Date: | 3/29/03 to 3/30/03 |
Location: | Classic Athletic Club in Fairfield New Jersey |
Event: | New Jersey State Singles Championship |
Divisions: | Men and Women Semi-Pro, A, B, C, D. |
Ball Used: | Pro Penn Green (Fastest) |
Author: | Joseph Delgado |
Updated: | May 1, 2004 |
|
|
![]() I woke up around 5:00 AM, I had my clock set for 6:30. I hanged around and stretched. Everything felt tight and I was pretty excited/nervous. I played some video games, watched some racquetball videos, had a pretty incomplete breakfast consisting of two PB & J sandwiches, Milk, and a Milk and Cereal bar. When I arrived at Classic, about forty miles from my apartment, I took the above picture. The times that I went for lessons I thought it was an ok club. Now with the tournament, I see it's a really nice place to play. It doesn't have spectator seating like some of the places on the Pro Tour, but still nice. All the courts have a drive serve lines and a real receiving line, they are also air conditioned, but by the way I was sweating you wouldn't be able to tell. Some of the courts have windows so you can see the match from the lower level. All of them have a balcony where you can see the entire court and it's a pretty good vantage point for the referee and spectators to watch. They also have a full gym, aerobics, indoor basketball courts, tanning, and massage salons. So I took a walk around and explored most of the club, I was an hour early for the match. I also got my tournament shirt which cost me $45.00. They had a spread of bananas, bagels, and Gatorade. So I strongly suggest you eat breakfast and bring a snack. A lot of people knew each other and it was a family like atmosphere. I pretty much sat on a mat and stretched cold--bad idea. I spoke to Bill, Tournament Director and my instructor, once in a while. Then it came time for my first match in the C Division, which had fifteen players. C Division -- First Round My bread and butter drive serve wasn't at full strength and he was able to return it most of the time. I sneaked in a forehand drive serve for an ace. I lobbed it most of the time so I can move to center court and get into a rally. Eric didn't drive serve too much and sent me mostly half lobs, I rushed most of them. To make a long story short, Eric won 15-4, 15-6. He was a good guy and we talked in-between games. He played a few tournaments before and lives in South Jersey. I wasn't aggressive enough and wasn't thinking. Relaxing was impossible. I wasn't there mentally. D Division -- First Round First game wasn't so good. 15-7 in his favor. Second game I really made him work for the win, but just couldn't score 15-7 again. I was breathing so heavy and my heart was thundering in my chest. I actually thought I was going to drop dead. We had some spectators for a few minutes, so I did my best to ignore them and focus on the game. It's different having people watch you, so I think it's just best to acknowledge they exist and give them a show. Impossible to ignore them, but might as well have them root for you and not the other guy. I got hit by Hernandez's racquet on his follow through, I was so pumped it didn't even hurt. It still feels sore to the touch. Later, I accidentally hit him on the upper back, so we were even. It was one of my notorious off the back wall swings where I'm looking at the ball and not where it's going to go. Always seems to go the left side of the court and right into someone. I think I'm contacting the ball early and my feet aren't in the right place. I want it to be a down the line shot or a cross court pass to my backhand side. D's only had seven players, so again with the round robin to even things out. I thought I had a better chance to play someone with about the same experience about six months to a year. I scoured the USRA website looking for a time limit on D's. When I got home I almost posted to the racquetball newsgroup to see if I was sandbagged. I was angry, but eventually calmed down. Met my first Racquetball Celebrity I don't think I would of been happy to see him if I was playing in his division though. :-) Semi-Pros Match Anyway the strength in which they hit the ball is incredible, but doesn't do much good to expel that much force only to have the ball come off the back wall and have your opponent hit a roll out. I didn't like Brian that much since before a serve he raised his racquet to signal he wasn't ready and then lowered it before the serve. After the serve, he turned to the referee and said he signaled not ready. Lie! So how I'm hitting the ball is a far cry from semi-pro. They can just rifle shot after shot at full speed and they make it seem so easy. The Longest Walk
I enjoyed watching a show on Discovery called Human Instinct that described "The Will to Win." Basically we're programmed to never forget mistakes and our brain punishes us for the defeat and rewards for victory. We suddenly feel exhausted and hurt. I will never forget yesterday. I will be back. Playing the tournament was exciting and a lot of fun. It stretched me as a person and as a racquetball player. I felt totally alive. Thanks to everyone who helped me prepare mentally and physically especially Dennis, Joe B, John, One Lee, Mike, Tony P. and my wife Karen. Lastly thanks to my instructor Bill Serafin for his lessons. |