100 Games of Padel

Scores 6-2 6-2 6-0 Rating: BACK! And all because of an overgrip. After the fiasco of the Playtomic match with the crappy grip, and then the next match where I took it off completely I had a bit of a think. I replaced the grip on my racquet with a better one and thought about chucking out the remaining stock of crap ones. Then I had a thought. My old raquet already had an old grip on it so I thought I would try two by using up the crap grips..  Reader, it was like Excaliber. It just felt exactly as it should be when I held it. Ypu know when you've had a good cup of coffee and then you have a GREAT cup of coffee? it felt like "oh, this is what I've been missing!" I put another grip on my usual racquet and it also felt great in the hand. absolutely locked in and an extension of my arm. Off to the match I go to play agains two higher rated young lads and my racquet was finally behaving. Parallel Passing shot with very little space? easy Bajada down the line? simple soft w...

 Scores 6-7 (10-8) 3(?)-1 Rating: Not feeling it It's not the physical tiredness, it's the frustration at my game. I had changed my overgrip for one of a box that I had stopped using and it was a mistake. Both in the match before and in the start of this match, the racquet felt disconnected from my hand. I went as far as taking it off and playing without an overgrip which improved my game but I was just not feeling it. For the past 3 games I've been playing with lower level players who are unforced error machines. It's fucking draining, you built a point and it's thrown away. You have to change the shots you play based on the shots likely to come back that your partner can deal with. Exhausting. At one point today the ball was dropping WELL into my half. I let it drop, shouted "mine!" then "MINE!" ever more frantically as my partner ran in from behind my shoulder and literally stole the shot. He got a winner from it but "oh, I heard you, I j...

Scores:  5-7 0-6 Rating: a much needed punch in the face I'm not that good at Padel but I've been thinking I am kinda ok. Get shoes, watch padel videos, watch Padel on TV and even have a boomerish blog on it. But I'm not that good and sometimes, it's good to be reminded of that. I played against my usual partner and someone who I'd played before that wasn't great. Both played well and I played really badly. My partner is a newbie to Padel and just wasn't able to rein in the Tennis instincts. very little to take from that game except the moral lesson

4-6 3-3 Rating: warming up Venue: usual venue (centre court) Report Padel can be great fun and a fantastic ice breaker. One opponent dropped out but he managed to dig up a replacement, an early 20s Uni student that had been playing tennis from the time he was 6.  oh boy.... The guy was a very nice chap who it was a pleasure to meet and who really enjoyed the game of Padel, Luckily it really is different enough from Tennis to give me and my partner a chance. To me the wall is my friend; to tennis players a lot of the time they consider it the enemy. In saying that, we took a few games to warm up and were very quickly down 0-3 in the first set but we broke back and managed to make it respectable. My partner had a few unforced errors initially but these improved as the match progressed. Always disapointed not to break for 5-5 but it wasn't to be, too many errors. A constant refrain from me is that I am not aggressive enough but I really did pretty well, especially in regards to positi...

 Scores on the doors since 25th Feb Game 15 Games on Matchi at the usual venue - Some tough games but loads of fun games. it's getting very hard to get times as lunchtime between work demands and the courts being booked instantly 1 Training session with the wee man where the other court had a bluetooth speaker that he enjoyed very much. 4 matches at the Playtomic Barn - W2 and L2 with both losses coming from just too many unforced errors. so another 19 matches have been added to the list taking me up to Game 44. Considering we are 107 days into the year means that the 100 matches target feels doable. Equipment is still pretty much the same, Kuikma Carbon Hybrid which I do like but feels lacking on overheads. I also just picked up some new Kuikma Stabilty Padel shoes that feel fantastic, what a difference compared to my old Asics Tennis Shoes. As for how am I playing? I guess it's....no bad. Good at defending, getting better with volleys at net. lack of anticipation, split step...