Switching up
Ok, so last time I checked in I indicated that I had won both of that morning's racquetball games, but that my body was really paying for it. Of most significant concern was my left hip and my left shoulder. And really I was only concerned about my shoulder, that the soreness was perhaps more of the repetitive stress variety and less of the muscle-building type. (I've been playing every Tuesday and Thursday for a while. Anyone have an opinion as to whether five days of non-use of a particular muscle leads to soreness every time you resume exercising it, even if it's on a weekly basis?)
Anyway, I was still sore enough on Thursday morning that I decided to take a drastic step, perhaps more drastic than just canceling for the day. I played both games with my right hand! (And yes, you surmise correctly, I am lefthanded.) And get this-- I almost won the second game! We served back and forth maybe four or five times with the score at 14-14. (I discovered from my perusal of the official rules of racquetball the other day that in non-professional play, a two-point lead is not required to win a game.) He had won the first game something like 15-6.
I scored so well against him-- in both games, really; keep in mind that he shut me out not too long ago when I was playing with my good arm-- that I initially felt that I should allow him a sort of handicap in my own mind, to account for the disorientation of being served to from the other side of the court. But don't you think, then, that he would have done *better* in the second game, not worse, as he adapted to this? I don't know.
In any event, between the fact that as of Tuesday I had won 7 out of the last 8 eight games, and the fact that I very nearly beat him with my bad hand yesterday, I feel as though I no longer have anything to prove. So I think I'm going to stop keeping track of our ongoing win/loss record.
One more note about this, and I'd be interested to hear others' experiences or secondhand knowledge about it: exercising somewhat intensively with the less-skilled side of my body for 45 minutes or so had a curious effect on me, for roughly the next 45 minutes. It's difficult to describe, but as I drove home I felt almost as if I was in a different body. I was driving exactly correctly, right foot on the gas, left foot at the ready near the clutch, more or less normal speed, but I had frequent flashes of *unsureness* that my hands and feet were doing precisely what I wanted them to do. And despite this "unsureness", I felt quite tranquil. Anyway-- obviously I'm inclined to think that the use of my right side had something to do with it. I think I'm going to switch more regularly, and see how it affects me.
Anyway, I was still sore enough on Thursday morning that I decided to take a drastic step, perhaps more drastic than just canceling for the day. I played both games with my right hand! (And yes, you surmise correctly, I am lefthanded.) And get this-- I almost won the second game! We served back and forth maybe four or five times with the score at 14-14. (I discovered from my perusal of the official rules of racquetball the other day that in non-professional play, a two-point lead is not required to win a game.) He had won the first game something like 15-6.
I scored so well against him-- in both games, really; keep in mind that he shut me out not too long ago when I was playing with my good arm-- that I initially felt that I should allow him a sort of handicap in my own mind, to account for the disorientation of being served to from the other side of the court. But don't you think, then, that he would have done *better* in the second game, not worse, as he adapted to this? I don't know.
In any event, between the fact that as of Tuesday I had won 7 out of the last 8 eight games, and the fact that I very nearly beat him with my bad hand yesterday, I feel as though I no longer have anything to prove. So I think I'm going to stop keeping track of our ongoing win/loss record.
One more note about this, and I'd be interested to hear others' experiences or secondhand knowledge about it: exercising somewhat intensively with the less-skilled side of my body for 45 minutes or so had a curious effect on me, for roughly the next 45 minutes. It's difficult to describe, but as I drove home I felt almost as if I was in a different body. I was driving exactly correctly, right foot on the gas, left foot at the ready near the clutch, more or less normal speed, but I had frequent flashes of *unsureness* that my hands and feet were doing precisely what I wanted them to do. And despite this "unsureness", I felt quite tranquil. Anyway-- obviously I'm inclined to think that the use of my right side had something to do with it. I think I'm going to switch more regularly, and see how it affects me.
posted by Joel GL at 3:09 PM
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