Update: Ladera 12-10-12

Volley King and Marko 6-4, 6-1 vs the satellite players at Ladera.

How did it go down? Well, after that first set I asked Volley King if he remembered one of the guys from the other side saying something before we started.

“He was saying something and you did the right thing not to say anything back,” Volley King corroborated.

The second set was more of a roll, although the other guys were by no means easy at any point. Volley King and I played our game.

Point-by-point. Good flow.

I’m serving for the match. Volley King tells me, “You gotta grunt this one.”

I grunt it.

Volley King has his name on his own bench over at Rancho. He is Hall of Fame. And he’s always down to hit with me and vice versa all caps three exclamation points

!!!

Serious talk now. Volley King has been a formative and abiding influence for two decades. No one has ever impressed me more with the usefulness of hitting down the middle . Frequently when I hit a winner down the middle, credit goes to Volley King.

Today he added further wisdom, which I took the trouble to write down. The context here is I double faulted a couple times and fluffed a couple overheads.

Nothing tragic.

We were up 4-0 before any topics came up, so when they did, the anesthesia of winning let the information operate on me.

1. Get your serve in the box.

2. Overheads — place them at the “T”

I liked #2 so much I added #3: hit the overhead as hard as you would punch a heavy bag you wanted to jolt.

“Upper cut,” Volley King corroborated, one-two POW-POW.

Yes.

Muy efectivo immediamente.

“You’ve got good hands, he told me. “Don’t be afraid of motherfuckers comin’ at you.”

That’s right Volley King.

Thank you sir.

2 responses to “Update: Ladera 12-10-12”

  1. Self confidence seemingly can arises from the most unsuspecting sources.
    Thank you Volley King.
    Btw: Photo Pulitzer for the picture of MG and VK. May we all embody that much joy.

  2. […] them, not that I know every tennis player in Inglewood, but I have been playing there regularly at Ladera or Ed Vincent for the past 20 years so I thought, maybe I will see someone I know. But no again. No […]

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