PERMISSION SLIP FOR JV AND VARSITY TO GET OUT OF CLASS ON MONDAY AND COME TO PLAYOFF MATCH

just click on the picture below and print out the permission slip. Have mom and or dad sign it and hand it in to the office Monday morning. WE ARE LEAVING SCHOOL AT 1pm SHARP.. YOU ARE PERMITTED TO GET OUT OF CLASS AT 1230. HAVE A BAG LUNCH FOR THE TRIP. YOU CAN ALSO BRING SOME MONEY FOR A BITE TO EAT ON THE RIDE HOME OR AT MIDDLESEX COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE. WE will be arriving back at school no latter than 740.

I hope all the JV can come and cheer on the team as they are invited and this is ok'd by the PVI administration and is your right as a participating member of the team this year. Plus we need the support for a tough match. Bring your racquet and tennis PVI attire and PVI Tennis sweatshirt!!! If you have one we got last year.

Read the previous posts from Friday and Saturday!!!

A Good Practice Today And We'll Run The Same Practice Tomorrow - And A Tennis Poem By Robert Pinsky

We'll run the same practice tomorrow from 100-230 for the varsity team members.

Here is a great poem about tennis and a commentary by the poet, Robert Pinsky, the US Poet Laureate. I copied it from the web and paste it here for your pleasure. Its seems at the time he wrote it he was becoming a more thoughtful player and starting to look at the geometry of the tennis court in relation to strategy. Enjoy it, as its got some invaluable insight from one of the great poets of the world. I think you can learn and remember something from his wisdom. His picture is to the side.


ROBERT PINSKY: At this time of year maybe even more than usual, grown-ups play games like golf and tennis. Often we give ourselves instructive advice about the games, sometimes with crazy metaphors like "imagine the ball as a loaf of bread. You hitting every slice."

In the days when I was really obsessed with tennis, I wrote a poem about the game. And the poem turns out to be largely about advice. It's in iambic pentameter. This is from the section called "Strategy":

Hit to the weakness. All things being equal,
Hit crosscourt rather than down the line, because
If you hit crosscourt back to him, then he

Can only hit back toward you (crosscourt)
Or parallel to you (down the line) but never
Away from you, the way that you can hit

Away from him if he hits down the line.
Besides, the net is lowest in the middle,
The court itself is longest corner-to-corner,

So that a crosscourt stroke is the most secure,
And that should be your plan, the plan you need
For winning . . .

And here is the final section, "Winning":

Call questionable balls his way, not yours:
You lose the point but have your concentration,
The grail of self-respect. Wear white. Mind losing.

Walk, never run, between points: it will save
Your breath, and hypnotize him, and he may think
That you are tired, until your terrible

Swift sword amazes him. By understanding
Your body, you will conquer your fatigue.
By understanding your desire to win

And all your other desirs, you will conquer
Discouragement. And you will conquer distraction
By understanding the world, and all its parts.






And since its Saturday night and such always makes me think or feel jazz, i'll put up a great video of the giants of jazz playing 'Hot House.' Charlie Parker on Alto Sax, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and Buddy Rich on drums. Its great to see Charlie play as there aren't too many videos of him. He is the godfather of Jazz, no questions asked. Play the music and read the poem together. Poetry and Jazz like peanut butter and jelly.

Valuable Lob City Tip - A Good Practice Today - And Kate Smith Video 'Good Bless America' For Flyers Playoff Good Luck

As part of our daily practice routine we've worked on a simple lob drill. A lob is another tool in our tool box of tennis skills that we've worked on in practice this year. Today was no exception as we performed our self feed lob drill with the pop-up trash cans as targets on the opposite side of the court.

We use the lob often in doubles as a change of pace or to force our opponents to adjust their court positions, wherein we make them uncomfortable. We can use it in singles as a change of pace and height our opponent receives. A lob is often a defensive shot to buy time for the next shot, as we may have been pulled far away from a shot by our opponent. A singles player would lift the ball high in the air and deep in his opponent's court and get back in position for the next shot.

The two pages below(just click on and enlarge them) describe in further detail the idea of the need for a proper follow through and a sense of feel and touch when executing the shot. Remember feel and touch are vital for all your shots. These tips from this great book by Bob Harman(see below) are some of the points I've made to you during our practices.

As with all the instructional points I've made here I used the blog to reinforce the learning and instruction I give you from practice. Wherein I leave no stone unturned in you receiving the whole of the instruction, and or if you missed the smallest bit of necessary information. Upon watching a few of you today during our lobbing drill I saw some follow through's that are good but could be better.


I underlined the necessary information which isn't more than 4 sentences, so read it and remember it when we practice and or play again.

Tomorrow we'll have a varsity practice from 5-630 where we'll do a quick warm-up(30 mins) that we always do and then play some games and or matches. It'll be a short and simple practice so we stay fresh. I told the varsity about such toward the end of practice today.


I hope you all enjoyed that Flyers game tonight, as that was as exciting if not more than the gold medal game 2 months ago. To be down 3-0 at the end of the first period and then have a 2nd period like that and come back to tie it going into the 3rd. Well that was as amazing, if not more than being the 4th team in pro hockey history to come back and win a playoff series after losing the first three games.

And to win the 7th game on the road no less. WOW!!! So in honor of this accomplishment I put up a 'You Tube' Video of the famous Kate Smith singing 'God Bless America' before an old Flyers game. Her singing this song before the Flyers games back in the 70's, as the Flyers were winning Stanley Cups is viewed as legendary by sports fans of our ilk.

The Flyers viewed her as a honest to goodness good luck charm. If they had a big game, and needed a boost for the team and the crowd before the start of the game, then she was singing. This is a story of the sport's folklore of our great city. She's so famous they bronzed her and she now sits outside the Spectrum. See the picture here.



Kate was surely shinning down on the Flyers tonight. I hope your all Flyered UP now!!!

Lob City Article And Permission Slip Below





Write 12:30pm on this slip and Whatever Monday's Date is ... for those who didn't get this slip yesterday and weren't at practice

A Good Practice But We'll Have A Better Tomorrow - A Great Poem About Tennis And Life - Practice Tomorrow 145-330

We're always striving to be better everyday at each and everything we do. We seek to be a better person, more kind and compassionate, each and everyday. We want to learn or discover something as a student, each and everyday. We want to be a better tennis player, by coming closer to mastering some part of our game, in my classroom, the tennis court, each and everyday.

Striving for improvement on our tennis skills in practice will carry over to the court during matches. You will gain satisfaction and new found confidence to attempt such skills under the pressures of match play. With each repition of any given stroke that you perform in practice you'll improve that specific skill. Think how many times this happens during our tennis practice and match play each and everyday. Its an opportunity your presented with so many times each and everyday.

Success on the tennis court and classroom doesn't always have to have a number or a score attached to it. Its your satisfaction as its also your courage that is enhanced each and every time you try and hit a tennis ball. This courage carries over to everything else in your life. I promise it can carry over to the classroom.

I think back to the two quotes I started in the cold of February here on this blog, noted in John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. The Pyramid and the life lessons contained in it, is how I have approached my classroom, the tennis court, each and everyday. Click on the picture below to read them again. Its one of the most widely accepted models/guides for success in academia, sports and business.

"Success is the peace of mind which is the direct result of the self satisfaction in knowing that you made the effort to become the best that you were capable."

"Little things make the big things happen."

We worked on all the little aspects of our game, and as we do everyday. As all these moments of working on various strokes have added up and we arrive at a successful season, a 12-3 record. Our attempt to reach our pre-season goal, a very short distance away. But really our success isn't solely measured in that 12-3 mark, right?

Our preparation and our courage to try to reach this goal and please don't ever forget that it is irrelevant if we win or lose. The winning will find a way to take care of itself in some way, shape or form. If we as individuals are satisfied and believe that we did all that we were capable of ... to be the best that we could be. Then that bus ride home will be a beautiful one. Really my sole expectation of you this entire time is that in a nutshell, to act as such in practice and matches.

Enjoy this famous poem(video below) by Kipling, "If," read by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Its words, in huge type face, meet each and every person who enters the members and players entrance at Wimbledon.

Its message is about the courage it takes to try and win and to try and fail. Really the courage to be yourself no matter what the outcome of the match. 'If' is also about the courage to accept the challenge of the tennis match and to then trust and measure one's self during and after the match no matter what the result. This is a life poem as much as it is the most famous poem attached to Wimbledon and the sport of tennis.







Watch Roger and Rafa read this most famous poem. Than read "If," as copied below. Maybe read it before you watch the video. It is a beautiful poem and deserves to be fully digested again and again, just like Wooden's masterpiece above. Please refer back to the poem sometime on Sunday night or Monday morning. For the next few days I'll just put poems up, and some pictures I've saved.


Rudyard Kipling
If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

We Beat The Rain And Our Opponent AGAIN !!!

(Haddon Heights 5/12/10) Great win gentlemen of the Paul VI Tennis Team as we took the shortie bus trip to Haddon Heights and won 4.5 to .5. We now stand 12-3 and we move into a few days of practices as we prepare for our Monday drive to Meutchen for our playoff match against St Joseph's.

I talked to our AD Mr Mitchell after lunch today, as the draw came out yesterday afternoon, and he informed me that he talked to St Joseph's AD and set the match for this coming Monday. So I hope the whole team can come and I'll have more information for all of you tomorrow at practice.

We'll practice 250-520. We have a lot of motivation to put in a good and focused practice, as our season has been quite good but we have our goal of a playoff victory looming in the Monday sunrise. It'll be a great test, a year end test to show us how far we have come. It'll really show us how special we could be next year. So once again let's cherish the opportunity we've worked to get and truly respect and appreciate the moment.

Thanks again to Mr Burns, for bringing the pretzels and drinks today. That was quite kind of him. Mr Burns is our team parent representative and he talked to me today about his ability to assist in our team jackets. I'm thrilled that he has offered to help with such and I hope to give you more info on that by Friday

As we have been working on our approach shots in practice here's a great short video on the footwork and anticipation that I've encouraged us to use on said approach shots. I want you all to remember this little dance step, as its the skip sideways dance move I've referred to during practice.

This is a another movement that is invaluable to your tennis dance repatriate. Think of the movements we use to prepare for the overhead, the volley, our ground strokes, etc. We're just 'Dancing With The Tennis Ball.'

SO here's another dance step that will help place you and your racquet in the right position with the ball to give you the necessary power and control to execute the shot effectively. Dance and Tennis have a lot in common if you think about it. The court as the dance floor and the ball as your partner that your trying to develop a rhythm and feel for, so to work in step with.





Approach Shot Video Tip - Footwork

We Beat The Rain And Delran 5-0 Today !!!

I don't know what I am happier about. No Wait!! I am happy that we beat the elements, as that has been a much tougher opponent for us over the past 1 3/4 seasons. To have the rain start the second that John and Mitchel won their doubles match I see now as a sort of omen. It just came to me an hour ago as I fully digested and mulled over our tough playoff draw. Our pre-season goal.

Coach Winkler brought the bad news to me at the start of our Delran match today that we had just received a 5 seed and will have to travel an hour and a half to Metuchen to play St Joesph's in the first round.

This is how I see the whole playoff thing shapping up. We will now be road warriors, and take the bus trip to a win up Middlesex County way and then have one heck of a bus ride home. In all sincerity I feel stronger about this than I did about the conference title. Truth be told they were a 7-3 team at the cut off and we were a 7-2 team at the playoff cutoff date.

They weren't even in the playoffs last year. We were, and strangely enough we were the #5 seed last year also and traveled to Middlesex County too, and took on Bishop Ahr. So we can now take that same ride as the same seed to roughly the same place and finish what we started last year. AND WE'LL play St Augustine if we win, exactly as we would have last year if we won at Ahr. I LOVE IT AND CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MATCH AGAINST ST JOE'S !!!

I mean I thought we should have been the 4 seed and had a home match but for all the inexperience we may have, which really isn't any. St Joe's has no playoff experience and there record sits at 8-5 as we speak and we are 11-3. Sounds like they padded their schedule well with some sub .500 cupcakes before the cutoff date to make themselves look good for the South A playoff committee. Haddon Township is infamous for doing this. That same haddon township team we beat less than a month ago has a 14-5 record right now and is the 4 seed in the group 2 bracket.

I will do a little research on their opponents and I hope to have the exact date and time for our playoff match to you tomorrow. For now here's the playoff bracket and yesterday's result against Triton.

I want to thank Mrs Lamberto for the pretzels and powerade, that was very kind of her. I also want to apologize to the JV who didn't get to play today as I was told by their coach and PVI alum Bill Bodenschatz '96, that they have been struck by an injury bug.

Very sad and it seems, "Everybody Hurts," at Delran and for that we extend wishes of a speedy recovery for Bill's team before their playoff match next Tuesday. It was cool that Bill was here today and I could announce him as a member of the last PVI tennis team to win a conference title. Bill told me he was quite proud of you guys and seeing us in the paper and ranked. I'm sure other PVI alums felt the same. That was nice to hear.

WE WILL ALL play tomorrow against Heights as they have a big squad. So be ready and hope we conquer the elements and the rain that has made all of us hurt to many times this season, as we all don't want to hurt and miss an invaluable match play experience in preparation for the upcoming playoffs.

A Tennis Poem And A Thank You To Mrs McShane For Yesterday's Snack & Drinks

A tennis racquet,
the most wonderful stick of fun,
the prime minister of the court,
next in power to you.
Like different prime ministers,
there are different racquets,
each giving different advice
and hope to you.

A tennis racquet,
a colorful stick of joy.
Racquets with different powers,
hit the ball vigorously,
with strings vibrating,
making a wonderful sound,
and the round, green tennis ball
goes over the court.

A tennis racquet
a magical wand with extraordinary powers,
helping you find your way to victory.
It will guide you and give you power.










The tennis racquet handle/grip is in the shape of an octagon(8 sides), as such is of interest for our grip changes, thus getting our wand to create the magic correctly.


The poem above I found on the net and was written by an unknown author. I also want to thank Mrs. McShane for bringing the pretzels and powerade yesterday as I forgot to in my last post. I just start thinking about 'Five Guys' burgers and my mind runs adrift. So tasty, so perfect and so fresh. Maybe I'll write a poem about a 'Five Guys' burger in my next post. 'Ode To The Happiness Of A Great Burger.' There's an idea!!!





Don't forget yesterday's (5/10/10) blog post on the Overhead ...