tennis.

so, this summer is finally coming to an end. not that i'm happy it is, but it has been quite a summer.

i dedicated this summer to intense tennis training. i played for two clubs, samena and edgebrook. originally i would have only played at edgebrook, but coach chris asked me if i would join his samena team. even though it meant waking up at 6:30 everyday to shower and make it to the 8:00 practice, it also meant 1.5 more hours of practice for six weeks plus matches every friday. the samena courts were also outdoors, which helped me improve my outdoor playing skills dramatically. during high school tennis season, i remember i wasn't trying to do my best because i was unfamiliar with outdoor courts. i trained mostly in indoor courts, and outdoor ones felt strange to me. however, after playing at samena, i can say that i am comfortable with playing outdoors, although i still prefer indoor courts.

after samena tennis every morning, i chilled for the day until 3:00. edgebrook tennis started at 4:00, and i started getting ready around 3 o'clock. i have to say, edgebrook tennis is far more intense than samena. it might be because there are more people involved in the edgebrook classes, or because samena is early in the morning. but for whatever reason, i worked much harder at edgebrook than i did at samena. i remember the beginning weeks were far more intense than the later ones. i was in the level 4/5 class, which is the highest class in the summer at edgebrook. there were many level 4 and level 5 players signed up, which provided me, a level 4 player, with a lot of competition and experience playing with higher level players. however, throughout the summer, the coaches moved many level 2 players to level 3 for matchplay purposes, and consequently many level 3 players to level 4/5. seeing this, most of the level 5 players quit playing at edgebrook because the level 3 players were no competition for them at all. eventually, the level 4/5 class became more like a level 3/4 class, taking out the competition and experience i would have had playing against level 5 players.

with the training at samena and edgebrook, i also continued to take private and small group lessons with chris. i have to say, these lessons were far more effective than the large classes in the morning and afternoon. even so, i think that the combination of private/small group lessons and large classes helped improve my tennis playing even more. private and small group lessons provided me with individual attention and strict focus on a particular skill or technique. large classes gave me experience using the skills and techniques i learned in real-life tennis situations. i think this method of learning and playing tennis is extremely effective for me.

some people may read this and say, "wow, she's crazy." but understand that tennis is a sport that i love and want to get better at. being a lifetime sport, i think that my learning of tennis probably will never stop. i call this summer of tennis training a success.