Marina City Club Annual La Jolla Trip

We arrived on Friday May 4th in the beautiful community of La Jolla, California. Twenty avid tennis players, plus spouses and spectators joined in for competitive support of Mcc as we ventured into paradise just north of San Diego at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. Twelve courts and dozens of serious tennis players greeted us on Saturday afternoon after a night of pasta and Pinot Grigio.

The La Jolla team brought strong players for the Men’s and Women’s doubles, taking six out of eight matches from us. The Marina City teams fought hard, never surrendering a point without a fight. Everyone enjoyed a sunny afternoon with an ocean breeze forcing all players to think carefully to deal with the elements in a positive way.

After the Saturday tennis, the Mcc troop sat on the beach-front patio in byob fashion drinking and eating until we went off to eat and drink some more at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Restaurant. We sat by the pool.  Speeches were given by several members thanking the tennis committee, Diane Brooks, and all responsible for the continued good tennis atmosphere here at Mcc.

On Sunday morning at 10am, we enjoyed mixed doubles against quality players from La Jolla again.  Neda and Mark, the tennis organizers, along with Conan Lorenzo, the tennis director, were gracious hosts, as were all the La Jolla members who played with us.  The matches were competitive, with one match taking over 2 hours.  Mcc again won 2 matches out of 9, so we have our work cut out for us next year!

Many non-tennis playing Mcc members attended to cheer the players on, while enjoying the beach and activities.  We welcome all members to come, even if you don’t play tennis.

Gene has already arranged a room block for May 3-5, 2013 for another amazing trip to see our friends to the south, so mark your calenders now for next year.

Match Analysis of Women’s Qualifying at BNP Paribas Open Tennis, Indian Wells, CA

Match analysis by Gene of Julia Cohen (defensive style tennis player) of USA vs. Eva Birnerova (flat, medium offensive tennis player) of Russia.  Note how to play against a moon-baller, I style I happen to employ at times to great effect, if my opponent is unable or unwilling to come forward to put balls away:

 

BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament: Indian Wells Women Qualys Day 1

The main draw of the BNP Paribas Open starts today, but I went to the qualifying tournament on Monday and Tuesday and here is the first in several video blog posts from my excursions:

 

Indian Wells Day 1: Women’s Qualifying

The women’s qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open is heating up, with a couple U.S. women posting upsets in the opening round. Julia Cohen upset Eva Birnerova 6-1, 7-5 with a very defensive style of topspin high on Eva’s backhand. Later, Jessica Pegula of the U.S. beat Bojana Jovanovski. Play continues today and tomorrow to see who will make the main draw.

Indian Wells Qualifying Today and Tomorrow

Gene is headed out to Indian Wells for the final days of qualifying for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, one of the biggest tournaments of the year.  The field is full and Gene hopes to see some fresh talent in the qualifying event over the next couple of days.  Gene will have a video blog of his travels upon his return for your viewing pleasure.  If you see him walking around, tap his shoulder and talk some tennis!

Federer Looks Strong: Wins Dubai Duty Free Again

Roger Federer’s month’s long drought last year made it seem that the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) was on his last legs, but with two titles and another Aussie semi-final in 2012, the #3 player in the world isn’t leaving the top 5 anytime soon.  This was Fed’s 72nd title and it came over Andy Murray, a very in-form #4, who straight-setted Djokovic out of the event in the previous round, 6-2, 7-5.  With the 7-5, 6-4 win, Federer picked up points from his finals result last season, where he succumbed to Novak.

Two Year Ranking System on ATP Tour Discussed

This article is an interesting discussion of what would happen if Rafa Nadal got his way and we switched to a 2-year accumulation of points instead of the current system in men’s pro tennis that uses a 1-year system.  The most amazing change:  Nadal would still be #1 in the world despite Djokovic’s dominance over the last year!!!

Tennis Resolution for 2012:

Make ONE of my shots significantly better by practicing it for 500 hits / month outside of regular matches, either with a pro, on the ball machine, or against the wall (serves can be practiced alone on a court).  There is no substitute for time on the court.  Focus on one shot and then focus on a particular aspect of that shot.

For example, concentrate on getting more spin on your forehand.  Do not worry about hitting it in, after all, that is not the goal you’ve set in this example.  Do that relentlessly and over the months you will see it improve slowly in your matches and eventually, the ball will start falling in with more spin.  Remember, you cannot improve if you do not accept that initially you will be terrible at it.  Just keep going.  Keep track of how many balls you hit every month, and total that at the end of 2012.  You should have hit at least 6000 practice shots on that one shot and will hopefully see a difference.  If not, go see your pro and find out if you are practicing it correctly, then get back to work in 2013!

Great Marina City Club Tennis Holiday Party 2011!

Mcc Tennis Holiday Party

The Marina City Club Tennis Holiday Party was held on December 2nd in the Galaxy Room. Over fifty members attended this fun event. We traded tennis tales from the year gone by. Everyone enjoyed a wonderful buffet provided by the Restaurant and the room was beautiful. Throughout the month of November, Gene accepted award nominations in four categories. Many good candidates were nominated for all categories, but here are the victors:
Diane Nathan won the women’s “Are we talkin’ or playin’ award.
Alan Koshkin won the men’s “are we talkin’ or playin’ award.
Diane Lerner won the women’s Most Fashionable award.
Lamont Cosby won the men’s Most Fashionable award.
Barbara Osborn won the Sportsmanship award.
Vicki Miceli won the Most Improved award.
Congratulations to all our award winners and to everyone who participated in the wonderful sport of tennis at this amazing club. The Tennis Holiday Party and all our events are only successful because members of our club participate. So, make a New Year’s resolution to play more tennis and enter more of our club events! See you in 2012!

Dr. Allen Fox at Marina City Club

 

The famous sports psychologist, Dr. Allen Fox, gave a seminar and book signing for the tennis players of mcc on November 30, 2011 from 6-8pm in the Galaxy Room.  This event had great attendance with almost 40 people coming out to hear what Dr. Fox had to say about handling your emotions on the tennis court.  Dr. Fox signed copies of his latest book, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match.

Dr. Fox raised three primary concerns tennis players have from the mental side of tennis:  choking, anger, and tanking.

Anger turns out to be the easiest one to control.  A player must tell himself before he starts that nothing that happens on that court will make him angry, and he will usually succeed in controlling that emotion.

Choking is virtually incurable, but accepting that everyone, even the best players on earth, choke, makes it easier to accept in yourself.  Accepting that you are not a bad person because you choked will make you less likely to do so in the future, but will certainly not eliminate this common and persistent problem.  Also, realize that just because you choked once, does not mean that you will choke every time.  There will be more opportunities if you keep trying to win.

Finally, tanking, or giving up, is difficult to control.  Tanking relieves stress by taking you mentally out of the match, but a cost-benefit analysis reveals that rationally this is an unhealthy choice.  Once you realize that the benefits of trying outweigh the momentary relief of stress, the player may make the choice to “gut it out.”

Many more insights came from this talk and from reading Dr. Fox’s excellent book.  If you would like a copy, Gene has several copies left for sale at the tennis desk for $20 each.  They make great gifts to the tennis players in your life this holiday season!