Outdoor Season!

Well, as I listen to the NET LIVE and find myself reading Amy Reichel's new blog at http://spotlightathlete-amyreichel.blogspot.com/ , I find myself inspired to update my blog. The weather's getting nice, the nets are going up all over the place, which means it's SAND SEASON!

This will be a big season for me. Every year I've made big strides forward, and I hope to make a bigger jump this season than ever before. I went from learning how to play doubles, to playing A, moving up to Pro just one year later. Although I had a 9th-place finish and won at least one match every tournament, I hope to place top-10 every tournament this year.

I've partnered up with Patrick Tagny this summer. A former setter for the Cameroon National Team, he's not too experienced with sand, but you wouldn't know it stepping onto the court with him! This is the first spring I've been back in Chicago since I started playing sand, and I've taken full advantage of it, practicing with him outdoors when the weather allows and renting the courts at North Beach on Friday nights when it didn't.

Although I won't name names as nothing's been etched in stone, quite a few potential sponsors have been met with, and if all goes accordingly to plan we'll be traveling the EVP tour outside of Chicago this season. First tournament's May 15th in Panama City, with a 2nd one in Naples on the 29th.

Part of the excitement of those tournaments is that for the first Chicago tournament, we should have accumulated enough points to not run into the top-seed in the 2nd round like I experienced all too many times last season. Who knows, with a strong first two tournaments in FL we may be able to get a top seed! Time will tell.

The big mechanics project for me this summer is the sand hands. Although I've used them VERY sparingly (probably 2-3 times a tournament last year), I've worked very hard to get them consistent enough to work into my game, and so far it's paid off. When we practice indoor I can hand-set about 80% of the passes, and depending on the wind outdoors its about 50/50. Watching the top teams last year, I felt the big thing that separated them from the rest was their ability to put up consistent sets almost every play, so that's been what I've been looking to improve.

Anyways, taking a quick cat-nap before my 1-8am shift (living the dream), but I'll try to update in the next few days.