The racquetball Chronicles VII

Another match with JJ. In the first game it looked like he had regressed...he could not get to my serves, I was winning all the volleys, his serve was setting up perfectly for me to spike it repeatedly. he did scratch out 5 points...but it was a squash.

Game two was more of the same. I lightened up my serve and was just crushing him. 15-4.

Game three something clicked for him and he was playing much better. He was hitting that corner serve i struggle with, he was returning my serves, and we got some spectacular volleys...kill shots were re-killed and the rekills turned into passing shots...

...then I rolled my ankle.  It frightened me. It had started hurting at work for no apparent reason. Fortunately, when I felt it start to go i went with it and collapsed on the floor which probably saved me a really nasty sprain.

It was tender for 5 or 10 minutes which, counter-intuitively, was good for me...because I played solid position racquetball instead of counting on my athleticism. It was a close game before and after the ankle incident but I pulled it out 15-10 or so.

The next game started slow with several service breaks. The thing is...he was starting to play strong position and I was relaxing in the back court. So he was picking up a point here and there. When he was ahead 7-2 I started going all out.

But now he was getting to my nastiest serves, getting to my passing shots, and I could not get a kill shot down. He was consistently hitting solid defensive shots and getting into the forecourt.

I could not score off him. But he could score off me. 3-7. 3-9. 3-9. 4-9. 5-9. 5-10. 7-10. 7-11. 8-11.

And then the point that probably decided the game. I was serving, having scored 4 or 5 quick points and I laid out a nasty, low corner serve. He got a nice defensive return that drove me to the back wall. I got in a nice ceiling shot that drove him back while I sprang back to mid court. He tried a passing shot, I dodged left and hit a pretty good (for me) kill shot into the corner...that he got to and hit a passing shot of his own, but two deep. I got to it, another ceiling shot, I sprang back to forecourt, we traded a couple ceiling shots, then we both got to mid court and hit about 4 shots in succession while standing side by side...near kill shots, corner pinch shots, passing attempts...and then he got a perfect kill shot in.

All it did was give him the serve...and exhaust me. So instead of driving him back and going to mid court, I started playing from the back wall. 12-8. 13-18.

Second wind. I got to 10. I got to 12. And he got the serve and ran it out for his first win against me. Great game, lots of fun. Very glad he got a win in. I do not want him getting discouraged because I love playing against him. And that was a completely legit win...which is even more awesome.

Well, that changed everything. Now we were battling to see who could get to front court. He got to the majority of my passing shots and I was struggling to hit effective kill shots so scoring points was hard for me. He was up about 8-3 again and I was thinking things had flipped completely when I got the serve and went on an immense run.

I scored several aces and several serve winners, mixed in a couple volley wins.

I was working better on the passing shots...tonight I was seldom hitting the back wall, but they were almost too soft. Against a guy like JJ with excellent reflexes and a good read on the ball they are slow enough that he can get to them. So I need to figure out how to get them lower and quicker but still not off the back wall.

Meanwhile, I really got better at using the strategy of ceiling shots to drive him deep and seize position. I just need to hit the kill shots to become much more effective.

Anyway, I ended up winning about 15-10, then won the next one about 15-8.

Then we had one of "those" games where I just obliterated him 15-1. Cannot even say what either of us did different.

We elected to play one more 10 minute game...our allotted court time...which ended up going to 15 minutes.

It took about 5 minutes for him to build a 4-2 lead as we were exchanging service breaks. Then he stayed deep for a couple of points, I hit a couple of aces and it looked like I would break it open. He fought back to make it 11-7, I ran it up to 14-7, he scored a couple to make it respectable and I won about 15-11.

Looking back on the night, I know I am improving every session. The ceiling shot was effective for getting position. I successfully served a z-serve to the right hand back hand corner for the first time. I hit several "tough" shots...not kill shots, but shots where he was deep behind me and I hit it softly off the front wall.

I did a good job of moving him up and back, side to side and mixing up my serves.

I also did a better job of waiting for the ball to drop and driving it low...I just need to get my racket angle down to make those very good shots.

At the same time, I took several points off...he would hit a shot, I would assume it would land where I could not get it and not even try...only to realize I could not only have gotten to it, I could have gotten to it in time to put together a pretty strong shot.

Overall tremendous fun and great exercise.