Taking Weekend Tennis Seriously

I remember being the worst player in weekly round robin doubles outings and feeling sorry for the latest person who had to be stuck with me and take her turn losing a set. I remember being drop shotted and trick shotted upon ad nauseum. I remember not understanding why I was losing doubles matches to people who I felt like didn’t possess anywhere near the quality of groundstrokes as I did. I remember being labeled over and over and over again as a singles player after doubles matches and hating it. I remember trying to beat this particular partnership in practice matches for nearly a year, falling in straight sets every time, and on at least one occasion, shedding tears over the seemingly hopelessness of it all. I remember losing to pushers. I remember not knowing how to volley. I remember not playing myself in tough, must-win team matches – much to the confusion of my teammates – because I didn’t have confidence in my tennis game. I remember needing to prove my tennis abilities to everyone. I remember forgetting how to hit forehand groundstrokes and feeling so very lost. I remember ducking from screaming balls coming straight at me when I was at the net. I remember being blown off the court by vicious baseline groundstroke winners. I remember being mad at my partner for making ME look bad. I remember being bumped up to 4.5 and when I asked someone to join my newly created 4.5 team, she said “Ah, looking to get into the 4.5 captaining game already, huh?”

I remember. I remember because every once in awhile I’ll be jarred into one of these memories after a tennis outing in which I’m startled by how different my experiences are today than they’ve been over the last five years.

I started taking private tennis lessons in August of 2012. I’d been playing adult league tennis for a couple of years, but finally something snapped. I lost yet another doubles match that I knew if I was just a teeny, tiny bit stronger of a tennis player, I would have won with the same partner. Getting better at tennis was something I could control, and I was tired of losing winnable matches. So I did something about it.

Fast forward to today. I am a bazillion times better than the player I was when I first started down this adult recreational tennis rabbit-hole. Tennis friends who knew me then have told me it’s like I’m a completely different player. That my tennis abilities just suddenly took off. That they’re impressed with how much I’ve progressed.

One of the fun things about getting better is finding out you’re better. Improvement does not happen overnight…but it will feel like it did.

I remember consciously thinking to myself in mid-groundstroke rally with a woman I had lost to in 4.0s and was playing again in 4.5s, “Wow. This ball isn’t as fast as it used to be.” Shots that would have been forehand groundstroke baseline cross-court winners on me a year ago were now merely rally balls I got to with ease. I seriously thought that in my head. In the middle of points. Because, dear reader, my brain never stops thinking up narratives.

No, I did not win that match. No, I don’t see a cause and effect there…

After a year of taking lessons and not seeing progress – I walked away from every lesson my first year thinking I sucked at tennis – it’ll be like you suddenly improved in leaps and bounds. Out of the blue, you’ll realize you’re volleying like a net ninja and you have no idea how it happened. Then you’ll be stagnant for a while – awful even – until months later, perhaps a year later, you’ll see another spike in ability.

And people will be very complimentary about it.

Here’s the thing. While I do appreciate how much I’ve improved, I don’t think I’ve done anything no one else can do. All I’ve done is take two private lessons a week for the better part of the last three years. Anyone can do that.

I’ll win matches now against women who are clearly more athletic than I am and/or who may have played some level of collegiate tennis, and I’ll think afterwards, “Thank goodness she’s not actively working on her game.” (Also. Pregnancies. 😉) I have a theory that everyone naturally gets better at tennis as they see enough balls from just playing or from the mindless synchronized swimming exercises that are tennis drills, but imagine how much quicker (and more advanced) the progression would be if there was more of a directed development. All it takes is a little effort to stand out.

I believe it is possible to get better at tennis, no matter most ages or how late in life you started playing. I absolutely do, and I have a soft spot for anyone who is diligently working on her game.

I didn’t know how to volley three years ago. Groundstrokes I had from my stint as a junior player. Volleys? Not a clue. I literally ducked when I was up at net during my first three years as an adult recreational player with little to no reflexes forced to play this foreign game of doubles.

I had a doubles partner once tell me, “Hey, maybe you should stay at the baseline because it looks like torture for you up there.” She told me that in a doubles practice match we were winning.

I spent two months straight on just learning how to hit a backhand volley. That was the only shot my coach and I worked on because it baffled me to no end. I couldn’t wrap my head around the mechanics, let alone execute it. HOW DO THE STRINGS EVEN TOUCH THE BALL?!

I remember telling another doubles partner that someday I would be able to get to that ball – that ball, of course, being the one that lazily passes by you when you’re up at net, a mere step away that you think long and hard about but ultimately don’t move for. She replied well-meaningly but dismissively, “Okay, Mighty Mouse.”

Fast forward to today. It’s not perfect, but my backhand volley is one of my favorite strokes. I love picking off balls with my volleys and ending points. Playing the net now is a blast. My reflexes have come a long, long way.

It’s going to take work. And failing. But failing leads to the improvement. You’ll emerge a better player without having done anything extraordinary and you’ll sheepishly wonder why no one else is doing this. And that everyone should. Because being better at tennis makes playing tennis fun.

But the really, really cool part about getting better at tennis? Growing as a person. Developing a calmer mind. No longer being someone who berates herself. Learning that becoming good at something, anything just. takes. time.

I used to worry who my doubles partner would be when asked to play in practice matches because I thought if I lose, I’ll be labeled a bad tennis player and no one will ask me to play ever again. I couldn’t care less who I’m playing with now. It doesn’t matter how I do in practice matches or what anyone thinks about my tennis game. I’m going to get better. I’m still getting better.

You can, too.

This post isn’t for those who have no desire to get better and who don’t want to push themselves. This post is for anyone who has ever experienced any of the feelings I described in my opening paragraph. This post is for people who want to get better but don’t feel like they can or would, anyway. Because they’re too old. Because what’s the point. Because it’s just a silly game.

You know what’s fun though? Pushing yourself. Getting better. Learning the depths of your abilities. Taking pride in something you love doing.

I did it. You can, too.