Post-SuperBowl Sluggishness | 
Like most Americans, I joined in routine celebration this past weekend over a football game with insane amounts of money involved. I went mostly because it was a great distraction for me and my tennis. Sunday was a complete no-workout no-practice off day, and what better way to spend it than hanging with friends, eating bbq food all day and lazing around the pool?? The weather was immaculate and the food was great, maybe I ate too much! What about the game you ask? Who knows, I was in “active rest” mode.
Monday proved to be challenging. We all get back to work on Mondays, it’s the beginning of the week and it’s necessary to get going on the good foot. I felt like I did when I had a practice at University of Hawaii but it didn’t seem to continue, I faltered. For the first 45 minutes, I was solid, stable, and patient. My hitting partner and I didn’t take a break, we warmed up groundies, volleys, did cross courts then down the lines, I was really hitting the ball well! I maintained focus on what I was trying to do: Consistently move to my backhand wing to strike it with more confidence and a firmer wrist, and develop a better cross court forehand that is more penetrating and directed toward mass destruction (of my opponents). So from there, things were looking pretty good.
Maybe it was the weather – we had to squeegee and deal with a damp court the whole time. Maybe it was the balls, we popped two of them from a can we had just opened. Maybe it was me physically, side effects of hours in the sun/pool?? But my level dropped, I started becoming unhappy with misses, forcing shots, and going for things that were asking a little too much of my strokes. Recognizing this, I backed off, played a little more defensive – But this ended up further throwing my timing off, I could barely hit a volley into the court during cross-court point games to 30 where one guy stands on the service line and feeds it in to his opponent who starts at the baseline then plays it out.
I found solace knowing that it”s Monday and that I wasn’t playing a tournament match at this moment. Although I felt my game would right itself if I had made a wager with my partner over a set or two, I felt I had a good two and a half hour hitting workout that would be good enough for me on top of my gym workout at Punahou. Part of practicing anything is knowing when to let go when things are going or feeling poorly – after all, it’s only practice. You want to do things right to give yourself the security and presence of mind that you CAN execute under pseudo-pressure (from yourself), but when you can’t seem to do it properly, you start to question whether you can perform under REAL pressure right?
Maybe try to simplify things, try something new, something different from your routine to try exercise the same muscles, timing, or tasks that you want to accomplish. Anything and everything can be “practice” if you focus on it and maintain a high level of intensity throughout. Since the weather here in Hawaii has been pretty lousy the past two days, I’m going for a new training exercise that I don’t recommend for most….
Going for a run trying to dodge rain drops and huge gusts of wind,
Shubert
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