Loser

My arm still hurts from last Sunday's tournament. I joined another tournament and yet again, I lost poorly. I now have a reputation for losing.

Great!

It was terrible, sure, I can blame a lot of things for the loss -- the lack of sleep due to the cramming I did for school and the never ending list of things to do for work. But that's just a bad cop out. I did work for it, not as much as I trained for the one I joined last July-ish, but I did my time. It still doesn't discount the fact that I didn't win. My partner and I (we played doubles) kept the fights close, but we didn't win one game. Boo.

I also think that my nervousness, my cracking under pressure could've gotten the best of me during the tied at 34 moments. I think we lost 2 games (out of the 5 we played and eventually lost) wherein I had control over the last point. We could've won the match if I wasn't shaking like a leaf. Must learn how to control nervousness. Must learn how not to crack under pressure. Jeez as if money was on the line!

One thing I have to point out though, I made some sweet shots which I was surprised that I could do. Well-placed cross court shots and close to the net shots from the back courts were shots I never thought I could pull off. I learned that if I visualize the shot, my arm will hit the ball perfectly to make it happen. Could this be what they call muscle memory? It felt good. Landing well-placed and clever shots felt like winning the lottery. It was putting more brain than brawn to make it work. I have to work harder. I hope I win at least one game in the next one.