Tyler's Descriptive Essay

Ready, split, swing, recover. Thats all that was going through my mind as I hit the ball as best I could and won each point. This was the day I surpassed my limits by about 200%. It was Canadian Doubles so it was like playing a brick wall on the other side of the court. Drop shot, overhead, volley, half-volley, swinging volley, every shot in my arsenal I used and still just barely won the point. 

I walked over to get two tennis balls and told myself, “Devoid of emotion, don’t let it stick”. Being devoid of my emotions allows me to concentrate better than anything else. Got ready to serve, decided this time to use the abbreviated stance for serving in hopes of surprising them. The abbreviated serving stance was a serving stance I only used if I needed to gain a lot of points in a short period of time since its the only stance that I can hit a kick serve with. Using it too much puts too much strain on my arm so its a sort of last resort shot. I bounce the ball 4 times, have the ball and racquet touch in front of me slowly separating and getting ready to throw the ball up. I release the ball and swing....it goes in the box and out to the left dragging him off the court and opening up the court if he is able to get it back.

He got it back but it is short so I approach the net and decided to use the two-one punch strategy so my approach shot goes straight back to him. The two-one strategy is a strategy in tennis normally used in singles but my doubles partner, Hefei, and I are able to use it in singles and doubles. What it is, is you hit the ball to one side, then if he returns it you hit it again to the same side and if he gets it back again you hit it straight down the middle in doubles or in singles to the other corner. So I hit it back to Andrew who I was able to pull off the court with my serve and perform the two-one punch perfectly, hitting his return back right down the middle too fast for his partner, Andrew G. at the net. 

It was 3-6 for the first set, 2-0 right now in the second set and I realized that the only way I could win is if I used all the strategies and shots in my arsenal. Since it was their serve now I decided to use the creeping split so I could use the return & volley tactic. The serve was a moderately fast ball and I approached after returning and put that ball away immediately. Next I decided to use a system Hefei and me created for doubles but adapted it quickly to singles and told myself 5 groundstrokes than approach as in a diagonal line. I did it and got the point.

Over the course of the set, I was gaining points at an incredible rate. It was now the third set and the score was tied 3-6, 6-0 now so we had three more sets to play out since it’s best 3 out of 5 sets. I was getting emotional again so I had to tell myself again: “Devoid of emotion, there is no velcro on me”. The only way I would get the next two sets straight was if I pulled myself together and focused less on the amount of power on the ball to get in and instead did what one of my coaches told me: “If you get nervous or can’t concentrate, focus only on your feet”. After I did that, games flew by quicker than a bird. After two more gruesome sets it was the middle of the last set and the score was 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 5-7 with the score 6-6 in the last set. We had to keep playing until one side won by two games. It was my service game and I served kick serves, slice serves, flat serves, topspin serves, everything I had left in order to win the game and finally did. This was it I told myself: “This is it, don’t screw up or it’s 3 extra hours of Cha-Cha training.” I used all the splits and shots I had left in me until it was match point. I felt like I was going to collapse from the combination of the heat and the tiredness from the last 4 hours of playing. Andrew served, I came up to the net and started volleying back and forth with the net person when he hit a lob up over my head. The only shot I had left in me was a Reverse Contact Move. I got into position and hit it...It bounced in and....HE MISSED IT!!! I told myself: “Thank you, Lord” then ran up and shook their hands. 

The ending score was 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 5-7, 8-6 and it was one hell of an intense match. I couldn’t believe I WON when I was literally out of energy. Cha-Cha came up and told me, “Why can’t you always play like that, man?” I said, “I don’t know Cha, but I do know I can’t be a champion, without you.” and began to laugh. That was the longest match I had ever played in my life; 4 hours and 15 minutes. The lesson learned that day was the only way to win is if I push myself past my limits like I do in Cha-Cha training

Key:

Ready Steps- a foot movement where you move your feet like a pendulum while your waiting for the ball to come.

Split Step- A foot movement where you jump into your foundation once your opponent makes contact with the ball so that you can get the ball quicker.

Recover- After hitting the ball you move back to the middle of the baseline

Topspin Serve-a serve that when landing into the box curves into the body

Kick Serve-a serve that when lands into the box curves out of the court and is used to drag you opponent off the court.

Flat Serve-a serve that is hit with pure power no spin and is normally used as a first serve.

Slice Serve-a serve that lands in the box short and curves into the court.

Drop Shot-a ball hit with so much topspin that once it goes over the net it literally drops in extremely short and is one of the hardest shots in tennis to get.

Half-Volley-a volley that is hit as the ball is just coming off the ground.

Lob-a ball hit high in order to force the person at the net to back away from the net in order to get it or in order to create time to recover.

Cha-Cha Training- My coach’s nickname is Cha-Cha and his training is more intense than any other coach I know’s training so I refer to his training as Cha-Cha Training or Military Training.