I got invited to a ladies group for Sunday play and it was a good group of people. I don’t know if I’m just grumpy or what the deal is but I couldn’t take the games with any level of intensity, in terms of trying to win.
I think if my knee wasn’t acting up like it is, maybe I could focus more. It did fine today, with the exception of flaring up after one shot, but it is always on my mind. I worry it is going to become something bigger and that I’ll do it during a game that has no consequence if I win or lose.
I decided today I would try more to work on shots rather than trying to win. To evaluate my play based on how my shots performed, rather than the score of the games. I chose to work on that return I practiced yesterday. It was horrible yesterday but eventually I felt like I was getting the motion of it. Today I told myself to do it on every return.
I think had 4 that didn’t even make it to the net, which is pretty awful. But what I learned was that not every return is an option for the shot. I learned which ones would be ideal to attempt, specifically not to do it when someone serves the ball that kicks into me off of topspin.
The few poor returns I had forced me to tell my partner I was working on a new shot, which is also an indicator I’m not in tournament mode, trying to win at all costs. That makes it strange when the people you are playing with do want to win at all costs. I got the vibe that the people I was playing with didn’t particularly like me trying to improve my game with shots, rather than winning points.
I could be overthinking that and the vibe wasn’t there at all. I don’t get many invites to play and appreciate it when I do. I don’t want to take advantage of an invitation by working on my game, rather than playing the game they want, and not get invited back. It’s very confusing.
It’s cold and gloomy out so getting to play inside was a treat. I’m glad my knee bounced back after the flare up. I had a few games where my serves were pretty good and bouncing pretty high. I had a few games where I was able to do that return. The last game and a half, I would return it normal unless I got the opportunity to do the new return, trying not to force it.
There was a lot of bang-bang play, a lot of wild and crazy shots, a lot of net cords. I missed some drops that I probably shouldn’t have missed. I tried a bunch of drives and I don’t think I landed one. It was a little bit all over the place in terms of style of play.
I won’t get to play a game tomorrow but I’ve got drilling scheduled. Hopefully things will get a little bit better with the start of a new week.
