Recap

A number of the intermediate players got together for a round-robin challenge on Saturday. No detailed event coverage--I'll let the 13-game Game Log speak for itself. Jeff clearly played to his seeding, with an undefeated showing. Overall, though, this group appears to be pretty evenly matched, and commutativity does not hold, with Todd upsetting Jarnail, Jarnail defeating Monica, and Monica then upsetting Todd. Perhaps it is how the playing styles mesh, or perhaps other factors are dominant: sufficient warmup?, getting fatigued?, slippery racquet grip?, etc.

Who is doing what to whom: Especially if you are playing someone close to your ability, try to figure out what is going on in the match: who is doing what to whom. Try to determine when your play is successful, and when your opponent's is, and then work to create more of the situations where your play is successful, and fewer of the situations where your opponent is successful. Also, don't be afraid to try new things. Some ideas:

• see how they respond to a ceiling ball--do they get impatient and hit a bad shot?
• try every serve in your arsenal (lobs, drives, Z's)
• if you think your kill shot is off, don't just keep hitting it, hoping for it to click. Change the percentages: try hitting a higher-percentage shot (pass!), be more selective when you try to hit your kill shot (eg, when you are in midcourt), or make an adjustment to your mechanics (consciously bend your knees more, etc.)
• check out what shots your opponent is covering well, and then make them work to get to a different shot. (e.g., if they are always expecting a shot to the backhand, try hitting to the forehand... If they are covering the cross-court, hit some passes down the line)

Ladder Points

This table ranks players by club ladder points earned this day.

Previous		Player	Today
Rank	Ladder Points		W-L	Ladder Points	Offense
6	17	Jeff	5-0	+15	75
7	16	Harvir	3-1	+11	58
8	15	Jarnail	2-3	+11	56
9	13	Todd	1-3	+12	39
10	11	Monica	1-3	+14	40
15t	0	Ryan	1-3	+14	40

(*) Rank - the club rank at the start of play.
(*) Start Pts - the number of ladder points at the start of play.
(*) Earned Points - the number of ladder points earned this evening.
(*) Offense - Total points scored in games this evening

Game Log

Player A	Player B	Winner	Upset?	Score	Pts Earned
Jeff	Todd	Jeff	--	15-7	Jeff (+3) Todd (+2)
Harvir	Ryan	Harvir	--	15-5	Harvir (+3) Ryan (+2)
Jeff	Harvir	Jeff	--	15-13	Jeff (+3) Harvir (+2)
Jarnail	Monica	Jarnail	--	15-1	Jarnail (+3) Monica (+2)
Jarnail	Todd	Todd	++	15-12	Jarnail (+1) Todd (+8)
Jeff	Monica	Jeff	--	15-11	Jeff (+3) Monica (+2)
Jeff	Jarnail	Jeff	--	15-5	Jeff (+3) Jarnail (+2)
Todd	Ryan	Ryan	++	15-3	Todd (+1) Ryan (+8)
Jeff	Ryan	Jeff	--	15-11	Jeff (+3) Ryan (+2)
Harvir	Jarnail	Harvir	--	15-9	Harvir (+3) Jarnail (+2)
Harvir	Monica	Harvir	--	15-13	Harvir (+3) Monica (+2)
Jarnail	Ryan	Jarnail	--	15-9	Jarnail (+3) Ryan (+2)
Todd	Monica	Monica	++	15-14	Todd (+1) Monica (+8)

Upset - a (++) indicates that the lower-ranked player won