Tennis Lessons for Life

We all know that tennis is about so much more than just a series of backhands and forehands, with the occasional serve mixed in for good measure.  It’s about valuable life lessons and the game of tennis is really just a disguise.  It’s kind of like mixing a little sugar with medicine to make it easier for kids to swallow.  

We love tennis for lots of reasons…but a big one is because it’s one of the only sports that offers the opportunity for players to develop strategy, solve problems, and succeed (or fail) with no assistance from a team, coach, or any other source. Even before I understood the game (which I still don’t always do), I knew that I loved the INDIVIDUALNESS of tennis (and I realize that is not a word, btw).

Maybe that’s why a high percentage of CEOs and successful executives were tennis players in their youth. Wish we could cite the source for that info but we definitely read it along the way…and never forgot it.

Top 5 Life Lessons

Our cameras have seen countless players learn (or re-learn) valuable life lessons on or around the tennis court. Read on for five specific examples…Maybe you can relate to some (or all) of them---and these are just ones that come to mind. There are so many more!

The Tennis Player Who…	Is Learning How To…
Finds his next opponent and scouts out his style.	Assess another person’s strengths and weaknesses.
Demonstrates a calm demeanor, while his opponent pumps himself up by endlessly shouting things like ‘Oh Yeah - Come On!!!’.	Remain composed when another person achieves great success.
Takes the court in full concentration after extensive rain delays have ended, while the light rain continues to drizzle.	Overcome conditions that are beyond his control.
At 6 inches shorter and 50 pounds smaller than his opponent, smiles sheepishly and says ‘I guess all I can do is try my best’ and then steps out onto the court to face the #1 seed.	Accept challenging situations and always give his all.
Repeatedly watches video clips of top pros and carefully studies their techniques. Expressing true shock that his peers seemed to have little interest and immediately turned their attention to something else, this young junior was like a sponge who couldn’t get enough.	Study and learn from successful people.

Food for Thought

He told us he wishes somebody would take a poll of parents to learn what their goals are and what they’re actually trying to accomplish by having their kids compete at junior tournaments.

He shared that when he (and his girls) first got involved, they had no idea what to expect and they’ve learned so much over the years (he was definitely NOT talking about how to actually “play” tennis).

He said that the chance of playing pro tennis is so very remote for most players (we’ve read that an estimated 99% of American tennis players will not make the top 100 in the world professionally) and many will be lucky to play college tennis (even though they spend more trying to obtain a college scholarship than the actual worth of that scholarship).

Rather, he wished that parents would realize what he considered to be the REALLY important reasons to have your kid involved in competitive junior tennis – because it gives young players an opportunity to learn important traits like HARD WORK, COMMITMENT, RESPECT FOR OTHERS, ORGANIZATION, PRIORITIES, TIME MANAGEMENT, and so many others.

He said that being a tennis parent involves big sacrifices (which he was more than willing to make) but he felt it was important for parents to be realistic about what they were doing and why.

He was sharing some priceless wisdom – we couldn’t have said it better! – and we sure hope someone out there is listening. Remember, this comes from someone who has walked the walk (of years in junior tennis with his own daughters) and now he’s talking the talk. We’re including it here as food for thought FOR YOU! J

Paying It Forward

We’ve barely scratched the surface of this topic but you probably get the idea. One last related thing…We were heartened to read comment directors from a tournament at one of our most recent tournaments:

“Some people say that it is easy to be a great sport when you’re winning, but we all know that’s not true. We give special recognition to two players who are great examples for the tennis community because they’re not waiting until they get their millions to give back – they are paying it (forward) as they go through life.”

This article was about the many Tennis Lessons for Life that we’ve observed, but the next article will share our observations about our least favorite but unbelievably prevalent aspect of junior tennis: CHEATING.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

We may not have kids of our own
but we're watching these kids grow up before our eyes!
Juniors just don't stay juniors forever-they grow into adults.

Junior tennis is a journey, not a destination…
You might as well enjoy it!