mightyrick
Legend
I haven't been around in awhile, but I thought I'd share an experience I'm going through right now in the competitive tennis ladder I play in. A bit of background...
I'm playing for just over two years now. I rose from the bottom of the ladder in about a year and half up to a high-3.5 level. In my ladder, I was regularly playing 3.5 and 4.0 players. I went from a slicer/dicer to a hard eastern forehand baseliner. My winrate was about .500. All was great for about six months...
Then... things changed...
I lost a few rounds in a row and dropped a few rungs. At that point, I was playing playing low 3.5 to high 3.0 players. Pusher retrievers. Then, I kept losing. At this point, I'm one rung from the bottom. The issue is that I've forgotten how to play pushers. In playing the 4.0s and high 3.5s, I'd forgotten how to really attack short floaters. I'd forgotten when to go for the overhead or when to let the ball drop. I was so frustrated.
But I have to say that I'm actually enjoying playing the bottom right now. I feel like I'm re-learning parts of my game that are lost playing good players. I treat each match now as almost a "practice" game... where I work on my overheads and inside-man forehand winners. I even lost tonight... but I lost on my own terms... trying to play aggressive and hit those aggressive shots. However, I didn't lose by much.
So for anyone who might be frustrated and is in a rut playing pushers, all I want to say is to treat these matches like a drill. Go for your shots. Forget about your misses. Use good technique and learn to punish those balls. Treat every short ball as if a coach was ball feeding you. Work on your game. It can be really fun. I'm losing, but I'm actually enjoying myself again. I'm pretty sure after a month or so of this, I'm going to start winning again. The kill shots are starting to fall in for me.
I never thought I'd say it, but playing some of these high 3.5 and 4.0s actually turned me into a more one-dimensional player. Nothing but baselining. Once I get back up to a competitive level again, I think I'm going to continue to hit regularly with 3.0 players. I don't want to lose those skills again.
I'm playing for just over two years now. I rose from the bottom of the ladder in about a year and half up to a high-3.5 level. In my ladder, I was regularly playing 3.5 and 4.0 players. I went from a slicer/dicer to a hard eastern forehand baseliner. My winrate was about .500. All was great for about six months...
Then... things changed...
I lost a few rounds in a row and dropped a few rungs. At that point, I was playing playing low 3.5 to high 3.0 players. Pusher retrievers. Then, I kept losing. At this point, I'm one rung from the bottom. The issue is that I've forgotten how to play pushers. In playing the 4.0s and high 3.5s, I'd forgotten how to really attack short floaters. I'd forgotten when to go for the overhead or when to let the ball drop. I was so frustrated.
But I have to say that I'm actually enjoying playing the bottom right now. I feel like I'm re-learning parts of my game that are lost playing good players. I treat each match now as almost a "practice" game... where I work on my overheads and inside-man forehand winners. I even lost tonight... but I lost on my own terms... trying to play aggressive and hit those aggressive shots. However, I didn't lose by much.
So for anyone who might be frustrated and is in a rut playing pushers, all I want to say is to treat these matches like a drill. Go for your shots. Forget about your misses. Use good technique and learn to punish those balls. Treat every short ball as if a coach was ball feeding you. Work on your game. It can be really fun. I'm losing, but I'm actually enjoying myself again. I'm pretty sure after a month or so of this, I'm going to start winning again. The kill shots are starting to fall in for me.
I never thought I'd say it, but playing some of these high 3.5 and 4.0s actually turned me into a more one-dimensional player. Nothing but baselining. Once I get back up to a competitive level again, I think I'm going to continue to hit regularly with 3.0 players. I don't want to lose those skills again.