Their last game of the season vs North at home’s close contested, they lost 15-16. They were leading most of the times. More pix on FB, video
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a heartbreaking season finale
the time out
my view to the right: the baseball field...
her weapon
a little celebration
This part of the school athletic fields I seldom visit. They’re pretty much in demand because many times they’re being used by other schools or groups. Sunday mornings are always reserved for the baseball men, even on Mother’s Day. Baseball is called the summer game, boys of the summer. I don’t really have patient for it but I like to play the game myself. There is a commanding feeling when you are at base, ready to swing the bat. The entire diamond field is at attention, despite the pitcher is considered the heart of the game.
Some day, I will play it again. Some day.
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Field of Dreams
pitcher, the center of the attention
the player .. running off the bat
meet the parents ..
the umpire
the coach
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that people fail in their quest to play great doubles is that they have the wrong shots.
There are certain shots I often see people trying to hit when they play doubles that are just not the best shots they could play.
And maybe worse still, they spend a whole load of time (and money) trying to improve those shots.
If your only objective is to play winning doubles, then here are three shots you need to put time into developing and improving versus some shots you don’t need the extra time to improve.
The biggest problem with the big fast serve is this: It reduces the time you have to get ready for the return.
Players on the receiving end of your serve also get the chance to block or tee off at the ball, using the pace you’ve given them and often without having to move their feet. They retain their court position and are ready to play another shot if they need to.
Yes, if you are playing a pair of a much lesser standard and you already have a big flat serve, then great. But if you don’t already have full command over a big serve, then concentrate on the opposite option.
A good spin serve does everything a hard flat serve can’t. It gives you more time to get in to the net or ready for the next shot (hopefully a volley).
It doesn’t give the returner as much pace to work with, and if it’s a good slice or kick, it will force them to move.
If it’s good enough, then a weak return is always the result of a player forced to move their feet when off balance and will bring your partner in to play — more often than not, to poach. It also opens up more gaps on the court for you to exploit (as your opponents have to move to get the ball).
If you watched Roger Federer win the Gold medal at the last Olympics, you would have seen him serving for placement not power most of the time.
This is a funny one because this is a shot you definitely need for singles.
But for doubles, the concept of hitting high looping shots from the back of the court is a no-no. Here’s why: Shots traveling deep to the back of the court with topspin become a nice easy volley either for the opposite net player, who can poach it, or for the oncoming volleyer.
If you possess a sharply dipping topspin shot that you can angle or put at the feet of the opposition, then you are OK. But if all you have is the singles-like groundstroke, then you are in trouble.
Also, if you can’t get the ball to dip at the feet of an oncoming player you will only be presenting them with a volley or mid-court ball that they can hit on the rise and make life difficult for you.
You also need to consider whether the extreme grips often used for topspin groundstrokes may give you a problem when and if you need to change grips when coming to the net to volley or half volley.
Having a sliced shot on both wings (especially the backhand) will prove invaluable. You can play a slice without rotating your upper body, which does several great things for you.
It means you can deal with a fast oncoming ball in less time (no rotation needed). You can also play it while moving forward (again no rotation needed), so getting to the net quicker becomes easier.
And you can get the ball down low to the feet of the opposition much easier, making things much more difficult for your opponent.
I have seen Nadal — who has great topspin shots — returning and playing with slice in doubles much more than when he plays singles.
It will also help the “feel” on your volleys as it is played pretty much in the same way.
My doubles partner and I have played many practice sessions only using sliced forehands and backhands and the associated volleys. You would be surprised at how successful we were with that tactic.
This freaks many people out. They get used to coming to the net and up goes the lob.
They go for the smash and it comes back, maybe over their heads. They smash again (a bit harder) and the same thing happens or they miss.
It shouldn’t take you long to realize that many of the people that frequently lob are, in fact, very good at returning the flat smash. They do it because they are good at it and because they know people will just try to hit the ball harder — and often miss.
It’s the same principle as not needing a hard, flat serve. The returners of the smash often don’t move much and use the pace you give them to give you an even higher, deeper ball to smash again.
You’ve got to be really good to win this game.
I make the distinction between the two for the following reason: The smash is a shot that says it all. An overhead implies that you do several different things with a ball that is hit overhead.
When you are faced with a lob and your opponents are at the baseline waiting for your smash, what you need is a sliced or angled overhead landing around the service line.
Not only is that nearly impossible to pick up from behind the baseline, it also means that if they do go for it they are on the move (control is then difficult) and they also leave massive gaps on the court.
It really is just a matter of solid tennis strategy, intelligent play and knowing what to do — not trying too hard.
I was lucky enough to be given this useful info by someone else and it transformed my tennis doubles game.
Hopefully this will do the same for you.
Regardless, this vanity plate is cute .. CHEQM8 .. checkmate
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near Georgetown on April 20, 2011
I haven’t played with James in a couple of years, at least. Surprisingly we found each other on the same court last week. He’s the most fluid and poetic strokes I don’t see often. It’s very relaxing to play against him, I could actually line up my shots and do well in our many long long rallies. He seemed to impressed with my progress, and let me serve first. I took that as a compliment. We dished out a bagel easily to a hard hitter who never had a chance.
Now, talking about winning, I’ve been trying to score a victory with David over Dan and Sean .. 3 matches later I’m only able to reach few tie breaks ..
Got to work harder.
Besides the senior moment, I now have the menopause moment too, and it strikes often.. .. like last night. It would have been a close one but Irene just couldn’t get her act together. The girl opened match by serving it first. We danced around deuce few time but she eventually took it. I was thinking, cool, going to be a competitive match.
Ha.
I double faulted on game point, set point and match point .. hopefully I’m not going to DF on life point??!!
Sorry partner.
will try harder next time..
We even called the score wrong but our opponents corrected .. no it’s game.
Nice of them.
Wine and dine at the National Tennis Center
My weekday AM group would linger at the lobby after the game; some times llllooong after the game. And some times before the game. Many days their routine would be
.. tennis.
.. lounging around
.. lunch
.. mahjong (majiang)
.. dinner
The new lineup sheet!
I think this is the best lineup sheet I’d seen so far. The league ought to make amendment … ha ha ha ..
Good to know other captains forget things too.
The opposing cap (see the mid pix) came bit late and holding this plate.
Pretty cool
Is he wining and dinning at the NTC again??!!
And as usual, I wasn’t invited?
Now, she can only watch on heels! I was dumbfounded to see an athlete on the injured list – left knee – at the court side on HIGH HEELS. Patrick (Pat) Riley was a sleek dresser but he was a coach and his knees were injured .. so what’s this all about? Wanting to look good for the camera? Risking your knee? Not worth it, girl!
PHILADELPHIA — This is not the homecoming that Caroline Doty wanted, surgical scars having formed a vague T on her left knee, her contribution to Connecticut this season limited to charting plays from the bench instead of leading the team at point guard.
Three times Doty has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, an injury that has afflicted sports like basketball and soccer, where women are up to five times more likely than men to have their careers interrupted for reasons that are believed to be anatomical, biomechanical and hormonal.
“I’m hanging in there, but it’s tough watching,” said Doty, 21, a junior at UConn and former basketball and soccer star at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pa.
On Sunday, UConn (34-1) will face its Big East rival Georgetown (24-10) for the third time this season in the semifinals of the Philadelphia Region. A year ago, Doty was a starter as the Huskies won a second consecutive N.C.A.A. title. Now, she can only watch.
Last Saturday we played at a little friendly tourney at the Nation Tennis Center, 7-11pm. Three and half pairs of my team had joined. And we were assigned in the same court. Wondering why would we want to do that since we play each other all the time? Two courts were reserved for mixed and the tourney mixed all the mixed pairs to play, the couples’ rating ranging from 6.5 to 8.0. And they gave out trophies at the end.
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The designated photographer Charlie took many pictures. Look at the blue hue, very sharp cerulean came to mind.
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Our 7th match went smoothly. The opponent came prepared, two 6.5 combo and one 7.0. They stacked the game, putting the strongest – at least on paper – the 7.0 pair at third doubles. They like something different, out of ordinary: last time the team put out an ineligible pair. The players were all very nice and polite. Stephanie used to be on my team but this time (the Queens league) we couldn’t really afford her since we only have one 4.0. She is, as usually, talkative and was questioning my partner’s acumen of the game, asking him if he knew how to warm up, :). I really enjoy having her around; glad she found a new team to play on. She served very well and her forehand worked well too.
The match scores and team standings in our Division I. The Queens League has only two divisions for 7.0. The 8.0 has two divisions and 6.0 has one only. We are 9 points behind the first team but we’re one match less.
加油
大家加油
The end is near
加油
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Slight different blues
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Our 6th match was played yesterday at NTC on clay. Crisis, Crisis, and more Crisis. The first crisis was, I’m having mid life crisis! The second crisis: I forgot to send out the lineup .. the third crisis was forgot to bring balls. It’s totally my fault: the opposing team even mentioned it in the confirmation email – thank you Doug, it’s really nice for you to do so. The third doubles players from both side (two couples: not sure about the opponents but they have the same last name .. ) each offered me a can of balls: thank you all! And Kai went to the Pro shop to get the third can. I’m brain dead and contracting Alzheimer’s disease…
Ricky and I played the second string. We were pretty tight in the first four games, everyone held own serve. Then I didn’t know what happened but Ricky took the set at 2.
The second set began with my partner served first again. Some how we were leading 4:1.
The guy served and held.
4:2.
Irene served and lost
4:3.
The lady served and held
4:4.
Holy smoke.
Then everyone held his/her own, tie break followed. I tried hard to focus and to pull myself together.
Guess we were less nervous or the Lord was moved by my sincerity, we won the tie break 7:4. Phew.
As soon as we shocked hands at the net, our first doubles team who had finished before us on court 3, said to us,
“打毛波 .. they cheat.”
My teammates referred to a point we hit to the corner of the ad court. The man was at the baseline. (Our first doubles mates were at their baseline too and saw the shot was well inside of the court.) He hesitated. The lady was near the net and she went to baseline. They had a discussion about it.
Then our opponents rendered their verdict:
It was out.
The guy even came to the net to demonstrated how far out it was and where it landed.
I remembered joking to Ricky,
“Gee .. they to have a meeting to decide a shot .. ” Some elaborated operation.
I said nothing, what’s the point?
I wasn’t going to enforce the rule because I don’t like confrontation. Both Ricky and I noticed our first point was ended with a shot that sailed long. The guy took it behind the baseline without letting it to bounce. We took it as 0:15. But really, we could have it as 15:0. I personally experienced this before, when I played elsewhere (for the yellow glove lady). I stopped a very long shot without letting it bounce. It was a tight singles match and my opponent and her teammates jumped on me ..
There are rules and there are people.. ..
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This afternoon Dan and I lost to Irene and her honey 0:4! 4 bagels, 4 eggs at NTC Court 5 where I lost my playoffs match on Saturday. I was so tired, I hardly could move by third set. I found myself wondering off all the time. Kai said to me on Saturday
“Please, we have a match to play .. ” when he saw me watching the matches on both sides.
Today, Wah finally had it, said ..
“Have you finished watching?” ..
Irene and Honey are on a roll, they just called for a match tomorrow at 11am. Sigh. I resign. I surrender. I give up.
