We were up early and had a good breakfast before getting to the courts at 8:15, Mark and I decided to show up a bit early and hit. In back of the old Gym we could hear someone hitting on the wall. It was Mr. B…he didn’t see us and we were able to watch him hit. He’s very good; hitting ball after ball to the exact same place on the wall. He didn’t have to move at all and he hit dead center each time, it was impressive.
The adults were a bit slow getting to the courts; a bunch had gone to the track last night down in West Virginia. They didn’t get back until midnight, but it sounds like they had a good time. Mr. B says he made about 150.00.
The lecture was really good. Mr. B talked about approach shots. He says that any short shot should be attacked and approach shots should be hit deep down the line. He says on the forehand side it should be topspin, on the backhand side it should be under spin. The demo was amazing.
Late yesterday Mr. B went to Haggerstown and picked up a new counselor. The guys name is Xavier Combe from Paris, France. He is swarthy and slender with piercing eyes and a hook nose just like Charles Degalle. When I saw him in the dorm he was walking around with drum sticks and a practice pad. He’s a very good drummer. I haven’t seen him play tennis yet. I talked briefly with him and his English is perfect, no accent at all.
Mr. B says 10 new counselors will be coming in for the regular sessions that start on Sunday. Mr. B says he has 105 signed up…with 18 counselors that’s 8 or 9 kids per court…that’s a lot of hard work…that means a lot of drilling.
We worked with the adults most of the morning on the approach. I would hit them two deep balls and then hit a short ball on the T, they would come up and hit the approach and take the net. It was a fun drill and they loved it, I got lots of great hitting in. In the afternoon we played matches with half the adults playing singles and the rest played doubles. We were able to play doubles when needed and the afternoon went fast.
I hit with Lenny after we were through. It was scorching hot, 85 degrees with very high humidity, I was soaking wet. Lenny hits every shot picture perfect with perfect form…he’s impressive. I was able to stay with him but he slipped by me and won 6-4, 7-5, I had the feeling in the set that I would have to play perfect to win. Im not there yet on clay; nevertheless it came down to a couple of service returns.
Lenny and I walked back to the dorms, then across the street to Tibbits Hall where the girls are all bunked. We talked to Pat and Chris Russell-Vick. Chris is the cutest gal from England and has a delightful accent. In the lobby they have a piano and Lenny sat down and played for an hour straight. He is the best piano player, he played Elton John, Barry Manilow, he brought his own sheet music and can play anything. I was singing along and turning the pages, it was fun.
I showered and ran into Tom Sheridan, he said he wanted to run into Haggerstown reasoning that when the kids come to camp we won't have the chance to go out and have a beer so we made good use of the time. We called those girls we met last weekend. So Mark Solomon, Ken Feinberg, Tom, Mark S. and I piled in.
We met the girls at this bar called the Plantation and danced the night away. My friend Brenda looked fabulous and she was kissing on me on the dance floor. Kenny teased me all the way back home, I just smiled. We pulled in around midnight, some of the adults were still up partying. We were so tired we just crashed.
The adults were a bit slow getting to the courts; a bunch had gone to the track last night down in West Virginia. They didn’t get back until midnight, but it sounds like they had a good time. Mr. B says he made about 150.00.
The lecture was really good. Mr. B talked about approach shots. He says that any short shot should be attacked and approach shots should be hit deep down the line. He says on the forehand side it should be topspin, on the backhand side it should be under spin. The demo was amazing.
Late yesterday Mr. B went to Haggerstown and picked up a new counselor. The guys name is Xavier Combe from Paris, France. He is swarthy and slender with piercing eyes and a hook nose just like Charles Degalle. When I saw him in the dorm he was walking around with drum sticks and a practice pad. He’s a very good drummer. I haven’t seen him play tennis yet. I talked briefly with him and his English is perfect, no accent at all.
Mr. B says 10 new counselors will be coming in for the regular sessions that start on Sunday. Mr. B says he has 105 signed up…with 18 counselors that’s 8 or 9 kids per court…that’s a lot of hard work…that means a lot of drilling.
We worked with the adults most of the morning on the approach. I would hit them two deep balls and then hit a short ball on the T, they would come up and hit the approach and take the net. It was a fun drill and they loved it, I got lots of great hitting in. In the afternoon we played matches with half the adults playing singles and the rest played doubles. We were able to play doubles when needed and the afternoon went fast.
I hit with Lenny after we were through. It was scorching hot, 85 degrees with very high humidity, I was soaking wet. Lenny hits every shot picture perfect with perfect form…he’s impressive. I was able to stay with him but he slipped by me and won 6-4, 7-5, I had the feeling in the set that I would have to play perfect to win. Im not there yet on clay; nevertheless it came down to a couple of service returns.
Lenny and I walked back to the dorms, then across the street to Tibbits Hall where the girls are all bunked. We talked to Pat and Chris Russell-Vick. Chris is the cutest gal from England and has a delightful accent. In the lobby they have a piano and Lenny sat down and played for an hour straight. He is the best piano player, he played Elton John, Barry Manilow, he brought his own sheet music and can play anything. I was singing along and turning the pages, it was fun.
I showered and ran into Tom Sheridan, he said he wanted to run into Haggerstown reasoning that when the kids come to camp we won't have the chance to go out and have a beer so we made good use of the time. We called those girls we met last weekend. So Mark Solomon, Ken Feinberg, Tom, Mark S. and I piled in.
We met the girls at this bar called the Plantation and danced the night away. My friend Brenda looked fabulous and she was kissing on me on the dance floor. Kenny teased me all the way back home, I just smiled. We pulled in around midnight, some of the adults were still up partying. We were so tired we just crashed.
1 comment:
This is a photo of the great Xavier. He was one of the most respected counselors because he never complained, had an amazing sense of humor and great organizational skills. He also played great on clay, he could beat just about anybody.
He came out to Idaho in 1978 and visited, I havnt talked to him lately but I know he's a famous jazz musician...
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