Week Three – Monday 15th November
Mid afternoon and the cold hits what I hope is a peak and wipes me out. Despite the paracetamol, the sensible thing is to give in and spend an evening on the couch. I wait a little hoping I am maybe not feeling as rough as I think. Maybe the drugs will help. They don’t and reluctantly I call to say I will have to miss the men’s squad session this evening.
Take a Covid lateral flow test, just to be sure. Yep common cold, nothing more exotic.
Think 100 bounces, don’t make 100 bounces. Starting new habits is harder than you would imagine.
Tuesday 16th
The cold feels thick and flemmy, though better than yesterday.
100 bounces completed. Habit restarted.
What I observe in this little task is how little space there actually is in the confines of the utility room. The racket control has to be pretty precise as I try a repeating backhand, forehand bounce combination. One more tiny bit of learning.
Confident of recovery I book a singles hit with for Saturday lunchtime.
Weds 16th
Nothing to see here tennis wise. Still have that cold, developing a bit of a cough.
Thursday 17th
I had thought about crying off tonight’s doubles, but after food and a couple of paracetamol I feel a bit better. The evening is quite pleasant, even though we lose the first match closely and the second by a margin but its great fun. I’m doing ok in a 2nd or 3rd gear kind of way.
Friday 18th
The cold is still hanging on a bit throaty and an occasional cough. Continuing with the paracetamol.
Watch Norrie get well beaten by Djokovic at the tennis masters event in Turin.
Saturday 19th
Flu jab first thing. 90 minute hit indoors. Opponent wins at a canter 6-1,6-0, wrongly suggesting that I lost spirit, it was more that my body did not want to move for anything out of reach. Nothing conscious just a reluctance to move in time to catch the ball. Definite slow to everything and hitting the ball late. It’s not really a contest today.
Sunday 20th
Feeling a bit rough this morning. Cough has now gone down to my chest. Maybe it’s the rest my body has needed? It just feels a bit frustrating right at this moment. It feels like it will be a few days before I am back on track.
Week in summary;
On court 3.5 hours
Weights 0 hrs
Stretching 0 mins
Run 0 mins
Weight: LDNT (Looked Dare Not Tell)
100 bounces x 2
Week Four – Mon 22nd Nov
Today my tennis ambition feels as far away in the distance as it could possibly be.
Thick cough now fully evident, though surprisingly I don’t feel too bad, though keep on with the paracetamol just to be sure.
Tonight’s squad is depleted with just three of us turning up. We try serving left handed, something I have not tried before, but manage to get one ‘serve’ over the net. Its good fun, but I am far below par, even my ears are bunged up and all sounds are muffled.
Tues 23rd Nov
A rare visit to the cinema to watch the ‘King Richard’ movie, the story of Richard Williams, father of the Williams sisters. One ounce of that man’s certainty and conviction and anyone would go a long way
Also a proper awareness about the film’s general release would have helped. The message came from Truro Club saying that there was going to be a special screening for the tennis club. Sounded good so I booked, only to discover over dinner just beforehand that it was also showing in Newquay and I could have saved the half hour drive. Still it was a good movie and worth the trip. And as we don’t get out much these days a rare trip into Truro.
Weds 24th Nov
Coughing
Thurs 25th Nov
Still coughing and spluttering
Fri 26th Nov
Still got the cold, that is 22 days now. Sounds like long Covid one person said to me. Probably more like just not having had a cold for so long. Towards the evening now I am thinking I might try a gentle jog tomorrow.
Outside today its cold and very windy with a weather warning in place. Playing tennis is as far from my mind right now than it has been for a long time. The weather is certainly uninviting.
I am in the warmth, reading the paper, habit takes me to the sports pages first. Not a tennis story, or even a football story even though it is about football. More it’s a story about striving for perfection, it could apply to any sport or any walk of life.
The author is Chief Football Writer of the i Daniel Storey who writes;
‘For Robert Lewandowski, repetition is the only secret. You start with an instinct, a natural aptitude for striking the ball and being in the right position to receive it, and then you hone it through repetition.
Every training session, every day, make the run, take the touch, work out where the goalkeeper wants you to shoot, work out where you want him to think you are shooting. And the repetition never stops, because you are aiming for perfection in a sphere where perfection doesn’t exist.’
Now that made me sit up and take notice.
Different to the Williams sisters who are obviously prodigeously talented from an early age. Lewandowski was on the other hand described as a spindly, scrawny child, obviously driven by a relentless push for perfection. Holding back the years at age 33 and still striving.
At this point I get up from my chair and go and do my 100 bounces routine, for the first time in several days. That feels better, hardly a relentless push for perfection, more of a little step along the way.
Sat 27
The overnight storm has me awake at about 3.30am. Early even by my standards. What is that first thought of the day “not a great day for playing tennis” in fact not a great day for being outside, full stop.
Mid morning 10.31am to be precise. An e-mail sits quietly awaiting discovery. As my eyes catch sight, my pulse quickens. It says 2022 British Seniors Circuit Calendar is here. It’s a mouth watering prospect. A pretty full calendar, with hopefully many more events taking place in 2022 than were able to go ahead in 2021. Even more excitingly the possibility of the first ever Newquay ITF is in the calendar as tbc for September.
Before we get too carried away though, an announcement this evening confirms the return of face masks to be worn in indoor public places. The result of the new Omicron variant announced yesterday with already two cases found in this country and travel bans imposed on a number of countries.
This evening we are entertained by a presentation from Francis Houghton a five times Olympic rower and holder of three silver medals. The most telling quotes to me are about ‘enjoy what you do and the people you are around’. And ‘Champions move the fastest from judgement to action’ Then there is the reveal that athletes lead really very simple lives and are not conditioned in any way at all for complexity.
Though the top advice I think was ‘prepare for every eventuality, so you know how to react in every situation’ In rowing the example was knowing how to react when in 6th place at the half way mark. In tennis this could translate to responding from losing the first set 0-6, not an unknown phenomena for me.
All in all a very interesting evening. I was really struck and impressed by the modesty and matter of factness of the presentation, making it all the more relatable.
Sunday 28th
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.” Muhammad Ali
Waiting for this cold to go, allows plenty of time to think. I have been thinking this week about eyesight. Having recently changed to varifocal glasses to play tennis in, I have noticed a few more balls than previously, go straight past me when preparing for a volley at head height, on either side. Previously a contact lense wearer who changed to glasses, when my lenses did not sit right due to my astigmatism. Eyes like rugby balls apparently and very short sighted as well.
A number of thoughts. Do I go back to single vision lenses, or try contact lenses again? I discounted laser treatment due to its regression possibilities and did not fancy one eye with near sight and one with longer sight as had been suggested.
I do like the sound of coloured contact lenses though. Apparently grey/green for contact sports and amber for racket sports. One thing for sure, peripheral vision is compromised in vari-focal lenses. How much it really matters is anyones guess. Though I read that there are specific exercises for improving peripheral vison and reaction times due to improved visual awareness. A 10% improvement is suggested as possible. That sounds impressive, but how much actual difference it would actually make, I don’t know. Crucially the question is whether it is the thing that will make ‘the’ difference. A phone call to the optician in the morning I think. More on this at a later date.
Week in summary;
On court 1.5 hours
Weights 0 hrs
Stretching 0 mins
Run 0 mins
Weight: LSDNT (Looked Still Dare Not Tell)
100 bounces x 2
