Friday 5th January 2007
OK, we are into a new year, and so it's time to start getting into more detail on my plans for the next six months, culminating in the 2007 Australian Open in late June.
Fitness
As of today, I'm weighing in at 196 pounds (89kg) and around 17% bodyfat - the festive season has struck again! My overal goal is to get down to about 8% bodyfat, which would require me to drop about 24 pounds (11kg), presuming I can hold my muscle mass. With just under six months to do it in, or around 24 weeks, that's about a pound a week. Not easy but doable.
My intermediate goal is to hit close to 87kg by the end of January. If I'm around that mark I know that I'm roughly on track, and I won't need to change too much in my food intake or exercise regime
Mental
Over the next week or so, I'm going to expand in more detail on the mental side of my preparation. I've already got everything mapped out, but I'm going to post things a piece at a time to avoid information overload. To start with, here is my mental management goal setting system plan, using the template in Lanny Bassham's book, With Winning in Mind.
Interested in purchasing "With Winning in Mind?" 
Greg's Goal Setting System Plan - to July 2007
Step 1 - Decide Exactly What You Want- Finish in the Top 10 on the Australian Order of Merit
- Be competitive with the top 5 players (William Henzell, Simon Gerada, Kyle Davis, Kiet Tran, George Tang)
- Late June 2007
- Show defenders can compete at top level
- Show age is not a barrier
- Reach my potential
- Enjoy being competitive with the best in Australia
- Age - slowing reflexes
- Fitness - need to drop 11kg of bodyfat
- Availability of quality training partners
- Technical deficiencies
- Recovery ability
- Unfamiliarity with opponents
- Significant investment of time and effort to achieve it.
- Coaching/Website commitments may affect ability to train hard.
- See separate training plan. (Which I'll post in the next few days.)
- Q1 - Do I Really Believe My Plan Will Work?
I think it is possible to achieve my goals, provided I put in the necessary effort. There have been several O/40 players ranked in the top 10, so it has been done before by others. - Q2 - Do I Really Believe I Can Work the Plan?
Yes, I believe I can make it happen. Probably the biggest difficulty for me will be getting my bodyfat down to the necessary level to allow me to train hard and cover a wide defensive area. It will come down to how badly I really want to achieve it. - Q3 - Is the Prize Worth the Price?
To me it is. I still feel I haven't reached my limits yet, and I want to keep progressing with my game. 2006 was a good year for me, and I want 2007 to be even better.
Step 7 - Schedule Your Plan
- I've mapped out my plans on a calendar at home for easy reference.
Step 8 - Start Now
- Done!
Step 9 - Never Reach a Goal Without First Setting Another One
- Next goal - top 5 ranking in Australia.
Step 10 - Never, Never, Quit
- Stay with the plan until it is finished.
Extra: What Factors Do I Have Working in My Favor?
- My style as a defender is less familiar to other players, while their styles are quite familiar to me.
- I can use my robot to practice serves, serve returns, techniques and improve fitness.
- I will use my intelligence to my advantage.
- I am used to playing under handicaps of being unfit and with poor recovery ability and fatigue. Once these are gone I will be on a more level playing field.
- I have more free time to train now.
- I have Mike and Frank to aid in training.
- I can use video analysis to improve my game and study my opponents.
- They won't be expecting me as a threat - I will be under their radar. It is unlikely that anyone is preparing to play against me - since there are hardly any defenders at a national level.
- I'm hungry to do well.
- I'm mentally tougher due to the things that I have been through over the last few years.
- I will have a mental advantage due to my mental preparation.
Wednesday 13th December
Just a quick update on what's been happening lately.Fitness
I've managed to get past my birthday without putting on any weight (phew!). I'm doing my aerobics plus weights twice a week (with weights starting to edge up as I get back into it), as well as training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Add to that between 8-12 hours of private coaching and I'm on the table a fair bit.
Mental
I haven't done that much on the mental side yet. I've got my plans written out, but I'm yet to really dive in again. Just goes to show how easy it is to let days slip away without getting things done.
Technique
I've been working on improving my own serve and return of serve, which ties in nicely with a lot of the coaching I have been doing, since many of my students need the practice as well. I'm very happy with how my forehand loop has improved since I've started to try to stay relaxed through the stroke, instead of muscling the ball. I'm picturing myself as loose and whippy through the stroke, instead of tight and tense. Through this one small change I've gained a lot of extra power and spin, and with less effort. A good thing all round!
Competition
Apart from the odd practice game, where I seem to be playing fairly well, I'm not going to get any hard competition until late February or so. But I'm pretty happy with my form at the moment.
So all in all, everything is ticking along nicely. Still got one more birthday dinner, an anniversary and Christmas and New Year's of course. If I can stay on track and not indulge too much, so I'm starting 2007 at around 88kg, I'll be pretty happy. At the start of 2006 I was around 93kg or so, so I'd be ahead of the game!
