Like last season I lost again in the first round of the playoffs. There is no day worse then the day you lose the last game of the season.

The person I played was a young guy, 22. He was like playing a brick wall honestly. Though he hit a few balls out at times I do not recall him missing any balls. He just seemed to get to everything. Even the overheads when he came to the net and I hit some good ones. He also had a strong serve.

The games I did win where the ones I just grind out with him and eventually he missed and I did get some solid points changing my serve on him. More often than not (obviously) I would hit something short in the rally and he would move in on it and get me off guard. Ether I could not get to it or the shot I did return was a easy winner for him. I normally do not like overheads in that situation as I miss them more often than I make them. I prefer to just get it in and this seemed to work against me.

Although the score was the same both sets I did do better in the 2nd and the score did not completely match up with the games, there were many Deuce situations.

I know I have no one to blame but myself for this loss. That being said here is the but... If someone makes it to the League Finals or Championship in a league they should have to move up. This kid played last season and beat several of the top seeded players. He made it to the League Finals and nearly beat the Champion in a 3 set battle.

I have decided to play 2.5 this Summer simply because it is Summer and I don't want to move up in the heat. I need to work on consistency and my fitness for the next season.

Ok my last week was supposed to be a laid back match with a nice easy win. Ever heard the saying "Make plans, God enjoys a good laugh.", well that applied here.

 My match was against a player I have beaten before and he has not won a match this season. I wanted to rush in and get 6-0 6-0 honestly. I knew he had a weapon in his forehand if you gave him a strike. He also moves well on the court. Other than this he was pretty straight forward 2.5 player, weak serve - bad back hand - and give him enough rope and he will hang himself.

My coach tells me, stick with the kick serve. I do this. Only thing that was a problem was

1. The guy practicing against the board during the entire first set (thump thump thump)
2. The 2 players next to us ranked -3.0 and at any moment a ball would come flying at you during the match
3. there was no flat area on the court, and
4. The dog park within 20 yards of the court.

Oh yeah dogs next to the tennis court. Now I love dogs (see pic of Cody), just not on or near my tennis match. Dogs are playing and barking and playing and barking and barking and more barking. OMG! At one point the noise was so bad I double faulted 4 times in a row and gave up a game. 1st Double is irritating, 2nd is down right maddenning, and then by the 3rd you think I will never hit another winner in my life UGGGGH!

I wanted to leave it was getting so bad. But I played on. Finally the  guy stopped hitting on the board so some calm came to the game. This seemed to stop driving the dogs so mad also.

As far as my play, well the double faults I mentioned were really an isolated thing (all 4 of them). For the most part my kick serve was working well. I won the first few games on that alone actually which is rare for me to come out winning. This player in particular has a real issue with the kick serve.

Most of the points I gave up were due to playing flat footed during the round and just not being ready for his forehand when he hit it. He really knows how to put pace on the ball when returning it. He hits it real low over the net and you have to be on your toes to get it.

Another thing I kept doing was coming in too close to the net. This happened a lot on his 2nd serve. His 2nd serve was real weak and I would try to take advantage of hit and hit something deep and down the line. But several times during the first set I would rush in and then stay there 12 inches from the net. Well he was real good at hitting overheads with me that close to the net and who wouldn't be right ?

First set went to a tie break which I won 7-6. (First tie-break of the season)

The 2nd set I actually got down right away 0-2. This was right before the players next to us left. Several times we had to stop and wait for them to get their ball or we had to replay a point because a ball came flying in during our point.

After they left I started turning it on. Got my head in the game. I stopped coming in so far into to the net and got rewarded almost immediately. He did not try so many overheads and the ones he did I easily got too. Now I still screwed a few up trying to smash them but at least I was getting to them in the air. Slice seemed to work well from mid court also, my opponent is back at the baseline and I would just put a severe slice on the ball in the air. This seemed to get a winner almost every time.

Another thing I did against my coach's advise was change my serve. After he broke my serve in the 2nd set I just had to try something new. Keeping in mind I had only hit Kick Serves to him the entire first set. Up to this point I had not hit 1 power serve (throwing the ball forward and "pronating" the arm to generate speed) to him. So I throw it up and just go for it. Hit him right in the chest off the bounce. He didn't know what hit him. 40-0 in no time flat. This essentially sealed the deal from there on out. Having 2 serves is a big weapon. He won the next game on his serve and that was it.

Final was 7-6 6-3.

Regular season is over, preparing for the playoffs now.

Here are some screen shots of the division standings and then the details for the season. Green star means your in the playoffs. Some games are not complete yet so I will likely end up 3rd or 4th overall.

With only 2 games left in the season I go my first lose. URRRRRRRRGGGGGRRRGGGGGGGG! Man I hate losing.

I really wanted to have an undefeated season.

My opponent Rick was good player. He played smart and cam to the net often. My server was really off for some reason and this seemed to hurt my more than anything. I started double faulting a lot so I switched to my kick server. Well with his height this seems to put the ball right in his strike zone so he was able to capitalize on this. He moved into the net after these strong returns and it obviously worked well for him.

 Ironically he was doing what I NEED to do more of! Last lesson I had my coach pointed out my service returns as a week part of my game. I tried to improve this during the match and at times it seemed to work. I need to work on service returns more. I also did not come to the net enough. When I am going to learn to do this successfully. I always seem to recognize the opportunity too late. I stand at the baseline and admiring my nice shot that is making my opponent backpedal to get his racquet on it when I should be moving in to the center of the court.

 Be practice partner is finally recovered from his bike accident so I am going to work on these things with him. No lesson this week as my coach is out of town. I have 1 match left against a player who I have beaten before. He has a strong forehand but that is about it. I will need to take advantage of his serve and everything will be alright.

What happened to 6 ? Well I actually have not played it yet because of 2 reasons. #1 the Toe delayed all my play for a few days. #2 the opponent had a death in the family and had to postpone.

Anyway Week 5 was against a older player. Braces on the knee, elbow, and taking pills before, during, and after the match. Sounds easy but some of these older players are trouble. Experience counts for a lot in tennis and it is certainly something I lack with only a few years of playing time. I started out pretty bad with this guy. Losing my first 2 games to him. I do not know why I do poorly in the beginning of a match but it seems like the norm for me. I tightened up after those games and went on to win 6-2, 6-4. During the first set the guy actually got a tape measure out and checked the net. Weird. He also had to take a "nitro" pill during the beginning of the match. A little unnerving as I did not want to be giving CPR to this guy.

Week 7 was with a friend Mike. I have played him in the league before and in practice. He has not beaten me yet but he certainly cam prepared to win. He nearly won the first set but I pulled it off at 7-5. 2nd set had a bumpy start also but I got into the flow and won 6-3. We played during the day 2PM and it was warm. Like an idiot I forgot to put sunscreen on my arms and wore a sleeveless shirt. I got some nice pink arms now.

Mike is a nice guy and he plays a lot of tennis. He is physically fit also. I do not know why he is not a 3 or 4.0 player. We played a 3rd set for fun and he beat me in that one. I was totally exhausted during that set. I tried to give him some tips on his play and the things I took advantage of. His biggest thing is he likes to stand and watch his shot. He does not move to the proper position after his shot.

For me I am trying to lose some weight which is my biggest obstacle to improving right now. I could stand to lose 20-30 pounds and I think it will help a lot. I am back on the cookie diet now. You can google if you want to know more, I don't put commercial links in my blog generally.