Alright, decided to hit the courts today. Sun was out, felt like a good day to sweat a bit and work on my game. Grabbed my racket, threw some water and balls in my bag, and headed out.
Got to the local courts, thankfully one was free. Started off slow, you know, just jogging around the court a bit, doing some arm circles, stretches. Gotta get the old body moving before trying anything fancy. Don’t want to pull something.
Warming Up The Strokes
Spent a good 15 minutes just hitting against the wall. Took it easy at first. Forehands, backhands. Just focusing on making clean contact, finding a rhythm. The wall doesn’t lie, tells you exactly how you’re hitting it.
- Forehands: Tried to keep them deep.
- Backhands: Focused on the slice today, keeping it low.
- Volleys: Moved closer for some quick reaction volleys.
Getting Into It
Then I moved on to serves. Dumped the whole basket of balls near the baseline. Man, serves are tough. Some days they click, other days… not so much. Today was kind of an ‘in-between’ day. Had a few good ones, flat and hard down the T. But also shanked a couple right into the net. Kept thinking about some videos I saw, maybe it was that juan torres tennis stuff, trying to get more leg drive into it. Easier said than done, let me tell you.
After serves, I practiced rallying with myself, basically running side to side, trying to simulate points. Hit a forehand, scramble over, hit a backhand. It’s tiring, but good for footwork. I was really trying to focus on hitting with topspin, get the ball dipping down like you see the pros do. Again, saw something, maybe from that juan torres tennis guy, about the wrist action. Tried to copy it. Mixed results, honestly. Some felt great, others sailed long.
Key things I worked on:
- Serve consistency (still needs work!)
- Forehand depth and topspin (getting there?)
- Backhand slice control
- Moving my feet!
Finished up after about an hour and a half. Drenched in sweat. Did a quick cool-down walk, stretched a bit more. Packed up my gear. Felt good to get out there, even if not everything went perfectly. Every practice helps, right? Just gotta keep grinding. Maybe next time that serve will feel better.
