I played a
tennis tournament this weekend and ended up playing my practice partner in the
second round. As much as I loathe losing, when I can lose and clearly see
improvement in my game and see the areas that I need to work on, while still
able to maintain the belief that those deficient areas are areas that I can
improve on, it is a good loss!
I’d been
playing this seventeen year old kid twice a week since my ankle healed.
Sometimes we have good practices. Sometimes, the fatigue of a week of school
(or work) catches up to us and the intensity drops. I was excited to play her
in a competitive environment though. And it lived up to my expectations.
Aside from
the facts that one, I lack confidence in some of the shots I was becoming quite
proficient at before my ankle injury and two, I am so sorely out of shape since
there was little I could do with the ankle injury and moping and feeling sorry
for myself and eating cookies seemed like a rational solution to my injury woes
at the time, and three, it has been eight months since I played a competitive
match, I left the match believing that I will get better.
There are
always times when you play a match and you can say to yourself, I will never be
as good as that person. So, you get down on yourself and maybe you don’t train
as hard the next time around, figuring what’s the point? As much as I know that
to be a mistake, I have yet to find a way to combat the after lost-match blues.
At any cost,
there are things to work on before the next national (May 15th), but
I am just grateful to be in a good mental place right now. I love when I can
finish a tournament and be inspired to train harder and practice more. I am
looking forward to the next month of hard work on the court and in the gym.
Look for me to update some of my favorite footwork drills, soon.
Stay tuned,
KS
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