2012 Tennis

JJ and I got together to play some tennis. I really like playing with him. He is relaxed, easy going, and loves the game almost as much as I do.

As he himself often admits, I am at this stage in our careers somewhat more talented than he is; I am quicker, have a better net game, a stronger serve, and have plenty of endurance. His sole advantage is his baseline game where he has a slight advantage.

As a result, I usually win about 6-2 or 6-3 most sets.

Tonight was more of the same. We both played well. He gets to shot after shot that I think is a winner and sometimes his returns catch me out of position and his placement is impeccable. He hit a lot of winners tonight and that was great.

We have both improved. Whereas before most points were scored by the opponent making mistakes, tonight I think most of the points scored were actually winners or else forced errors...someone having to run cross-court 5 or 6 times and trying a tough angle return.

I probably had a dozen of my beloved shots he returned slightly too high allowing me to slam from my favored net position and at least 20 times he put a lob over my head, I ran it down and returned it deep to his baseline.

We had some very fun rallies that could have been won by either player and I loved it.

My spin serve was lethal tonight and I offset it just often enough with my "speed" serve to keep him off balance.

My speed serve of moderate speed was getting in and was super effective because he had to play forward to have a chance to return the spin, so it seemed faster than it was. And I learned something,

I am that guy I often mock.

My spin serve is a very strong serve. It either wins the point outright or moves them out of position, allowing me to approach the net and limit their shot selection on the return.

But the serve I WANT to make is the lightning fast serve...which I get in a low percentage of the time.

I need to learn to want to serve the effective serve, not the one i am not good at.

Overall, really good time, 1:30 minutes of play time.