Mixed Doubles Dilemma

After playing men's doubles exclusively for the last ten years, I have recently started playing some mixed doubles again.  I played competitive mixed doubles in high school and a couple of times on a USTA league long ago. Now that I am older, I am struggling with playing against a female opponent. I feel guilty hitting some of my heavier shots in the direction of the lady. I even find myself slowing down my serve against the lady if I see she is struggling with the return. I have always been instructed to go through my opponent in doubles which means you must hit right at the women. I have been reluctant to do so. In fact I feel guilty, even when my mixed partner tells me to do it. Apparently, it is the strategy to pick on the women. I have heard players say that mixed is fun but what is fun about picking on a lady on a tennis court? I feel that the levels are not equal in ability but that is how the USTA has structured the league. From what I can tell a 3.5 lady has about the same ability as a 3.0 man, and so on. Maybe if the format were different, then the ladies would not always be the weaker players.

 I should mention that one of my last mixed USTA matches long ago, ended with the lady retiring from the match.  A hard shot hit her racquet and deflected to hit her in the face. The ball was just hit with pace and she reached for it. Her contact lens ended up cutting her eye. She also busted a blood vessel in her eye. Her eye was actually bleeding and she went to the hospital that night to make sure it was OK. Here eye was hurting her pretty bad and she was crying tears and blood when she left. After this, you can see why I struggle with mixed. She simply misjudged the pace and spin on the ball. She was simply trying to play above her level.

Please comment with your thoughts. I am competitive and I just have a hard time motivating myself to go out a pick on a lady every Sunday. Ladies, I have heard you say ,"this is what we signed up for."  I find that hard to believe.  I just feel like a jerk hitting aces and hard shots at the girls. Hitting a ball and then feeling guilty deep down is not fun. Hopefully, some mixed doubles players can comment.

Stringly Speaking

I am constantly being teased by members of my team on how often (or actually how infrequent) I string my rackets. I have three identical tennis rackets and I strung them all at the exact same tension, with the exact same type of string. Two of the rackets were strung on the same day, the other one was strung at a different time because of when it was purchased.  

Whenever I play, I switch rackets after every set regardless of how close the match is, how well or how poorly I am playing.  I have told myself that I don’t want to become psychologically dependent on either racket. They are identical in almost every way possible including the grip on them.  I have played with/against people who say, “I serve better with racket A, but my ground strokes (or volleys) are better with racket B”. I even played doubles against a guy once who returned serve with one racket, then would switch rackets when his partner was returning serve because he volleyed better with the other racket then went back to the first racket when he returned serve again; that was crazy! 

I don’t know much about types of strings or how to string a racket; I often hear guys talking about the types of strings they use; how they use one type going one way and another type going the other way. I’ve heard terms such as gauge, nylon, polyester, multifilament, hybrids, main strings, and cross strings. I also don’t know if my switching of rackets every set is also extending the life of my strings, because they don’t break as frequently as some of my teammates’ racket strings break. So, how long have I had the strings on my racket? The stringing info stickers on the two rackets I strung at the same time say 01-03-2011 the other says 02-02-2012 (my wife says I’m just cheap). I haven’t noticed any deterioration in their performance and I did pretty well in the league this season, so I guess it doesn’t affect my play. I often joke that my strings are just now breaking in! 

So, let’s get some feedback on your racket strings. Do you guys change them regularly whether you think they need changing or not? How long do your strings “last” before you notice deterioration in their performance? Do you only change them when they break? Are you particular about the types of strings you use? Do you use one type going one way and another type going the other way? Let’s hear from you guys.