In training last week, I placed six skittles around the court. (See right hand picture.) I threw one ball at each skittle and tried to get it to stop just before it. The aim of this exercise is to work on the accuracy of my throws. If the ball goes past the skittle I’m aiming for then the ball is out, and I have to move on to the next one. It makes me focus on the power of my shots, as well as my aim. This may seem like an easy exercise, but for me, it is really difficult to tone down my power for short distances and dial it back up for longer shots. I had two attempts at this exercise. My aim was really good both times, but I struggled to always get my power right for the longer shots.

I then took the back three skittles away so I could work on my short game. I had two balls to throw at each skittle now. I positioned my chair further back in the box because this would help with my power. I think it went quite well even if a couple of balls went out of court. It’s a training session; it’s not supposed to go perfectly, so people keep telling me.

Next, I placed the jack on the cross in the of middle court to once again practice a tie break situation. It was slightly different to the previous week as I was training on my own. I was really happy with my first attempt at this because 5 out of 6 balls didn’t go past the jack and 3 of them landed very close to it. That was the best I had ever done it. (See photo below.) Unfortunately, by my second attempt, I was getting tired, so it didn’t go quite as well.

I decided that it was time to call it a day as I was getting tired, but all in all, it was another good training session.