Alright, so I wanted to share what went down today. Been feeling a bit rusty on the court, you know? Like my shots just weren’t clicking. It’s frustrating when you know you can do better, but your body and the racket just ain’t cooperating. I figured, enough is enough, I needed someone to kick my butt back into gear, and I’d heard good things about Ziva Falkner. Not one for fancy talk, just solid, no-nonsense coaching. So, I booked a session.
Showing Up and Getting Real
Got to the courts a bit early, sun was just starting to get serious. Ziva was already there, looking like she meant business. We had a quick chat. I told her, “Look, my forehand’s gone walkabout, my serve’s a lottery, and my net game is, well, let’s not even go there.” She just nodded, listened. Didn’t say much, which I actually appreciated. No big promises, just, “Okay, let’s see what we’re working with.”
First things first, the warm-up. And let me tell you, Ziva doesn’t mess around with warm-ups. I thought I was pretty good about it, but nope.
- We started with some light jogging, side shuffles, crossovers – the whole nine yards.
- Then dynamic stretches. She was big on getting everything loose but activated. No lazy stretching.
- A bit of shadow stroking, focusing on form even before we hit a ball.
She kept saying, “The body remembers the first movements, make them good ones.” Fair enough. I was already sweating a bit by the time we picked up the rackets for real.
The Nitty-Gritty: Hitting a Thousand Balls (Felt Like It!)
We started with mini-tennis. Just tapping the ball back and forth inside the service boxes. Ziva was watching my every move. My grip, my footwork, my swing path. It felt like being under a microscope, but in a good way. She picked up on a few things immediately. My preparation was a bit late, she said. My wrist was doing too much work on the forehand.
Then we moved back to the baseline. She started feeding me balls, nice and steady at first. Forehands. Forehands. More forehands. My arm was starting to feel it. She’d just say, “Again.” Or “Better, but watch your shoulder.” Simple stuff, but it made a difference. I was trying to hit every ball like it was match point, which was probably my first mistake. She got me to relax a bit, focus on the process, not the outcome of each shot.
Then came the backhands. My two-hander can be a bit… unpredictable. Sometimes it’s a weapon, other times it just dribbles over the net. Ziva had me focus on my unit turn and using my legs more. “Drive through the ball, don’t just slap at it,” she’d call out. Slowly, very slowly, I started to feel a bit more rhythm. There were still plenty of shanks, don’t get me wrong, but also a few that felt really sweet.
Taking on the Net and the Big Serve
After what felt like an eternity at the baseline, she motioned me to the net. Volleys. Oh boy. My reactions felt sluggish. She was firing balls right at me, then wide, then short. It was tough. “Stay low! Racket up!” That was the mantra. I missed a bunch. Netted a few. Framed a couple. But Ziva just kept feeding. She’s got this way of pushing you without yelling, just relentless repetition until something clicks.
Finally, serves. We didn’t spend ages on it, but she tweaked my toss a bit. Said I was throwing it too far behind me, making me arch too much and lose power. Just a small adjustment, but it felt different. More consistent, a little more pop. Still a work in progress, for sure.
- Key takeaway on serves: Consistency of the toss is everything.
- And don’t forget to pronate!
Cooling Down, Feeling It
We finished up with some light hitting, just to cool down. My legs were feeling it. My arm was tired. But honestly, I felt good. Like I’d actually worked on things that mattered. Ziva gave me a few pointers to think about for my next solo practice. No magic fixes, just solid advice.
Driving home, I was already replaying some of the drills in my head. It’s funny, you play for years, and you think you know stuff, but then a session like this with someone like Ziva Falkner just opens your eyes to how much more there is to learn, to refine. It’s a process, right? Today was just one step. A tough one, but a good one. Definitely going back for more. My whole body is probably going to scream at me tomorrow, but hey, that’s the price of getting better, I guess.
