In league play I play two sets, one set of singles and one set of doubles. Since it’s important to work harder in practice than in a match, I played four sets today and did sprints afterward. Derek Jeter takes batting practice 5 times a day. Jerry Rice does a 5 mile uphill run ending with 40 meter uphill sprints at the top and does a weight workout totaling 610 reps. On the same day. I’m not suggesting I could even survive a 5 mile vertical run and it probably takes me two months to do 610 reps of anything, but my game won’t improve if my conditioning doesn’t.

I do a lot of mental rehearsal of my tennis strokes. Today I realized that I had never rehearsed, or you could say visualized, winning a match. What would I do to celebrate? What would it feel like? Strangely enough, I had great difficulty with this exercise. I just kind of walked off the court. No wave to my adoring crowd or throwing my shirt into the stands (thankfully). This tells me that I don’t feel like a winner, that I don’t act like a winner during a match and therefore I am not likely to win a lot. I would say that it’s an important first step. I’ll work on it.

Practice and Competition Report: played four sets with T, he gives me 3 games a set because he’s that much better than I am: 3-6, 4-6, 4-6, 5-7
Solutions Analysis:
1. Looking for a solution to my backhand popping up in the air. I am probably breaking my wrist when I hit it.
2. Looking for a solution to hitting my cross court winner consistently wide.
Success Analysis: T hits a lot of high topspin shots. Sometimes they land near the baseline then go over my head into the fence at which point it’s a bit late to hit the ball. I did a better job figuring out when to back off and hit a high bouncing shot or when to come in and take these shots on the fly.