Sunday, December 2, 2012

My LOVE of Doubles!

The first step in any good ol' 12 Step Group is to admit you have a problem and need help.  It wasn't exactly like that but close when I spoke the immortal words about 2 weeks ago out on the court, I like doubles MORE than singles!  I like it for several reasons.  One is it's more social.  I like the guys (and sometimes gals) I play with.  I like them a lot.  Second, it's more unpredictable.  In singles, I know that I am going to hit (or try to) every ball that comes over the net.  In doubles, it may be zero balls in a 20 ball rally, or it may be the 2nd, 6th, 8th, 10th.  There is strategy also.  When you are positioned at the net, you can use intuition or flat out guess and try and intercept a diagonal baseline rally.

Don't get me wrong. I still love singles, but the added unpredictability and the additional partners in doubles, (we rotate after each set) really set it apart from the singles game.

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Classic Dilemma


Okay, summer is here - I think we established that factoid in the last post.  And yesterday I am playing with my friend who can't seem to put most of his shots in.  Today he's off by a lot,  maybe 6 feet on most of his shots.  We sit and talk.  I look at his strings.  They are all over the place and of course since I strung it myself in April, I can only blame myself.  But he says both his racquets are strung way too loose and he has no control.  He does use an oversized racquet.  I think it's 27.75 inches and 110+ head size so with a 28mm beam, power is no problem.  He wanted it strung at the low end because to string higher he has arm pain.  The classic dilemma.  We talked for a bit and I mentioned that the better strings, the multifilaments, while costing a lot more, have more power AND better control.  They seem to "pocket" the ball.

There is another solution however.  Switch to a more flexible racquet.  His beam of 28+mm tells me that he has stiffness to spare.  And since the racquet is really big too, that may translate into a lighter than good for your arm sub 11 ounces.

This is a site I have referred many people to.  http://racquetresearch.com/ . It starts off a bit technical but then explains in fairly basic layman terms why a heavy racquet is good and so is a flexible one compared to stiff.  It's worth a read.  If you have a sore arm problem, it may thank you.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Welcome Back Summer!

It's that time of the year again!  Summer!  And while I get to play more now, I also play in hotter weather and I am snapping strings every two weeks now.  Bummer.  Good thing I string my own.  And as I may have said in posts of long ago, strings act differently at 65 degrees than they do at 85.  Therefore, I adjust my strings to about 2 - 4 pounds tighter to make up for the elasticity that seems to go with the hot weather.

What else do I adjust?  I bring a FULL 2 liters now to drink.  Rarely do I finish it all but have about once a week for the last 3 weeks shared some of my Cytomax brew with partners and opponents who did not plan ahead and run dry.

Finally, in addition to lathering on the sunscreen (30, or 50 SPF is my preferred range), I also do the popular if not nerdy thing and bring LAWN CHAIRS so we don't have to sit in full sun at changeovers and wonder why or why are we playing on such a hot day.  A little breeze while sitting in the shade during a changeover is almost pleasant enough to help you forget that sitter you blew at the net a minute earlier.

Enjoy the summer hitting and let's be prepared out there!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Serving in Doubles


I am not the only one. I serve differently in doubles than I do in singles. And I am not so sure this is a good thing.

I serve harder in singles than I do in doubles and I have noticed the same in others. If I miss the first serve in singles, no big deal. If however, I float a safe second serve, at say 70% in for doubles, my partner at the net might lose his neck- literally!
I am willing to suffer the consequences more in singles for a weak 2nd serve but in doubles, I will pull back to 80-85% power on a first serve - not wanting to fear an aggressive second serve return.

There are others however, that DO serve the same in singles as well as doubles. And these people also generally serve the same first and second serve. This explains why some of my friends in doubles who I partner with will have 6 to 8 double faults, in a set! I am not upset with them but feel bad for them as they probably feel lousy for letting me down.

What's the secret? Not sure, I may have to query the Bryan Bros, tandem team extraordinaire! But for me, for now, I will continue to move my serves around the box, mixing flat and spin and work on beefing up my 2nd serve to a 75-80% power.

So what about you? Do you have a different serve based on playing singles or doubles?

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Two Handed Monica!

Remember Monica?
She was a terror on the court, hitting big off both sides, with 2 hands both sides! But actually when I googled photos of Seles, I found a variety of pictures of her actually hitting a number of shots with one hand. Though I think she preferred to hit with power the two-handed forehand and backhand, she would pull her hand off the racquet with some frequency when the shot necessitated it.

I recall watching a match recently that Maria Sharapova played and the only time she didn't try and hit a two handed backhand was when someone hit very short to her, like a half volley or a drop shot to draw her in. With hard balls driven to her backhand side deep, she routinely chose not to be able to reach and make the shot- rather than pull one hand off the racquet and give herself the extra inches to make a play on the ball. There is stubborn, and there is shoot yourself in the foot stubborn.

I noticed Agassi later in his career made it a habit of hitting the wide running forehand "chop shot", a desperation (defensive) forehand hack slice to save time when he couldn't get there and make a proper topspin forehand.

I don't know. To me when you are in a defensive posture on the court, I think it's smart to employ an attitude of whatever-it-takes. When I go back to cover a lob over my head, it's sure more stylish to hit a one handed shot, but I take the granny free-throw dorky approach, and grip my racquet with two hands and hit it straight back over my head. Compared to the one-handed shot, this for me is much more successful, looks be damned.

So Maria, (Venus Williams) and others out there glued to the two handed backhand-- (which I personally hit 70% of the time in singles, and 95% of the time in doubles), free up the racquet and block the ball back with one hand when you can just barely get to it. Sure it won't be an offensive shot, but rather give yourself a chance, rather than lunging at the ball with two hands unsuccessfully, time after time.