Return and Come In

Here’s a post where I might not come across very well. It’s about my tennis, pickleball, and golf (mis)adventures. There is a chance you will only find this post interesting if you are fanatical about one or more of those three sports.

Tennis

When we first moved to Jupiter in 2018, I joined the tennis team, and I loved it from the get go. Specifically, I loved the strategy of doubles tennis. It was all about positioning – especially with respect to your partner – and shot selection. Back then, the pro at the time (Tom) taught us to “build a wall” and cover your partner’s back. He wanted both players to move up to inside the service line (effectively building a wall together), and if a lob went over one player’s head, the other player was expected to go back and get it.

When JT arrived as the new pro in the fall of 2021, he advocated for a slightly different strategy. The first part of the strategy was the same as Tom’s. Rather than “build a wall”, JT told us “return and come in”. With both strategies, the players are expected to get to inside the service line where you have a better chance of a put-away. JT’s philosophy is if the ball lands short and has you moving forward to hit it, keep moving toward the net. In our level of tennis, just about any serve will bring you to the net. You return the serve and come in, no questions asked.

The second part of JT’s strategy is a little different from Tom’s. Rather than backing up your partner on lobs, he expects you take lobs out of the air that are hit behind you. I was awful at this at first, but I got better and better at it during clinics and lessons.

I love to return and come in.

The other women on the team do not.

I suspect they don’t like it because our opponents like to lob a lot, and they are not confident in going back for that lob. But JT tries to tell them only a small percentage of those lobs will be really good, unreturnable lobs. Most others will be reachable (with practice) or drop outside the baseline. For those lobs that drop inside the baseline, you say “Nice shot.” If you are at the net, you will have more put-aways than missed lobs.

But most of the women refuse to do it. And I got more and more frustrated with them. I may have even yelled at some of them on occasion. I found nothing more disconcerting than to expect to see my partner next to me up in front of the service line and then turn around to see her back at the baseline. JT used to tell me to take a chill pill.

At the end of the 22/23 season, I couldn’t take another season of hearing “return and come in” and not seeing that strategy executed. I didn’t like getting frustrated with my teammates – it didn’t feel good for them or for me, and I didn’t want to go the chill pill route. So I quit the team.

Don’t worry, I’m still playing! Just not as often and not competitively. I organize a mixed doubles round robin on Sundays, and I play in social games.

In the mixed doubles round robin, I yell at Dave to return and come in. Often. Again, don’t worry. I won’t quit.

In a recent social game, Heather was in town, and she played with us. Out in Hermosa, she occasionally plays singles with her friend Derek, but she has no doubles experience. I told her to return and come in. Once. She was immediately taking balls out of the air for put-aways.

Pickleball

I reluctantly started playing pickleball up in Methuen only because I didn’t have easy access to tennis courts or a tennis team up there. I say “reluctantly” because I thought the game looked ridiculous. But, once I started playing, I didn’t care how ridiculous it looked. I even played with people I didn’t know.

Just as with tennis, there is a ton of strategy to pickleball. The “return and come in” rule is even more of a hard and fast rule in pickleball.

From there though, the differences in strategies between the two games are deliciously nuanced. A tennis player who comes to pickleball often has difficulties with those nuances. For instance, tennis players – and many other intermediate players – often smash the ball. Constantly.

It works. Sometimes.

One important strategy in pickleball is to change the pace of the game – either speed it up or slow it down. At times, slowing down the game is key. Having a “soft” game is key.

After catching the pickleball bug up in Methuen, Dave and I started playing in Jupiter. We joined a team in the Division 2 league. I was one of two women on the team with 8 to 10 other men. That makeup was representative of other teams in the league. And guess what? The men like to pick on the women. I had the impression my teammates didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in me, and that wore away at my confidence in myself. My record was abysmal. The other woman left the team.

Despite my record, I felt I was making steady progress. I loved practicing with the D2 guys on the team, I watched videos learning new techniques and strategies, and I drilled with Dave for hours. I don’t have the drives or the overheads the guys have, but I do have the soft game, and I have quick hands at the net.

The day after Christmas, JT (who is also the pickleball pro) called me and told me I was bumped down to the D3 team. It was a kick to my stomach. They moved two men up and added a woman – an excellent tennis player who was new to pickleball. They deserved to be on the team. But so did I.

My kids implored me to give the D3 team a go. I said I would. And I did. Sort of. Everyone on the team was friendly and welcoming. I liked them. But I was not in the right frame of mind. I had no patience at practices and often left frustrated. I did not play well. Things came to a head when a teammate argued with a call I made, and I absolutely lost it. I slammed the ball and stomped around the court. After that, I knew giving it a go was not working out, and I quit.

Don’t worry, I’m still playing! At least three times a week, for hours each session. And I’m taking lessons. I go to Tequesta where they have open play every morning. And the players in Tequesta think Dave and I are formidable partners. They like going up against the Moodys. To alleviate any concern they might have with our bickering, Dave tells our opponents at the start of each game that we will try to stay married by the end of the game.

Heather also played pickleball with us during her visit. She has a bit more pickleball experience than tennis experience. Here she is with her partner Randy back in Hermosa after a (friendly) tournament where they came in second. First place went to a tennis player.

Sue and Austin were also in town with two friends Eric and Nan. Eric noticed I got a charge out of every time he smashed the ball at Austin, and on one smash he called out in mid-game from two courts over, “Mich, did you see that?” I did.

Sue and Nan appreciated my suggestion to return and come in. After a couple of winning shots, Sue said “Wow, that really works!”

Heather and Eric played three games against Dave and Austin where they went 1 and 2. Though there was a large break between the second game (the one Heather and Eric won and had some mojo going) and the third because some other players refused to give up their court. It’s not clear why they had to give up their court, but Dave thought they did. In any case, I’d like to see a rematch. Especially if there are some smashes at Austin.

Golf

Even though I am obsessed with both, I see the writing on the wall when it comes to tennis and pickleball. I need to develop an interest in an activity that I can do in my 80’s. I’m desperately trying to do that with golf. But with golf – at least at the beginner level – there is only a very basic strategy:

1. Determine the distance to the target
2. Pick a club based on that distance
3. Take two practice swings (the guys at the 9 and Dine gave me grief about this)
4. Swing

And the swing should be the same every time.

That’s where I run into problems.

Here’s what you have to remember on each swing:

1. In addressing the ball, there are a number of things that go into a good stance including your shoulders being over your knees and toes. Scott (the golf instructor here) says it is hard to doing anything athletic if you are bent over too much at the waist. This was also reiterated by Alan, the pickleball coach in Tequesta.
2. Your grip should be loose throughout the swing. My hands hurt after each session at the driving range, and I’ve worn a patch of skin on my knuckle raw.
3. If you go too far back in your backswing, you will get taller. That’s not a good thing.
4. Your downswing should have a nice tempo to it. It should not be violent. My swing is less violent now.
5. Don’t be fast with your hands in either the backswing or the downswing. This one befuddles me. I know it has something to do with using your legs more than your arms and turning your waist before your hands come through. Scott keeps telling me I have strong legs and to use them.
6. End up with your belly button to the target and get your back toe dirty. Be target motivated, not ball motivated. I often forget about the target.

None of the above is in my muscle memory, so my swing is never consistent, and I get frustrated. But only with myself, so I haven’t quit yet.

And guess who came to the driving range with me? Even though she never golfs, she hit the ball farther than me. Though both our balls tailed to the right which is a sign our grips are too tight on the downswing. She is just like me.