Went with wife to view a house. Finished early enough. Got to the club 6pm. Jam-packed.
Played T. He's a defensive player who once in a blue moon will attack (probably depends on his partner). Can play PH or SH. As PH, he doesn't attack. Not sure why he play PH at all. With most, he will play PH. With me, he switches to SH. Not sure if that's a compliment or not.
I'm not an arrogant person (unless it's with 42andbackpains and our old crew
, so please don't take this the wrong way. Wins and losses mean nothing to me, but it's a gauge for me of my 'unretirement' and my progress on my 'comeback'. Ultimately, I'm old, need exercise, need to lose some weight, why not do something I love to do? And while I'm spending so much of my time on it (we are all going to die sooner or later, it's a fact of Life), so why not try to improve my Game?
In that vein, I post about my games and scores (as best as I remember) as a marker. I played T, 2x before. Lost both times, first time 3-1 and 2nd 3-2. This was sometime ago with my old favorite racket but with a fast rubber I couldn't get used to. Last night, I lost 3-1. I was moving him side to side, and 3rd to 7th ball, I would go into HULK SMASH mode.
Most games I lost at 7 and the game i won was at deuce. He didn't eat my serves, so no freebies. He generally serves nospin. He is a slow and steady player, will return most balls, will try to move his partner side to side.
Again, not to sound arrogant ... my game should beat his game. I am my own worst enemy. I was maybe 50/50 on my attacks. So i cannot blame it on the rubber or the blade as half my attacks made it. Made some loops, made some smashes, made some punches. I have to be more consistent. Sadly, forgot my Joby (magnetic tripod) so no video of the match. Frustrating to be in the driver's seat and moving him side to side, clearly controlling him. And I pick my spot to attack and go 50/50.
(begins sarcasm) A rambling digression ... how rare from me (/sarcasm)
'si jeh' (term of respect from chinese martial arts to signify an older woman than oneself who joined before one ... basically means martial sister... iirc japanese martial arts only uses sempai/kohai (junior/senior) and doesn't distinguish for gender. Chinese culture distinguishes between gender as well as relative age compared to oneself (of when they joined the school and not physical age).
A si-jeh was watching me play partly. After the match, she asked if i won or lost. i said i lost in 4. She said, "What?!?!?!" you are clearly more skilled than him!" And I explained to her that I've not got my timing/rhythm/consistency back yet, despite 1 year of play but after a 30 yrs absence.
REFLECTION
No real excuse, am mostly used to Avalox by now, my former backup but now primary blade. Used to the DHS H3 rubber for the most part. What sometimes loses me points is the manipulating/transitioning of the blade from FH to BH side. I play with smooth rubber, but my primary tactics are PH pips, as I started 'officially learning' the game as ph pips. So for me, the transitioning from side to side in grip changes is key. Unlike my old blades grooved handle, I cannot sand/file down Avalox's handle any more without negatively impacting structural integrity of the blade/handle. Glad T didn't eat my serves for freebies as that forced me to up my game more.
She commented that I seemed to rush my shots... which is totally legit. Although I was in the driver's seat, and T will rarely attack me, i beat myself by rushing my shots. Too bad i didn't video the match but I thanked her for her feedback.
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Played K next. As a reminder to TTD CCers, he's become one of my arch-nemesis LOL. He's a defensive SH who will attack periodically. Wicked sidespin FH loop... and BH smash. So like T, he's defensive, but unlike T, K has some attacks.
Posted a video a few pages back of a 3-1 loss which is indicative of my play vs him (and apparently vs others) ... lost 3 straight to K... again, some punches were for winners, some HULK SMASH modes were for winners, some loops (didn't attempt many though against K) were for winners. The same tactics/strokes were also losers. Frustrating to say the least LOL at me.
Had in mind NextLevel's advice to serve short ... worked a bit! Lost 3 straight, mostly at 7! That's an improvement over last week's under 5 showing, although, none of my shots found the table last week despite my magic inscription of "never miss" in chinese characters LOLOLOL
REFLECTION
Again the transitions of grip from FH to BH is what i think is happening to me. May be psychological though as my old favorite blade, "Excalibur", has a broken handle. This may be hard to see on video, but as I play i can "feel" it.
My lack of consistent play is haunting me. At times, we see me in my old form of 30 yrs ago. I'm controlling the point, punching down the line for winners, moving side to side to HULK SMASH mode for winners, etc.
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Played V. next. My first time with him. Slightly lower-level player than me. Was ok with just practicing and blocking for him to work his loop and other aspects of his game. A player called next... so we played 2 out of 3. Beat him 2 straight, V got about 7 points. Not to take away from V's skills, I didn't play my A game.
Interesting to note: V didn't eat my serves... and i think i know why. Which could be why T didn't eat my serves. However, I was able to work my pendulum serves... fast and wide to his BH and work on my 3rd ball loops or punches down the line.
While cooling down, watched M1 play a defensive SH blocker. M1 is a 2000 player, and the blocker I've not watched him play at all, but sometimes out of the corner of my eye, I see him playing the higher-level players generally. Courtside seat, afforded a view to his steady blocking and he moves his partner side to side also. Doesn't attack much, scores points from steady blocking as well as moving partner all over.
Called it a night after that and wasn't that tired, able to walk the ~2200 steps to home in ~20 mins (instead of ~25 mins) for extra exercise LOL
As always, thank you to the TTDCCers for letting my old man ramble and for reading!
I remain very truly yours in TT,
~osph
