Tuesday is ladies night. We had a sub making me the only lefty on the court and we were using a Franklin so I went with the Icon all night.
The 2 who play together often teamed up first and I really wondered what the result would be. Would they play better right out of the gate? Would I? I usually need a few games to get going and taking on a tough opponent right away, I wasn’t sure what would happen.
I continued working on the serve I was testing yesterday and it was singing today. They had trouble returning the serve which meant a huge opportunity for me – if only I could hit a winner with my forehand. I tried a few times but failed so I passed on many good chances for put-aways, instead hitting the safe drop shot. It still was helpful to do the serve that way because the drop was significantly closer with the return coming back shorter.
All of the games were good, strong play with drops, dinks and speed-ups, mostly when they should have happened. I remember thinking during one of the games, wow, we are dinking more than usual tonight. Then I sped it up.
We discussed food and the importance of not eating cauliflower before playing. I was happy to hear other people struggled with not-so-wise eating habits before hitting the court. Even when we are eating the “right” food we often learn the hard way what our bodies can’t handle when we play. I stopped at Wendy’s on the way home so my not-so-wise eating habit came afterwards.
The alteration in my serve does take more energy out of me and I was a little tired faster than normally. Everyone I played with stacked and I gave signals a couple of times, just to practice that a little bit. One of my partners gave me the stay signal, showing her fist on her paddle, then she wiped her rear with an open hand, totally confusing me. Was she saying switch based on something she saw before the serve or was she just wiping her hand? I stayed put and it turned out to be ok but I let her know I thought she signaled me twice.
These girls are good players and want to get better. It’s interesting to see the things they are working on and it’s exciting when they get it to work, even if it’s at my expense. One is working on setting herself up with a drop, one was working her dinks to get an open alley in the middle for the put-away, one is practicing the aggressive poach put-away. The sub asked if any of us wanted to drill and I thought for sure I started to drool with excitement. I’d love to have a regular drill group, or person, but finding a time that works for everyone – and a place that would be affordable – is the ultimate challenge in the winter.
