When I decided to start playing singles again, I had to sit down and give a lot of thought to how exactly I wanted to play, considering my personality and physical limits. For example, I am simply not patient enough to keep retrieving ball after ball and I am not fit enough to do either that, or keep attacking the net point after point. Nor do I have the talent to improvise or play a flowing all-court game.So I had no choice but to figure out a way to play singles without either killing myself with exhaustion or giving games away with unforced errors. On top of everything else, I also have low blood sugar.
The first thing I did was to think of how I could minimise my running. The answer was obvious - stay in an area of court where I could cover most balls, play those strokes which would allow me to attack the ball, and learn to read my opponent from his body language. So now, I try to -
1.Play the first points from inside the 3/4 court position. It's risky because I often have to play half-volleys but it allows me to move forward to attack the ball and force my opponent to run. Of course, I had to develop a fairly reliable half-volley AND a drive-volley to play from this position but it was worth the extra hours banging against the wall learning and developing those two options.
2.Attack from the first point, including when I am returning serve. Developing a reliable service return was crucial - I try to learn my opponent's body language for tell-tale clues as quickly as I can during a game, position myself properly and then step into the court and place the return in such a way that he has to run for the ball. Of course, I also had to learn to move forward to the centre of possible returns immediately after that, watch his body language and then try to get into position for the ball before it crosses his service line so that I can cut it off with a volley or an overhead.
3.Develop a serve which allows me to place the ball with a bit of sting. I don't have the talent or timing to hit big booming serves but with first and second serves, I can put the ball either to my opponent's forehand, backhand or into his body. It took months to learn to do that in both courts since it involves being able to hit any one of six possible target areas and it was worth it because it prevents my opponent from getting into a return rhythm when I am serving. And I make it difficult for my opponent to attack my serve.
I still have a major problem with my low blood sugar which I cannot deal with easily, however. As long as my sugar is fine, I can focus and play according to my game plan but once my blood sugar falls, it becomes very hard to even remember some basics let alone maintain the kind of focus and reactions I need to play well, so one sign of my blood sugar falling is when I start double-faulting. My service was never a natural stroke and it had to be developed over many years hitting basket after basket of balls and it is the first stroke to go when my sugar starts dropping. So that is one of the limits to how well I can play in any one game - but I'm doing everything I can to find an effective way of dealing with that.
1.Play the first points from inside the 3/4 court position. It's risky because I often have to play half-volleys but it allows me to move forward to attack the ball and force my opponent to run. Of course, I had to develop a fairly reliable half-volley AND a drive-volley to play from this position but it was worth the extra hours banging against the wall learning and developing those two options.
2.Attack from the first point, including when I am returning serve. Developing a reliable service return was crucial - I try to learn my opponent's body language for tell-tale clues as quickly as I can during a game, position myself properly and then step into the court and place the return in such a way that he has to run for the ball. Of course, I also had to learn to move forward to the centre of possible returns immediately after that, watch his body language and then try to get into position for the ball before it crosses his service line so that I can cut it off with a volley or an overhead.
3.Develop a serve which allows me to place the ball with a bit of sting. I don't have the talent or timing to hit big booming serves but with first and second serves, I can put the ball either to my opponent's forehand, backhand or into his body. It took months to learn to do that in both courts since it involves being able to hit any one of six possible target areas and it was worth it because it prevents my opponent from getting into a return rhythm when I am serving. And I make it difficult for my opponent to attack my serve.
I still have a major problem with my low blood sugar which I cannot deal with easily, however. As long as my sugar is fine, I can focus and play according to my game plan but once my blood sugar falls, it becomes very hard to even remember some basics let alone maintain the kind of focus and reactions I need to play well, so one sign of my blood sugar falling is when I start double-faulting. My service was never a natural stroke and it had to be developed over many years hitting basket after basket of balls and it is the first stroke to go when my sugar starts dropping. So that is one of the limits to how well I can play in any one game - but I'm doing everything I can to find an effective way of dealing with that.
PS
I'm not giving away all my secrets here, of course. I still want to beat younger men who already have the advantages of speed, strength, stamina and age on their side!
