Author: melissa

Well, the Fourth of July went to the heat. Final score: Charlotte summer 1, me 0.

I was out on court for drills from 9 to 10:30 in the morning, which sounds early enough to be safe. It was not. I actually started on a shaded court, which was glorious and completely fooled me into thinking I had the day handled. Then we rotated to a different court for a new set of drills, and that one sat out in the full sun for basically the rest of the session. By the time we wrapped, I was thoroughly cooked.

My forehand also chose that day to completely fall apart. Most of them were honestly awful, spraying long or just not feeling like mine. I’m choosing to blame two things: my brand new strings, which I’m still adjusting to, and the fact that my brain was slowly poaching in the sun. The Wilson Revolve 16 job is fresh, and one hot, sweaty session is way too early to judge how it actually plays, so I’m giving it a pass for now. The forehand rebuild continues.

The heat got the last laugh, too. I ended up with a headache that stuck around for almost two full days. And not a cute little afternoon headache either. The kind that sets up camp behind your eyes and refuses to leave. Pretty sure that was my body’s very direct way of telling me I overdid it in the sun and did not drink nearly enough water.

The next day I kept it extremely gentle. My husband and I walked a 5K on the dirt trail, clinging to every shaded stretch like our lives depended on it. So much smarter. Ten out of ten, would hide from the sun again.

Lesson logged: even a 9am start in a Charlotte summer will get you if you spend the back half baking in direct sun. More water, chase the shade, and a lot less ego when the heat index is showing off. Cutting a drill short or taking an extra water break isn’t weakness, it’s just common sense I apparently needed a two-day headache to relearn.

So the heat can have the Fourth. It doesn’t get the comeback, though. I’ll be back on court this coming Saturday. 🎾

I’ve been keeping a couple of run logs on here for a while now, and honestly I haven’t posted enough of them, but they’re probably the only interesting thing on this little blog. So I’m doing the same thing for tennis. Consider this the start of a new series.

The short backstory

Tennis and I actually go way back. I grew up right near the high school tennis courts, so I’d wander over and hit around ‘for fun’ as a kid, long before I had any real clue what I was doing. My sister and her friend would rally and I’d be on the bench either watching or hanging on a tree limb. She ended up playing for school, and that’s what nudged me to play for school too, starting at 13. (For the record, I’m not crediting her for any of it, because I still kind of suck. But whatever. We could’ve been the Asian Venus and Serena, is all I’m saying.)

I got serious about it again in 2021 with weekly group cardio tennis clinics and some private instruction, drilling forehands, backhands, volleys, and serves. Then life did its thing and I drifted away from it in 2022. This year I found my way back through a Saturday drill clinic, and I forgot how much I missed it.

Where I’m at right now

My backhand is the dependable one — it mostly just shows up and does its job. My forehand is the project. I tend to overhit it and it can be inconsistent, so right now I’m working on a few specific things: coiling sideways instead of opening up too early, not rushing the swing, and brushing low-to-high for topspin. It’s very much a work in progress, and that’s kind of the whole point of writing this down.

There’s a gear situation

No shiny new racket in the picture. I’m still playing my trusty Head Speed MP Graphene XT, and honestly I’m happy with it. What’s new is the string job: I just had it restrung with Wilson Revolve 16 at 53 pounds, and fresh strings make more of a difference than I expected. Turns out I have opinions about string now. More on all that later.

Why bother writing it down

Mostly, this is for me. Tennis progress is slow and hard to feel day to day, the same way running is. But when I scroll back through my run logs on Strava, I can actually see how far I’ve come. I want that for tennis too — a record of the messy middle, not just the good days.

What to expect

• Court Notes after my Saturday clinics — what we drilled, what clicked, what fell apart.
• Gear posts whenever I have something to say about rackets and strings (see above).
• The occasional milestone when something finally clicks. Looking at you, forehand.

So that’s the plan. If you’re reading this, hi. And if it’s just future me reading this a year from now — hi to you too. Let’s see where this goes. 🎾