This has been the most enjoyable tennis year of my tennis life.
Not the most successful season results wise, just the most enjoyable. I wasn’t expecting to write those words. Maybe winning and losing are not the only measures of success.
What is going on?
Something other than winning has proved valuable in the season just gone. What could this be and how might I better it next year? Important questions as we reach the turn of the year. Maybe it was partly to do with not being able to pay for the first three months of the year due to Covid.
If I start at the beginning, then I know I came into the season just about as fit as I could possibly be. I had worked hard during lockdown. Building strength, endurance and flexibility.
I committed to weekly coaching lessons once we were freed from lockdown and tried hard to take on board what I was being taught.
Those sunny mornings long gone now, jogging down to the tennis courts with my backpack, rackets sticking out, arriving nicely warmed up ready to play. Simple pleasures, never bettered.
I never felt a breakthrough moment in competition, but practices continued to improve little by little. The last doubles session before Christmas I served as well as I have all season, maybe ever, so maybe this learning takes time to come through, sitting maturing until the moment is right, emerging at a moment of its and not my choosing. This is why I need to continue to believe, as I genuinely do not know where I am going to get to. Daunting and liberating both at the same time.
The year has also been about people, more than I knew at the start of the year. Sitting court side chatting while spectating or post match with a cup of tea, there have been some good conversations and laughter.
Then there is the travel. Cornwall is a long way from anywhere, most events require a journey of several hours. In their own way these journeys have been enjoyable whether alone or with company. I am sure there is an analysis to be done on miles travelled time spent and fuel used, but that can wait for another day.
Numbers then are not the whole story, though they are a good place to start.
My season in numbers
Over 60s singles rankings;
| ITF December 2020 | 1,868 | |
| ITF December 2021 | 2,009 | |
| ITF Highest in 2021 | 1,900 – in September | |
| GB ITF DEC 2021 | 104 | |
| LTA | 32 | |
| Cornwall | 2 |
Things won; County over 50s , Club over 50s. Its modest but it counts. Have got to start somewhere. Tennis club quiz night! – that must count as well!
And the effort that went into those numbers is as follows;
| Gym no. | Tennis sessions | Tennis mins | Runsno. of sessions | Run mins | Stretch no. | Singles matches | |||
| P | W | L | |||||||
| Jan | 1 | 1 | 60 | 18 | 467 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb | 7 | 1 | 15 | 14 | 428 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar | 9 | 2 | 270 | 12 | 270 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr | 6 | 15 | 2160 | 12 | 115 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 3 | 11 | 1290 | 6 | 200 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| June | 0 | 19 | 1945 | 9 | 137 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| July | 1 | 9 | 930 | 11 | 183 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 2 | 13 | 1590 | 2 | 54 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Sept | 1 | 10 | 1015 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Oct | 2 | 13 | 1425 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Nov | 0 | 12 | 1320 | 1 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dec | 4 | 9 | 1080 | 6 | 160 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 36 | 115 | 13100 | 92 | 2063 | 45 | 31 | 10 | 21 |
| 218.3 hrs | 34.4 hrs |
Surprisingly and only visible due to presenting the numbers in table format is that I only played matches in 6 months of the year. Which means for a whole half year there were no matches. Obviously Covid lock down accounted for the first three months of the year. Very surprising to record no matches in July of all months. July would also be the month when I felt the fittest!
Numbers can be deceptive and the number of runs is the most deceptive as it includes the occasions when I jogged to practice and jogged back. This only represents two jogs of ten minutes each, so not really a training run as such more a warm up / cool down effort.
The most sobering number is 200 plus hours on court and so little to show for it! Hold on though, for the most part that translates into 200 very enjoyable hours last year. How brilliant to be able to measure enjoyment in such an objective way.
Changing the numbers in 2022. There is plenty of scope to improve the number of gym sessions and the number of stretching sessions particularly. It would also be nice to reverse the win loss ratio, that would be something of note.
A more in depth look at my ITF losing results reveals the following scores;
When you are totally outplayed there is probably much to be done except keep trying and main open and try and be receptive and learn. Don’t mistake losing as just a learning experience it hurts. It casts doubt, it costs money and time. The one I remember most which might be something for me in the future, was in discussion post match, learning how much the opponent intended to win every point he could against me. That is the greatest form of respect.
Over the season I had five matches go to a third set and I lost all five of them. In all but one of them I won the first set . While not totally conclusive there is a pattern emerging. I am quite capable of getting off to a good start and taking the first set, I tend to lapse in the second set and I am unable to close out in the third. This is exactly the insight I hoped to gain by recording my season in numbers.
Although there are many variables the second set lapses look like a pattern either of me relaxing or changing something and possibly also of my opponent doing similar. This is a particularly common refrain I hear about second set’s and not being able to consolidate the lead. Something to work on.
As for not winning the deciding tie break or set, that tells its own story. This is the first time I have ever analysed my results in such detail and this third set failure is more than chance. Before this season I would have said that I was pretty good in the match tie break situation, the evidence is otherwise. These results are just from the ITF events. There is some balance as I note than in other events I played two further match tie breaks and won them both.
End of season report
Physical – although I can and will intend to do more I am working from a strong base, even though the last two months have been faltering with a hang around cold. Now at the end of December I feel back on track.
Next season goal:
- More gym – with added variety
- More stretching – really pushing for those flexibility improvements
Mental – pretty good for stickability to task and training. Need to get it right in second sets and tie breaks.
Concentration appeared to be an issue at times. I need to tighten up and reduce the loose points, and unforced errors for sure.
Then there is the undeniable fact that I have failed to perform on a number of occasions, most uncomfortably feeling like I froze and could not control my body at Milford on Sea. The morning rush across from Cornwall and arriving just ten minutes before the start, no doubt contributing.
Next season goal:
- Learn to be relaxed on the match court – I think this is a big one. Get this right and everything else I feel will fall into place.
- Work on winning second sets – make it a feature of practice
- Learn to close out tie breaks or third sets, that would be an ITF first for me – again make it a feature of practice
Tactical – my ability to figure out opponents I feel is still rudimentary and then there is what to do about any strengths and weaknesses. Definitely an area to work on.
Next season goal;
- Have not really focussed on opponents strengths and weaknesses, much less what to actually do about them, so it has good potential to bring improvement. An area for conscious effort and analysis.
Technical – weekly coaching sessions have definitely helped. There is undoubtedly greater consistency in my stroke play. All areas of my game have progressed, the key being to aim for relaxation in everything I do, then everything flows. No more true than on serve and the development over the season culminated in my best serving performance of the season in a pre Christmas doubles. Bearing out the importance of being relaxed.
This improvement is also interesting for the length of time it has taken to come through consistently. The perseverance has paid off and even sticking with the changes when initially they did not seem to be working. Then all of a sudden over the past two weeks it has all clicked into place. From being conscious of all the component parts to my serve, here I was, just deciding where I wanted the ball to go and by and large the ball was obeying. Something of a revelation. Immediately I worry that next time I step onto court it will have disappeared again. I do like a good worry when time allows.
So much emphasis is placed on the technical aspect of the game, you just have to look at youtube to see learn to hit your forehand like Federer, serve like Djokovic. On the seniors circuit all of the better players seem to have flawless technique to my eyes at least. If the year has taught me anything it is that improving technique as I am discovering is a slow process. Therefore I am now clearer that my goals will not be achieved by technique alone. I cannot match the technique of players who have developed good technique from an early age. This recognition reinforces the need to concentrate on other aspects of my game as well as technique.
Perhaps the biggest thing to take forwards is not to place any expectations on myself and to continue to work hard away from the match court and come to matches ready to play.
It has been a frustrating last few months. Now at the end of December having reflected on the past season I am recharged and looking forwards with anticipation.
The review of the year has highlighted a number of areas for improvement. My conclusion is that there is not one single thing alone, that is going to make the difference. The take away from this year into next year has to be, to work for small improvements in all areas of my game.
This is a good place to be as we near the end of the year and look forward to the next.
Thank you 2021 you have been great and it has been a huge amount of fun!
