, Cindy & Alice: The 3 Racqueteers!

[alice301]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Anybody get started yet?

I have two matches this weekend, one Saturday and one Sunday.

Let the fun begin!

oh, boy! you're playing singles, right? i'm sure that you'll do great because you'be been working so hard on your game all winter. is there any one thing that you're especially worried about? i wish that we could get a singles match in between now and then, but i know you have big big plans for thursday night! and i'm leaving town on friday. at least the weather will be wonderful all weekend for your matches.

our first two matches have been postponed because of the rain. so now my first match is next tuesday. after a winter of playing doubles, i'm worried about going out to play singles and feeling *all alone*.

[Topaz]

Oh, oh, oh! Let's take a moment to admire our new title!

THANK YOU KAPTAIN KARL!!!

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by alice301

oh, boy! you're playing singles, right? i'm sure that you'll do great because you'be been working so hard on your game all winter. is there any one thing that you're especially worried about? i wish that we could get a singles match in between now and then, but i know you have big big plans for thursday night! and i'm leaving town on friday. at least the weather will be wonderful all weekend for your matches.

our first two matches have been postponed because of the rain. so now my first match is next tuesday. after a winter of playing doubles, i'm worried about going out to play singles and feeling *all alone*.

Ummm, one of them is singles. Don't want to say too much more. I pretty much let my heart out in this thread last season, it was ugly, and some people used it to make mean comments. So, if you find me holding back a bit...that is why.

Oh yeah...there is something I'm worried about...keeping it in the court! LOL! That was always my biggest challenge!

See now, I think, in doubles, that there are just way too many people on court!

[alice301]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Oh yeah...there is something I'm worried about...keeping it in the court! LOL! That was always my biggest challenge!

what, are you hitting with an oversized prince racquet or something?? you can't possibly be overhitting with your ktour, can you? if you are, is it time for new strings? don't wait until they break to replace your strings!

See now, I think, in doubles, that there are just way too many people on court!

well, there is that...at least i won't have to worry about pegging my partner with a serve...even as he's rolled himself up into a little ball against the net...in the alley...

[Cindysphinx]

OK. I'm back from my first ever 4.0 match.

As I said, it was chaotic. There was yet another partner change, with my third partner calling in sick. This left me with a 3.5 partner I have played with before, the singles player who is working through her Vision Confusion and Alley Cowering. Uh oh.

We carpooled over, and we talked strategy. I said my goal for the night was to keep my unforced errors to a bare minimum, to make them play. I said I'd be thinking about using good footwork to put every ball in my strike zone and i wasn't going to take the net unless I had earned the right to be there. My partner worried me. She said she was going to take some service returns DTL and go at the net person early in the match. I tried to discourage this, warning that these 4.0s can volley but probably wouldn't poach much. I didn't win the argument.

We warmed up, and I could see that we had drawn Rock Steady opponents who weren't going to be giving up free points. I thought I played fine, but my partner was having all kinds of problems early on. The two opponents would follow their shots to net immediately. This left my partner trying to pass them or lob them or something them, and she was missing like crazy. I held my first service game (dealt with their net assault by coming in also and by hitting approach shots at their feet). I don't recall what happened in my second service game, but we surely lost it somehow.

In the second set, my partner settled down and started hitting those groundstrokes, and we made them play. Before we knew it, we were up 4-1. They caught up, and we played a second set tiebreak, which we lost 5-7. I made two critical, unforgivable volley errors late in the second set when they were serving at 5-6. Even missed a high BH volley wide. What the heck? I never miss that shot. So we lost the set 6-7.

Still. They were both 4.0s, and we are 3.5s. In fact, we drew the only 8.0 pair the other team fielded. Fortunately, we took one singles court and the other two doubles courts. Which means our team (which only has three 4.0 players) is 1-0.

You should have seen the grin on our captain's face!

For me, the shots that were working well were my approach shot (was putting them with pace at the feet of the net players), my topspin lob (man, that shot is money in the bank!), and my serve (no double-faults, a few forced errors). I made a very high percentage of service returns and didn't miss many groundstrokes. I had some spectacular lob chases and one insane half-volley winner, and I finished some crosscourt rallies by taking a short ball up the line.

I was not happy with my volleys, though. I just didn't put enough weight on them and played a little scared in that department. I also didn't get into points as often as I would like, as the opponents seemed quite proficient at hitting sharply crosscourt or keeping their groundstrokes quite low and hard.

Still, this is a huge improvement from a year ago, when I couldn't hit a decent groundstroke . . .

[Xisbum]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

OK. I'm back from my first ever 4.0 match...
So we lost the set 6-7...

Still, this is a huge improvement from a year ago, when I couldn't hit a decent groundstroke . . .

Nice job; you didn't embarrass yourself or your partner, and you played a close match against what sounds like solid 4.0 players. We better schedule our singles match soon or you'll get too good for me.

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by Xisbum

Nice job; you didn't embarrass yourself or your partner, and you played a close match against what sounds like solid 4.0 players. We better schedule our singles match soon or you'll get too good for me.

Thanks!

Our captain issued a long match report with his take on the various matches. He had the choice to have us play on clay or hard, and he chose clay. He explained his decision as believing it would give me an opportunity to use my speed and "stroke awkwardness" to disarm the opponents.

Uh oh. What does this mean? I'm awkward? Gee, I don't feel awkward. A little bloated, perhaps, I'll give you that. But awkward?

[tfm1973]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

He explained his decision as believing it would give me an opportunity to use my speed and "stroke awkwardness" to disarm the opponents.

*laughs* that's hilarious. you don't exactly have textbook strokes. i guess us 4.0 and below usually don't. but yours are especially ugly effective. do you remember the first time i played mixed in practice against you? i told you that i really couldn't read your strokes. as in i approach the net and i watch you take your racquet back for a groundie and then because i don't know where the fudge you're going to hit the ball. usually followed by that actually went over the net? and i hope my partner can get to that.

stroke ackwardness. muahahahahahaha. hilarious.

[Topaz]

Cindy, that is a great result! ('awkward strokes or not) Keep showing that you are competitive at the 4.0 level (matters not if you win) and come November the computer will say 'by gosh, let's move her up!'

Your 4.0 women's team has a guy captain? Is it their pro?

[Topaz]

Edited and deleted: never mind...got my people confused

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Cindy, that is a great result! ('awkward strokes or not) Keep showing that you are competitive at the 4.0 level (matters not if you win) and come November the computer will say 'by gosh, let's move her up!'

Your 4.0 women's team has a guy captain? Is it their pro?

My 4.0 captain is a guy. He is not a pro. He is a 3.5 player who plays regular and senior.

In the fall, he put together an 8.0 mixed team. He contacted me for this new team off of the list of players looking for teams (I was looking for 7.5 ladies combo, not 8.0 mixed). Intrigued, I went to a few practices. I learned that the team had no 4.5 men (other than a couple of self-rates who had rated too high IMHO), so I would be with a 3.5 guy or a 4.0 guy. I figured that since I still struggle at 7.0 mixed, I had no business signing up for 8.0 without a solid 4.5 by my side, so I took a pass.

Then this spring, a 3.5 woman I knew approached me and said he was starting a new 4.0 team and needed players, so I volunteered.

I have to say, I am liking this captain. Sure, we don't agree on everything concerning doubles strategy. But he runs actual practices with drills that make sense. Given how hard it is to convince anyone I know to practice, I really appreciate this. He really emphasizes net play and volleys and aggression, and I like this. He is slowly but surely fixing some fairly entrenched positioning problems among the players.

And by golly, he is a complete and total character. I have a sense that there is a whole lot of interesting stuff in his backstory. He gives people nicknames (I am "CC," our Doubles One team is "Double A" and another lady is "Six" for reasons I do not understand). Last night, he exchanged line-ups and then took attendance like a substitute teacher, requiring the players from the other team to raise their hands when he called their names. Everyone was having a really good time watching this.

He is such a *guy,* though. I mean, no female captain would ever send out a match report that says anything that could be remotely construed as negative. His match reports strike me as consistent with the way Dudes here talk about themselves and their matches: Brutally frank. Feelings? People have feelings? Puh!

His players seem fiercely loyal to him, and I have a feeling I will be playing on his teams in the future because there is a lot there to like.

Cindy -- hoping she doesn't get the new nickname "AS" -- for Awkward Strokes

[spiderman123]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

Cindy -- hoping she doesn't get the new nickname "AS" -- for Awkward Strokes

Some may prefer that over being called a "sissy".

[spiderman123]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

Cindy -- hoping she doesn't get the new nickname "AS" -- for Awkward Strokes

Some may prefer that over being called a "sissy".

[TennisND]

Cindy,

It's hard to get the good team captain. Luckily mine is a good cheer leader and well-planned lady. We got beer after the game too. But we don't have lots of practice as I expected. Did you have lots of team practice since it's crucial for mixed or doubles?

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by TennisND

Cindy,

It's hard to get the good team captain. Luckily mine is a good cheer leader and well-planned lady. We got beer after the game too. But we don't have lots of practice as I expected. Did you have lots of team practice since it's crucial for mixed or doubles?

This is the only team I have ever been on that had actual practices.

On my mixed team, my captain gave up because no one came. Same story on the team I captain; I long ago stopped trying. Even when these other teams did have a practice or two, it was just everyone playing doubles. Which means no one does anything differently and we all just make the same old positioning, shot selection and stroke mistakes we always do. Propose doing a drill -- even something as important as volley-to-volley practice -- and no one will do it. In contrast, this captain has started every practice with a good 30 minutes of volley-to-volley drills from the service line.

So this team's practices are one of the team's best features. We even have one lady who is on an opposing team who attends our practices! I'd rather be on a losing team that helps me improve than on a winning team where I keep making the same old mistakes, that's for sure.

[Xisbum]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

This is the only team I have ever been on that had actual practices.

On my mixed team, my captain gave up because no one came. Same story on the team I captain; I long ago stopped trying. Even when these other teams did have a practice or two, it was just everyone playing doubles. Which means no one does anything differently and we all just make the same old positioning, shot selection and stroke mistakes we always do. Propose doing a drill -- even something as important as volley-to-volley practice -- and no one will do it. In contrast, this captain has started every practice with a good 30 minutes of volley-to-volley drills from the service line.

So this team's practices are one of the team's best features. We even have one lady who is on an opposing team who attends our practices! I'd rather be on a losing team that helps me improve than on a winning team where I keep making the same old mistakes, that's for sure.

Spot on; most think practice is nothing more than playing as usual. My last Reston team, when it practiced at all, just did the same old thing, time after time. I kept telling this one lady - a very nice 3.5 player, singles and doubles - that when her husband hit a short ball to me in the deuce court, I was going to hit it down the line every time and she should recognize that and shade toward the alley when he hit that shot.

How many times did she take my advice? Nada, zilch, zero. Easy point every time.

*sigh*

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by alice301

you can't possibly be overhitting with your ktour, can you? if you are, is it time for new strings? don't wait until they break to replace your strings!
..

Sure I can...the overhitting is a result of my technique, not the racquet. I'm very sure I could overhit with a KPS88. In fact, I think I already did back in January!

The ktour helps, but yeah...I can still launch it into the back curtain and be surprised by it. Actually, I'd rather that happen than I get tight, and start hitting short.

My goal is to play how I've been practicing to play...even if I screw it up and don't win. I don't want to play the 3.5 hacker/dinker game, because that won't work on high levels.

[alice301]

Originally Posted by Topaz

I don't want to play the 3.5 hacker/dinker game, because that won't work on high levels.

sure it will...just look at tfm, hahaha. but seriously, don't be snotty about the "3.5 hacker/dinker game," chickie--because it's what i aspire to achieve by the end of the season!

you have beautiful, solid strokes--have you read those posts singing your praises over there??--so i don't really see you as the "hacker/dinker type." you play with deliberation and integrity, but whew! those things take up time to set up. which is why i sincerely believe that hacking/dinking is a pricelessly valuable skill, especially on a doubles court.

and cindy? you know who plays awkward tennis? those bryan boys. they own the patent on ugly, self-defensive volleys.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by alice301

sure it will...just look at tfm, hahaha. but seriously, don't be snotty about the "3.5 hacker/dinker game," chickie--because it's what i aspire to achieve by the end of the season!

Well, maybe I didn't describe what I meant quite well...but the strokes I mean are ones that are not necessarily going to move a person up a level. Like Cindy, I aspire to move to 4.0, though I'm not sure it will happen this year. I actually feel like I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to do this year. I've worked my butt off, but until I actually get into match play...who knows? See my comments on the 'dinker' below.

you have beautiful, solid strokes--have you read those posts singing your praises over there??--so i don't really see you as the "hacker/dinker type." you play with deliberation and integrity, but whew! those things take up time to set up. which is why i sincerely believe that hacking/dinking is a pricelessly valuable skill, especially on a doubles court.

and cindy? you know who plays awkward tennis? those bryan boys. they own the patent on ugly, self-defensive volleys.

Why thank you! By 'over there', do you mean the TWMAC thread? Uh, I'll have to disagree with you there. Then again, I've been there for a very long time and have been ridiculed with repeated taunts of 'dropshot' until I was in tears, called 'slowpaz', and had my record from last year (a badly losing one) made fun of. And some people wonder why it appears that I have no sense of humor. It is defeating to work so hard, log on, and see those kinds of things. I, uh, wasn't laughing. Yeah, I know I've got a chip on my shoulder, but it didn't get there by itself, trust me.

The dinking I refer to is the stuff I see in singles, really...because it gets me the short ball that I want, but it is low instead of high, and I have a hard time figuring out what to do with it.

I had a girl that I played twice, in two different tournaments, last year in singles. She was nothing but junk. Frustrated the crap out of me until I just didn't care what happened because I couldn't hit it hard (it would go out or into the net) and if I dinked back, she would simply lob me, as her dink would get me in horrible position on the court. That was her only game, and against me, it worked beautifully. I simply didn't have the tools to counteract that game, and I hope I do now, as a lot of women at 3.5 seem to have that game down pat!

Hmmm, I hope I get a rematch with her this summer!

[Cindysphinx]

Topaz, I am thinking this whole thing is discouraging for a different reason.

There is this 3.5 singles specialist woman on my 4.0 team. She is . . . wow. Um. Maybe I'll just describe her strokes.

She doesn't really have a reliable backhand. Her volleys aren't so hot. And her shots have no spin and are flat and don't have any discernable spin. Let's say she does not hit a heavy ball. She gets around the court well and can reach most things, although I think I could take her in a sprint and possibly a shorter distance race. Her serve is a push deep into the middle of the service box, although it is possible that she can aim it. I played her once in practice doubles and she didn't do well.

She beat a 4.0 player 6-0, 6-0 last night. My captain's report praised her brilliant tactics. She hit every ball deep, up the middle. When the opponent hit an angle, she just looped it back deep up the middle. This went on for 43 minutes and the match was over.

And the opponent probably hung herself after the match.

Now, if that is what will move you to 4.0, my AS ("awkward strokes") do not stand a chance.

Cindy -- who has decided there must have been a typo and the captain really meant "awesome" strokes