Summer offers that rare moment of respite

Rowden August 2017

Summer offers time to contemplate, to prepare, to recalibrate the system, in the quiet time away from the frantic rush of competitions of all types and levels. It also offers especially to those still moving forward and wanting to progress, an appreciation that a quiet time is profoundly important!

It follows then that you have to understand the whole cycle of seasons and the part each plays in the overall picture. You have to know where you are going, your final destination and how you propose to get there. Summer should not be regarded as the doldrums, for some it has a bad reputation, the season when the wild world calms and stops, but rather it should be seen as a vital opportunity.
Summer can be looked at as an interval in the action of play, but equally it can be seen as a quiet time crucial for self-assessment in a number of areas, technical, physical, tactical and mental. Where are you going, are you still on track to get there, can you take any shortcuts, what needs to be altered in differing areas, is the science changing and do you need to change to keep up?
Above all this is a time for personal re-assessment. Just what do I need to bring into my game to be more effective? And this of course covers not just the strokes, but the table positions and placement, the angles and length, the change of speed and spin, the use of the opponent’s power, the crucial understanding of depth and the area from which you, the individual, achieves maximum efficiency.
But also it covers what the opponents do too. Am I equally confident against all styles of play, defenders, attackers, spin and drive players, blockers, pimple players and even left-handers? Are there types of player against whom I struggle much more than others and if so what am I going to do about it?