SF Tennis Freak

Archive for August, 2011

It took a lot longer than expected to get my new racquets. But after finally getting them out on the courts for a hit, they seem to have been well worth the wait!

This weekend was spent breaking in both sticks on successive days: Saturday at Buena Vista Park tennis courts then Sunday at USF Tennis Courts.

The injured hamstring is healed, and the body felt fit. So off I went to hit. Saturday at Buena Vista park, the first day, was okay but a little rough. I was hoping for a great first experience with “my” racquets, not demo racquets with bad stringing and a grip size that was way too small for my mega-hands. It was just okay though. After 3 weeks away from the courts, it was hard to gauge the merits of my new racquets while also struggling with sloppy technique and bad footwork.

Today (Sunday) was much better on all fronts. Footwork was better, stroke production was better, focus was better. That allowed me to focus on adjusting to the racquets. They are great, but they are dramatically different than my Volkl’s. I gotta stay calm and keep the swing relaxed with my head down on the ball and NOT looking at my target. When I do that it feels sweet. If I don’t, it doesn’t feel god awful… and that is a good thing! 😉 THAT is why I switched racquets. Now it’s just going to take some time to make sure I get the “sweet” feeling more often than not.

Spoke to a friend who is captaining a team, so now I’m getting ready for 7.5 Combo season this fall — with my new sticks. I think it’s gonna be a good one.

This was a busy weekend for the GLTF, as two of the Women’s USTA adult league teams were playing at Districts (one in Alameda and one in Sunyvale).  Match times were the same for both locations.   I wanted to make a point to cheer at least one of the teams on and do a write up, but I unfortunately had to choose which location to cover.  Just for scheduling and distance, I opted to see the Longshots play in Alameda at the Harbor Bay Club on Saturday.

My apologies to the Sweetshots.  Wish I could have been there as well.

After a winning day on Friday, the Longshots continued their strong run by sweeping the doubles against Lafayette for a 3-2 victory.  First up on the main show court was doubles with Tara and Jeane.   I arrived with the match already in progress thanks to the wonderful traffic on 880, but the match was already well under control.  Tara and Jeane played great tennis to come away with the first win.

Claire played in the first singles match-up, and tried hard in her “sacrifice” singles position.  But her opponent was just too tough.  To her credit, Claire kept an amazingly positive attitude on court and kept playing hard until the last point.  Even afterward she was upbeat and quite funny in this brief chat we had while watching the second doubles.  It’s pretty funny, and I can see myself hanging out with Claire and laughing my butt off the whole time.  The clip is published with her blessing. 🙂

Claire V. interview at Districts (AUDIO)

Click here or on the picture at right for the image gallery

Next up was the duo of  “Down the line” Donna and “Pato” Penny (please excuse me if I’m butchering nicknames too badly!).  They were on and through quickly, with a strong beat-down of their opponents in straights.  The last two matches were the doubles duo of  Penny-Kathy, and Nicole in singles.  I think there was some kind of a curse on court #2 at Harbor Bay for our “singles ladies”.  First Claire, and then Nicole … locked in tough battles without easy access for team support.  From what I could see through the fence, Nicole played tough but came out on the losing end.

So there it was… match on the line with a must-win for Penny and Kathy.  And wouldn’t you know that they came through a tough battle on the main show court for the clinching victory.  If this had been day 3 I’m sure there would have been a mad dash on the court with jumping and scrumming.  But with a final tough day of play the ladies settled for high fives, hugs, and Coronas!

It was great watching the Longshots compete so well under such tough conditions.  The team support was also great to see.  These ladies like playing together and it showed!  A note of thanks to all of them for welcoming me into the fold for pictures and questions.  To quote Tara (who came up to me after her win with Jeane), “I saw you taking our picture… who are you?”.  Thank god I could explain myself adequately and it didn’t get ugly. 😉

In all seriousness, they were great to be with on a sunny Saturday afternoon.  I wish I could have come back Sunday to cheer the Longshots on.  Jeane e-mailed later in the day that they lost their last match to end 2-1 in round robin play, same as the Sweetshots.  But I’m sure it was still a great effort from all… even at 8AM on a Sunday!  Congratulations to both teams, and all the best for your off-season and a repeat performance next year.