Last Thursday, I had another win in the league(: In my point of view, I was pretty lucky for the previous victories, but I did have an overwhelming victory this time. I was much better than one month ago (yeah! of course=P), and the opponent was a sub-player, who was weaker than others in the league. Although he had a strong surfing, both his forehand and backhand were not so good. The responses were soft and shallow with only a little bit back spin, which gave me a wide angel to hit either inside-in or inside-out.
When I talked with my coach yesterday, he provided some valuable insights about how I should consider the process of a match
- Keep the feet floating while preparing ground stroke.
- Volley is the only way to end a point. No matter how aggressive the ground strokes are, they are not considered to end the point. Instead, they just build the point. If it ends, let it be. If not, that’s the normal case. It means I should always prepare for the next stroke. And the sad part of the story is that after nine months I still don’t really know how to end a point……
- Do not get frustrated playing with players who consistently send lofty backspin. If he voluntarily hands over the control of pace, I should use it wisely: add more topspin on the returns; actively change the angel; don’t rush to end the point but patiently build it.
- Prepare earlier: decide to use forehand or backhand based on the trajectory; once decided, prepare for the ready position; after the bounce, I should begin the movement of hitting; the center of gravity should put into the front halves of the feet, and always keep the momentum forward while hitting the ball.