Djokovic vs Sinner
330am
Subterfuge.
Secrets.
It’s funny that players and coaches hide so much.
When you listen to Sinner talk after the match, he wants to tell you a secret but he collects himself and keeps the details light.
Cahill too.
I get it.
But, the proof is in the video.
Mixed combos are the future.
And there are many forms to choose from.
(One thought before I move forward. The problem in competition is comparing yourself to others. This will make you chase Unicorns. This will blind you.
Whether you win one major or fifty, it doesn’t matter.
Growth is what matters and all you can do is compare yourself to yourself.
When you chase other players, you lose sight of the growth.
If you focus on the growth, you will reach YOUR potential…whatever that may be).
Deep breath.
OK!
Mixing combos has many forms.
-You can take 3 two ball combos (using different variations of what you are working on…Spread attacks…tight attacks…mids….**You use two ball sequences because they are easy to -replicate….it gets tricky when you LAYER the two ball sequences.
-You can layer 2 three ball sequences the same way.
-You can also mix a two with a three.
Now, these are just the training phases (which take a while to build it from practice, to points, to situational points, etc, etc.
The next stage is mixing WHEN you use the combos (and there is no right answer). It depends on your opponent and the scouting report.
During the first set, Sinner does an exceptional job mixing his combinations. He uses spreads to start points, he uses tights, he also throws in three ball attacks (middle, side, side).
Check Instagram for posts.
I stopped writing after the first set and konked out.
830 am
Years ago I made notes about how at the pro level (more specifically, the top, top level…like top 10…or even top five only) gameplan adjustments have to be made in game.
Patterns have to shift quicker.
They’re too good and the patterns being used for too long get snuffed out.
I still believe this to be true.
But, I don’t think the pros think as much as I think they do.
The top ones use AI.
They have the resources and the revenue.
(Funny, right? Those who have money have the power. As in life off the court. But, is money power? Is winning a Major the end game? When they’re careers are over, do they still have the power?
Is there power in experience?
Like, does someone who has kids and experiences the “wonder” of raising kids have more “power” than those who don’t?
Does someone who experiences death have more “Knowledge” over those who have not (and who have not succumbed to drugs and alcohol abuse?
I don’t know.
What I see in life is people running away from their problems and never looking internal. They can have all the money in the world, yet be hollow as F%$#.
Because, looking into yourself and “fixing” any issues brings a whole lot of baggage.
How do you fix perfect?
Not me.
I assume the people like that think they are perfect and everyone else has issues.
Delving into the past awakens demons.
The whole idea of rebirth and life after death is not talking about actual death. It is about a part of you dying off and a new part beginning.
Most people do not have the opportunity because they live the groundhog life.
Same job.
Same life.
Day in and day out.
Year after year.
And when you are in it, you can’t get yourself out of it.
Nobody changes their muscle memory built over a lifetime of routine.
The Australian Open kills my sleep schedule.
When I wrote about the Aussie Final a few years back I had the luxury of watching the match 4 times over the following weekend.
20 hours.
Every time I watched, new things popped up. My observations become more psychological.
I wish I did this for a living.
Blogged about matches.
Was an on-site writer and talked more about what goes on day to day, week to week, month to month at the tourneys.
Because I’m an outsider, I could write unabated commentary that wasn’t influenced by others.
But, it would only be a matter of time when “they” own you.
-Ayn Rand “The Fountainhead.”
-Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged.”
If you had two books to read, I would read those. But interpretations vary.
-“One flew over the cuckoos nest” falls into this category too.
Wheel patterns.
Like mix combos, there are many forms of wheels and they can start from any box.
Think of a cat.
Think of a laser pointer (when I was a kid we used flashlights).
And you bring the laser pointer across the wall as the cat follows and eventually jumps at nothing.
Then you make the area smaller and flip the pointer back to the other side of the wall.
I loved teasing my cat as a kid.
“What a bonehead,” I used to say.
One thing I would add was…
“BOOM!” I would yell when I didn’t want to do it anymore. The cat would jump five feet in the air.
But, the concept is the same in tennis.
You drag your opponent for a wheel combo and….
“Boom” you hit a winner or a hit and follow and finish them off with a volley (or make an error odd course).
One punch power.
Disguising winners is efficient.
To go for winners constantly is FOOLISH.
**So…apparently me (and my sisters and the crew I grew up with) are the only kids who messed around with our cats. When I talked about wheel combos earlier in the day…and brought up the cat analogy, they looked at me suspiciously…
…Oops.
If I have time next week I’ll finish looking at the last two sets.
And the Medvedev/Zverev match