Alright, Ok

So, our blog has been M.I.A for a while now.

We should have warned you the summer in Seattle hit- and boom- we were out the door. Since the sunshine arrived we've been playing tennis, hiking, canoeing and enjoying this great city. We've been meaning to get back to posting, so now that fall is around the corner we'll have more indoor time to do so.


Except, this time around we're going to blog with a new twist...

Seattle Tennis a Palm Springs Heaven

BNP Paribas came and went; just like that.

Hosting friends from out of town for a week plus March Madness and Indian Wells, left little time to update. I did get to see some of the men's and women's semis and finals on t.v. However, the BNP Paribas on the women's side was pretty uneventful. The WTA Tour lacked star power without Venus & Serena these last two weeks. With the upsets of JJ and Elena, there was little drama.

The men's tournament was phenomenal! Can't believe Federer lost 6-1 in the 3rd to Murray. I didn't watch that match, but caught the end score. Roddick played well, but Nadal continues to impress me all the time. I missed the Final but I can't imagine how he beat Andy Murray so easily. Glad I recorder it.

Nadal is so ahead in the rankings, Federer should start relishing his No.2 slot soon before he's bumped down. Can't wait to catch some good tennis on TV these next two weeks during the Sony Ericsson Open.

Anyway, I haven't hit in almost a week. Time to hit the courts tonight! I have a USTA Match this Friday.

Seattle Tennis - A Palm Springs Heaven!

What's with all the beautiful weather in Seattle? In case you didn't know, Seattle has had amazing, sunny weather the past week or two. But what most people don't know is that this is pretty common for this time of year. So, no, it's not always raining here!

What else? Well, this weekend, the USTA League Tennis got underway in the Northwest, and my team had our first match! Roger Mark (Avanti Sports) recommended me for the 4.5 Dao Team, led by the very capable and clever doubles player Duong Dao. This was my first time playing USTA League Tennis, so I was very excited!

I started practicing with Dao's team back in December. And as my singles challenge record indicates (1-4), I didn't have the "warmest of welcomes" by the guys.

But if you know me, you know I'm a fighter. So I pulled out The Inner Game of Tennis (read earlier blog) and Winning Ugly (Brad Gilbert) in order to mentally prepare myself to produce a better challenge record against my new teammates. I was going to be on the starting lineup for our upcoming match (come hell or high water)! In addition, I worked out in the gym and on the court regularly to up my fitness level.


Six pounds lighter, faster, stronger and armed with the advice of Gilbert and Gallwey, I racket up impressive numbers at practice, winning several key challenge matches.

Which brings us to this weekend. A very intriguing first match was booked. We were set to play the Ball Busters, a team I had contemplated playing for in November before finally deciding on the Dao Team. Unfortunately, the captain of the Ball Busters felt they had their singles line-up pretty much settled. Seeing as how I suck at Doubles, I had no other option but to join a team in which I could compete rather than warm the bench. And so, with some persuasion, I was chosen to start as #2 Singles, against the team that wouldn't have me! The prospect of revenge can be quite salivating, indeed!

Actually, it was much more stressful than you can imagine. In fact, I became so nervous during the warm-up that I could not get a long rally going. My hands were sweating and my feet were dead. I had the jitters. I wanted to win eagerly for the obvious reasons of proving a point and giving my team a lead. With the match underway, I settled into my pre-match summary (as instructed by Gilbert in "Winning Ugly"). My nerves never really did settle. Nonetheless, I won my match 6-2, 6-2. Our team had the early lead at 1-0.

Unfortunately, things overall didn't work out as I had hoped. My team lost the match 3-2. A bittersweet victory for me. But definitely, much sweeter than bitter.

Posted by bigE

¡La passion de ma vie!

Lately, I've been doing a lot of practice for the upcoming Spring season. In fact, I've been so focused on tennis, that I've been neglecting my other passion - photography. Both art forms require a reasonably dry day and good, clear vision. Unfortunately, in Seattle, a dry day in the middle of winter is an extremely rare thing. It just happens that late last week, Seattle was blessed with the ideal tennis/photography day. Not too cold, some cloud coverage, with a good amount of sunlight. Perfect naturally diffused light! I took my camera and rackets to the court, practiced some serves and inside-out forehands, and took some pictures during my usual sit-down breaks to zen out and meditate. It was one of those fulfilling days. You know the kind. Where you feel like you've satisfied several of your life's passions at the same time. I'm going to incorporate this new "artistic" pairing a lot more nowadays. Of course, I went home later, completely famished and hungry for some good chow down. The following picture is the calm (sink) before the storm! ~ Jocko

The Inner Game

It's February, I've signed up for USTA League Tennis for the first time and I'm really excited about getting into tip-top tennis shape. I play at the 4.0-4.5 level; self-taught. This past summer I had my first major tennis injury, which forced me to stop playing for a few months. In December I started working out and hitting again. And though the strokes are still there, something essential has been dearly missing from my game.

My self-belief.

I'm struggling to get into my groove. I'm losing matches I shouldn't. Fading in crucial moments and holding back when I'm ahead. All this is mental. The old tricks I played on myself in the past aren't working anymore.

After losing 4 straight matches on the team ladder, I had been feeling a little dejected. So I decided to turn to the source that first helped me leap bounds a few years ago.

I have started to re-read my favorite tennis book, The Inner Game of Tennis by
W. Timothy Gallwey (the classic). A few years back, I picked up this book and it really helped me to play the game with a stronger mind. This book is gold for any tennis player. If tennis had a religion, this is it! Body, mind, and soul can be nourished and harnessed with this tennis treasure.

My current record on the team ladder 3-4.. not so bad for only reaching the first chapter. The Inner Game is my fifth element. If you have not read it yet, do so and learn to play tennis with a vengeance.

posted by bigE

Seattle Tennis - A Palm Springs Heaven!

It's way to sunny out for me to being sitting on my couch updating my blog. My racquet bag is packed, had my breakfast, got my water bottle and I'm headed to the courts!

Who would have thought, Seattle in the winter can be sunny and 50F. And believe me, that's good!

I can't wait to tell you how difficult it is to maintain your game during the winter in Seattle. I, for one, like to bring my A-GAME on Day 1 of the summer season!

So here I go... no?