2023 could be summarized as a series of false starts. The year started up with my normal sporadic serving practice and then my first singles match on May 1st. Although in many ways it was horrific, it also showed me that I wasn’t in any way out of my depths. I played 3 singles matches before the first halt for the year. In those matches it became obvious that I had more natural pace in my ground strokes and serve than others at my level. I lacked a lot, but knowing I had something was good.

I was not at all committed to tennis yet and took the next couples months off and focused on getting back on the bike. Eventually I was able to get myself back out to the courts some. That is until I eventually starting having similar pain to what I experienced when I hurt by back. Playing it safe I went back to PT and discovered the issue was related to muscle imbalance I had developed and not a disc.

After recovering from the nerve pain I ended the season with a number of singles matches and practice sessions with my tennis BFF. The tennis bug really started take a hold at this time.

In total I spent a massive 90 hours on court. The majority was was in singles matches and practice sessions. Although the improvement wasn’t massive my enjoyment was.

alt text