Thursday, September 6, 2018 (Court Day #194)
Today was Terry Long’s class for those in the club who opted to participate. It started at 4:30 p.m. at Derby Park. There were 24 students.
As planned, I was in a foursome of me, Eric, John P. and Allan. (Terry required people to sign up in groups of four.)
There were six stations of drills. One at each of the six courts. Terry was the lead. His wife Karen, Dan Bliss, Oleg, and Mike Davey all manned stations to explain the drills.
Our first station was the drill that Terry’s had taught us months ago and Eric and I have used on a few occasions. A player serves cooperatively from the kitchen line to the other player at the baseline who drives the ball back. From there, the server tries to keep the receiver back while the receiver tries to get to the net. If the receiver survives four hits, he wins.
Oleg’s station—our second—was the simplest, cooperatively dinking diagonally with your partner for six times, then dinking directly across for the other pair to hit back and for six times. Repeat over and over. Swap positions. Repeat.
The third station was Karen Long’s. One player at the kitchen line “serves”/hits at the other’s feet who is midway between the kitchen line and the baseline. (A piece of tape had been placed midway back.) The receiver works his way to the net. Dropshots are key. Karen was pleased with my midpoint play and quickly moved me to the baseline where John P. tried to keep me back. I think keeping score would have helped this drill.
The fourth station was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Poacher” overseen by Dan Bliss. Three players have to stay at the baseline. One player, at the kitchen, is the poacher. The goal of the poacher is to aggressively poach every shot regardless of normal strategy. Other than that, a typical point is played. We gave each poacher about half a dozen points then rotated. The point of the drill is to teach the poacher that more shots can be successfully poached than typical thought.
Our fifth station was also overseen by Dan. About three feet in from each baseline was a parallel tape line. Partners are diagonal from each other. They get three consecutive shots: serve, return, drop. If the serve or return land behind the tape line three points is granted for each. If the drop lands in the kitchen, another three points is granted. If a team gets all three (12 points) they get another serve, otherwise, the serve goes to the other team. The first team to 54 wins. After a while, we swapped left/right court positions. Eric and I won both games with a few 12 point rounds in the mix. It’s harder than it sounds.
The last station for us was Terry’s. It was a game to 21. But there were a few twists. An extra point was granted if a serve or return landed behind the tape (like the previous court). A drop from the baseline into the kitchen was another point. A crosscourt drop into a taped square in the kitchen by the posts was three points. A body shot with the ball was five points. John and I played Allan and Eric. We lost, but John and I had pulled in close.
Drills ended on time at 6:30, followed by a single game where a player was replaced with a bystander at every unforced error. Terry critiqued shots. Shallow returns. Shallow serves. Popped up drop shot returns, etc. But it was the balls into the net or hit out that got a player kicked off.
While I was on the court for the second time, there was a wide crosscourt dink to my right. I took it around th post, but my shot sailed wide by a foot or two. “Trying to be the hero,” admonished Terry, “but instead you are off the court!” I did get some brownie points from the spectators who audibly sympathized when my ATP didn’t angle back into the court.
The nearly 2 1/2 hours was well worth the time. Drilling is so beneficial.
Number of days on a court: 194
Number of total hours: 537
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