Thank you for the wind!

Of course if I could I would always choose to serve at
at the Midhurst courts =D

Have you ever played at the East Bayfield tennis courts, the one's behind the soccer dome? If you have you’re probably thinking that you wouldn’t do it again because of the broken glass and graffiti covering the torn up courts that hold up broken nets. If that isn't enough of a reason to play on different courts then the intense wind that comes through probably is. These courts are like a wind tunnel, with the wind swirling everywhere. It doesn't even seem possible to determine what direction the wind is coming from sometimes. 

One time Johnny and I decided to have a practice there and it was the windiest time I have ever been on a tennis court. I would try to hit the ball into the ad corner and it would go wide, on the deuce side of the court. Us being no excuse kind of people were going to practice through it and decided to hit a basket of serves. 

During this basket of serves I had very few tosses in the right place. I don't normally recommend trying to hit a serve with a bad toss, but this was one of those days when you had to adjust. Looking back, this was a great practice session because of the confidence it gave me to hit my serve on a windy day. 

During practice this week it was very windy and we were playing a game where if you double faulted you had to do three burpees. Even with the extra pressureI wasn't afraid to serve because of that windy day I served at East Bayfield. I was confident and elected to serve when other players chose to receive since they feared double faulting.

Since it's indoor tennis season you don't need to worry about the wind. However, no matter what type of practice you do it contributes to your confidence. If you practice your closing then when you’re in a match you know that you can close. If you do fitness then you know you’re ready to outlast your opponent. 

Even though practice may not be the same as a match, the situations you create in practice will contribute to your confidence in a match. I felt this way so much the other day when it was windy, that I decided to stay and hit a basket of serves (even though I didn’t double fault during the game).