Warmer weather in the zone

The weather in the UK has warmed up, but only because a low depression has moved in which means rain.

 

In the UK, unless you have access to an indoor court the rain inhibits play quite a bit. I suppose you could play outside in the rain but the problems are the slippery surface and the balls get wet and heavy. Then the ball sprays water all over you when you hit it or when it bounces. The heavy balls also aggravate or cause arm problems. Great fun! It would be worth trying to invent and patent a Teflon felted tennis ball, or something similar, that did not hold water but whose spin still influenced its trajectory through the air; just for the UK. Given the interest in tennis in the UK that idea is probably not going to be a winner.

 

So although I have paying access to a nearby David LLoyds I have not played much in the last week. I played twice, once was just a hit and the second time was a doubles match. On both occasions I was hitting and playing really well. After my last blog entry about Dementieva being in the zone I wondered if I had been in the zone. I am aware now that I was not concentrating on my strokes but instead concentrating on what I was trying to achieve with each shot. After that the stroke seemed to take care of itself. This is very similar to the model described in The Inner Game. Now if only I could do that in singles instead of worrying about losing which I inevitably then do.

 

I really don't like the sound of Henman's or Agassi's back problems.