1-02-18 (Tuesday) HY: Tennis + Walking + TCF.

1-02-18 (Tuesday) HY: Tennis + Walking + TCF.

Today is the day!  Tournament Day!  A little background, I was active in playing Jr. USTA Tournaments when I was in Jr. High and High School, but I haven't played in any sort of competitive singles tournament in about 30 years.  I promised my son, after he played last year that I would enter this tourney with him this year.  So I did.  Yes, I was nervous, and it showed.  I wasn't very talkative, and gave only short responses when spoken to.

It was cold, but luckily, the weather was perfect for tennis.  Warming up was good, but I just couldn't get the stiffness in my mind to loosen up.  I was in the second group of matches.  In my first match, I was up against a pretty good high school kid.  The first point of the match, I successfully served and hit a solid put-away volley.  I ended up taking the first two games.  Then I lost the second two games.  Then I took the next two games.  Then I lost the next two.  So the score was 4-4.  I was serving and as I stepped up to the line to serve, I noticed that my strings had popped.  I went to get a reserve racket, but the tension was a lot looser than what I had been playing with.  I couldn't adjust and ended up losing the next two games and the match.  That was a match I should have and really wanted to win.  I was very disappointed in myself.  My second match was against an older but much more experienced player.  And I got crushed. 1-6.  I moved into the Consolation Bracket and I was playing a guy that I should have been able to beat, but I was just off my game.  I was junking gimmies into the net and spraying balls long and wide.  I lost that match 2-6.  After holding my serve twice in my first match, I didn't win a service game the rest of the day.  The three games I did win were all breaks of serve.  I also, double faulted on match pint in my last two matches.
Takeaways from today:
The Bad - I need more experience in match play.  My mental game sucks.  I need to have a more consistent contact point for my strokes.  I need to be able to string good points together, not just a good shot here and there.  I need to get over my nerves.
The Good - I was able to hit aces against every opponent.  I hit at least one clean winner in each game I played.  This is just one step, my first step in gaining experience to play better and get used to match pressure.
I really didn't like to lose matches I know I'm good enough to win, but I realize that for me, I'm going to have to lose more before I start winning.  I just need to be strong and patient.  I can't get down on myself.  I need to accept my weaknesses and work hard to turn then into strengths.  Finally, I need regular practice.  I'm glad I joined my tennis club in October otherwise I would have had ZERO confidence going into the tournament.  But through this experience, I know what I need to work on (Yes, everything), so I can focus on one thing at a time over the next year until the next tournament.  I hope to play in another tournament in the summer or spring, but it will probably be a doubles tournament with my son, and if not, I'll ask someone at my club to pair up.  The fire is glowing brightly now!

After the tournament, we went to the mall to meet my daughter and to go to our regular family vacation dinner.  At least once every vacation, we go out to eat together.  I was exhausted but I was also very hungry because we didn't have time to eat a regular lunch because the tourney organizers were trying to fit as many matches in in one day as possible.  They gave us lunchtime, but my son wanted to practice during that time, so I only had a bagel and a banana.  BTW, my son made it into the main draw and got to the Best 16.  He ended up losing to an older and more experienced player.  On top of that, he had a callous rip open on his racket hand so he couldn't hit with his usual pace and power.  We'll see what happens in the next tournament.  ANYWAY, we went to our favorite buffet restaurant and had a great meal.  I ate a lot of really healthy food, and a fair portion of not so healthy food.  But I tried to keep it under control.  Then, afterwards, we walked around the mall shopping for things my kids and wife needed/wanted.  Yes, I was the only one who ended up not getting anything, but I wasn't really looking for anything, so I was happy to tag along.  But when I checked my pedometer (which I put on after the tournament, I had walked the equivalent of a 5 km distance.  My legs were really aching by this time and I was needing to stop every once in a while to squat, rest, and stretch my lower back and glutes.  I had used up my last bit of energy reserves shopping.  But as the food I had just eaten started refilling my energy banks, we got home and I closed out the day with a Tai Cheng Flow.  Which I probably wouldn't have done had it not been for a Challenge group I am taking part in through my coach.  Shout out to Elizabeth!

In the end, the tennis alone burned 3100+kcals.  I was feeling it all afternoon and evening.  I'm wondering how I'll feel tomorrow.  Of course a lot of the tightness and soreness was from playing in the tournament, but I'm sure a lot of it was due to nervous stress as well.  Once my body releases that tension, I wonder how the soreness will be.