I started this blog to journal my attempts to become a USTA national champion in the 30s age group, an ambitious, but attainable goal considering I have the better part of this new decade to accomplish my goal.
The National 30s Indoor Championship is held in Gold River, CA at the end of April. That gives me approximately 90 days to train, to work and to refine my game.
There are also things to work on, of course, like the money to train, to work and to refine my game! The most amazing thing to me has been the willingness of so many people I know to be a part of my goal, to do what they can to aid me in my attempt to achieve this dream.
This Blog entry is to just update what's going on.
I have been playing for the past year with Wilson Hyperlast Spin string. Its a hybrid with polyester in the mains and Stamina in the crosses. I like this particular string because it has been arm-friendly for the most part. I fractured my wrist playing ice hockey a couple of years ago and since then have struggled with polyester strings which has caused tendinitis symptoms in my right wrist at times. At its worst, I played with Wilson NXT, a soft string that frays and breaks for me in record time, but has always alleviated the soreness in my wrist. The Hyperlast string is an 18-gauge string, a lot thinner than the normal 16-gauge.
I've had some soreness the past four weeks in my wrist and have been debating switching back to the NXT while I am training for the next two months and then switching back at the beginning of April so I have a few weeks to play with the polyester again.
The reluctance is that I really enjoy being able to hit out on the ball with the polyester. I enjoy how hard I can hit the ball without fear of it sailing on me. But I have to take care of the wrist first.
The second injury, which has been a problem for the past year is the plantar fasciitis in my left foot. This injury has just refused to go away and I don't want to take the necessary long time off to let it heal. If I thought it would heal in three weeks by me not doing anything, I would totally do it, but I have taken a couple of weeks off without much relief since I still have to do the day to day walking around. The insoles have helped tremendously. The two pair of socks for extra cushioning has helped. I am icing and soaking at the end of the day which has done a lot. I am not waking up with the same pain as I was before. So hopefully the treatment routine will get me through another season.
Strength and Conditioning training has been what you would expect; WORK, HARD WORK! But I've done what I can to break up the monotony. I've really focused on high-rep, endurance-oriented weight training with lots of sprints on the treadmill and stair master mixed in.
Tennis training has, of course, been so much more enjoyable. I am playing anywhere from 10 to 16 hours a week. My favorite part of the week has to be the clinic at Franklin Racquet Club on Saturday mornings. Last Saturday, I got to rotate through the different drills with the biggest hitters in the clinic, 4.5 and 5.0 guys. And I loved it. I have to admit, I was scared at first. I didn't want to be hit with a ball so the pros figured they should move me to a "safer" group. I also didn't want to hit so poorly that the guys were like, what is she doing with us?
I held my own and loved the pace!
I think it was the new shoes. I've designed my own with the mi adidas application on the adidas website. The shoes are red, silver, white and navy. UDM colors! Grant it, the shoes only go with half of my wardrobe, but that's okay!
Go Titans!
Stay tuned,
KS
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