Week 8

This week was all about fundamentals. I spent serious time working on my serve and return game, focusing on preparing earlier - something I still struggle with. When I commit to either forehand or backhand early, my contact is almost always solid. We worked on landing serves and returns in the back 2/3 of the court, and my backhand return finally feels comfortable - almost as good as my forehand now.

We also revisited the transition zone, where Cam cranked up the aggression. The drill was brutal but effective: get 4 balls to bounce in the kitchen on a single point, seven times in a row. When I stay low, I give myself a chance. When I pop up on contact, it's almost always short.

At the kitchen line, I worked on recognizing when to take balls out of the air versus letting them bounce. Still too aggressive here - patience remains my weakness. The 7-11 drill exposed this further - my drops felt great, but I rushed the 5th shot too often, taking big swings instead of setting my feet and being patient. Too many unforced errors hitting into the net or sailing long for absolutely no reason.

• Patience at the Kitchen: I'm still too aggressive at the kitchen line. Same story, different week. I need to better recognize when to take a ball out of the air versus when to let it bounce. Patience is the key I'm missing.
• Fifth Shot Rush: During the 7-11 drill, my drops felt great, but I rushed the 5th shot too many times. Instead of setting my feet and being patient, I was taking big swings trying to finish points early. This led to too many unforced errors into the net or sailing long for absolutely no reason.
• Transition Zone Consistency: While I'm improving, I still pop up from time to time. When I stay low, I almost always give myself a chance. When I pop up on contact, it's almost always short. Need more reps staying down through contact.

Check out this teaching moment from one of our sessions:

In a 2-on-1 drill where I faced Dru and Cam together, we got into an intense volley battle that went 5-6 shots deep. Instead of rushing or bailing out, I stayed patient, kept my ready position between each shot, and finally finished the point with a perfectly placed ball at Cam's feet that he couldn't handle.

That moment of staying composed under pressure, maintaining position, and executing when the opportunity came—that's why I drag myself out of bed at 5AM. For those fleeting seconds, the game slowed down and I felt like I belonged at a higher level. Worth every early morning alarm.

Next week brings a split schedule: two focused training sessions with Cam before he heads out of town, followed by some much-needed game play later in the week. We'll be targeting footwork + resets on the run and beginning to develop my speed-up/counter game. I'm actually looking forward to mixing structured training with real match situations—it's time to test these skills under pressure!