Jeremy, the one-hit wonder

A young kid who must do weights. Late 20's and married. He's very slim and doesn't look like a body builder but you can see a few muscles. His serve goes up to 120 mph, or so he said. But I believe him. Because there is a LOT of power in his serve. Clearly the most powerful one in the club, second only to the big banging pro. Only one problem - it almost never goes in. And he doesn't have a second serve at all. It's worse than a powder puff.

He's a 3.0 - 3.5 player. Mostly because he balls usually go out. But he has a game. Just needs to practice. When he was at the top of his game last year he was definitely in the 3.5 range with a potential to make it to 4.0. But when I played him again after a long time last Friday it looked like he hadn't played in a while. Because he was 100% streaky all over again. Back in the 3.0 bracket.

Naira, the Stewardess

A 40 something woman with a great figure who dyes her hair. 3.0+ level womens player. I only played with her once in December last year. But she's a bit forward. She asks everyone for their number. And most people usually agree because even though she doesn't play very well, she's really hot.

She showed up again last Friday. I saw her in the distance and she was wearing this slim white fitting tennis outfit. Looked like she was 20. I thought it odd that she was wearing a knee brace. Because girls who dress as well as that usually don't know how to play. And the knee brace showed that she has put a few miles on her body. But when I finally got on the court with her I recognized her face. She's the one that I played with almost a year ago. The one that asked me to take off her knee brace because it was too tight. It was a very odd request. I had to kneel down in front while she was sitting so that I could pull it off. Never again. Too much sweat. Gross. There are just somethings that outweigh the excitement of running your hands up a woman's leg.

Setting the stage - Introducing the characters

This post starts the introduction of the characters in my story. The various people of note that I have played with. Mostly from Midtown Tennis but not all. I'm sure all die-hard players has a similar batch of people in their lives. Let me introduce them to you one by one.

Practice Schedule

Wanted to give you a flavor of what it takes. Or at least what I am doing (which obviously isn't enough or I would be there already).

• Friday, 6/13 - 3 hrs @ Midtown Tennis Party

• Saturday, 6/14 - 2 hrs USTA match at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (where they play the U.S. Open)

• Monday, 6/16 - 2 hrs USTA match again at the Billie Jean King NTC

• Thursday, 6/19 - 4 hrs French American Chamber of Commerce (FACC) Tournament

• Friday, 6/20 - 3 hrs @ Midtown Tennis Party

• Sunday, 6/22 - 2 hrs @ Fort Lee Tennis Club in NJ

And yes, I did say "Practice Schedule". It's a pity but I'm not getting in enough high quality matches to toughen me up before tournament matches. My Midtown matches are fun but not consistent. I go there for the people. So I'm left with using my USTA matches as a part of my practice.

Oh well. Did I tell you that my USTA team sucks right now? We're near the bottom so we expect to loose. But it's our first year as a team and as 4.0's. So it's ok. If you want to follow my rankings check here.

Favorite courts

OK, I promised pictures of my favorite courts. Here they are, the two closest to my heart:

Midtown Tennis http://www.midtowntennis.com









I have been playing here since I moved to Manhattan (1990). The courts are terrible but the club is right across the street from me, it's Har-Tru so they're easy on the knees, and they're indoor so you can always get a game on Friday nights (8-11pm public tennis parties). Plus the people are great.


Westerpark, Amsterdam















These are the courts in the public park next to my flat in Amsterdam. They're very basic. 2 hardcourts with nets that look like they are made out of rope. But they are free, right across the park from me, and there is always a pick-up game available. Plus as a bonus, you get to see people play in the dead of the winter cold because the dutch are just die-hard tennis players. Sweet.

USTA Ratings Definitions

The USTA uses a complicated algorithm to determine your computer ratings (ex. matches won against players with a similar rating, matches won against "benchmark players" - players in teams who were previous season winners) but these rating definitions will give you an idea of where you may stand. My general experience has been that a player at one level during normal play will perform at a level below during actual tournament play due to nerves.

THE NATIONAL TENNIS RATING PROGRAM
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VARIOUS PLAYING LEVELS

1.0 THIS PLAYER IS JUST STARTING TO PLAY TENNIS.

1.5 THIS PLAYER HAS LIMITED EXPERIENCE AND IS STILL WORKING PRIMARILY ON GETTING THE BALL INTO PLAY.

2.0 THIS PLAYER NEEDS ON-COURT EXPERIENCE. THIS PLAYER HAS OBVIOUS STROKE WEAKNESSES BUT IS FAMILIAR WITH BASIC POSITIONS FOR SINGLES AND DOUBLES PLAY.

2.5 THIS PLAYER IS LEARNING TO JUDGE WHERE THE BALL IS GOING ALTHOUGH COURT COVERAGE IS WEAK. THIS PLAYER CAN SUSTAIN A SHORT RALLY OF SLOW PACE WITH OTHER PLAYERS OF THE SAME ABILITY.

3.0 THIS PLAYER IS FAIRLY CONSISTENT WHEN HITTING MEDIUM PACED SHOTS, BUT IS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH ALL STROKES AND LACKS EXECUTION WHEN TRYING FOR DIRECTIONAL CONTROL, DEPTH, OR POWER. MOST COMMON DOUBLES FORMATION IS ONE-UP, ONE-BACK.

3.5 THIS PLAYER HAS ACHIEVED IMPROVED STROKE DEPENDABILITY WITH DIRECTIONAL CONTROL ON MODERATE SHOTS, BUT STILL LACKS DEPTH AND VARIETY. THIS PLAYER EXHIBITS MORE AGGRESSIVE NET PLAY, HAS IMPROVED COURT COVERAGE, AND IS DEVELOPING TEAMWORK IN DOUBLES.

4.0 THIS PLAYER HAS DEPENDABLE STROKES, INCLUDING DIRECTIONAL CONTROL AND DEPTH ON BOTH FOREHAND AND BACKHAND SIDES ON MODERATE SHOTS, PLUS THE ABILITY TO USE LOBS, OVERHEADS, APPROACH SHOTS AND VOLLEY WITH SOME SUCCESS. RALLIES MAY BE LOST DUE TO IMPATIENCE. TEAMWORK IN DOUBLES IS EVIDENT.

4.5 THIS PLAYER HAS BEGUN TO MASTER THE USE OF POWER AND SPINS AND IS BEGINNING TO HANDLE PACE, HAS SOUND FOOTWORK, CAN CONTROL DEPTH OF SHOTS, AND IS BEGINNING TO VARY GAME PLAN ACCORDING TO OPPONENTS. THIS PLAYER CAN HIT FIRST SERVES WITH POWER AND ACCURACY AND PLACE THE SECOND SERVE. THIS PLAYER TENDS TO OVERHIT ON DIFFICULT SHOTS. AGGRESSIVE NET PLAY IS COMMON IN DOUBLES.

5.0 THIS PLAYER HAS GOOD SHOT ANTICIPATION AND FREQUENTLY HAS AN OUTSTANDING SHOT OR ATTRIBUTE AROUND WHICH A GAME MAY BE STRUCTURED. THIS PLAYER CAN REGULARLY HIT WINNERS OR FORCE ERRORS OFF OF SHORT BALLS AND CAN PUT AWAY VOLLEYS, CAN SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTE LOBS, DROP SHOTS, HALF VOLLEYS, OVERHEAD SMASHES, AND HAS GOOD DEPTH AND SPIN ON MOST SECOND SERVES.

Match last saturday

Played my first tournament match with my new team. I thought that I had never played with my partner before but now I think I remember him from one of our practice sessions. Either way that's a real bad sign. I thought that I had learned my lesson already that you need to know your partner well before playing a tournament match. Oh well. I guess you gain confidence over time and then that makes you stupid again. Needless to say we lost. 7-6 (6-2), 6-2.

Lessons learned:

• Make sure to have practiced with your partner before so that you know what they can do and they know what you can do (helps reduce nerves)
• When your first serve has collapsed, shift to your second serve and put some stick on it
• You can't wait for your opponent to make mistakes at the 4.0 level, you have to be aggressive and take your game to them
• Don't play the night before, I'm too old to recover fast enough (muscles are not as strong and do not have the same stamina the next day even if the pain is tolerable)
• Watch lots of tennis videos just before the match (especially the Bolliteri "Sonic Serve" instructional video) to promote visualization during the game
• You need to practice with 4.0 players if you want to beat them in a tournament match
  

Starting the journey

You've joined me with my journey already in progress. My current USTA rating is 4.0. Here's the link to my latest standings. My first priority is to show you my favorite tennis courts ... the one's that I play at. So stay tuned for pictures real soon.