The Southern Stories

Improving = Competing

2012-02-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Play to improve. You have heard this before if you are a Simcoe Tennis athlete. I remember when I first heard this I took it to the extreme. I thought playing to improve meant trying to hit every ball as if it was going to be a winner regardless of the position I was in. Over time, I learned that it meant to see every opportunity as one to grow, to develop every facet of your game, not just an ability to hit winners, but the ability to be solid every where on the court. Play to improve really meant to see every moment as one to become a better player.

This saying has developed over the years and has had many different meanings. I have now learned that playing to improve can be equated with competing. Competition can be scary; often depicted as a battle between two players, one trying to beat the other. This idea of competition can consume players and manifest thoughts that every match must be won and no lost match is a good match. Thoughts like this however don’t run parallel to the idea that playing to improve and competition are synonyms for each other. That is true, because this idea of competition negates the idea of playing to improve and can limit a players potential.

Think about the top players in the game. During their press conferences there is a recurring phrase, regardless if the player won or loss, “I’m just going to keep on trying to improve my game.” We have heard this said by Djokovic, Federer and Nadal; these players are the best of the best, but are focused on improving. Why? Because they’re not competing against the other players, they are competing against their self.

Regardless of where you are, play your best and
challenge yourself

When competing against yourself you want to be better than the player you were yesterday, better than the player you were when you started practice, and hit a better shot than the one you just hit. These players are always competing, not just in tournaments, but in ups-and-downs, during drills, and during warm ups. These players treat practice the same way they would if they were playing the biggest match of their life, and the biggest match of their life would not differ from their practice.

How does this relate to Division II tennis? When playing university tennis it is very competitive, not only are there matches on the line, but faculty jobs, player scholarships, and program funding. There are only six spots in the starting line up, so players are competing for positions so they have the opportunity to play. Again, so why is competing and playing to improve so important in university tennis? The players who play to improve are always trying and therefore always getting the most of themselves. Also, they are never cheating themselves; when they play a match, in practice or during the season, they give it their best. If they lose they can accept that the other person was better that day. When they win, they know they earned their spot on the roster and can be proud of it. Also, if they don’t make the starting line up, they understand that it is what is best for the team because they weren’t the best choice. They also know that if they keep working they will be able to make the line up in time. They do not have excuses, the player who plays to improve will always be competing.

The player who competes this way, doesn’t limit their potential because they set no boundaries on what they can achieve.

Play, play, and then play some more

2011-12-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

I haven’t written a blog in a while because I am at home and I thought that if anyone wanted to know about playing NCAA tennis they could just ask me when they saw me at the club. However, that would only be possible if I was at the club on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I have only been able to play a few times during my break giving me an even greater hunger to play, a hunger that I am having trouble satiating. However, this blog entry isn’t about how much I want to play tennis; I’m sure most of you know that if I had to choose between playing tennis or my right arm, I would choose tennis and just become a lefty with a one-handed backhand.

What this entry is about is the importance of playing on a regular basis. The past two times I have played this week have been very difficult for me. I am no where near my best and I largely attribute it to my poor timing from not playing enough. As tennis players, I know we have all experienced those days where we play amazing, but they are often followed by days of @%$#$^%$^$%%$#%, or below average playing. They are the peaks and valleys that must be traversed in any sport, but going through these valleys because you have inflicted them on yourself is the worst feeling. This is what I am going through now. Since I haven’t been playing I am just not there, especially since I am a player that needs to be feeling the ball everyday to be consistent. Sure if I was practicing everyday I still may not be playing like Roger Federer, but it is easier to accept any valleys you are in when you know you are putting in the time and doing the best you can.

Not only is it easier to accept the lows when you are playing all the time, but it also allows you to reach your potential. All of the girls on my team have been playing from a young age (some had a racket in their hand at four years old and are still playing meaning that they’ve been playing for 15 years). It takes time to become great, believe it or not Federer was just as good as you were once, but he worked, experienced the peaks and valleys, and look at the player he has become.

The core of this entry isn’t about playing university tennis - or really any level of tennis - it’s about life. If you want to reach a goal, whatever it may be, you have to put in the hours to reach that goal. The more time you spend, the better you will become. For me, my life is tennis (or at least that is what I want it to be; school and work keep getting in the way) and I know I need to get back to university so I can get back on court everyday and work myself to exhaustion so that I can reach my goals. I hope that if any of you have goals you really want to achieve you can run towards them at full speed and do your best to attain them.

Thank you for the wind!

2011-11-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

Of course if I could I would always choose to serve at
at the Midhurst courts =D

Have you ever played at the East Bayfield tennis courts, the one's behind the soccer dome? If you have you’re probably thinking that you wouldn’t do it again because of the broken glass and graffiti covering the torn up courts that hold up broken nets. If that isn't enough of a reason to play on different courts then the intense wind that comes through probably is. These courts are like a wind tunnel, with the wind swirling everywhere. It doesn't even seem possible to determine what direction the wind is coming from sometimes.

One time Johnny and I decided to have a practice there and it was the windiest time I have ever been on a tennis court. I would try to hit the ball into the ad corner and it would go wide, on the deuce side of the court. Us being no excuse kind of people were going to practice through it and decided to hit a basket of serves.

During this basket of serves I had very few tosses in the right place. I don't normally recommend trying to hit a serve with a bad toss, but this was one of those days when you had to adjust. Looking back, this was a great practice session because of the confidence it gave me to hit my serve on a windy day.

During practice this week it was very windy and we were playing a game where if you double faulted you had to do three burpees. Even with the extra pressureI wasn't afraid to serve because of that windy day I served at East Bayfield. I was confident and elected to serve when other players chose to receive since they feared double faulting.

Since it's indoor tennis season you don't need to worry about the wind. However, no matter what type of practice you do it contributes to your confidence. If you practice your closing then when you’re in a match you know that you can close. If you do fitness then you know you’re ready to outlast your opponent.

Even though practice may not be the same as a match, the situations you create in practice will contribute to your confidence in a match. I felt this way so much the other day when it was windy, that I decided to stay and hit a basket of serves (even though I didn’t double fault during the game).

A Trip to New Orleans

2011-10-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Monument at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial

Ok, this isn’t tennis related, but I really wanted to talk about it! Last week we had fall breakand two of my teammates and I headed down to New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity to help build a house! That’s right, Caitlyn Lawrence helped build a house (you’re thinking you wouldn’t want to live in that house, but really, we did a good job).

After the ten hour bus ride we arrived in Ward 9 of New Orleans. We first visited a memorial site for Hurricane Katrina. It was unbelievable to see it, the date especially: August 29, 2005. That was six years ago, yet they are still rebuilding the area. In the neighbourhood we were in many of the houses were still destroyed from the hurricane.

One of the houses destroyed by the hurricane

We spent two days on a worksite in Ward 9 and we had the lucky job of laying out the foundation for a house. We arrived on the site at 7:45 a.m. and after a quick introduction we got right into building. It was crazy since most of us had no experience with building a house before. I thought we would just be assisting other workers, but no we were doing the majority of the work. They gave us a quick demonstration of what needed to be done and then we were getting down and dirty trying to accomplish the task.

What the site looked like on the first day

The work was slow at first while we were trying to figure out what exactly we were doing, but we started to pick up the pace with some practice. A couple of hammers to the hand, scratches, cuts, and sunburns later we had finished all the work that needed to be done so that the concrete could be poured in for the foundation. It took a group of 25 people two days to do it, but by the end we were all really proud of what we accomplished.

It was really a great experience and a very rewarding way to spend my fall break. What was really awesome is that we got to meet the lady who was going to be living in the house once it is finished! I was really sad to leave the site and would have loved to stay to see the entire house be built. I recommend to anyone who ever has the opportunity to take part in an activity such as this to try it. You will be so happy you did.

The Lady Pacers hard at work! Me, Gina, and Margot!

Change of season means a change of schedule

2011-10-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

The USCA Lady Pacers are into their off-season! A change in season means a change inNCAA rules, which means a change in our schedule. We now have fitness scheduled four times a week and you must go to at least two of these sessions. Besides fitness, we have a two hour team practice once a week, and a singles match against another player on the team. We are also required to hit on our own at least two more times per week.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but with us more than half way through the semester it’s quite busy with school work. Each player has to manage their time well to be able to meet their training requirements. On the upside, it makes it really easy to see who is motivated to play and improve and who needs to be motivated which is good to monitor with our season starting in January.

If you're thinking about making a new training schedule, also think about this: "how does your diet affect your performance?" Most of us are working, in school, and a high performance athlete - doing all that requires A LOT of energy. Each of our energy needs are different and our bodies respond differently to the food we put in it. This makes the food you eat a very personal as well as important aspect to your success!

I’m not going to say what you should and should not eat (everyone and their uncle’s dog has an opinion on that these days), but I am going to say that maybe you should think about what you eat. A good idea is to try journaling what you eat for a week and see how your performance changes. You may realize on the day you ate three chocolate bars before practice you didn’t play very well, but the day that you had a bowl of pasta for lunch your practice was great. Monitoring it may cause you to change your eating habits which may also cause you to see improved performance on the tennis court!

I challenge you to try record what you eat for one week and see how it affects your performance. You may think of recording your findings in a table like this, or simply use your journal.

	Sun.	Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thurs.	Fri.	Sat.
Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Dinner
Notes on Performance

Try it out and your tennis may take a big jump by realizing what you eat can really change your performance.

The Power of Planning!

2011-09-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I’ve taken so long to write, but things have been getting busy. Luckily I have been scheduling my days which makes everything easier.

Our team is DANGEROUS!

We have started our fall tennis season which is 45 days long; it starts at the end of August and goes until the beginning of October. We’re only allowed to have organized team practice on 24 of these days. The days we don’t have an official practice we have optional hits that team can go to if they have time. On weekends we are either competing in tournaments or playing exhibition matches against other schools. On top of organized practices, I have class and my additional training I do on my own.

Currently, my tennis goal is to be able to play free in matches by the time our spring season starts at the end of January. To achieve this goal (and still pass my classes) my day consists of the following:

Workout: This includes tennis specific upper body exercises (for some ideas check out the Simcoe Tennis website http://simcoetennis.ca/content/47083-94335-30371.aspx). I currently have a low back injury which prevents me from doing speed and leg work, but once I recover, this will become the focus of my physical training
Yoga: After my workout I will do yoga and meditation. This is great for the mind and body (especially my low back)
Class: unfortunately I am in college and do have to go to class
Trainer: after I’m done my morning classes I will go visit the trainer before practice to do some therapy for my lower back
Tennis: before our scheduled practice I will go to the courts early and hit serves or play sets with another player or Coach. Since my goal is to become comfortable playing matches point play is a large focus during my practice
Homework

My Schedule - sorry some of it got cut off at the bottom, but that's most of it!

My day will always consist of these activities. The weekends are different because we are playing matches and I don't have class.

Our match play is vital to see that I'm progressing towards my goal. So far, we have only had two weekends of matches and I can already feel a big improvement in my comfort on court. To record my progress I ensure that I journal everyday. Then at the end of each week I do “A Week in Review” entry. This allows me to see what was effective that week and what I want to improve on for the upcoming week.

If you haven’t tried planning based on your goals I definitely suggest it. Start off simple. For example, if you want to improve your second serve consistency commit to serve for one hour three days a week for a month. By the end of that month you’ll see a big improvement in your serve just by making that one commitment.

Thanks for reading everyone and good luck with your tennis! I hope you guys might think about trying this. If you have any questions, write them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer!

Hey Y'all!

2011-08-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

I have officially assimilated and am saying “y’all!” Ok, maybe not, but I am back in Aiken and in many ways it feels like I never left. My friends and I picked up exactly where we left off (always laughing and never being able to finish a sentence because of it). It is also natural to be walking around campus again.

There are some changes though. First, Margot and I have a different room then we did last year.

Margot (left) and I. We are normal I swear!

PAUSE!

If you don’t know who Margot is, it’s ok, because I am going to tell you. Margot (who will also be referred to as Gu, Gugsters, Dr. Professor Gu Gu Si and other names of this nature) is one of my best friends. She is from France, is on the tennis team, and is also my roommate! You will get to know Gu VERY well by the end of this blog.

CONTINUING!

Gu and I are getting used to our new room (it’s smaller than our room last year), but we’re managing. The biggest change from last year is that two of our best friends didn’t come back since they were only on a one year exchange. It is safe to say that we really miss our other Frenchies!

What our Wal-Mart adventures look like

Since coming back to campus I have been really busy. Taking an extra week off after holidays is the thing for international students to do, but it definitely puts you behind. I have been frantically unpacking, trying to catch up on work, and play tennis! Gu and I have been back for three days and still need to go to Wal-Mart (I am sad to say that this empire will eat most of my money this year).

With being so busy I have only been able to play tennis twice (yes I am suffering from withdrawal). Our first official practice will be later today and of course I am excited. We have three new additions and I want to see where I fit in with the team. For those of you who don’t know much about Division II tennis there are six spots on the roster when season starts in January. We have eight players which means that not everyone will play. Of course I'm hoping for a spot in the top 6 because then I’ll get to play all the time!

The biggest change is not getting to see everyone at Simcoe Tennis all the time. I really miss all of you guys! Please comment on the blog and let me know how you’re doing because I really want to know!

Tata for now!