I just left Champaign and am now in Decatur, Illinois.
I’ve been practicing and living without Horacio for a few days now and…… I miss him. Having him behind me was not only good for the high-quality instagram content, but he would instantly help me if he saw something that wasn’t 100% right. Honestly, now it’s hard for me to detect what exactly is going on if I’m not hitting the ball the way I want. I have a tendency to be really overly self-critical and sometimes I can’t tell if I’m truly not playing the way I want to, or if I’m just in my head too much. The self-doubt is mainly on my forehand, but I’ve been hitting it well recently.
I just also miss his company. He’s such a great person and it was nice just having someone there.
He suggested I write down some notes and review them before and during each session (including matches), which I thought was a great idea. This may be boring for non-tennis people to read, but I want to create a list of everything I’d like to do on every stroke. I feel like creating this list is the first step to nirvana aka moksha aka some dope tennis.
Serve
- Use legs to go up and not forward
- Keep right arm of the right side of my body
- Hit the ball at the highest point
- After making contact with the ball, land on left foot, then right foot, then split step back.
- Be confident when stepping up to the line. You don’t have to aim for the lines to get a free point.
- Don’t rush. Breathe.
Tweener
- Don’t hit it unless you’re up 6-0 5-0 40-0. You’re terrible at it. Keep practicing.
Forehand
- Movement is everything. When you don’t hit it the way you want, you’re not set up for the ball. Be deliberate with movement.
- Swing confidently. Don’t guide the ball and stop halfway. Rip.
- Imagine 10 balls in a straight line forward. Hit through all ten balls before you come over the ball.
- Prepare before the balls bounces. Racket out and legs low.
Backhand
- Move feet big man.
Volleys
- Move through the ball. Before, after and during.
- Hands in front.
- Get low and quick feet dude.
- Strong follow through.
Tweener
- Just go for it. You’ll probably make it big dog.
Notes For Competing
- Focus on footwork intensity. Especially after you break or win a set, keep the intensity
- Go for your shots with safe targets. Don’t think too much just go for it.
- Use fast racket head speed like in practice.
- Hit and recover.
- Play the present moment. Forget past mistakes.
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Swing that damn ball to the target . Don’t need to think more than that. Play by instinct.
I have my first qualifying match this Saturday morning.
Lez get it. Lemme know if anyone has some movie recommendations. I just watched No Country For Old Men and it was fuego. It’s as close as I’ll go to watching a scary movie.
Tweener notes: hahahahahahaha
Lorri
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