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Last night
I went to the club, first time back this week, last time was last week Monday.
Hit/played for pretty close to 2.5 hrs straight
I wanted to take a break, really i did... but i haven't been at the club in months and members/friends wanted to hit with me... i may have overdid it with 2.5 hrs straight but i had fun
Hit with K for 1 hr straight... tried the American Hinoki as well as my regular Nexy Amazon ... K noted that when i hit with the AH i was faster meaning the paddle was lighter (even with 2 sheets of Tenergy ... although paddle is noticeably smaller than other CPens I've used which factors in the light weight) and when i hit with the Nexy Amazon, i was slower, meaning paddle is heavier ... but strange feeling for me, the Amazon is light to begin with for me, have MX-P and LP OX so it's pretty light ... interesting observation from K.
The months off was still noticeable... timing off ... flat-footed ... slow to move to ball
A little shoulder ache, way better than a few months ago... body aches all over ... lol
Someone showed up, so we started a set... -8, -6, -2 lost 3 straight to K - the great football coach/legend Bear Bryant said: "Fatigue makes cowards of us all" ... pooped on 3rd game lol ... mostly me missing, but instead of playing soley defensive, K has added a pretty good BH smash ... M2 estimates K to be ~1900 now ... K had some offensive winners. Tough to beat him in the past, now even tougher... think he is still a good gauge for me to judge my 'unretirement'.
Perhaps my worst enemy, my Ego, is still thinking i can beat K but i lack the consistency in my game ... K is a good practice partner.
Went to another table. "Mommy" likes to hit with me, i am a little better than her, but usually generally if we are just hitting, i'm looking to be steady and not hit each ball for winners regardless of partner, even the ones who are exactly doing that ... hitting each ball for winners during warmup/practice.
J. shows up after about 15 mins hitting with Mommy. He convinces her to let him hit with me. We hit maybe 15 mins and then P. cuts in and J. gives P. a chance to hit with me. All along, I'm tired but i keep hitting and blocking for my partners.
With P., when i first hit with him last year, he was learning modern PH... at some point he gave up on it and converted to SH. IMO overall, he has better footwork and better strokes than me. Needs work on serves and overall tactics/game. We hit FH, then BH and then serves/receives/rallies. Really tried to have short pendulum stroke and focusing on whip mechanics ... not successful on the whip ... tried quite a few nospin serves ... not sure if it's P.'s lack of receive game or my nospin which threw him off, but some popups, and some of his 2nd balls netted. Some of my cross-court rocket serves slowly coming back ... no sense of where the table is on rocket down-the-line ... missed a few.
After 30 mins with P., J. hops back on. We hit for 15 mins when i asked for a break. Had 5 mins and saw Mommy on a table with no partner. Despite wanting to rest, i went to hit with her as we were interrupted earlier by J. Hit 15 mins before i said i can't anymore. Mommy commented that a few members like hitting with me and we both know it's because i aim to be steady and not kill the shots... let them work their strokes/game.
Bottom line i had fun ... good workout. Looking forward to next week.
Some thoughts on the American Hinoki
I'm not a great nor even a good looper, but with the AH it seemed i was a tad better with loop/FH topspin strokes. The punch is not bad ... i've not sanded the wings yet and it 'ate' into my index finger quite a bit. Where the AH failed me was the transition from one wing to the other ... in all likelihood it's because i didn't sand the wings and it was hard to turn the racket ... also, partly reflexes have been dulled from months off from TT. The AH has not worked well for me on pure blocks ... partly due to lack of sanding of the wings, but mostly blade is not a blocker unlike the Nexy Amazon.
I'm not a great EJ/reviewer as I have limited experience with various equipment. So please forgive my 'review'/thoughts.
I went to the club, first time back this week, last time was last week Monday.
Hit/played for pretty close to 2.5 hrs straight
I wanted to take a break, really i did... but i haven't been at the club in months and members/friends wanted to hit with me... i may have overdid it with 2.5 hrs straight but i had fun
Hit with K for 1 hr straight... tried the American Hinoki as well as my regular Nexy Amazon ... K noted that when i hit with the AH i was faster meaning the paddle was lighter (even with 2 sheets of Tenergy ... although paddle is noticeably smaller than other CPens I've used which factors in the light weight) and when i hit with the Nexy Amazon, i was slower, meaning paddle is heavier ... but strange feeling for me, the Amazon is light to begin with for me, have MX-P and LP OX so it's pretty light ... interesting observation from K.
The months off was still noticeable... timing off ... flat-footed ... slow to move to ball
A little shoulder ache, way better than a few months ago... body aches all over ... lol
Someone showed up, so we started a set... -8, -6, -2 lost 3 straight to K - the great football coach/legend Bear Bryant said: "Fatigue makes cowards of us all" ... pooped on 3rd game lol ... mostly me missing, but instead of playing soley defensive, K has added a pretty good BH smash ... M2 estimates K to be ~1900 now ... K had some offensive winners. Tough to beat him in the past, now even tougher... think he is still a good gauge for me to judge my 'unretirement'.
Perhaps my worst enemy, my Ego, is still thinking i can beat K but i lack the consistency in my game ... K is a good practice partner.
Went to another table. "Mommy" likes to hit with me, i am a little better than her, but usually generally if we are just hitting, i'm looking to be steady and not hit each ball for winners regardless of partner, even the ones who are exactly doing that ... hitting each ball for winners during warmup/practice.
J. shows up after about 15 mins hitting with Mommy. He convinces her to let him hit with me. We hit maybe 15 mins and then P. cuts in and J. gives P. a chance to hit with me. All along, I'm tired but i keep hitting and blocking for my partners.
With P., when i first hit with him last year, he was learning modern PH... at some point he gave up on it and converted to SH. IMO overall, he has better footwork and better strokes than me. Needs work on serves and overall tactics/game. We hit FH, then BH and then serves/receives/rallies. Really tried to have short pendulum stroke and focusing on whip mechanics ... not successful on the whip ... tried quite a few nospin serves ... not sure if it's P.'s lack of receive game or my nospin which threw him off, but some popups, and some of his 2nd balls netted. Some of my cross-court rocket serves slowly coming back ... no sense of where the table is on rocket down-the-line ... missed a few.
After 30 mins with P., J. hops back on. We hit for 15 mins when i asked for a break. Had 5 mins and saw Mommy on a table with no partner. Despite wanting to rest, i went to hit with her as we were interrupted earlier by J. Hit 15 mins before i said i can't anymore. Mommy commented that a few members like hitting with me and we both know it's because i aim to be steady and not kill the shots... let them work their strokes/game.
Bottom line i had fun ... good workout. Looking forward to next week.
Some thoughts on the American Hinoki
I'm not a great nor even a good looper, but with the AH it seemed i was a tad better with loop/FH topspin strokes. The punch is not bad ... i've not sanded the wings yet and it 'ate' into my index finger quite a bit. Where the AH failed me was the transition from one wing to the other ... in all likelihood it's because i didn't sand the wings and it was hard to turn the racket ... also, partly reflexes have been dulled from months off from TT. The AH has not worked well for me on pure blocks ... partly due to lack of sanding of the wings, but mostly blade is not a blocker unlike the Nexy Amazon.
I'm not a great EJ/reviewer as I have limited experience with various equipment. So please forgive my 'review'/thoughts.
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