Page 21 of Game Point
OLIVER
I still don’t think you need to change your style of play.
DYLAN
Tell me then oh knowledgeable one? What is it I need to do?
OLIVER
Keep your head in the game.
DYLAN
LINK – ‘Getcha Head In The Game’ from The High School Musical Original Sound track
OLIVER
Ha ha very funny.
DYLAN
Well? Maybe the musical stylings of Zac Efron will teach me something.
OLIVER
You don’t need to change how you play. You eat your competition alive.
DYLAN
Why thank you.
OLIVER
But you clearly stumble under the pressure of a final.
If we can fix that … then you can win.
6
Oliver
Friends – Band of Skulls
I swung, the strings of my racket meeting the shot in mid-air, directing it over to the other side of the court. Another followed, and I kept the same backhand slice, matching the pace of the ball machine firing on the opposite side.
The Davis Cup in Manchester was due to kick off the next day, and I was burning off some nervous energy with a bit of late-night practice. The rest of the practice courts were empty, the long room only lit up at my court, the rest in darkness.
Just me, the court and a racket.
I tried to stop my mind from straying to thoughts of the first match tomorrow. I knew my competitor well, had played and beaten him before. But even before New York, something felt off in my playing. My attention was too easily distracted.
Focus. Body side on. Move forward. Elbow bent. Wrist firm. Keep the racket high, 90 degrees. And slice. Hit ball. Reset. Repeat. Focus.
Repeating the motion over and over, I tried to commit it to muscle memory. I was between coaches, not yet able to find somebody I worked well with. Every time we sat down to discuss goals, they had these big ideas of Grand Slam finals and how to work on my footwork.Truthfully, they sounded like they had more ambition than I did.
As I returned another ball I heard my phone, the vibration rattling the frames in my bag, splitting my attention. I tried to fight the urge to check it when another shot fired into the side of my body. With a yelp, I looked across the court at the reloading machine. Finding the remote, I paused the barrage of balls before giving into the urge to check.
DYLAN
