Monday 11th February 2008
My local pennant competition has started again, and we have had our first important tournament of the year, so now is probably a good time to report on how the year is shaping up.Training
I'm still very happy with my minimalist approach to training. I'm consistently getting in my 30 minutes a day, or more if I feel like it, and that's keeping me on track. I definitely feel fitter than when I started at the beginning of this year, and I'm still feeling fresh and motivated to train, so I think I'm on a winner with this method.Weight-wise, I have dropped a couple of pounds, but I think I want to speed that up a little. So this weekend I went back to revise my diet, and see how I can improve it for the future - I've gotten a bit slack over the last year or so. Again, I think I've learned my lesson from past efforts, so I'm not going to try and go super-strict until I can't take it any more and eat everything in sight. I've just sat down and planned a number of meals that I like and can prepare quickly and easily, that are healthy as well. And making sure I've got appropriate snacks available instead of chocolates and other junk! I'll also probably pre-cook some meals and put them in the freezer, so when I'm tired or in a hurry, I'll go to my stash instead of reaching for a quick unhealthy fix. Again, nothing radical, just some common-sense stuff that I feel I can maintain year in and year out instead of trying to cut my calories super low and bombing out after two weeks. I'll keep you updated on how things go, hopefully with good news.
On the table, I'm still keeping things simple - no complex drills at the moment - just the basics. It's paying off in competition, since my forehand loop has been working very well in competition of late. But my backhand loop has been getting a bit neglected, and since it has always been my most natural attacking stroke, I've been guilty of skimping on training it in favor of fixing my forehand. Now it's time to start devoting equal time to both forehand and backhand looping.
Competition
As I mentioned earlier, we kicked of the season with a bang, with the start of our local pennant competition and our first major competition all taking place in the first week.In our local pennants, my team played one of the top two teams of the competition. Your first match is always a bit of a nervous time, and my opponent and I both took a little while to settle down. But after that I played some pretty solid table tennis, and I came away with two wins out of two matches for the night.
Then on Friday 8th February, we had the first round of our Grand Prix competition. I wasn't going in with super-high expectations, I was mainly just hoping to be competitive with my main opponents at this early stage of the season. As it turned out, I actually made the final and had a match point at 10-9 in the fifth and final game, before losing 10-12.
At the moment, both my opponents and I are a little match rusty, and it showed on Friday night, with some scratchy play from all of us. Looking at my own game, I did come away with some pleasing aspects, and some other areas that I need to brush up on.
Positives
- My service game is better than last year, with most of my serves being fairly tight and hard to attack. I'd like to improve it a bit more though - I'm still serving a little too long on occasion on big points.
- My forehand attack is now working very nicely and consistently, and is proving to be a good point winner for me.
- Although I'm still way too heavy, I'm reasonably fit and made it through 6 best of 5 matches in good shape. I'd like to be a bit faster on my feet though.
- I stuck to my tactical plan probably 75-80% of the time, which is a big improvement over recent years.
- My defense is a little patchy. I need to start back on the robot to get the feel of chopping heavy loop consistently again, and make sure I'm doing enough defense practice in training.
- My backhand loop, which is normally my most reliable attack, was a little off in its timing, and needs some attention again. I've been ignoring it while I've brought my forehand up to speed, and now I need to better balance my backhand and forehand training.
- Some of my over the table pushes with my long pips were going long and off the table. I need to pay a little more attention to my pushing technique with the long pips.
Another interesting thing is that I came off after the match feeling relaxed and positive. I'd done my best, stuck to my plan and left it all out the table. I didn't have to sit there wishing that I'd tried this or done that. Sure, I couldn't quite execute my tactics perfectly, but I'd given myself the best chance of doing so. And later that night, instead of constantly thinking about the last few points like I often do after a loss, I found it quite easy to let the match go and focus on other things, since I had executed my plan as well as I could.
Now I just have to go back to training, work on the areas that need some improvement, and update my plans for next time. Just like my opponents are doing, I'm sure!
