Just having a little fun with my hockey team, Southfield Storm...
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Updating...
I played a
tennis tournament this weekend and ended up playing my practice partner in the
second round. As much as I loathe losing, when I can lose and clearly see
improvement in my game and see the areas that I need to work on, while still
able to maintain the belief that those deficient areas are areas that I can
improve on, it is a good loss!
I’d been
playing this seventeen year old kid twice a week since my ankle healed.
Sometimes we have good practices. Sometimes, the fatigue of a week of school
(or work) catches up to us and the intensity drops. I was excited to play her
in a competitive environment though. And it lived up to my expectations.
Aside from
the facts that one, I lack confidence in some of the shots I was becoming quite
proficient at before my ankle injury and two, I am so sorely out of shape since
there was little I could do with the ankle injury and moping and feeling sorry
for myself and eating cookies seemed like a rational solution to my injury woes
at the time, and three, it has been eight months since I played a competitive
match, I left the match believing that I will get better.
There are
always times when you play a match and you can say to yourself, I will never be
as good as that person. So, you get down on yourself and maybe you don’t train
as hard the next time around, figuring what’s the point? As much as I know that
to be a mistake, I have yet to find a way to combat the after lost-match blues.
At any cost,
there are things to work on before the next national (May 15th), but
I am just grateful to be in a good mental place right now. I love when I can
finish a tournament and be inspired to train harder and practice more. I am
looking forward to the next month of hard work on the court and in the gym.
Look for me to update some of my favorite footwork drills, soon.
Stay tuned,
KS
Monday, March 11, 2013
Adidas Barricade 6-month Outsole Guarantee
If you’re
like me, you can wear through the outsoles of a pair of tennis shoes fairly
fast.
My latest
pair of Adidas Barricades were purchased in November and despite having a
lighter training session because of my ankle injury, there is a grape-sized
hole under my big toe in my left shoe and the soles are pretty bald on both
shoes.
I’ve published
a post about Adidas’ Six Month Outsole Guarantee for Barricades before but for
those of you who need it; the address is:
Adidas 6-Month Guarantee
495 Cedar Crest Road
Spartanburg, SC 29301
Be advise
the cost of shipping has gone up. It is now $13.25. So when you pack up your
Barricades, include a check or money order for the shipping of your replacement
shoes and your original receipt.
I have been
in a three month long argument with the Adidas people about their replacement
policy. After not receiving my last replacement pair, within the normal two to
three week time period, I assumed they had been rejected as not eligible for a
replacement pair. But then my check to cover the shipping as cashed.
I called
customer service and spoke with a rude lady who assured me it was “not their
policy to replace custom Barricades”. The shoes in question were my eighth pair
of shoes submitted in three years that were customized.
Needless to
say, I was confused.
She said
they would be replaced by I should be advised that it is not their policy to
replace custom shoes. She would not address the fact that my check was cashed
as though the shoes were replaced or the fact that their website states,
“Custom mi Barricades that qualify for the Adidas Six Month Outsole Guarantee
are replaced with a current inline style and not with another customized pair.”
I am not
sure what I am going to do aside from continuing to send the shoes and forcing
their hands until they take that down from their website.
I have to
say that I am annoyed to find that they would be so reluctant to replace a
customized pair when they cost 50 dollars more than the inline style. And if
someone is willing to pay as much as I do for the shoes and as often as I do, I
would think they would be a little kinder and accommodating to a long-time,
loyal customer.
Stay tuned,
KS
Grosse Ile Tennis Tournament
The Grosse
IleGrosse Ile, Michigan, is hosting a tournament for adults
and competitive juniors this weekend, March 15, 16 and 17, 2013.
Called the “Battle
On The Island”, there will be Men’s Open Singles, Men’s Open Doubles, Women’s
Open Singles and Women’s Open Doubles.
The cost is
$40 for singles and $20 dollars a person for doubles.
The deadline
to enter is Tuesday, March 12th, 2013.
Enter by
calling the Tournament Phone Line @ 734-552-1214.
To find out
your start time, you have to call the Tournament Phone Line on Thursday, March
14th, 2013 between the hours of 2pm and 8pm.
Tournaments
are an awesome way to get some boot camp-style tennis training in. Too often in
USTA matches, I feel like just when I’ve figured something out, the match is
over and there’s another week until I find myself in a competitive match
situation again.
At any cost,
hope to see you there!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
I'm Different, Yeah, I'm Different.
Okay, so the kids are beginning to rub off on me. One too many high school days in an urban school district and I am regularly "irritated" or find things "irritatin'," or run into people who "be irritatin' me." I'm rolling my eyes more. And the lyrics to an infinite number of songs too inappropriate to rap/sing around my mother are constantly playing in my head. The 'Most Frequently Played' song on my ipod went from being Miranda Lambert's Gunpowder and Lead to Two Chainz' Birthday Song. (I know. My sister has already planned an intervention.)
But as many bad habits as I am picking up, I like to think that I am picking up a few good ones, too. A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that I needed to walk around the court like I had swag. And although I've done okay in terms of posing like I have swag, there's always a little doubt in my head. Everyday when I am around these kids, I am amazed at their confidence. Feigned or otherwise. They have a chip on their shoulder and they are determined to prove anyone who doubts their swag wrong.
That's the swag I want to have.
I had a conversation with a pretty intelligent twelfth grader after a match against an opponent who has always acted like I didn't belong on the court with her. All I did was beat her. She accused me of cheating. She threw a two-year-old-sized tantrum on the court. And she badmouths my game any chance she gets. That alone wouldn't bother me... If she treated all of her opponents that way. But she doesn't.
It's just me.
I'm different. Yeah, I'm different. (Middle finger up to my competition)
In a mxd doubles match where I was hitting frame-shot, mis-hit winners and aces all night, a serve got away from me and hit her in the foot. She proceeded to throw a big fit about it. And when another serve got away from me a few games later, she came unglued. But two games later, when my tennis partner mis-hit a serve that just missed her head, she laughed. And joked with him.
Okay.
It doesn't bother me, until it does. Like being highlighted at a hockey league board meeting simply for scoring goals. Forget the fact that the forty team league with six different divisions must have more than merely me scoring goals. Somehow I am drawing attention.
My point is there is always big talk from the USTA about inclusion and diversity. But the sport breeds exclusion.
Take for an example the instance of Taylor Townsend being denied funding for the 2012 US Open because of her "weight" problem. The then #1 junior in the world made it to New York on her mother's dime until stars like Lindsey Davenport herself, the opposite of the twiggy stick players we are used to seeing, spoke out against the USTA's decision to exclude her because of her weight.
Only in the field of women's sports would we dog a player who weighs more than your average player, even though she was the NUMBER ONE JUNIOR IN THE WORLD! And if her weight is a serious issue, sidelining her from competing is counter-active isn't it? Wouldn't a better solution be to tell her to play twice as many tournaments in the hopes that all that tennis might help her shed some pounds?
I play a lot of sports and even though I've faced the typical pettiness that comes from being an African-American in typically Caucasian-dominated sports and there's not a sport that I've yet learned to "play like a dainty lady", tennis has the most attitude. Most other sports will appreciate your game as long as you play hard and work hard.
Not tennis.
I walked out of a hockey locker room one day only to have to go back because I'd forgotten my stick. As I opened the door, I heard a girl say, "Oh my God, did you see her legs? No wonder she's fast." Okay, that was not the first time I've heard comments about my legs. But that was the first time, it was so clearly a compliment.
How is it possible that we can praise Tsonga for being the athletic beast that he is, but we are going to scoff at Townsend? What if the basketball world focused only on Shaq's weight when he was tearing down rims instead of being impressed by the athleticism of someone that big?
If you ever want to see the best footwork on a tennis court, you have to check out Kathleen Hawkins from Western Michigan University. The 5-11 junior is built like a girl Shaq. I have never in my life seen someone so explosive out of every single split step she takes before every single shot! She is my new favorite player. There is so much power in every single shot. But if I was looking at her through the single-sighted glasses that tennis tries to impose on us, all I would see is...
She's different. Yeah, she's different.
Stay tuned,
KS
But as many bad habits as I am picking up, I like to think that I am picking up a few good ones, too. A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that I needed to walk around the court like I had swag. And although I've done okay in terms of posing like I have swag, there's always a little doubt in my head. Everyday when I am around these kids, I am amazed at their confidence. Feigned or otherwise. They have a chip on their shoulder and they are determined to prove anyone who doubts their swag wrong.
That's the swag I want to have.
I had a conversation with a pretty intelligent twelfth grader after a match against an opponent who has always acted like I didn't belong on the court with her. All I did was beat her. She accused me of cheating. She threw a two-year-old-sized tantrum on the court. And she badmouths my game any chance she gets. That alone wouldn't bother me... If she treated all of her opponents that way. But she doesn't.
It's just me.
I'm different. Yeah, I'm different. (Middle finger up to my competition)
In a mxd doubles match where I was hitting frame-shot, mis-hit winners and aces all night, a serve got away from me and hit her in the foot. She proceeded to throw a big fit about it. And when another serve got away from me a few games later, she came unglued. But two games later, when my tennis partner mis-hit a serve that just missed her head, she laughed. And joked with him.
Okay.
It doesn't bother me, until it does. Like being highlighted at a hockey league board meeting simply for scoring goals. Forget the fact that the forty team league with six different divisions must have more than merely me scoring goals. Somehow I am drawing attention.
My point is there is always big talk from the USTA about inclusion and diversity. But the sport breeds exclusion.
Take for an example the instance of Taylor Townsend being denied funding for the 2012 US Open because of her "weight" problem. The then #1 junior in the world made it to New York on her mother's dime until stars like Lindsey Davenport herself, the opposite of the twiggy stick players we are used to seeing, spoke out against the USTA's decision to exclude her because of her weight.
Only in the field of women's sports would we dog a player who weighs more than your average player, even though she was the NUMBER ONE JUNIOR IN THE WORLD! And if her weight is a serious issue, sidelining her from competing is counter-active isn't it? Wouldn't a better solution be to tell her to play twice as many tournaments in the hopes that all that tennis might help her shed some pounds?
I play a lot of sports and even though I've faced the typical pettiness that comes from being an African-American in typically Caucasian-dominated sports and there's not a sport that I've yet learned to "play like a dainty lady", tennis has the most attitude. Most other sports will appreciate your game as long as you play hard and work hard.
Not tennis.
I walked out of a hockey locker room one day only to have to go back because I'd forgotten my stick. As I opened the door, I heard a girl say, "Oh my God, did you see her legs? No wonder she's fast." Okay, that was not the first time I've heard comments about my legs. But that was the first time, it was so clearly a compliment.
How is it possible that we can praise Tsonga for being the athletic beast that he is, but we are going to scoff at Townsend? What if the basketball world focused only on Shaq's weight when he was tearing down rims instead of being impressed by the athleticism of someone that big?
If you ever want to see the best footwork on a tennis court, you have to check out Kathleen Hawkins from Western Michigan University. The 5-11 junior is built like a girl Shaq. I have never in my life seen someone so explosive out of every single split step she takes before every single shot! She is my new favorite player. There is so much power in every single shot. But if I was looking at her through the single-sighted glasses that tennis tries to impose on us, all I would see is...
She's different. Yeah, she's different.
Stay tuned,
KS
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