Today i played with coach OYA, and i displayed (from his words) an "unbelievable" level ! i'm so excited !
It helped that i lost 2-3 kgs recently back to below 70kgs (before eating). I've been running once a week recently and added 10mns of jumps + shadow training during that running session, also added an extra coaching session (with another coach) including 1h of multi-ball training. It had been a while, and very tough to get the rhythm back but it definitely helped being in form. Also been to the spa/sauna, highly recommended (alternating sauna + cold water) to relieve sore muscles) + sports massage.
Also, i changed my eating habits, taking much more time to chew, and eating more slowly. it makes digesting easier. it also feels like eating more, because it lasts longer. I was already eating healthy food but I believe that extra measure is making a big difference.
From a TT point of view, well I was moving much more quickly today. from the first FH exchanges i had a good feeling with the ball, and i made during the warm-up an extra adjustment hitting the ball even a bit earlier and a bit more in front of me: i put the hit zone a bit more forward by forcing myself to extend the arm a few 3-5cms more, it instantly gave me more power, more rhythm, easier to recover as well. I never matched very fast and powerful FH topspin to topspin ralies as well as today, and winning a lot of those to his and my own surprise.
Same kind adjustment with BH side. i could block with good control and speed against his full swing topspin for whole long rallies, never happened before and even managed to pivot to manage a few FH counters !
For matchplay exercises i have more trouble in service + receive and i have a tendency to go back too much after a short receive + lose the dynamism in footwork. More work is needed but I believe i will manage to overcome this difficulty in a few weeks / months.
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Coronavirus situation is getting ugly. Not the case YET here in Japan , but logic says in a few weeks/months time, they'll need to shutdown again alas. I'll try to make the most of the time until then in the training hall.