Dear Tennis Academy Family,
Despite the fact that my dad’s side of the family had always been involved with tennis (his parents’ house was literally across the street from the tennis club of his hometown), it took me a while to develop the passion and the confidence to involve myself in tournament play. I believe that I was almost 13 years old when I started to participate regularly in competitions (the few that I did before that were so bad that I never think of them as part of my process hehe).
There was a very good coach in our city, and my dad was able to get me and my sister to take lessons with him once or twice per week. An interesting thing about this coach was that he happened to have a son who was my age, and the kid (Carlos Drada) was ranked number one in the nation in our age group. My dad was looking for me to be busy while my sister would take her lesson, and he asked Carlos if he would be interested in making some money by playing sets with me. Once Carlos said yes, my dad told him that he would only pay him for every 6/0 set that he would beat me. I was so excited to get to play with him, but I learned very quickly that he was in it for the money, and that his plan was to try to get 3 sets (bagels) during the course of that hour in which my sister was having her lesson.
When I look back at that experience (especially remembering that it probably took place 10 or 15 times), I feel that my dad was able to see how the experience was a very positive one because he saw me engage in the competition side of things in a very positive way because I remember fighting like crazy to try to win that one game that would force us to start that set all over (I did win games from time to time), and he probably also saw that Carlos gave me respect while kicking my butt, and these two things created a very positive experience for the two of us. Carlos Drada went on to become a much better player than I ever was (He reached the finals of the NCAA D1 while playing for the University of Kentucky), but I do remember having to face him when we were almost 18 years old, taking him to a third set, and giving him a serious run for his money. We were good friends, and we were laughing after the match because we both remembered the many 6/0s that he gave me, the money that my dad gave him, and how I had scared him that day with the potential reminder of how life and levels can change.
It is a little corny, but it is true….. It is you vs you out there. We all need to learn to battle that guy in the mirror every day. The hard part is that the dots tend to take a long time to connect, but I guess that is why our players have the opportunity to learn from a team of coaches that has had the experiences that they face many times over, and that their deep interests in seeing each player grow, learn and succeed come as the top priorities of every session that takes place at the Academy.
Remember to take the beatings, learn a few things, write down and do the homework, and get out there again to strive to do a better job than the previous time. It is not easy, but it is that simple!!!
