Post Match Ramblings 130506

Another Saturday training at NEA. Nasir was down for the second time and he brought another player, Idrus, along. Did not get to play with Idrus as I was simply too tired after my matches with Nasir and Tun.

The final score with Nasir was 2-1 (9-3, 7-9, 9-6). In the first game, I was still fresh and alert. Managed to get to the ball early and had an idea where I wanted the ball to go. Even though many of the shots did not go as tight as I wanted them, the ball did fall within a reasonable range and I felt a certain level of control. By keeping focused and relaxed, I placed the ball well enough to allow me to win the first game quite easily.

In the second game, I was leading 4-1. Took the lead because I played the way I did in the first and kept the game simple. But somehow at 4-1, there was a slip in focus and I made a couple of mistakes. That increased the level of anxiety and fatigue (or maybe just the perception of fatigue) set in. I was slower on the ball and started just hitting anywhere. The placing and accuracy of the shots went down. Was not hunting the shots. I also dropped 4 points by hitting the ball down on the backhand return. In a short while, I found myself 4-8 down. Did get back the serve on game ball and after getting myself more focused, I got the next 3 points. However anxiety and fatigue still got the better of me and I lost 9-7.

In the third game, Nasir played much more to the front and was cutting off every other shot. In a way, my loose shots gave him those opportunities. I got kind of irritated as I found myself not able to move fast to the front and hit the ball back tightly. Very quickly, I was 1-4 down. I supposed I would have lost the game if I had continued playing at such an anxious level. However at one point, I managed to tell myself to play one point at the time and always keep to the simple basic game. Yes, I was tired but if I were to play the right shot, I would be able to give myself time. The game improved as I got back my focus and rallied with him more. But of course, there were still many situations where I did not capitalize on my advantage and sometimes even lost the rally off a loose shot. I remembered hitting into the tin twice on the backhand when the ball was sitting up loose at half court. Oh well ... Despite being tired and making silly mistakes here and there, I told myself one rally at a time, focused on getting to the ball early and playing the right shots. I was more forgiving when I made an error and just went on to the next rally. Slowly I caught up to 6-6 and eventually won 9-6 when he made the last three errors.

I enjoyed this game. Have not played like this for a while. Yes, there is still a long way to go .... I can play at a much higher level ... but I suppose as I play these matches, I learn to accept myself at the state I am currently at. Not that I do not strive to improve, in fact I see myself being much better. Just that instead of thinking about how much better I used to be and getting frustrated over what I am not able to do for now, I focus on what I can do, do it well and make incremental improvements by the day, by the week =)