backsliding into the playoffs


No not those playoffs! I don’t plan to play for 5 hours 2 minutes and 12 innings then go out the next day and play 5 hours 49 minutes and 16 innings leaving ten men on base like the Red Sox and Yankees during the last two days. There were dramatic but, somehow, not suspenseful. Suspense comes from a well played game not a dragged out affair where outfielders misplay balls and neither team seems to be able to put the other out of its misery. If you wanted suspense you had to watch the Cards and the Astros, both pitchers left last night’s game with one-hitters.

No, I am backsliding into the LATA singles playoffs. Only the top four players in each level get to the playoffs and I was number five but one of the players is out so I am in! Now I have to add a goal statement to my position-technique-self set of goals.

A very important concept in manifestation work – getting what you want – is to immediately begin acting as though you already have what you want. So my position goal for the playoffs is: I am the winner of the level 4 round robin tournament. Not “I will be” or “I want to be” or “I plan to be” but “I am.”

The next step is to put a plan together to reach the goal. The plan here might be:
1. Study the notes I made about my opponents’ games and come up with a plan to attack their weaknesses and minimize mine.
2. Mentally rehearse playing each opponent and winning.
3. Think of every scenario that could happen – I am far ahead in the match or way behind, my opponent throws a fit because of a perceived bad line call, I lose my service rhythm, my opponent decides to play the match in fishnet stockings, a low cut blouse and a diamond tiara (could happen) – and come up with a game plan to deal with it.
4. Get to the court an hour and a half early on the day of the tournament and practice lobs, drop shots and passing shots.

Lanny Bassham tells a story about shipping his shooting equipment to the Olympics. He shipped his main rifle and his teammate’s backup rifle together in one box and shipped his backup rifle and his teammate’s main rifle in another box. Sure enough, one of the boxes was lost for a few days after their arrival at the Olympics but they both had equipment to practice with because they have taken care of every contingency.

Practice and Competition Report: played with M. in between the raindrops: 5-7, 6-1, 1-2
Solutions Analysis:
1. Follow through on backhand and forehand is imperative for hitting balls deep.
2. I’ve been hitting patsy second serves. Today I used exactly the same service motion for my first and second serve but I tossed the ball over my head for the second serve so that I have to hit a kick serve not just a patsy serve.
Success Analysis:
1. I was able to move M. around the court by hitting repeated short cross court shots then hitting deep to the other side of the court.
2. I visualized my serve more fully including the toss, sticking my butt out, seeing the ball as I hit it and the the ball landing at its target.