Des represented Rhodesia at international level in cricket, field hockey and tennis. He commentated for television on Davis Cup tennis and Zimbabwe’s international  cricket matches for 15 years until leaving for the United States in 1999.

Happy Thanksgiving!

56 players played in the Family Challenge which was won by Mark and Matthew Branaman. Jeff, Sarah, Mark and August Rodefeld competed in the event. My thanks to IRC Pro Shop for, once again, donating the prizes.

Here are some ideas for staying in the moment during pressure situations and for keeping your concentration during the entire duration of the match.

Be PERFORMANCE DRIVEN rather than result driven. Avoid focusing only on winning as this puts you under too much pressure!

SET appropriate and achievable GOALS and ensure that your level of expectation is not too high

Avoid adopting a perfectionist mentality and allow yourself a reasonable margin for error – play the percentage game! Strive for excellence (not perfection!) and be patient – give yourself a chance to win!

To be mentally tough and stay in the moment in pressure situations during the game, you need confidence in your ability to win the match – accompanied by strong self belief when it comes down to the wire – knowing that you can beat your opponent in the “big” points of the match!

Stay calm and do not panic when your opponent is pressurising you and you are down in the match. Control your frustration and do not pout! You must believe that you can recover and fight back to win the match.

Focus on one point at a time – do not get ahead of yourself in your thoughts and visualisation and stay in the present moment! VISUALISE SUCCESS! Cast out negative thoughts of failure.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS is a player’s ability to stay calm and focused and to stick to his or her game plan when experiencing pressure. If you panic you will lose the “thread” of your game plan. It goes without saying that you must have a flexible (adaptable) game plan – which is usually based on utilising your weapons and strengths and on exploiting your opponent’s weaknesses.

MATCH TOUGHNESS comes from playing tournament matches regularly and learning to be comfortable with the pressure of  competitive matches and situations. Don’t fear failure and do not forget the challenge of the sport. You have got to be in it to win it!

LEARN from your losses and always practise as though you are playing in a match – with high intensity and commitment.

All CHAMPIONS love to compete. They relish the challenge of beating their opponent and accept that losses are part of the game that they love to play. Losing a match unexpectedly is not the end of the world. You have to “pick up the pieces” quickly, recover mentally and move on to the next match or challenge.

Have FUN by giving it your best shot – and being the best that you can possibly be relative to your potential. Good luck!

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

CREATING A WINNING CULTURE – THE DES EVANS WAY! Players strive for excellence while working hard to develop such COMPLEX TENNIS TECHNIQUES as the “kick” 2nd serve, the dropshot, backhand slice and the “killer” putaway forehand.            

                            

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One week apart on the calendar – Happy birthday to Stace and to Gareth on 12th and 19th November respectively!! I am very proud of you!

With love and best wishes, Dad                                  

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                              

 

 

 

 

 

Have a good one – and many, many more!! Keep safe.

With love, Dad

Bryan brothers and Novak Djokovic favorites to take World Championship titles. Can Rafa, Fed or Andy Murray surprise Djokovic and steal the prestigious year end World Championships coming up in London? Who is your money on?

Plenty about tennis and my background in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)

 

 

                        

                                                            

                                                              

•  Avoid taking racquet back behind left ear – not as far back as regular backhand slice
• Lead with bottom edge of racquet – open the face more  to play a low volley 
•  Step across  with the right foot – if you have time!
• Bend knees for low volleys – avoid dropping racquet below the wrist
• Use a short punching swing to contact point – leading with back of right hand
• Contact point slightly  in front and to left side – finish with short follow-through parallel to net
• Avoid slicing excessively – chopping down on the ball

My nephew Dale Benkenstein scored 33 and 63 in the final match against Worcestershire  to take his run total to 1353 in 16 LV= Division One County Championship matches at an average of 61.5 runs – including 4 hundreds and 9 fifties. Also breaks the Durham all-time  first class record of 7854 runs on 29th June with 83 and 60 against Lancashire.  Durham ended up finishing 3rd behind Warwickshire and 2011 Champions Lancashire!

*This does not include  308 runs in Clydesdale Bank limited overs series including 82 in semi-final against Somerset

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dale’s wife Jacqui was a Springbok field

hockey player – a talented sporting family!                                                          

 

 

                                                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                   

    

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

                                                                                         

                

 

                                                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                  

Novak, Serena and Nadal all recovering from injuries. Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova both won in Cincinnati. I would like Federer to win one more Grand Slam – but it will be a tough task!

Former Zimbabwean Miles Maclagan has left German Philipp Kohlschreiber and is now coaching Marcos Baghdatis on the ATP Tour

 For more under-spin on your backhand slice, the take-back should be above the left shoulder

                                                                                               

For Increased Power and Early Recovery on Wide Shots

 

Load on the right foot and use a semi-open stance to hit a high percentage shot crosscourt. For early recovery crossover with the right foot

 

Sharapova plays Kvitova whilst Nadal does battle with Djokovic. Kvitova overcomes Sharapova to win her first Wimbledon title. I think that Rafa has a slight edge against Djokovic – but it promises to be a very exciting contest!