Tennis Warehouse-Mid Atlantic Chapter

TheJRK

Rookie
JRK, Saturday evening I was going to stop by your place after another place (already had these plans before your evite came out)...but your parking situation kind of scared me off a bit. Might swing by and give it a try on my way home, never know...I might get lucky.

Don't let the parking scare ya! You could get lucky.

We just put that notice in the e-vite since my friends all live very close, <10 minutes and they can just take a cab. It's more convenient and safer (no drinking and driving). But most of them are dumb a$$e$ and will still probably drive to my place.
 

Topaz

Legend
Don't let the parking scare ya! You could get lucky.

We just put that notice in the e-vite since my friends all live very close, <10 minutes and they can just take a cab. It's more convenient and safer (no drinking and driving). But most of them are dumb a$$e$ and will still probably drive to my place.

Well, and you do have visitor's spots at your place, right? Are they in the back, off of the George Mason entrance to your lot? I figure I would try those first and then troll the street spots. I'll be playing it by ear that night, but I'm going to try to come! :)

Are you still coming tonight?
 

auzzieizm

Semi-Pro
Topaz, lets hit tomorrow if you still want to.

JRK, are you still wanting to hit saturday morning? or are you gonna be too busy party- organizing.

Xisbum, bottled beverages are not USUALLY part of the TWMAC discount ;) Thanks for coming in! and nice shoes!
 

Xisbum

Semi-Pro
Topaz, lets hit tomorrow if you still want to.

JRK, are you still wanting to hit saturday morning? or are you gonna be too busy party- organizing.

Xisbum, bottled beverages are not USUALLY part of the TWMAC discount ;) Thanks for coming in! and nice shoes!

Were you there? If you were, I either didn't see you or didn't recognize you without a tennis racquet (or 5). I was holding court, you know, challenging my guys on Hemingway and Pamplona. I was also treating our lovely office manager for all she does for us and had to pay some attention to her. :)

I give your place 5 stars - the Brazilian chicken flatbread was to die for, and I saw several other possibilities for future reference.

All TWMACers have to eat here; should be a requirement for membership.

I'm embarrassed if I did miss you. :oops:
 

auzzieizm

Semi-Pro
Xisbum, I was at the (other) register! My sidekick took your order though... I thought maybe you noticed when I told her to give you the drinks for free!
 

hollywood9826

Hall of Fame
Nitefly and PPL.

You guys both have mail with my address in case you decide to drive separtly. I think you both have my cell so Call if you need anytihng.

Also a buddy of mine be meeting us there as well. Its a decent player but very awkward with his shots. Alot of different spins and what not. Hes like Santoro with the forehand slice and whatnot.
 

Topaz

Legend
Topaz, lets hit tomorrow if you still want to.

JRK, are you still wanting to hit saturday morning? or are you gonna be too busy party- organizing.

Xisbum, bottled beverages are not USUALLY part of the TWMAC discount ;) Thanks for coming in! and nice shoes!

Auzzie, sorry, but I am going to MACbail...I haven't had a day off from tennis/working out in over a week, and my back is starting to feel it. :( Sorry!

I'll make it up to by buying lots at your place...someday when I have time to get into the city for lunch (aka...late June!).
 

Xisbum

Semi-Pro
Xisbum, I was at the (other) register! My sidekick took your order though... I thought maybe you noticed when I told her to give you the drinks for free!

Now I feel like a total fool, so instead of digging the hole deeper, I will slink off to my cave and dream about Geico.
:oops: :oops:

p.s. You should add a little gray at the temples; you look much too young to be managing such a thriving place.
 

Sup2Dresq

Hall of Fame
Thursday clinic guys,

I'm very happy to say that last night your clinic really helped your game. During your game simulation, you avoided hitting center shots and the points were very competitive. There were still some kinks in the armor, but overall some good progress was shown last night.

Now to patent that drill before TTC steals another one if my lessons again.
 

tfm1973

Semi-Pro
Sup -- i see weather forecast for today is a high of 65 degrees. would you go out to the courts with a thermometer and check before playing? what if you start playing and it's 65 degrees but at some point while you're already playing it drops to a frigid 64 degrees? would you politely excuse yourself and leave? ;)

also do you still recommend maxim touch or do you have another favorite string of the month -- at least in regards to what you know about my game (or lack thereof).
 

Topaz

Legend
that's hilarious... next time it is going to be NO SOUP FOR YOU!

What happened to you last night??? Why no dogfishing?

Also, today is parent/teacher conferences. The school will be jammed full of...sweets!!! :(

I have a plan though, I'll just stay locked in my office, no problem.

:(

:( :(
 

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
Thursday clinic guys,

I'm very happy to say that last night your clinic really helped your game. During your game simulation, you avoided hitting center shots and the points were very competitive. There were still some kinks in the armor, but overall some good progress was shown last night.

Now to patent that drill before TTC steals another one if my lessons again.

ARGHHHHAAAAHHHAAAAAHAAAAAHA!!!!! *Wookie Roar of Victory*

Wow! We must have been good for Sup to post about it. LOL!

Wish I could make either event this weekend, but it's not happening. :(

TFM - I see ice packs in your future........keep up the schlongstroker jokes.... while you still have one ;)

Xisbum - The lack of tennis has affected your sight Play two sets and call me in the morning.

Auzzie - I should be down-town sometime next week. I plan on dropping by Sandellas.
 

TheJRK

Rookie
^^ ok, can anyone else play at 4??? Dvi? May
Be a little too cold for sup yet...

I can still hit Saturday morning, hopefully my arm holds up. My TE came back with a vengeance last night during the clinic. It actually started when we were playing mini-tennis in the beginning... strange. By the end I could barely hold the damn racket.

What time and where do you want to meet on Saturday?

DVI - You get negative 100 pts for McBailing last night, especially since I said table for 5 and we ended up waiting for 30 minutes when if I said 4, we would've been seated right away.
 

Sup2Dresq

Hall of Fame
Sup -- i see weather forecast for today is a high of 65 degrees. would you go out to the courts with a thermometer and check before playing? what if you start playing and it's 65 degrees but at some point while you're already playing it drops to a frigid 64 degrees? would you politely excuse yourself and leave? ;)

also do you still recommend maxim touch or do you have another favorite string of the month -- at least in regards to what you know about my game (or lack thereof).

I've been caught on court when temps have dropped below my threshold level. It's good news for my opponent because my tennis skills go from Sup to Sap. Drop below 55 and I'm Zapped. Any lower and I'll start halucinating.... like thinking Shcmad has spin or Auzzie is loyal to one racquet.

These days I don't risk it. Anything below 65 and I'll excuse myself.

I have maxim touch. Still the string of choice for korean lites around the world. I do think Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex is a good string. When in doubt as PurePrestige for string selection advice. Then "bizarro" his answer.

P.S. Your racquets are on the way.
 

Sup2Dresq

Hall of Fame
ARGHHHHAAAAHHHAAAAAHAAAAAHA!!!!! *Wookie Roar of Victory*

Wow! We must have been good for Sup to post about it. LOL!

Don't get carried away wookie. LOL.

Next week.. drop balls, 9 ball, around the world, and crazy eights.

For those not in the "know" .. the above are not a quagmire ladies move. They are tennis drills. Though the first drill does sound like something to tease TFM about.

quagmire.jpg
 
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Topaz

Legend
Ok, I thought this would be interesting, fun, and potentially eye opening. As I mentioned to Magma last night, I've been using a free online web tool to help count calories as well as track my nutrients. I've been using it for about two weeks, right before the Lenten deals were struck (remember, my 'biggie' was giving up sweets). Last night we were talking about how many calories may be in the different things we like to eat, so I looked some of them up on the food database on the site.

Nachos - one serving (6-8 nachos) with cheese, beans, ground beef and peppers = 569 calories, 30 grams of fat! 20 mg of cholesterol, 2000 mg of sodium. But very low in sugar! (holy crap, I had at least two servings!)
soda - 8 fl ounces of Pepsi - 27 grams of sugar (you're only supposed to have 40g in ONE DAY), 100 calories
snickers bar - one 2 ounce bar - 271 calories (Magma had said 250...pretty good), 13.6 g of fat, 28.8 grams of sugar
beer - Coors Light (just picked a random one), 12 ounces - 100 calories (remember, it is a light beer)
more beer - Guiness Stout, one pint - 170 calories
one more beer - Blue Moon, 12 ounces - 171 calories
cosmopolitan - only 60 calories, 17 grams of sugar!

The calamari was harder to look up, but this is what they gave for Olive Garden's calamari - one serving = (hold onto your hats) 890 calories (but their database does not tell me what constitutes a serving). They put one serving of Romano's fried calamari at 670 calories (but hey - 39 grams of protein!).

A Pizza Hut thin crust veggie pizza is 250 per slice - figured that was the closest approximation to my pizza that I had.

So, lesson learned...no more appetizers! Unless of course, it is my colossal side salad!

*wondering if Dogfish's menu nutritional values can be found online somewhere*
 

tfm1973

Semi-Pro
*shakes fist at Sup* drop balls huh? actually i'm supposed to shave balls before surgery. i figure that might improve my aerodynamics and make me quicker around the court. maybe go from sloth-like to slug-like speed. i'll make the kessel run in only 12 parsecs. oh also -- can you email or text me a tracking number? :) i wants me sticks. they got freaking samurai on them. they need to come out with a limited edition tour version with bruce lee or maybe chuck norris on em.
 

Sup2Dresq

Hall of Fame
*shakes fist at Sup* drop balls huh? actually i'm supposed to shave balls before surgery. i figure that might improve my aerodynamics and make me quicker around the court. maybe go from sloth-like to slug-like speed. i'll make the kessel run in only 12 parsecs. oh also -- can you email or text me a tracking number? :) i wants me sticks. they got freaking samurai on them. they need to come out with a limited edition tour version with bruce lee or maybe chuck norris on em.

I left the tracking number at the club. I'll call around noon to get it from them and I'll email you.

Shaved balls... *shivers*... thanks for the mental image TFM.
 

auzzieizm

Semi-Pro
I can still hit Saturday morning, hopefully my arm holds up. My TE came back with a vengeance last night during the clinic. It actually started when we were playing mini-tennis in the beginning... strange. By the end I could barely hold the damn racket.

What time and where do you want to meet on Saturday?
.

Can you do early morning (not expecting much of a response)... I have to be at the restaurant no later than 10.

Sup doesn't play tennis in anything lower than 65 degrees.

today may be over the threshold!

Auzzie - I should be down-town sometime next week. I plan on dropping by Sandellas.

Nice JRS! Looking forward to it!

Ok, I thought this would be interesting, fun, and potentially eye opening. As I mentioned to Magma last night, I've been using a free online web tool to help count calories as well as track my nutrients. I've been using it for about two weeks, right before the Lenten deals were struck (remember, my 'biggie' was giving up sweets). Last night we were talking about how many calories may be in the different things we like to eat, so I looked some of them up on the food database on the site.

Nachos - one serving (6-8 nachos) with cheese, beans, ground beef and peppers = 569 calories, 30 grams of fat! 20 mg of cholesterol, 2000 mg of sodium. But very low in sugar! (holy crap, I had at least two servings!)
soda - 8 fl ounces of Pepsi - 27 grams of sugar (you're only supposed to have 40g in ONE DAY), 100 calories
snickers bar - one 2 ounce bar - 271 calories (Magma had said 250...pretty good), 13.6 g of fat, 28.8 grams of sugar
beer - Coors Light (just picked a random one), 12 ounces - 100 calories (remember, it is a light beer)
more beer - Guiness Stout, one pint - 170 calories
one more beer - Blue Moon, 12 ounces - 171 calories
cosmopolitan - only 60 calories, 17 grams of sugar!

The calamari was harder to look up, but this is what they gave for Olive Garden's calamari - one serving = (hold onto your hats) 890 calories (but their database does not tell me what constitutes a serving). They put one serving of Romano's fried calamari at 670 calories (but hey - 39 grams of protein!).

A Pizza Hut thin crust veggie pizza is 250 per slice - figured that was the closest approximation to my pizza that I had.

So, lesson learned...no more appetizers! Unless of course, it is my colossal side salad!

*wondering if Dogfish's menu nutritional values can be found online somewhere*

[shameless plug] Sandella's whole menu is under 700 calories, with most options around the 400-500 calorie range FOR THE WHOLE PANINI, GRILLED FLATBREAD, QUESADILLA, ETC. [end shameless plug]

JR, let me know when you are coming in to town and I'll meet up with you at Sandellas.

mini meet at Sandella's?? Bring your kick serves!
 

Topaz

Legend
Are VA peeps playing tomorrow? 1pm, 2pm??? Anyone?

C'mon, you know y'all have missing Wakefield HS and its 'invigorating' surroundings!
 

Topaz

Legend
[shameless plug] Sandella's whole menu is under 700 calories, with most options around the 400-500 calorie range FOR THE WHOLE PANINI, GRILLED FLATBREAD, QUESADILLA, ETC. [end shameless plug]

Excellent! Are the individual nutritional counts online somewhere?
 

TheJRK

Rookie
Can you do early morning (not expecting much of a response)... I have to be at the restaurant no later than 10.

Damn, remind me not to go into the restaurant biz, those are some rough hours. I'm guessing you had like 7:00am in mind but that's pretty early for me. It's only going to be 50 degrees at 7, that's pushing it.

What about this evening, are you working? Is Sandellas open 24 hrs? Your job is not conducive to playing tennis, you must quit it immediately. Also, I'd invite you to my party but you're probably working. :(
 

datsveryinterestin

Professional
JRS observations:
the wookie has a really nice spinning serve that he can vary the pace and placement with and most importantly is RELIABLE. easily the best server on the court last night. no aces, no mulligans, but he always had the upperhand after his serve.
---
JRS got some weak replies, but his footspeed and mental approach aren't quite ready to take advantage of those short returns. he seemed more comfortable hitting medium pace balls to force an opponents error. it worked well enough yesterday, but your service games could be much easier if you improve your footwork/footspeed after your serve by even 10%.
JRS also is absolutely terrified of the JRK serve. i can see him shaking before the ball is even hit and he might have even been clicking his heels hoping to return to Kansas. i think he is actually hoping the ball is a clean ace nowhere near him so he doesn't have to swing.
It wasn't JRK's best serving day, and i am not the best returner because i still swing too much 50% of the time, but the big difference between my returns and JRS is mental. YOU CAN RETURN IT. YOU WILL RETURN IT! just REACT and block it and soon the advantage will swing back to your side of the court!
I think JRS should watch Randy or another fiesty player return JRK serves. I have a feeling Randy would choke up on the racquet until it becomes basically a ping pong paddle and he would just block and slice that ball back in play all day long. Of course if the JRK has a primo plastic-man day and is hitting angles way out wide and right down the T, you just have to wait him out or distract him by talking about Xbox or something.

Magma observations:
first serve comes in faster than i expected. i was impressed. i also should not be trying to blast forehands off of anybody's serve. JUST GET THE BALL IN PLAY! (i am stupid though)
i thought there were some great tactical points between JRS and Mags. Magma has a nice counterpunching game.. but mentally if he hits a shorter ball that gives an opponent a chance to hit a hard shot possibly for a winner, i have seen Magma give up. if he just stayed in the point, every point, until it was over, he could hit a lob or a passing shot that might change the match. i even see magma give up in drills when he hits a less than stellar forehand, he forgets it is a 2 ball drill and starts walking off.. happened lots last night.
magmas forehand dropper is pretty nice too. i think he should bring those of us with size 13 shoes racing up to net more and then lob.. that kind of stuff more. magma kept the ball nice and deep against me.... a couple of times i was caught inside the court expecting a short ball only to get a ball landing near the baseline.

JRK observations -
off his game last night. i could tell in serve practice that it wasn't going in like usual. giving the point system, it was set up for JRK to thrive. the more i think about it, it was unfair. 6pts for an ace but only 4pts for a double? AND a mulligan? sounded ok at first, but a double fault cost you a point just like an ace wins you a point, so they should have been weighted equally.
plus giving JRK 3 chances to just bomb and hope for an ace lets him hide his lack of reliable 2nd serve even more.
I also think JRKs serve, size, and nice touch with volleys should have him slicing and coming to net a lot more. in singles matches, he is scary up at the net, and has the plastic skills to cover a lot of ground and scramble if need be...

now my serve basically suXored last night too, cuz i wasn't bending my knees at all so please understand i am just trying to HELP! but when i was in FLA with nobody to play, i spent several hours out there just spinning 2nd serves out wide to the ad court and down the middle in the deuce court and i was hitting them pretty consistently at 75mph and with a LOT of kicking spin. Every time, i was thinking that if i did that all summer in matches, i would win easily.
Save that big boomer down the T as a reward for match point! oh well, as you can see, old habits die hard. But at least now I know it is possible for me to kick a 2nd serve. I just have to use my whole body to do it.

p.s. - sorry to mcbail last night. i couldn't find my wallet or my phone for a few hours. doh. i had a $2.99 Trader Joes frozen dinner. (400cal/27g prot/12g fat.. 1500mg SODIUM!!!!)

ok, there it is. don't TASE me BRO!
 

tfm1973

Semi-Pro
hahahaa. nice observations.

my favorite is "it looked like JRstreaker was clicking his heels hoping he was in Kansas". muahahahaahaha

you got a way with words. you should be a writer. :)

i don't think i've ever faced JRK's serve. is it really tough to read or does it just come over so fast that it's game over man when it's in?
 

Sup2Dresq

Hall of Fame
hahahaa. nice observations.

my favorite is "it looked like JRstreaker was clicking his heels hoping he was in Kansas". muahahahaahaha

you got a way with words. you should be a writer. :)

i don't think i've ever faced JRK's serve. is it really tough to read or does it just come over so fast that it's game over man when it's in?

JRK's serve comes down at an extreme angle. It is not as fast as a top pro, nor does it make a pop sound like PurePrestige + Babolat. It just moves out at an angle one isnt used to.

It appears, from practice sessions, that a lot of folks get caught taking their eyes off the ball during a return. A good block is about all you can do. lol.

P.S. TFM. Talked to the club. Looks like your racquets are in.
 

TheJRK

Rookie
Those are some nice observations DVI. I don't think JRS is afraid of my serve since in my first service game he was standing like 4 feet inside the baseline getting ready to return. I was thinking "does the wookie have a death wish or something?" LOL.

That's probably a good place to stand in league matches though since most people have a weak serve. I know during our match on Tuesday I was caught off guard by a number of weak, dink serves since I was standing about 2 feet behind the baseline... until JRS told me to step inside for the returns and then I was fine.

I really wish I had a nice spinny serve like JRS too, 99% reliability that it's gonna go in. When I play with him I never think, "oh **** I hope he doesn't double fault."

I blame my height for my lack of a second serve. I've been tall since I was a sperm so I never needed to learn how to "spin" my serve in. I just spike it down like a volleyball and 50% of the time it goes in. In high school I served just as hard (maybe even harder than I do now) and I was unstoppable. Second serve aces are demoralizing and I'd a hit a lot of them since I was all or nothing. Kids were too afraid to even try and return my serve so I got a lot of free points. Plus if they just blocked it back my partner was at the net and would just kill the weak return. This is why I struggle in singles where my serve will generate a weak (block) return and then it's up to me to do something. Unfortunately I run up to the ball and smack it into the net or over the fence (which I did a few times last night) :oops:

This summer though, I'm really going to work on developing a reliable second serve. Maybe not a kick serve since it tends to hurt my back when I lean over too much, but something I can just spin-in with a lot of clearance over the net. I wanted to work on that last night but my arm was just hurting too much which is why I was stalling during the serve practice. I was bouncing that damn ball like 20 times between serves, haha take that Djokovic.
 

Xisbum

Semi-Pro
I've been caught on court when temps have dropped below my threshold level. It's good news for my opponent because my tennis skills go from Sup to Sap. Drop below 55 and I'm Zapped. Any lower and I'll start halucinating....

So you go from Sup to Sap to Zap to Zip? Can we sell tickets? :)
 

Topaz

Legend
So, VA peeps...want to just meet up at Wakefield HS tomorrow at 1pm and take it from there unless anyone else has any other ideas?

Any and all are welcome!

I'm hoping that not too many people will be taking advantage of the great weather by playing tennis...but there are many courts nearby if we need to relocate.

***PSA - Do not confuse Wakefield High School with Wakefield Park as they are not anywhere near each other***
 

datsveryinterestin

Professional
I don't think JRS is afraid of my serve since in my first service game he was standing like 4 feet inside the baseline getting ready to return. I was thinking "does the wookie have a death wish or something?" LOL.

trust me, JRS has no idea why he is standing there.... (i've asked him about it before) i think he got better as the 21 went on as far as position and keeping feet moving and ready to adjust to the ball, but mentally he has still already lost the point.

but as far as the JRK serves, you have a GIFT to be able to serve like that, but until you have a reliable second, that gift is wasted. but your game could be improved exponentially by a summer w/ a hopper of balls. using your legs a little, getting under that ball and spinning it in.
it will do 2 things. it will help you not Lose points due to double faults and because you are playing more points out, it will improve your groundstrokes.

anyway, i did notice ALL of us having better directional control with the cones yesterday. go team datsmagnificentschlongstrokers! :shock:
hopefully we will continue to improve our serves as the spring/summer approaches. i will miss you court #2 heater.. with the sounds of gentle waves caressing my eardrums! ;)

BIG THANKS to SUP for the front foot advice.. i think auzzie told me that my feet looked weird last summer, but the video really helped me to see it.
It improves my directional control and power a LOT and it is such an easy thing to fix. I had a bunch of balls against JRK that sat right in the middle of the court that I totally spazzed on, so between that and my serve, i still have a ways to go.

JRS... you can be on my 21 anytime. just giving you a hard time here! mainly cuz of the "pink stickers" comment. :oops:
Magma is lucky i don't get too angry about the, "maybe it isn't a ladies bag, maybe it is a kid's bag" comment. grrrrrrr!

I can play Saturday too. There are some lunch obligations that I REALLY need to avoid, so my afternoon is definitely set for TWMAC meetup instead!
Auz... take 1-3 lunch break and meet us at Wake. woooooo
bring lunch. wooooooo woooooo
 

NiteFly

Rookie
DVI, I love all the analysis! PPL and I played a pretty entertaining match last night, but I don't have the way with words that you do.

I lost because:
1. Double Faults
2. Slow sitters in the middle of the court - I must learn what to do with these! Ripping them to the back wall isn't doing it!

The clinics sound like they are doing a lot of good!
 
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