Is It My Imagination , Or Are Things Speeding Up?

Published: 21 Nov 2006 - 19:35 by raystrach

Updated: 21 Nov 2006 - 19:39

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Hero to zero in about 90 secs. Played quite well in the first when I was swinging freely and moving Ok. Then, in the space of 90 seconds in between games, I decide that I was too good a player to have to work for it and tired to do too much. The result? Slaughter!!

I recovered some what, but as the match progressed and I got a little tired, and the pace of the game kept getting faster and faster. Against this steady opponent, I was not totally disgraced but with a few more matches under my belt, I think I am on track to advance past where I was a few months ago.

during our competition I could not help but notice one of my team members who is striking the extremely well. A relatively young player who is quite fast and fit, he has suffered defeats in the past two weeks against a couple of strong female players.

His problem is typical of many, more than competent players. He does just about everything better than me and is much younger fitter and faster. Why would he not go close to beating me? He is far too predictable.

Whilst he plays some great shots, invariably, his opponents are there waiting for the ball. Good players know what is happening!!

I have urged him to use a little more variation and subtlety - easier said than done admittedly. As I explained to him over the weekend, It takes only a small change in approach to make a big difference in outcome. It is perhaps only one shot in 20 that needs to be changed. That one shot is a variation on the other 20, a change up that keeps the opponent guessing - when will the opponent play the variation.

That one shot in 20 is enough to slow the opponent up for the other 19 , which means

you get better value for those other shots
the opponent works harder for those 19 shots
they get wearier than they otherwise would
the one shot in 20 starts to become even more effective

That one shot in 20 can bring an entirely different complexion on a match.

It will be interesting to see if he can make that small change to change around his fortunes.