New Year's resolutions - tennis edition

[jedd]

Play every day

[West Coast Ace]

Hit with more of the So Cal guys on these boards.

[Shaolin]

Lose weight. Not eating sweets (candy,cookies, ice cream etc) for a whole year.

Wish I was in the LA area more often to hit with you, WCA.

[g4driver]

1) Gain ten pounds...bionic metabolisms are a $itch.

2) Transform my 2HBH overhead into a pure weapon...make opponents think twice about lobbing me in any direction.

3) Illicit the response "How does he get to the net so damn fast?" at least once in the first set.

Happy New Year guys!

[mmk]

Strengthen my hamstrings so I don't pull them so often

Try to play more than once in the 11 weeks I'll be out of the country

Develop a better 2nd serve

[chollyred]

Lose a bunch of weight.

Strengthen leg muscles to stabilize the knees.

Work real hard on my net game. I'm entirely too timid at the net.

[stoo]

My New Year's resolution is that I've decided I'm going to give up my club membership for this coming season, which eliminates playing any club tournaments, leagues and matches. I'm also going to give up playing matches period, even with our pick up group that goes out week nights.

My only intention this year when I step on the court is to hit with no points. Rally with no goal other than to hit the ball across the net and experience tennis in it purest form. No stress of break points, no worrying about missed calls, and no double faults. The competitive desire has left me and already it feels good. Even with 4" of snow on the ground.

[leech]

1) Join the 40-person singles ladder at my club and reach #20

2) Get some USTA league experience playing mixed doubles and get invited to a men's league this spring

[precision2b]

1. Improve fitness: I need to lose a few pounds…
2. Become more aggressive at the net in doubles: I mainly play singles…
3. Play more doubles: As it is now I can’t play singles at all because of pain…

I hope I will be able to play any at all this year. I started having problems with my hip and lower back a few weeks ago. Had an X ray done and the report states: Degenerative Arthritis in lower back and hip. I have a MRI set up for the 19th and a Physical Therapy consult for the 23rd.

Man this is killing me. I was playing singles 3 to 4 times a week, now am only playing doubles on Saturday. If anybody has any advice it would be greatly appreciated …

[skiracer55]

Originally Posted by yonexpurestorm

win an open tournament this year.

...my goal, too, good luck ta ya...

[GRANITECHIEF]

Originally Posted by West Coast Ace

Hit with more of the So Cal guys on these boards.

Great idea, same here. Also to extend unbeaten record of playing TT guys.

[maleyoyo]

1. Get the Sport Silent Partner ball machine
2. Get 150 Tretorn tennis balls
3. Use them twice a week one hour each time, weather permitted
4. Hit 150 serves after each session

[westside]

1) Go the whole year without thinking about trying a new racquet (10 days in and i'm struggling )

2) Control my temper more. I seem to be getting real ticked off, even in a friendly hit with mates. They can't believe what they're seeing since i'm usually the care free one of the group.

3) Look for more power on my first serve and greater consistency on my second.

[SlapShot]

1. Get more fit - both in general and on the court. To that end, I bought myself an indoor trainer for my road bike, and am getting up 3-4 mornings a week an hour early to ride. Also doing more drills that are more stressful on the body than a real tennis match.

2. Win at least 5 4.5 singles matches, either in tourneys or league. I'm a relatively experienced doubles player, and my singles tends to lag a half a level behind, despite having all of the weapons to succeed, and at some point it just comes down to getting the job done. Going to learn how to do that this year.

3. Turn my movement into a weapon. Goes along with #1 (getting more fit), but I'm way too athletic to be as slow on the court as I am right now. I have lazy feet, and they cost me lots of points. Going to change that - still trying to figure out exactly how.

[MrCLEAN]

1. Get back in the gym

2. Qualify for the year end championships

[MrCLEAN]

Originally Posted by stoo

My New Year's resolution is that I've decided I'm going to give up my club membership for this coming season, which eliminates playing any club tournaments, leagues and matches. I'm also going to give up playing matches period, even with our pick up group that goes out week nights.

My only intention this year when I step on the court is to hit with no points. Rally with no goal other than to hit the ball across the net and experience tennis in it purest form. No stress of break points, no worrying about missed calls, and no double faults. The competitive desire has left me and already it feels good. Even with 4" of snow on the ground.

Been there. Just hitting balls is very theraputic, but I've been down that road enough to know that the fire always returns.

Enjoy your year off!

[Angle Queen]

Originally Posted by SlapShot

1. Get more fit - both in general and on the court. To that end, I bought myself an indoor trainer for my road bike, and am getting up 3-4 mornings a week an hour early to ride. Also doing more drills that are more stressful on the body than a real tennis match.

2. Win at least 5 4.5 singles matches, either in tourneys or league. I'm a relatively experienced doubles player, and my singles tends to lag a half a level behind, despite having all of the weapons to succeed, and at some point it just comes down to getting the job done. Going to learn how to do that this year.

3. Turn my movement into a weapon. Goes along with #1 (getting more fit), but I'm way too athletic to be as slow on the court as I am right now. I have lazy feet, and they cost me lots of points. Going to change that - still trying to figure out exactly how.

Me and thee, SlapShot. I'm still doing well in my AquaAerobics class and will add another land-based Zumba class on the last two weeks of each month (logistics keep it from being more frequent).

And, like you, I do more doubles and have been ramping up my singles game. I'll amend my resolutions to provide a concrete goal: win 2 4.0 singles matches (preferably USTA but I'll take a social-but-serious engagement too).

And I have a suggestion for you on the footwork side. Might ye be married or attached? Might the SO be interested in a couples dance class? Fox Trot or Waltz maybe even some Latin; it'll all help the footwork...and give you some Major Brownie Points. Seriously, many athletes can benefit from some formal (but fun) dance training.

[SlapShot]

Originally Posted by Angle Queen

And I have a suggestion for you on the footwork side. Might ye be married or attached? Might the SO be interested in a couples dance class? Fox Trot or Waltz maybe even some Latin; it'll all help the footwork...and give you some Major Brownie Points. Seriously, many athletes can benefit from some formal (but fun) dance training.

I am not currently married, and may soon be unattached on the whole, but maybe that would give me some incentive to learn to dance anyway....

I had somewhat formal dancing training in HS (my band director played in wedding bands on the wide, and he loathed seeing a new husband and wife who couldn't dance properly at their own wedding), but could use a brush up.

[heftylefty]

1. Get into better shape. Need to lose more than a few lbs.

2. Enter more USTA events. Only played Long Beach Seniors 45s in 2011 and got humbled.

3. Find a practice partern that like to drill at least 2x week.

ps: WestCoast, lets hit.

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

1. Improve fitness (I spend too much time standing around feeding balls)

2. Work harder to get in position to hit my TS BH rather than slicing everything just because a) I can b) I'm lazy

3. Play more Open tournaments (while I can still compete)

4. Play doubles with my sons more.

5. Convince my wife (a former Open player who still hits the ball beautifully) to play an age tournament or something intead of just hitting with me all the time!

6. Make the most of every day I'm given...