Bill Moldoch - Rest in Peace

I lost a good friend named Bill Moldoch on August 1st, 2015.  Many in the tennis community will know his name.  He was a top national competitor in his age bracket for as long as I knew him.  He chose tennis as his profession because it was a good way to spend his days whether it was teaching, practicing, or playing competitively.   I knew that he had a passion for many sports and activities such as golf, and Jet Skiing, but above all was his devotion to Tennis as a way of life.

I got to know Bill when he hired me for a tennis pro job at Big Vanilla Athletic Club in Arnold, Maryland back in 2008.  He was the Head Pro there and I knew of him by name and excellent reputation but hadn't yet met him.  Over the next five years he became one of my best friends and someone I enjoyed talking to regularly while we took care of the work of running a tennis program that unfortunately was being scaled back as fitness programs took precedence for court space. We'd go out to lunch often and talk tennis, office politics, and just laugh about whatever new situation presented itself in the local tennis scene, and of course we'd talk about the latest tournament results for professional tennis.

Bill was a Federer Fan foremost as with most discerning tennis watchers, and he lived for watching great tennis matches.  I could talk with him about tennis matches and tennis history going back into the early 1970s and he could recite it all.  He could do it with credibility since he was a top national tennis competitor in his age bracket for all the years I knew him.

Having Bill as a hitting partner was a lesson in precision.  We'd go through the routine of hitting all the strokes and one thing I always came away with was how much focus was needed to stay with him in any aspect of playing.  He was fierce on the court in a disciplined and relentless way that seemed so counter to his easy going off court demeanor.  When Bill turned to his competitive mode on the court it became obvious that he was there to win, not at all cost though,  because I have never met anyone who didn't respect his sportsmanlike attitude whether winning or losing.  He had a universal great reputation for integrity, honesty, and fair play among his peers.  For his students I have to say he set a perfect example on how to conduct oneself.

Finally, Bill was a person with a strong sense of honesty and fairness.  He also held the ability to maintain his dignity throughout his battle with cancer.  When I spoke to him about how he was doing he held much of his struggle in reserve and it became clear that he was fighting this challenge with the same quiet tenacity his opponents on the court  learned to know and respect.  I'll miss him and so will the tennis community who knew him.

Bill Modoch - Rest in Peace

Make Your Serve Practice a Routine Much like Walking

Tennis players don't need to take walks for exercise or relaxation.  Instead of taking a walk I'd suggest you go to the tennis players version of the daily walk by taking to the court by yourself with a ball hopper full of tennis  balls.  Your standard 75 ball capacity hopper usually only holds 65 balls with the lid shut down on it so here is my suggestion.

Stand it up back toward the fence and proceed to serve to your target zones in the serve box.  After each round of serving four balls which is how many I usually hold in my hand for practice you can then do another round of drop and hit forehands and backhands.  The point of this is to make it an exercise both physical by movement and to also focus on your precision.  There is no stress to be found in this drill since even if you miss your objective per shot you are moving forward toward your goal of hitting a set number of balls per outing.  I usually make the goal to go through a minimum of 4 baskets or approximately 260 balls

For Tennis players this is a better alternative than just a walk down the walking path since you can get exercise and at the same time improve your skills.  I find it as peaceful as meditation.