DATE: November 2007 [PDF]
President's Parlay | From the Manager | Hunter's Lair | Results | New Members | Ballot | Last Month's News
This month's news letter will include a ballot for the pending board of directors election. Four of the nine positions are to be filled by new directors. The board plans to nominate four candidates. Additional candidates may be nominated by members at large (don't nominate anyone without that person's permission). Please take the time to cast your ballot - mail it in, drop it off at the club, or bring it the evening of the annual meeting. Please also come to the annual meeting, where you will have the opportunity to voice concerns, ideas, hopes, etc. Remember - it's our club - we should all participate.
Wayne Phillips, TTC President
One of the fun aspects of tennis is out-thinking your opponent. On the serve, having a plan in mind is a pre-requisite to its execution. The following suggestions will help stimulate your thinking.
1. Make first serves. Doing so will reduce the pressure on yourself and apply it to the receiver. It's human nature to seek the easy way out of the point (i.e. toss the ball up and hope for an ace). The risk-taker bucks the odds, then suffers the consequences. The alternative is to compromise -- to make a well-placed serve that is difficult to return well.
2. Develop the second serve. At higher levels of play an aggressive second serve is essential. More spin, pace and depth keeps the receiver in the backcourt. Keep in mind that the tradeoff for more double-faults is missed and short returns.
3. Make the receiver play the ball as he moves laterally, not forward.
4. Apply extra pace to the poorly produced stroke. Know which stroke is more penetrable; use the flat serve to break it down.
5. Use the element of surprise as a weapon. Mix up placement with both slice and spin serves. On the deuce court, if you always go wide with slice and down-the-center with spin, your opponent will be able to read the toss.
6. On the deuce court, make the receiver hit a backhand from the sideline; on the ad court, make him hit a forehand. By pinning him in the corner, a weak return gives you an open court.
7. By serving down-the-middle, you increase the likelihood that the return will come back down-the-middle, which improves your position to play a forehand or a volley.
8. Serving frequently to the body on the deuce court sets up the wide slice serve. Looking to hit a forehand, the receiver may back up, opening the wide serve.
9. Serving wide to the forehand on the deuce court sets up the slice serve to the body, or the flat or spin serve down-the-center.
10. Kicking the second (or first) serve to the backhand may set up an effective kick serve to the forehand. (He sees the toss, takes a first step to the backhand, opening up an off-balance forehand return.)
11. Avoid kick serves to the backhand that land short. (On the deuce court these are potentially dangerous when the receiver has time to run around his backhand and smack the return crosscourt.)
12. Go into the body frequently. Keep in mind that it's difficult to move the body away from the ball, and that the racquet doesn't work effectively when the stroke is cramped.
13. Don't always allow a receiver's strength to influence your placement. Generally you must go to a strength first to expose the weakness. (The same player who enjoys running around his backhand on the deuce court may not be so successful when moving to his right.)
14. Cut down on netted mistakes; they're contrary to your strategy of placing the ball deep. Doing so may mean that:
a. You're not reaching high enough. (Fatigue?) ?
b. You're dropping your head prematurely. (Are you watching the ball at contact?)
c. You're tossing too far forward.
d. You're tossing the ball too low. (Try keeping your tossing hand up a second
longer.)
Playing the Points (Suggestions--do what works for you.)
First point: Make it. Give yourself the biggest margin-for-error, by
going to the body. For effect and consistency, use some spin. In matches it
helps to hold onto a few beliefs. Example: The statistical chances of winning
the game, after winning the first point, are high. The chances of winning the
point, after making the first serve, are similarly high.
Second point (regardless of score): Go to opponent's strength. If he
favors forehand hit it there, flat or a bit of slice. Consider that you must
often go to the strength to get at a weakness.
Third point (15-all, 30-love, love-30): Go to the body. Believe that
this point has the greatest value. (At 15-all it tips the balance; at 30-love
it gives a commanding lead; at love-30 it tells opponent you're not conceding
game, and that with one more point you've evened the score, and gained the momentum.)
Fourth point (40-love, love-40): Take a chance with the first serve.
Anticipate that your opponent is thinking along the same lines. 15-30: If you
lost the preceding point, improve the percentages by increasing your margin-for-error
(slice to forehand, into body); if you won preceding point go with your intuition.
30-15: Think aggressively.
Deuce: Mix it up.
Ad: Generally, when ahead in the score, play boldly (or with cleverness);
when down in the score, improve margin-for-error.
Combining Serve and Groundstroke/Volley
#1 Slice wide, follow with a groundstroke to the open court.
#2 Hard and flat, or slice, to forehand -- to force short ball. (Extra pace to forehand, hoping for a late hit.)
#3 Slice or flat to body, forcing receiver to play a backhand (hit from sideline), opening court for groundstroke or volley. The idea is to pin him on the sideline.
#4 Flat, spin or slice to T, eliminating angle of return -- to produce first volley to backhand, or inside-out forehand, or to pick on his forehand.
TIMBERHILL ANNUAL MEETING
Timberhill will hold it's annual Board meeting Monday meeting November 12 at
6:30pm in the TTC clubhouse. We will announce your newly elected Board members,
thank the outgoing Board members, have a state of the club presidential address,
go over and discuss the year end financial statement and listen to any other
items of members concerns. Please put this event on your calendar and plan to
attend and bring your opinion and input about what you would like to see done
better at our club. This is a meeting for all members and we are always looking
for feedback. Refreshments and door prizes will also be had at the annual meeting.
SKYLIGHTS
With all the leaking we have had over the past years, we have a temporary solution
for the leaking skylights. We are going to put a temporary membrane over the
entire skylights to keep them from leaking. One of the solutions to the leaking
would be to roof over them permanently. This will be a solution that we can
try before the Board that kind of decision. The effect of the membrane will
be to not let any light through the skylights so the membership can get a feel
of what it's like this winter not have the skylights. At the end of spring we
have the option of taking the membrane off or keeping it on for a few more years.
We want your feedback on what you think after the membrane is put on and if
you like it better with or without the light coming through the skylight versus
the leaking problem that we have had on courts 1-3
LOCKERS
Many of the lockers have locks on them and were taken by previous members or
members who are not using them. We are trying to free up some space for other
members who want to use the lockers so you need to let Gary know by November
5 which locker you are using. We will be cutting off locks and cleaning out
lockers that are not spoken for by that time. Thanks for helping us out on this
matter.
"MEET THE MEMBERS & GUESTS"
Timberhill will be hosting it's annual "Meet the Members" Adult
Social event. The date is Sunday Nov. 4 with tennis from 4:00 - 6:30pm with
a light fare dinner (soups & salads) served from 6:30-7:30pm. This is a
great way to meet newer TTC members and increase your network of tennis players.
There is a sign-up sheet in the TTC clubhouse to bring a snack, bread or dessert.
Put this one on your calender as this is a fun event.
The final results for the 23rd annual All Comers Tournament held at Timberhill
Tennis Club September 21-23, Timberhill players are listed in Bold print.
Men's Open Singles: Deke Gunderson (Forest Grove) def. Andrew Pritchard
(Corvallis) 1/6,6/3,6/4
Men's A Singles: Bruce Flory (Sweet Home) def. David Hilton (Corvallis)
6/1, 6/2
Women's A Singles: Charlotte Fisher (Corvallis) def Lindsay Clark
(Corvallis) 6/3, 6/2
Men's B Singles: Sam Stern (Corvallis) def. Russ Rinker
(Springfield) 7/6, 3/6, 6/4
Women's B Singles: Corinne Butzin (Corvallis) def. Ranee McDougal
(Corvallis) 6/3, 6/3
Men's C Singles: Keith Daniel (Corvallis) def. Dennis Esterberg
(Philomath) 4/6, 6/0, 6/0
Women's C Singles: Ashton Johnston (Corvallis) def. Annie Esterberg
(Philomath) 6/1, 6/4
Men's A Doubles: Rick Campbell - Andrew Pritchard (Corvallis)
def. Roger Mickey (Albany) - Deke Gunderson (Forest Grove) 6/1, 6/2
Women's A Doubles: Rhonda Charleston - Cathy Wheeler (Salem) def. Jill
Chapman - Julie Fagan (Lake Oswego) 6/3, 6/1
Men's B Doubles: Bill Martinez - Tom Simas (Corvallis) def. Ron
Hanson - Joe Barnes (Eugene) 6/3, 6/4
Women's B Doubles: Sue Raines - Toni Thomas (Corvallis) def. Gloria
Knapp - Carolyn Simmons (Corvallis) 6/3, 6/0
Mixed A Doubles: Rory O'Neil (Keizer) - Daina Vitolins (Prineville) def.
Ken & Karla Street (Lincoln City) 4/6, 6/4, 6/4
Mixed B Doubles: Herky & Shikha Gottfried (Corvallis) def.
Claire Kamara (Corvallis) - Dave Ramcharon (Hermiston) 6/0, 6/1
Welcome New Members! Looking for new players to try out your skills? Please feel free to call any of these new members and line up some tennis matches.
Denise Mosher 541-908-1470: Denise likes singles or doubles. Denise
works most days 8-5 and is looking for players for the evening and weekends.
Denise plays at the 3.0 level.
Kimber Hoang 541-250-6000: Kimber owns a local restaurant and plays at
the 3.0 level. She likes to play in the mornings or afternoons and likes singles
more than doubles.
Larry Chase 503-623-9787: Larry plays at the 4.0 level and has some flexibility
in his schedule. Larry enjoys singles but will also play doubles.
Sid & Monica Elliott 752-9979: Sid and Monica both play at the 2/5/3.0
level. They like singles, doubles or mixed doubles. Monica can play during the
day, but Sid can play evenings and weekends.
Jason Kang 754-7525: Jason is an 18 year old student who plays at the
3.0 level. He has flexibility in his schedule and can play singles or doubles.
Jim & Ramona Methany : Jim is a 4.0/4.5 player while Ramona is a
4.0 level player. They both enjoy singles, doubles or mixed doubles and have
quite a bit of flexibility to their schedules.
With many new members this is a great time to expand your tennis horizons and give some of these new members a call to play. They would welcome a call to play. Remember that if you want to get some other players call Gary at the club and I can help you get networked with other Timberhill members.
Please cut out Ballot (from your paper newsletter) and return it by hand or
send back with your dues payment. Please return by November 12, 2007 to be counted.
Please vote for a maximum of 4 people.
Robert Rice: Robert Rice is a retired college professor and administrator
who taught psychology, education and counseling at the U. of South Carolina,
OSU, the U. of Hawaii-Hilo and Western Oregon University. A Corvallis resident
since 1986, he has been an active member of Timberhill Tennis Club for the past
two. He has captained and played for several USTA League teams. He grew up in
Colorado where he played high school tennis and later baseball at Colorado State
University.
Melissa Pohl: Melissa is a retired accountant/office manager. As mother
of 3, Melissa volunteered in her sons' schools and also as manager and treasurer
of their soccer teams. Melissa also coached JV girls tennis at Crescent Valley
HS for 3 years. She enjoys playing lots of tennis, volunteering for Assistance
League, dancing, reading, and traveling primarily to watch soccer.
Randy Willard: Randy has lived in Corvallis for 14 years. Randy is an
engineer at Hewlett Packard. He has been playing tennis again for 1 year. Randy
played throughout my youth in Michigan ending after 2 years of college tennis
at Kalamazoo College.
Werner Evans: Werner has been a member and consist Men's night player
since 2003. Werner is an engineer at Acres Gaming and he and his wife Robin
like to participate in all aspects of the club, from League tennis, social and
weekly activities.