I am a tennis writer by trade... and in my head my single-headed-sliced backhand is just like Amelie Mauresmo. In reality... it is me wantonly hacking to death a poor defenseless tennis ball. Much like my golf technique.
Which is why I make my living WRITING about it, and not playing it!
But seriously - because I am busiest when the weather is nicest for playing tennis, I find it hard to get to pay and go sessions with my local instructor, which is a pain!
Cor! Just think, you may have even seen and written about the OP, he plays tennis at competition level.
I am a tennis writer by trade... and in my head my single-headed-sliced backhand is just like Amelie Mauresmo. In reality... it is me wantonly hacking to death a poor defenseless tennis ball. Much like my golf technique.
Which is why I make my living WRITING about it, and not playing it!
But seriously - because I am busiest when the weather is nicest for playing tennis, I find it hard to get to pay and go sessions with my local instructor, which is a pain!
Where do you play?
I used to play semi pro level but since I was diagnosed I had to stop.
Would really love to get back.
I play in Ham and actually hoping one of my besties can get into a club around the corner from my house so that when I am home I can play a bit again. But at the moment my schedule is:
Aus Open (flying Monday to get over jet lag and be there for the draw)
Indian Wells
WTA Stuttgart
Madrid
Roland Garros
WTA Birmingham
Eastbourne
Wimbledon
WTA Montreal
Cincinnati
Maybe the US Open if they accept us for the first time
WTA Finals
ATP Finals.
That doesn’t include any possible Davis Cup or Fed Cup depending on where they are.
So my time to play tennis is really curtailed to the murky months which is not at all ideal!
I also now freelance when I am home on a sports desk for a major sports site and shifts can be either super early or lates... so that adds to the challenge of making it a regular thing so most of my cardio now is on a treadmill and spin bike at home.
Fantastic and what is your current ranking?
How do you increase energy? Are you on a low carb high fat diet (lchf) ?
I started playing tennis as a 6 year old (I’m now 54)
I played all the hours I could as I loved it
Now I hardly play at all maybe a couple of times a year
I played badminton and squash too
At 13 to 16 I played junior county tennis and inter league tennis as a senior
Sadly my mojo for all sports I used to has gone
Tennis once or twice a year, badminton, squash and Tae Kwondo have all left me and left me for good
I stopped playing team tennis aged 40 and I now start each season hoping for a revival but it soon peters out after a few visits to the club
They keep asking me to play for the teams as a floater and I’m afraid I don’t want to do so
My first racquet was a wooden Slazenger then a wooden Dunlop max ply then I moved into metal ones (Prince, Stuart Surridge, and then Prince again) I have ‘Head’ now one in the car boot and one in the house, I no longer have any badminton or squash racquets
Favourite players of mine are:
Men - Borg, Connors, Agassi, Becker, Edberg, Leconte, Sampras, Federer
Women- Evert, King, Barker, Wade, Goolagong, Graf, Davenport and both Williams
Never took to McEnroe, Lendl, or Navratilova but they were extremely talented I just don’t like them, same goes for Murray (sorry)
I'm awed by @NewTD2 and @RFSMarch, the way they are "playing through" the T2D issue. I'm a former new-agency journalist myself (including sports) and very bad amateur tennis player. The last time I played, 14 years ago, I broke my hip and the surgeon who fixed it announced that my tennis-playing days were over!
My favourite players are similar to the list from @Cumberland....
Edited to add: My hip fracture was on a hard court. I was jumping sideways for a net shot and crashed into the fence at the side of the court.
Hi mate
Can we please have a private chat?
Cheers
Andrew
Oh that’s awful for you I’m so sorry
I'm awed by @NewTD2 and @RFSMarch, the way they are "playing through" the T2D issue. I'm a former new-agency journalist myself (including sports) and very bad amateur tennis player. The last time I played, 14 years ago, I broke my hip and the surgeon who fixed it announced that my tennis-playing days were over!
My favourite players are similar to the list from @Cumberland....
Edited to add: My hip fracture was on a hard court. I was jumping sideways for a net shot and crashed into the fence at the side of the court.