MHTT World Champs Buildup Diary: Day 4

The complete day. Woke up, weighed in, did another day of core workout since yesterday was mixed up. Seemed harder today but I pushed through it, knowing that in the long term it would be worth it. The thought crossed my mind of how much effort it took to stay in great shape, seems like an inconvenience, necessary though!

11am and I was at the club for training with many time US National Team member, Judy Hugh who is preparing for the US Olympic Trials at the beginning of February. We had a decent 1.5 hour training session. I worked on moving from the middle of the table out wide onto my forehand. My first run through the drill was not as great as I had hoped for and really outlined the need to focus more on that area of my game. On my second drill Judy asked me if I wanted to do the same drill again. I don't recall ever having revisited the same drill in a training session, something I may do again in the future as my second time through was much better.

Middle and Wide forehand footwork

I had a more moderate lunch of some soup and a small appetizer at a Chinese restaurant, much less than I would usually order (I'm quite a food addict). Moderation is going to play a big role in getting myself in better shape.

I practiced again in the evening for another 1.5 hours, this time with Barry Dattel. Barry has a lot of experience and knowledge from playing in the USA for many years and training with some very high level players in China in the past. We did some drills and my mechanics on my forehand seem to have improved quite a lot especially on my 5th ball attack.

We moved on to some problems I was having in gameplay with my movement and my follow-up on service against particular service sets. All in all it was a very productive session and restored a lot of my confidence. If I can continue to improve the aspects in the session and bring them into my gameplay then my match confidence should increase tenfold.

After the 2nd training session for the day I went off to the gym, which I just got home from (late I know). I did another 700 calories of cardio, this time using the ARC trainer for the last 30%. The ARC trainer allows you to increase the height of your stride so that it's more like climbing stairs with resistance. It works your quads and glutes more. Ouch.

Happy with my day overall. Confidence is coming back, motivation is starting to grow, hoping I can keep moving forward!