It’s been a while

Fresh from an excellent 3 week break in Ecuador – (I recommend it to anyone), it should be a case of gearing up for the Welsh Open – unfortunately that old adversary injury has reared its ugly head again.  Prior to going away I had heel trouble, thankfully that has all cleared up but a nagging neck/shoulder injury has suddenyl become a lot worse and left me having another week off any form of activity.  The crunch comes this weekend when I have two tennis matches – so next week I should be in a position to know whether I can resume training for the other three sports, and following on from that I can make a decision on entry to the Welsh Open.

Incidentally following on from the as yet unfinished Isner v Mahut match – anyone else think Wimbledon should introduce a gumi arm decider?

A (short) break from competition and training

Following on from my last post – the heel injury seems to be clearing up slowly which is good.  Training is now on hold for around 3 weeks though as am off on holiday, time to let the various niggles that have built up since the start of the year sort themselves out.  Have managed to get through a couple of tennis matches in the Notts leagues but not operating at full pace so nigh on a month rest and I should then be able to move into the the Welsh and English opens well rested and motivated to get back into regular training.

In my absence I shall point you off to the English Racketlon website news section where you can keep up to date with all the latest goings on in the world of Racketlon.

The frustration of injury

The downside of successful British Champs campaign was a nagging and painful heel injury – 8 days after the competition and still not been able to put full weight onto my left foot is proving to be frustrating – has meant no sport for a week.

Despite probably not playing in another Racketlon until mid-July it is nevertheless the height of frustration when you can’t go out and do what you are used to enjoying and more importantly enjoy.  Hoping to do bit of light table tennis practice this afternoon – and have a tennis match next Saturday to get fit for so that’s my target.

Once that tennis match is out of the way training takes a back seat for a little while, due to go to Ecuador in two weeks time for a 16 day holiday (volcanic eruptions permitting), so intend to give the body bit of a break during that period and come back rested and niggling injury free!

British Championships Results and write up

Full results from Saturday’s British Championships are up on English Racketlon website – thanks to all the organisers for a well run event, all done and dusted by 5pm, and time for a quick pint before going home – which is always good.

After a disappointing couple of performances at Hertfordshire Open 3 weeks ago, I benefitted from playing in B-2 class, got a nice first round draw against a Racketlon newcomer and was able to be consistent in all 4 sports (for once!) and with 13 needed at tennis was pleased to polish it off 13-4.

2nd match (in effect the semi final) – over before it reached the tennis, but happy to go on record and say was convincingly beaten by the better player who certainly would capable of playing in the A category.  Despite the early defeat we played a full rubber of tennis as there was no queue for the courts!  Amazing what a difference no pressure makes, produced some good tennis to win 21-10 and enjoyed getting to hit some proper shots for once!

3rd/4th play off I knew a tonking was on the cards for squash so was pleased to build up a nice lead after table tennis and badminton.  The expected thrashing at squash occurred leaving the tie all square going into the tennis.  A somewhat tense 21-17 victory clinched 3rd place, was still reasonably pleased with the tennis, never felt in too much danger of losing, but still need to look at trying to finish points better when the pressure is on.

Next stop for the Racketlon tour is Nottingham in mid-June – however looking increasingly unlikely that I will be able to play in hometown competition, am due back from South America the day before the competition and not sure on the impact of jet-lag on a Racketlon player – if anyone has done any research on this will gladly take their advice!

Hertfordshire Open Results and write up

Results, write up and photo’s from Hertfordshire Open Racketlon are up here – with a flurry of late entries, it was a well attended tournament and my first visit to Letchworth Tennis & Sports Club.  The club was an excellent facility for a small-medium size Racketlon tournament, indoor tennis courts were particularly nice to play on.

From a personal point of view, probably my most disappointing performance at an event.  3 games, 2 defeats and 1 win should have been 2 wins and 1 defeat and wasn’t happy with 11th out of 14, despite it being my first foray into B class.

So where did it go wrong:

• bad start to day – feet moving too slowly, and a bad table tennis performance
• a bad 2nd game performance in tennis meant losing a game I had put myself in position to win

But on the positive side:

• won all squash rubbers
• felt like by end of day I had remembered to move round a court

Looking forward now to British Champs @ Gosling, Welwyn Garden City – a chance to put in a better performance, simple things (as always!) will definitely help so aims for Welwyn are:

• more solid defence at table tennis
• higher percentage of 1st serves in at tennis – and stay more patient!
• keep up good work at squash

Gettting ready for Hertfordshire open

Hertfordshire Racketlon Open this weekend, the draw is due out imminently so will await to see my first opponent since moving up to Mens B class.  Am a little nervous about jump in standard, but as with any sport – playing better players can only make you a better player yourself.  As for targets, well – win 1st match is always the key, that guarantees a top half finish.  Overall though, just looking to play well and consistently and across the four sports.

To aid my quest for ranking points, new table tennis bat and new squash racket have been recently bought, having a table tennis coaching session this evening so will see how new bat goes then, and have got 40 minutes squash tomorrow to try out the new racket.  Shall have to see how it goes, although I will be bringing the older bat/racket with me, just in case!

Pop back next week for review of Herts Open!

Looking for Surrey Racketlon results?

Then look no further – they are up over at English racketlon site – just click here

And while you are there, why not enter Hertfordshire Open?

Entry in for Hertfordshire Open

A week in the sun, lots of tennis matches and next to no other racket sport training.  Yes, the foul weather of January and February has done me no favours – a backlog of club tennis matches completed which means time for practicing the other sports has been at a premium.  Fortunately have had a couple of table tennis matches to keep that side ticking over, but with my entry now confirmed for Hertfordshire Open in mid April it is time to get back into the (good) habit of playing badminton and squash once a week.

Format of Hertfordshire Open means back to standard, A, B and C categories – so trying my hand at category B – for several reasons:

- winning at Welwyn back in January has convinced me to try and move up at a class

- more ranking points (dropped from 39 to 43 this month)

- means playing on Saturday and thus having Sunday to recover before work on Monday!

Two weeks later there is another tournament, the British Championships at Welwyn, scene of my first foray into the Racketlon world last year – so a busy April and early May to look forward to, time to rack up some serious court time.

Hampshire Racketlon Open, results & report

The 2nd racketlon event of 2010 recently took place at Eastleigh – for full details, photo’s and results head over to this page

Next up is the Surrey Racketlon Open in Croydon on 21st March 2010.  You can find more details on that here

Long time no post

Nearly a month since my last post – where does time go?!  Next tournament for me looking like the Hertfordshire Open at Letchworth in mid April, swiftly followed by one two weeks later at Welwyn Garden City.  In between times though both the Surrey and Hampshire events take place…. unfortunately both too far south for me to attend, so back to grind of training unfortunately.  Hopefully though the competitions will introduce more people to the sport and help to continue to drive numbers up.

Time seems to be taken up with a number of re-arranged tennis matches at the moment – the early 2010 snow caused havoc with sporting calendar here in Notts.  On the equpment front, really need to get my badminton racket strung, and a new squash racket as well, so pay day can’t come soon enough.

Incidentally, had a couple of people ask me about best tennis racket to buy if you aren’t a regular tennis player, I’ll answer these questions in a separate post, but one thing I would say right now is regardless of racket, get it restrung if you still have factory strings in.  Go for hybrid strings at medium tension – should cost no more than £15, this combination will give you long lasting strings and a lot more control!