Playing with the big girls

First match in the 4.5 tennis league. Playing with the big girls. I love the challenge. I love the pace. I love to hit the ball hard. Alli and I had great time today. She is a leftie and when I return serve from the deuce site, deep in the court, more times than not, I set her up for a put-a-way shot. Its makes my day, every time that happens.

We have the normal chatter "Come on, we can do it" and "this one's ours". I love it when I look at her and say "be the ball, Alli, be the ball" Today, to help the mojo, I was blowing kisses on the tennis balls, stroking my racquet as if it was a puppy dog. I will do anything to make the shot better. If I could just move my feet a little more, then it would take care of alot of my mistakes.

Alli came back from a wonderful tennis camp run by gorgeous guys. I saw the pictures. They were gorgeous. At one point, when she was struggling with her serve, she said something about all the money she spent from the pro improving her serve. I walked up to her slowly and said "Forget the pro, think about the gorgeous guy from New Zealand." I believe in visualizing. This prompt from me definitely relax her and she got most of her serves in after that.

I have realized playing tennis, that when I start to "try and get the ball in" while serving, usually ends in a double fault. Changing the rhythm in a panic helps noone, and doesn't put points on the board.

Tomorrow I play again, not with Alli but Carla. I will resort to kissing tennis balls if I need to.

Leave It On The Court

Hi Bob
I have to tell you a story about this past weekend in Daytona. While watching one of your teammates play, I kept hearing you say "leave it on the court". I thought, gee, I've never quit thought of it like that. Give it your all, and leave it on the court. Good shot...leave it on the court. Bad Shot...leave it on the court. Match won...leave it on the court. Match lost...leave it on the court.

My first match was discouraging, the forehand I love just took a vacation. The second match it was there. We split sets, and I was serving for the match in the tie breaker. First serve to the woman....won...it is 9-7. Then I had to serve to the guy, who had this huge forehand. Ok, I thought, just get it in and deal with it. Missed (I should never "just get it in"). Second serve....and then I heard you in my head....leave it on the court. Ok, here goes. I've been practicing a kick serve for the past month. This was the moment, and I hit the most beautiful kick serve that took him by surprise, and he hit it up and out.

I think I'll always remember.... leave it on the court. It applies to so much more than just a tennis game.

thanks
judy

Kicking Butt

Someone asked me today if I kicked butt at Daytona this past weekend. My reply was that I got my butt kicked and then I kicked someone else butt. It was the Senior 7.0 Mixed Doubles Tennis Tournament ---state finals. Pretty impressive. Felt right at home with all the Seniors. We all walked around quit cocky, telling each other how good we looked for our age. I'm only 4 years into this SeniorLand. Its not so bad, especially when I am standing next to a 80 year old. It makes me look like some hot chick!!!

My partner, Ernie and I faced off with a team from St. Pete. We had 10 minutes of warmup. Now really. I think seniors should be allowed a few more minutes. It takes a bit more time to warm up our engines. We certainly don't want to pull anything. We had some really great shots, and we had some really bad shots. The problem was that the bad ones didn't overcome the good ones. With two rain delays, we finished. Our butts kicked.

The next day Ernie and I faced off with a team from Gainesville. A really tall guy who never smiled and a lady that looked like a school teacher. The pace of the game was a much better match. We split sets and it got down to tie breaker. Ernie was pulled wide, and hit a tremendous shot down the line. I was jumping and pumping my arms. Two points to go, and it was my turn to serve. "Oh, please don't let my arms turn to rubber". I served the to school marm and we got the point. One point to go and we would win. The opposing giant was hitting forehand winners all day. I had to serve to him. First serve - out. Second serve, I tossed it up. Now I've been practicing my kick serve for the last month. Its like hitting a superball. It bounces up unexpectedly. I knew he could hit pace. He'd been doing it all day. So up the ball went, I hit it with arms that were strong, and the kick serve went in, bounced up and he hit it out.

What can I say....shot of a lifetime. We kicked butt!

Black & White

I never knew how many black and white outfits I owned until I started packing for a weekend trip to Daytona. Senior Mixed Tennis tournament. 10 teams from around Florida compete for the crown. Clean shirts. Clean shorts and socks. Nothing worse than not having just the right piece of clothing. Of course, I need to take everything I own, even if its just for 2 or three matches. I need to make sure my mojo is just right. I won't be able to "be the ball" if I'm worried that my shirt is not feeling or looking right.

There is so much to tennis, that doesn't even show up on the court. Its the match between my ears that will be the hardest to control. Confidence to "go for it", letting my intuition be the leader, and not changing my mind in the midst of my stroke. I need to move my feet to the ball, and not lean in what my friends call "butt shots" It's where you plant your feet, and lean way out to hit the ball. So much easier to just move my feet, until the stress of competing makes my shoes concrete.

So I will be packing up tonight, with all my tennis stuff. My daughter often comments "don't you own anything but tennis outfits" I'm starting to agree with her.

Tennis match

I had a tennis match today and got my butt whipped. I had the time of my life. I had many really good shots, and I had some really bad ones. I was supposed to be playing tennis, but the way I was hiting the ball way, you'd think I was playing softball. The ones that sang as they came off my racquet were music to my ears. But I had too many, that my adredeline got ahead of my swing and the ball hit the back fence.

But oh my..... my serve was on! I love my serve. Its the one moment in tennis, when everyone is still, waiting and watching for the play to begin. I can pretty much hit it right where I want it. At least I can direct it.....then there is the problem with the net getting in the way, on occasion. After the match, the opponent said "your serve is amazing...I had a hard time tracking it, there was so much kick to it" What i heard was "that was worth the $60 from the pro to tweak it!"

I have a lesson this week. I wonder what we'll work on. I want to get my moneys worth.