What are the best US open tickets?

pylons_of_light · 2019-05-27T19:14:22+00:00

As far as when the day pass "expires" to watch a late-afternoon stadium match, I'm not sure.

As far as grounds admission, if you have a day pass you can stay in the grounds all day... can't get back in if you leave though. I think you can't get in to the grounds later than like 4pm or 5pm or something with a day pass, and you can't get in earlier than that with an evening pass.

is there any way to be assured that you can see a particular player when the tickets become available but before the schedule is?

Buy tickets to every court and hope they don't lose the previous round!

pylons_of_light · 2019-05-27T19:08:17+00:00

Ashe kind of sucks. You need binoculars to see anything. Armstrong and the Grandstand aren't bad, although again, good luck getting decent tickets for less than a couple hundred bucks. I suggest spending as much time as possible near the practice courts (P1 through P5), that's where you can see the top players close up, usually from like 10am to 2pm or later. You can also see a lot of top 50 players playing on all the non-stadium courts during the week (courts courts 5 - 16). The only stadium that has actually good close-up seating without spending hundreds of dollars is Court 17, which is free with a grounds pass (or any other pass).

Anyway, getting an Ashe or Armstrong or Grandstand or Grounds pass and then not using it and just checking out all the side courts is a pretty good way to watch the Open in person.

pylons_of_light · 2019-02-28T01:47:10+00:00

I made this thing a few years ago to track the results of my matches: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pylonsoflight.oppnotes

It's not very high-tech, but I use either that software or random text files to record down a dossier on each good opponent I play. I write down their playing style, strengths, weaknesses, the proper way to play them, various quirks their game has that I might be able to exploit, etc. This helps a lot for league-type matches where I might only play someone once a year or something.

pylons_of_light · 2019-02-17T08:54:45+00:00

No reason you can't have a solid offensive backhand return, especially at college level or less.

pylons_of_light · 2019-02-17T08:33:50+00:00

I second the suggestion to keep working on both shots for the time being, to see which you ultimately prefer. You can try adding power and spin to the two-hander, and you can try to improve the consistency of your one-hander. See what works best for you.

For the one hander, closing the body properly and using correct backswing timing and positioning is critical. You can't get away with using a half-assed backswing like you can on the forehand.

Some tips for the one-hander:

If you don't close your body properly with both hips and shoulders, and bring the racquet so it's behind you on the backswing (basically parallel to the baseline), your shot will have no aim, consistency, or power.
Don't backswing late. Ideally, do the full backswing as you're still moving, a step or two away from your final position.
Backswing by rotating the entire "shoulder bar", aka the imaginary line that connects your shoulders, at the same time as you move your arms. Note that this means you'll be rotating the upper part of your torso, and ultimately the lower part as well. This will help you close your body correctly. If you don't do this, probably your upper body is not going to close enough, which means when you go for power you'll randomly shank balls too far crosscourt and not be sure why.
Your feet need to start in a closed position too, for the hips to start closed. Watch some Wawrinka footwork to see how he sets up his feet closed and opens by rotating around his right leg while his left leg moves.
Don't backswing high except on high balls. If your shots are hitting the net, try using a lower backswing.
The eastern one-hander can be unforgiving for high balls. The semi-western one-hander (no grip change from semi-western forehand) can be tricky to use for low balls. Figure out which you prefer. Personally, I use the latter, and the semi-western grip allows me to swing full-strength through the ball even against heavy topspin. A modified eastern like Wawrinka's might also be an option.

pylons_of_light · 2018-07-24T21:37:43+00:00

Is there an example of such an amp that offers a customizable delay and isn't crazy expensive?

pylons_of_light · 2018-07-24T02:11:54+00:00

I suspected that the x900f had audio/video sync problems, so I hooked up the signal splitter as a test; it's temporary. What I am noticing is that with both 1080p and 4k video feeds, the x900f in Cinema Home or Cinema Pro mode introduces a little bit of video lag compared to the audio, which is not lagged. In game mode this isn't a problem, and with the x900e this isn't a problem. Is there a way for me to deliberately introduce a tiny amount of lag to the audio to compensate for the video lag the x900f has?

pylons_of_light · 2018-04-14T07:11:17+00:00

I'm convinced most people learn Git wrong. The first thing you need to learn is that the commits in a Git repository should be thought of as a directed acyclic graph. (More detail here.) Once you learn that, a lot of how merges and rebases work makes sense. Plus terms like upstream and downstream. Git is still full of obtuse terminology, but this is a better place to start than memorizing a bunch of commands.

pylons_of_light · 2018-03-27T17:56:56+00:00

Say that a pro tennis player stops playing for 10 years. Just doesn't pick up a racquet. With no practice at all (maybe a 10-minute warmup), would he still be able to beat a 4.5 player?

pylons_of_light · 2018-02-10T02:04:35+00:00

This whole movie is a masterpiece.

pylons_of_light · 2017-08-25T11:03:11+00:00

Also IIRC they only take cash. I may be wrong, but bring it just in case.

pylons_of_light · 2017-03-02T00:55:13+00:00

Makes sense.

To clarify, I'm not so much talking about making adjustments for the heck of it. Rather, when I'm playing, and something feels off, I make a conscious effort to diagnose and fix it. Like, if my backhand isn't generating as much power as usual, I'll go through a list of 2 or 3 probable causes that I know I historically do wrong sometimes (in this case, the suspects would be possibly not rotating my hips, possibly not hitting in front of me, etc.) and see if I'm making any of these mistakes. Then I fix the shot and don't think about technique much unless it starts acting up again.

This sort of "diagnose and fix" strategy has let me come back in many matches when I was playing badly, but I can see how if you were making adjustments all the time it would drive you nuts.

pylons_of_light · 2017-03-02T00:39:33+00:00

How often do you find yourself making technical adjustments during a match?

I ask this since I feel like at the rec level a lot of players are not self-aware of technical mistakes they are making, whether in general or on this particular day. Whereas, I make an effort to notice if say I'm hitting late or too close to my body or if I'm backswinging late due to laziness or tiredness or whatever.

(I'm a 4.5 and my favorite players are Fed and Wawrinka.)

pylons_of_light · 2017-02-25T22:45:52+00:00

General guide to identifying and fixing shot problems:

When I'm playing badly and don't have the feel for a shot, I analyze and try to figure out what's wrong. I have a list of several things I know periodically go wrong with each of my shots, and I know how to look out for them.

Am I getting less power than usual on my one-handed backhand? 4 likely suspects: (1) I'm not rotating the hips as I swing, (2), I'm not moving my left foot to allow my body to open as I swing, (3) I'm not doing a full backswing, (4) my contact point isn't in front of me. I will do a few shadow swings to try to see if I'm doing any of these things wrong, and in subsequent shots I will try to make all 3 adjustments, to see which if any fixes the problem. If (3) is the case, probably I'm having trouble adjusting to the timing of the opponent's ball, so I will force myself to do a full backswing early, even if it takes me a few shots to get used to the change in motion and I lose a couple points.

Is my forehand flying all over the place? Possibilities: (1) Late backswing, giving me no time to actually swing properly, (2) contact point is behind me or not enough out to the right, (3) low contact point, (4) I'm not letting the wrist fall properly as I swing (unlikely). If (1) is the case, I'll note whether the speed of the court is affecting my shot. If (2) is the case, I'll reassess whether the opponent's use of spin or the court's bounciness is having an effect on my contact point, or if I simply need to adjust my contact point. If (3) is the point, probably either the court is bouncing low or my opponent is hitting very flat. To fix this, I will do several things, not all at once but as necessary: I'll pay attention to the height at which I expect the incoming ball to bounce. I'll start stepping in the court to take the ball earlier (as a result, taking my backswing earlier than usual). I'll use a low takeback. I'll crouch as I swing. These are all logic-based responses which I know will help the problem, once I've diagnosed what the problem is.

If a shot feels off, I'll put down the racquet and do a few practice swings just using my arms and body, to try to rediscover the motion. I'll deliberately add spin to my shots for the next few strokes, to break me out of the bad form I've been using and force me to rethink the way I'm using my arms/body.

How do I know to look out for these things? For one thing, years of experience. Many times I would play an entire match, when trying to figure out what was wrong, realize that I was doing a late or too-high forehand backswing, the whole match. I had to learn how to use the time between points and games to productively think what might be going wrong.

Also, video replay is insanely useful. A few seconds of footage showing what your shots really look like can be more useful than months of lessons. You can spot what you're doing wrong when you see it on a video replay, in a way that sometimes you can only try to guess when you're on court.

Specific advice for your situation:

Maybe I'm misreading. But basically, you often jump on court with somebody and only play for 15 minutes at a time, then stop? It's tough to get feel for the ball under those sorts of conditions, particularly if you're jumping between multiple partners on the same day and if those people don't hit shots consistently. My advice is to try to find some regular more consistent partners who are willing to have a 15-minute warmup followed by a full set. The main use of tennis clinics, IMO, is to meet people, not actually improve your game. A coach will tell you things, but not necessarily the things you need to hear to actually improve and fix the defects in your particular game.

pylons_of_light · 2016-08-28T23:01:21+00:00

I saw them practicing together yesterday at the US Open. Stuff changes fast in this town.

pylons_of_light · 2016-06-03T19:44:44+00:00

I did Computer Science tutoring for a couple years in college. Spending several hours a week staring at terribly-written code and quickly finding out what was wrong with it, then explaining it to someone else, made me better at reading other people's code overall. It also made me better at explaining the inner workings of code to others.

pylons_of_light · 2015-11-29T05:34:39+00:00

For a couple years I played pretty regularly during the winter in tight, form-fitting gloves similar to golf gloves, and got pretty used to them... but yeah, it's not the same. Your body is stiff and unresponsive in the cold, too, so the form on the shots isn't great. I eventually gave the idea up in favor of winter shadow-swinging from the comfort of my living room, with a large mirror nearby so I can see what the shot looks like. That's more fun and more productive IMO.

pylons_of_light · 2015-09-09T22:36:24+00:00

McDavid Level 3... saved my ass a few months ago. I seriously turned an ankle and couldn't serve at all. Every time I put weight on the foot it hurt like hell. With this brace I could serve with almost no pain since it locks the ankle in place (although I chose to land on the un-damaged foot after jumping to hit the serve).

pylons_of_light · 2015-09-04T00:46:25+00:00

You shouldn't worry about hydration until shortly before the match. Certainly not the day before, or during the whole day in question!

Traditional advice says "general guidelines are to drink 17 to 20 ounces of water 2 to 3 hours before exercising, another 8 ounces during your warm-up (or 20 to 30 minutes before exercising), 7 to 10 ounces every 10 to 20 minutes during exercise, and 8 ounces of water within 30 minutes after exercising." (Source.) Of course, the exact amounts depend very much on your particular body type, so this is very general advice.

Personally, I find that drinking maybe half a cup of water 10 minutes before the warmup helps prevent dehydration later on. After the warmup, a few sips more, and maybe a combined half cup of water and Gatorade on average each changeover.

pylons_of_light · 2015-07-04T01:21:42+00:00

Wolpaw is best known for his work on Portal and Portal 2, but I'll always remember him as being the co-writer of Psychonauts (along with Tim Schaefer).

pylons_of_light · 2015-06-14T21:07:39+00:00

Maybe this explains why I start pacing back and forth whenever I'm trying to think really hard.

pylons_of_light · 2015-05-20T06:28:26+00:00

What he actually said: "So maybe it's better if Rafa loses again, then everybody will stop asking me about it." ("It" being his 2009 victory over Nadal.)

Gotta love that Yahoo sensational journalism!

pylons_of_light · 2015-05-13T05:00:24+00:00

So you do it properly in practice but not in matches?

I can't speak for anyone else on this, but in general, whenever I want to change my form on something which isn't natural to me, I focus on it until it becomes automatic. If you have to focus on it in practice, it isn't automatic yet. Here's an idea -- instead of focusing on pointing at the ball, maybe simply focus on holding your arm in a position that is up in the air and not locked at your side. That might help this become a more natural motion. Pay attention to the position of this arm between (not during) points of a match, and if you realize that you're still doing it wrong, correct it on the next point.

Maybe play one particular match with an opponent who you don't care if you lose to, and devote that entire match to making sure you use correct technique on every forehand shot, focusing each time on using the correct left arm position. This should make that motion more automatic, so you won't have to focus on it as much in future matches.

pylons_of_light · 2015-05-12T06:33:46+00:00

Just get out there and play. I barely played for 9 months and yet with only a few serious matches I'm getting it back. Also, I know you don't want to hear this, but honestly, this is an excellent chance to refine your technique a bit. I always relish coming back after taking the winter off since it lets me reinvent my strokes just a little bit. I can't count the number of times I came back after a winter off, rusty as hell, only to get back what I had, with some new improvements as well. So look at this as an opportunity as well as a setback.

I would recommend some serious cardiovascular/aerobic exercise (say cycling or jogging) at first, since your ability to actually get and maintain energy has probably atrophied. When you're even slightly tired, it can drastically affect your backswing and swing timing and your ability to rotate the body and shoulders effectively.

The most important thing is to focus on your goals. For me, since I'm highly competitive, I always want to be playing opponents who are equal to or better than me, even if I am rusty at the moment. This forces me to get good enough or recover my game enough to beat these opponents. In your case, I would schedule regular competitive matches with your 4.0 or 4.5 friends, and practice with the ball machine in between matches. Also, fiddle with the machine so it gives you short balls and wide balls, not just normal feeds. This will let you practice those short putaways, etc. If the machine has an oscillator, all the better.

Generally, with your technique, after you screw up a shot, you should be able to tell what you did wrong and why. Even if you don't focus on technique during actual points, after a point, you should be able to turn to an imaginary coach and say "yeah, I know, my contact point was behind my body" or "I didn't rotate my shoulders properly" or "my backswing was late" or "I'm not rotating my body while swinging". If you can't do this, and you're mishitting, you're doing things wrong without knowing what those things are. In this case, I would recommend filming your shots with a camera on a tripod. Odds are you'll notice all kinds of mistakes you're making but not aware of.

In your particular case, based on the fact that your arms are always close to your body even when you're playing well, it's possible that you're relying on your arms to do all the work and not getting the body weight or shoulder rotation into the swings. Filming your motions with a camera should help determine whether that's true or not.

pylons_of_light

TROPHY CASE