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Plock Is Coming Along Well

Month of September has been great, my improvement has kicked into one higher gear, subsequently my enjoyment of Tennis. I still have many issues to resolve, however, my consistency has improved dramatically, as well as spins and power I can deliver both with my backhand and forehand.

 First thing I tackled was my forehand, trying to find the factors that would give me good power in combination of topspin to make sure the shots do not go long, and at the same time better my technique in a way that does not put too much strain on my arm and elbow. Power is not the objective of course, I also worked on being able to hit forehands with medium pace and spin, while keeping the bounce within the last 5-6 ft portion of opposing court.

 It all boiled down to three things: (1) keeping my feet and legs mobilized, so I can position my body in the right place to be able to execute the next two items. I am doing much better with this, but there is plenty of room for improvement. (2) Instead of fully opening my racket passed my shoulder, I adopted a way in which I recoil racket far less with the head looking down and initiate a motion forward that goes from low to high hitting the ball in the middle. It has also proven to be useful for me to keep an open body stance during during this motion. However, with an open stance I have now compromised the accuracy of my down-the-line shots, which I am continuing to work on. (3) To add power, I try to keep pace of the full motion with my arm the same, but just before hitting the ball, I flick the racket with my wrist, which tend to increase the speed of the racket head significantly. The shots go slightly flatter, but with enough topspin to reliably stay on court.

 On the backhand, I have struggled more in putting pace as I use a one-hand technique. Without prolonging, the technique I use is very similar to forehand, but I have to recoil my racket all the way to my shoulder, make sure I start high up, go down as I start the motion to hit the ball and come back up as I am catching the ball just ahead of my body. I have to use the wrist flick to be able to put even moderate pace. The other adjustment I have to make compared to my forehand is that I have to turn my body sideways to incoming ball and have my forward knee bend demonstrably to hit reliable shots. Now I have good pace, reliability and accuracy IF I can perform all of the above. The key adjustment 

 I had to make is the timing of motions between fore and back hands are different, which also changes the preparation of those shots; backhand takes more time (split second, but significant), so again it all boils down to keeping my legs and feet mobile.

 I still have a lot of room to work on my serves, but even my kick second serves are proving effective at my level, although they lack pace.

 All of this analysis and work has resulted in me not losing any sets or matches in doubles I have been playing. With reliable shots, I am able to put a lot of pressure on service returns and with good volleying and overhead smash I have been able to help my team in earning points to keep ahead of competition, regardless of partners.

 USTA sanctioned mixed double league (combined NTRP 6.5) matches are starting, so that will be the real test to see if I can remain effective under pressure conditions.

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