#joe kaplan

[tvseries-movies-stills]

Conviction || 1x11 “Black Orchid” [HQ]

[bluzer00-blog]

Tyree Bastidas vs World One Wall Champ Joe Kaplan from the 2011 NYC Mayor's Cup at Central Park's North Meadow Recreation Center. 

Two of the game's best go at it during a scorching NYC summer day. If you want to get better at aceball, which is the smaller, denser, and faster version of the classic big blue, I highly recommend you watch videos of these guys from this and other tournaments. A few things you notice right off the bat is that these guys play smart. It's not always about the killer from 20 feet back or the corner spike from center court. Deep serves, lobs, driving balls down the line, passing shots, and knowing when to take the killshot will separate you from the rest of the would-be kings of the court. Check the play at 10:40 for example. The volley starts off with with a safe return from Tyree. Kaplan moves Tyree to his left to force an awkward return and then goes back to the right line. You want to keep your opponent moving, keep him guessing, make him take awkward shots. Tyree, however, reads Kaplan's play and drills the ball right to his chest, making him take a somewhat haphazard half step to the left and giving a weak return. Tyree then makes a move for the a corner kill, which Kaplan read. BUT, Tyree switched to a passing shot around his body at the moment he felt Kaplan go towards the corner. Which brings me to a closing point - court awareness. Keep tabs on your opponents movements, take a second to look back after a shot and try to predict where they're gonna go. It's like any other sport, you learn with time to read situations and play accordingly.