WINE-TASTING AUTHOR

I have received a message from a member who has already published a book on wine called, 'Corkscrewed'. He is American, Robert Camuto, who you may have seen on the courts, when he is not travelling around vineyards in France & Italy, writing about what he is eating & drinking. He also visits Sicily looking for traces of his ancestry. Interesting recitals of his gastronomic journeys are often published in the 'Washington Post', & you may consult these on-line on his website along with the occasional video showing him visiting vineyards & tasting their products.

He tells me has now published another book on his passions for vineyards & wines, but this time in French (His wife, Gelda is French & born in this area.) In case all this whets your appetite to know more, Robert's message to me gives the following details for perusal, & possible acquisition of a signed copy of this latest publication.

The simple ceremony will be held in the nearby bookshop of Pré-du-Lac, next Saturday morning from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm. The event will be all the more convivial by the presence of another member & wine-bibber ; none other than our Michel Piffaretti, who of course will be offering the annual wine-tasting of the Beaujolais nouveau.

If the prospect of having to read a whole book in French seems daunting to some of you, my suggestion is that this may be just the Christmas present the most appropriate for some dear friend.

The bookshop-café in Pré-du-Lac is on the road to Grasse, near a bakery. See you there perhaps.

SMASHES

I promised to write about smashes in your doubles games: so here is a description of the technique, with photos. The demonstrations are kindly provided by the teacher Franck, Captain of the Men's First Team (right-hander); and First Team player & Breton, Yann-Vari (left-hander).

The main points to note are:

1. Immediately in position under the falling ball, with front shoulder towards the net, the racquet head should be well back behind the head.

2. Watching the ball very carefully, the racquet is projected with fully extended arm, to meet the ball.

3. The follow-through of this stroke normally ends on the other side of the body to the hit, with a breaking of the wrist to bring the ball down well into the court.

4. Although this point is not demonstrated in these photos, we lesser mortals are helped in concentrating on the ball, by using the free arm to point directly at the ball until the moment of contact.

In good doubles play, it is a useful tactic with a high ball nearer the net, to smash at an angle, forcing the opponent to have to chase the ball well out of the court. It is often better with lower balls to volley deep down the middle, between the two opponents.

Finally, it is essential to practise smashes during the warm-up, 'to get your eye in'.

Go to it!!

HOW TO PLAY DOUBLES

This morning I was enlisted non-forcibly in the Doubles Jousts of our dear friends, the Ladies Internats (8 different nationalities among 10 last time, American Captain, Judy-the-Tallest). I was against Scottish Loic & Dutch René-la-Grande, as for some reason, I'd asked to play with Jane-the-English. (Can't stand the English in general.)

We started off pretty well, & it seemed we were going to have an easy win: it was me to serve. I noticed, with some consternation, that my dear partner was standing in the best position to avoid all balls that were not in her small quarter of the court. Well perhaps she's just bluffing I thought: she's going to move like greased lightning the moment they lob her. Not on your life! She didn't move a centimetre, and me, anticipating a cross-court return, watched the ball fall far away on the other side. The game went on to a miserable defeat, & I'm pretty sure, if I'd drawn a circle around dear Jane before a point, she would have still been inside that circle after the point was decided.

To tell you the truth, she played very well most of the time this set, & even together with my mistakes, we only lost 3/6; I'm just making my first point :

1. BE MOBILE ! ANTICIPATE WHERE THE BALL IS GOING !

Watching average sociable doubles play, another very common error, is the player who sticks close to the net with partner serving - then remains near to the net - rather like a spare-part.

Moving from one side to another barely helps, & looks rather ridiculous as the poor server runs from side to side recuperating the lobs. Far better to move back to the service line to help cover the whole court! And if the opponents get a good initiative & start smashing...... move right back behind the base-line. Just until you two have returned everything & are ready to move forward volleying. Next rules then......

2. THE CLOSER YOU ARE TO THE NET, THE MORE IMPORTANT IT IS TO HIT A WINNER!

3. MOVE BACK WHEN YOU'VE NOTHING TO HIT! DON'T BE A SPARE PART!

For my second match, I again, without thinking, chose Barbara-the-English! After the first few mistakes, we played pretty well & won our first set 6/3. There was some combined play with quite a lot of volleying & overhead work. This reminds me, that some English are not all that bad, & of further important points about doubles play..........

4. TRY TO SET UP YOUR PARTNER FOR A WINNER!

This often means returning service as a strong ball to an inconvenient place on the back-line,

so that your partner can advance to make a winning volley. There are many other occasions for you to play as a team!

5. ADVANCE TO VOLLEY & BE PREPARED TO PLAY OVERHEAD BALLS!

The alternative is to indulge in cross-court singles in a doubles match........Ugh!

Much better, more exciting, & more attacking, is to make a first long, high return, & then to advance mid-court to give a first, long volley. The second volley or smash depends on your technique - try to practise smashes in the warm-up. (I'll give some description of classic smashes in a later post.)

6. ENJOY YOUR TENNIS! (as I know we all do!)