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fupersly's blog |
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| Hatching My 2-Year Plan |
| 8/8/2014 11:33:20 AM |
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Okay, no more blabbering about the past - for the next two years, I'm all about figuring out my future. Buckle up, because it's going to be a bumpy ride...
For the first time in I don't know how long, I've come back from a tournament not wanting to rest up (although I need to as I've gotten older and my body is out of Air Hockey shape), but wanting go straight back to the table and start working on my game. Even when I was playing a lot, I would take at least 3-4 weeks off after a tournament, although I'm not really sure why - it certainly doesn't seem like the best way to build off of your success or work on shoring up your weaknesses if you take a lot of time away from the table. I suppose you can still be *mentally* involved without playing, but logging consistent table time - alone or against competition - seems like the better way to go.
So, what does that mean for me? It means I'm going to give my hand and arm the rest of this week to heal up, then I plan to hit for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times a week for the next two years. If I can hold to that minimum level of activity, that will equate to just over 150 hours of table time, or a little over 75 hours of table time per year (not counting challenge matches or tournaments, so likely even more than that). That's about 150 hours more than I've trained in the last 3-4 years, so that should be good!
The next question is, what am I going to do with all that time? There are a lot of different things I could choose to work on, but unless I've got a practice partner, working on defense (my biggest weakness) is going to be a problem. Offensively, I know I can do better with keeping possession and improve my transition game, so I'll probably work on that and see if I can do a better job of eliminating turnovers off of missed shots (especially those that aren't deflected by the defense) and really force myself to have a more aggressive posture and mentality on offense.
Lastly, off the table, I really need to get back in some semblance of shape. I don't know exactly how I'm going to accomplish this yet, but it will likely involve a gym and some combination of cardio and weight training, although I may try to incorporate some specific exercises that are more supportive of my Air Hockey movements - squats for better thrusting motions, forearm/tricep work to reduce arm fatigue, and core training to maintain better/more consistent posture. Those three things alone should make a huge difference for me, especially if I can also drop 30-40 pounds in the process.
If you read my previous blog post, a lot of this probably sounds eerily familiar, but I suppose that's good in some ways because it means I haven't gotten too far off track. The difference between then and now is that on top of having identified what I want to do, I've got a detailed plan in mind and some clearly-defined goals to work toward, so it's going to be interesting to see if I can pull this off.
Wish me luck! |
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