as the topic presents itself- what do you like to do and why?
used to enjoy crab rings every 10-15 min… until i got good at fishing rods with active snares…
wayyyyy more fun and engaging. throw it out wait 5 min-
see some nibbles- reel them in.
imo this is the best way to crab even if it’s sorta hit and miss on taking keepers home. what’s your favorite and why?
I dunno what happened. Was going along the season just fine but one day pulling up a pot...and the next morning- explosion of back pain.
Does ergonomics go a long way with crabbing? If so- whats the bigger culprit- pulling pots or fishing with a snare?
My back hurts.
Late 30's old player plagued with injuries from grinding like Nadal.
Tore my big toe at 35- out for 6 months- with nagging injuries that flare up.
Tennis elbow at 34 when I first started playing- no more flareups.
Peroneal tendinopathy- out for 1-2 months with flareups.
What I've learned to accept is to play for fun and yes- to even let- balls go that I "could" get but don't due to risk of injury and most likely the point is over - even if I get it.
Hit more first strike tennis- and accept that I'll try for a winner and its either in or out.
But letting go of "every point matters" "run every ball down" has been cathartic. I've finally crossed the threshhold of I must win- to lets have fun- try to win- but also walk off not injured.
Win or lose- as long as I play "my game" and not push back- I'm happy with a win or loss.
It took me 5 years to get to this point. My ego is now left at the door and not on the court. I don't care anymore- and its freeing!
A list:
My pms software increasing prices yearly some crazy amount like 10%
My water dispenser increasing prices 20% (even though its relatively cheap like 12$ for 5 G distilled water- its now 15$)
My 401k provider increasing costs to be a TPA 10-20%
My supplies all up across the board
My IT guy renewal contract is up 7% year over year- and he made me sign a contract meaning its no long "hourly use" but rather doesn't matter if I use him or not- I'm paying him 1500 every quarter. It used to be "as needed" hourly.
My payroll provider up 5-10%
I really can't even keep track of everything anymore but it feels like EVERYTHING from your lab to your bills to your 401k tpa, to your software, to your sharps disposal, to your IT guy everyone is just increasing prices not like 1-2% but rather some crazy 5-10-20%. Like stupid amounts.
I've already made of list for 2026-27 conversions of decreasing costs:
Change payroll provider by end of the year to Gusto, Change 401k admin to American Funds, Buy bottled water from grocery store, net32/safco for supplies, drop my IT guy once I find someone good enough to replace him.
Dropped insurance plans, and also raised my fees.
But I feel like I'm on a treadmill of barrage of constant "raising" of costs and the in network reimbursments are not keeping up.
I make good money- and I'm happy but hey man- it's annoying as F to deal with this constant crazy raises. It feels like I'm getting fleeced and that the raises are not reflective of inflation.
As the topic asks. I had a rough day yesterday clinically with a patient.
To put into context- patient wanted 6-11 veneers done. Very nice patient prior but when I said no- you need to see specialist for these- became extremely irate. Demanded my license number and said they were going to report me to the board because I refused to do it. Literally jotted down my board number in front of me and said they were going to file that same day.
It happened so quickly that I was like woah dude why did your attitude change so much.
I cant figure it out, but I've never had a complaint- and I know nothing will come from it- however it did affect my pysche.
It sucks to be a "nice" dentist and do the best for your patients and then get rammed with some nonsense like this.
Whats your worst patient scenario and what happened?
I own my practice for 10+ years. Practice runs on autopilot.
Schedule is 2 hygienists with 16 hygiene checks, and in my own column- I see about 3-5 patients a day. Slow day is 3 patients, average day is 5 patients, busy day is 7+ patients. Average day is 1-2 crowns with 1-2 fillings and maybe a seat or two.
Today I have 16 hygiene checks and 5 patients. 6 of them fillings, 1 of them crown.
I have about 3 hours on my schedule of nothing to do. Not really looking at growing the practice. I make about 400k+ a year so I'm happy with where I'm at and my debts are all paid off, and I have a large nest egg growing in stock market. So more money and more work is something I don't care for.
Trying to figure out what to do in office? I've been looking into gaming like diablo 3 or world of warcraft. TFT's current set sucks so thats outa the question. Maybe try everquest legends? FFXIV new expansion looks good- maybe gear up for that?
But I dunno. How do you pass the time?
Coming off a ligament/tendon tear and its just taking forever and a day to get better.
No it doesn't need surgery but I can't play tennis without getting pain and I know to stop. I can bike, walk, swim, even do squats on affected leg...but when I plant and twist to push off- pain. Doc says its peroneal tendon inflammation.
Any stories out there how long it takes for these kind of injuries to heal and whats the best case of action?
From what I read online- time and time again its just tape it up- wait 4-6 weeks, do light eccentric loading and hope it heals.
And if you come back to early- you reset the progress over and over again.
What's been your injury and your experience?
I sometimes scroll through tik tok and instagram and I see docs that have just graduated rolling around in M3's, Porsches, and showing a "day in their life" in their penthouse/practice.
I know social media can be deceiving, but what on earth is going on here. Are there new grads really doing that well with their practices? Any of yall riding around in a Porsche 911? I don't think I can reasonably afford one til like mid 40s.
Every other post on reddit or other social media forums are dentists that seemingly want to retire by 40-50. There are grand plans about how to invest or exit plans.
But the data shows differently- many dentists retire later into 60s
Why is the data different and why are so many dentists on social media gung-ho about quitting a job that they worked 10 years to get into?
And how on earth are you retiring so early with today’s debt loads of 500K+.
I feel like we go through the same old song and dance regarding whether dentistry is facing a crisis.. and whether it’s not.
The data sets from ADA show continued pressure on margins and lower takehome.
In my practice, I see and feel it but i’m always met with the answer online : you are doing it wrong, i’m doing better then ever, writeoffs distort takehome, dentistry is the best and it is what you put into it”
But the data says it is cooked. For the average associate and average owner- what is the actual trend?
Should i be saving money to anticipate early retirement or are you guys looking for many more prosperous doing better then ever years?
Age is catching up to me. Almost 40, and I feel it.
Random injuries starting to occur, and having to really lift weights, condition my body, and rest/recovery helping but not "stopping" injuries.
I am facing reality that I cannot no longer keep up with 20-30 year olds. I know there will be people on here that say I'm 45 and can beat a 20 year old.
That's great and I don't care. You are def an outlier and just wait- you will stretch hard to a forehand and pull a tendon/ligament and be out for a few months or you will do your usual first serve- jump into the court and hear a pop from your knee and be hobbling for the next 2 months. The 20 year old kid will walk it off like nothing happened.
I've changed my game to more "first strike" tennis and also anticipation/commitiing. I stop grinding tennis because I can't keep up.
But with this latest injury- I'm sorta over it.
Tired of it.
When did you throw the towel in and go to doubles?
And what is that plan? and at what age?
multiple practice package sell to private equity?
practice and invest in sp500?
never own and be an associate paying things down?
it feels like with today’s debt load- that retirement is very far away.
I'm not talking about your USTA rating. I mean the point where you could honestly say, 'That's a legitimate 4.0–4.5 stroke'—one you could hit under pressure in matches, not just in practice.
How many years of consistent practice did each take? What was the biggest breakthrough?
I'll answer first:
Forehand took me about 5 years to get a 4.5 level forehand that I really feel competes well
Serve is a 4.0 that took about 5 years to get there.
My backhand is a 3.5 that really only redirects pace and is a backboard. Its reliable but it lacks the put away power of my forehand.
Something clicked around year 5 for me as an adult learner. My biggest break through was "relaxing the shoulder" and feeling it really "come loose." Everyone says that you need a loose arm, hold the racket lightly etc. That's just really one part of it. If your SHOULDER isn't loose- you are really not hitting a correct forehand/serve.
What about you guys?
You need a good mix of someone that you can beat...someone that is your equal...and someone that is better period. All three provide you feedback on your current game.
If you are dinking second serves in on a monday night against a friend. You are not getting better.
If you are pushing that ball in when its a wide open court and a short ball. You are not getting better.
If you are playing junk because you know your friend just loses to it. You are not getting better.
If you are not approaching because you are plain afraid to lose the point...you are not getting better.
Very common to see players rally well, play practice sets well, but end up losing miserably by getting tight on a usta match. You need to have LADDER or UTR to really get enough matches where you can get comfortable. There is not enough USTA matches to really get comfortable with pressure.
Some clubs are quite frankly closed off...the players are playing with each other and despite your advances to hit with someone better or equal...you just dont get enough reps. You end up hitting with the same old people you beat, and start developing bad habits. Changing clubs to a more open club sometimes it the best remedy if you truely cant get court time with better players
Go to your coach if you want to tweak your forehand. Taking a lesson every week- waste of time. Going to your coach and saying- hey my forehand is missing something- look at it tell me whats wrong- oh ok offhand drops- thanks. try it out for 1-2 months and then revisit coach. Don't just blindly go and spend money on 1 x week aimless lessons.
To many times people play practice matches...and the default response is to default to your comfort level. When you go play a real match- you end up facing people who target your weakness.
Instead of playing practice matches everytime you go and play- DO DRILLS that WORK on your weakness. Congrats- now when you play a match- you no longer have a weakness and are comfortable getting the ball back and into your preferred game.
What are your tips to getting better that is NOT technique wise.
I’ve rejoined a few clubs in my timeline and or hit with partners after a few months to years.
For some reason they have stayed the same if not stagnated.
The levels that i really see this stagnation is mainly:
4.0- don’t have the time or energy to go to 4.5- which i understand
3.5- don’t want to develop a true weapon other then consistency
3.0- just want to keep the ball in
And at the same timeline i’ve seen some players explode in skill. From a dink server to a true explosive serve and so on.
What do you think stagnates players? what is the biggest trap in rec tennis that stagnates players?
As the question states:
I played a match today against a 4.5 player. Every single rally felt like a full on exertion effort. Every reset- I took my time to breathe and get my breath back. No easy points.
Every single rally was high stakes crosscourt and so on- recognize short- move quick to get feet set- put the ball away.
Rinse repeat.
Is it really this tiring or is something going on with me where I'm just overexpending energy?
It feels like a totally different game then versing a 3.5 or 4.0 player.
outdoor tennis is a whole different ballgame. how do you guys manage? is it just have to get your reps in and continue playing outdoors?
indoors is insanely easy. outdoors impossible to gauge a good shot with sound… hard to see where the toss is… hard to read the topspin, etc
What would be your tips for me in my first OPEN tournament. I just saw the draw and this guy looks like D1/futures player.
I am 39 and I can usually outgrind other 4.0s with baseline retriever. My first serves usually hit about 90-100 mph but my second serve is a skidding slice around 60-70 mph.
Currenty strategery options include: junk balling him, moonballing, and or just trying to trade forehands and see if he has an off day.
And no I'm not going to withdraw from this tournmanet. It's my first open and my hope is to get a few games off him and go down 6-4, 6-3 of sorts.
Edit: wow at the comments… so i’m guessing i shouldn’t bring my wife and 2 kids to watch the match… sounds like i will get humbled.
as i’ve gotten better over the years there are a few areas where i see tennis players “give up”
3.0-3.5- the rally stage to game stage- maybe can’t convert those nerves to wins. just give up and stay at 3.0 and enjoy the ride
3.5-4.0- the i can hit a great forehand backhand…. but i cant finish the point at the net stage (transition game)
it feels like there are certain levels of 2.5-4.5 where people say nah its not worth the effort.
i see a lot of people plateau at 3.5 because they cant finish the point, stay baselining all day, transition game cant win them points. ironically i see pushers also sorta get stuck here because while they might get the ball in, they lose to net players to.
obviously im no 4.5 but i bet there are 4.0 to 4.5 limitations where players say… i accept where im at. point construction and so on.
the 3.5 -> 4.0 change is where i see most people stop trying and accepting their fate.
what do you guys notice.