Checkin

This is my check-in since February.  I have made some tweeks to my forehand to shorten the backswing.  I improved my racquet position.  I hold my racquet up like Ramy.  It's easy to forget to raise it after hitting a ball.  Some other areas I've improved is in my weight.  I weight in at a pretty steady 157lbs.  This weight lets me work my legs without serious pounding on my knees.  I started to use the ladder for drills and I've started to do some sprints in the fencing salle.  I know the stationary bike is still a good interval cardio training, but I am starting a new routine.  I'll keep doing the 1 hour 2 minutes high, 1 minute low interval, but I am adding a 30 sec full speed and 30 sec rest routine to my weekly training.

Over the winter, I discovered that I had blown out my ACL long time ago and that I have been playing without it.  The only effect comes after long hard pounding in some swelling.  I've started to use ice and ibuprofen to keep that in check.

Another revelation is about my cardio pattern.  I noticed that my breathing is very rapid during the first 5-8 minutes of hard play.  During this period, my legs are fresh and I move very fast, to the point of frenzy.  The next 20 minutes the leg muscles start to really activate and gets the strongest for the hour.  At this stage, my speed drops, my heartrate rises.  When my conditioning is steady, I recover to a steady stage.  When my conditioning is poor, my concentration falls apart.  Focus is pretty much gone and the legs don't want to go, especially moving back to the T after hitting the ball on a lunge.  This pattern of highs and lows is what I will attack for this season.