I Am a Tennis Player
I guess I just don't know any other other way to do it. I'm forty-four years old and I'm still trying to improve my tennis game. I rarely play competitively and that has never really been my goal anyway. I like to hit and maybe play a few 'twenty-ones', but I'm not about games and sets and matches all that mess. Competition isn't fun for me (whether I win or lose) and if I'm going to spend what little free time I have on a tennis court it's going to be fun.
I hurt my right elbow almost two months ago. I took time off, tried to hit, took more time off, tried to hit, went to the doctor, started physical therapy, took more time off, and finally last Friday afternoon I hit again. There were things I couldn't do without a certain amount of pain, but there were a lot of things I could do. Since then I've hit four more times, including three days in a row culminating in a wonderful hit this morning. I may be rusty, but I'm thankful.
As sucky as it was having to take time off, it happened at the perfect moment. I'd been playing a lot. A lot a lot, in fact. So much that it became too much (I think my orthopedist would agree) and so much that I stopped being grateful. So much that I started resenting 'having to' play. Of course I never 'had to' play. I simply over-committed myself and had to follow through on those commitments. Every time I vowed to take time off (read: a day off), something would come up. Someone would ask and I'd say 'yes', then the day would come and I'd wish I didn't 'have to'.
Then one morning at the Austin Tennis Academy, I hit a forehand return and a forehand volley, felt a pop and a ping of pain in my right elbow. Nine games later (I was playing in an actual league match) I was done for two months. Truthfully, I probably should have been done after the point with the pop and the ping rather than nine games later, but I'm no pussy. Nothing can be gained from second guessing myself and berating myself for my decision. I hurt my elbow and that's that. End of file.
Start of file. I'm back and, in my time away, I gained a certain amount of perspective. We know how much I like lists, but in no particular order of importance...
1. The wind blows everywhere on a windy day. You might as well be on a tennis court.
2. My tennis peeps make Austin for me. I need them in my life and I don't need much in my life.
3. It's ok to say 'no'. Tennis peeps understand and will be thankful to hit with you whenever you can hit.
4. Watching the ball makes all the difference.
5. Sometimes change is necessary and a good thing, ie. the 'safe' slice backhand I'd come to rely on (ala Steffi Graf and Sam Stosur) is becoming a booming topspin weapon, all because my elbow can't hit a slice right now.
6. Enjoy the sweetness of a momentary flash of brilliance. It's ok to stop and stare and give yourself a pat on the back.
7. I am a tennis player. It's a bigger part of my identity that I ever imagined and an injury can't take that away from me.
8. I am a tennis fan. I love the game - Playing it , watching it, talking it, and writing it (obviously).
9. Do the unexpected and keep them guessing. Think I'm going cross-court because I 'always' do? Guess again.
10. The desire to improve doesn't have to go away with age. I hope I'm still playing and striving for improvement forty years from now.
And a bonus... 11. Stretching is a good thing.
I refuse to cry about the two months I missed. Instead I choose to be thankful - thankful for every pain-free ball I hit, thankful for every painful ball I hit, thankful for rain delays, thankful for windy days, thankful for cold, sunny mornings, thankful for physical therapists or orthopedists that 'get it', thankful for ibuprofen, thankful for my feet that keep moving, thankful for eyes that can see the ball, thankful for my tennis peeps, thankful for the game that has stood by me for more than thirty years. Above all, as corny as it may sound, I am thankful that I am a tennis player.
I hurt my right elbow almost two months ago. I took time off, tried to hit, took more time off, tried to hit, went to the doctor, started physical therapy, took more time off, and finally last Friday afternoon I hit again. There were things I couldn't do without a certain amount of pain, but there were a lot of things I could do. Since then I've hit four more times, including three days in a row culminating in a wonderful hit this morning. I may be rusty, but I'm thankful.
As sucky as it was having to take time off, it happened at the perfect moment. I'd been playing a lot. A lot a lot, in fact. So much that it became too much (I think my orthopedist would agree) and so much that I stopped being grateful. So much that I started resenting 'having to' play. Of course I never 'had to' play. I simply over-committed myself and had to follow through on those commitments. Every time I vowed to take time off (read: a day off), something would come up. Someone would ask and I'd say 'yes', then the day would come and I'd wish I didn't 'have to'.
Then one morning at the Austin Tennis Academy, I hit a forehand return and a forehand volley, felt a pop and a ping of pain in my right elbow. Nine games later (I was playing in an actual league match) I was done for two months. Truthfully, I probably should have been done after the point with the pop and the ping rather than nine games later, but I'm no pussy. Nothing can be gained from second guessing myself and berating myself for my decision. I hurt my elbow and that's that. End of file.
Start of file. I'm back and, in my time away, I gained a certain amount of perspective. We know how much I like lists, but in no particular order of importance...
1. The wind blows everywhere on a windy day. You might as well be on a tennis court.
2. My tennis peeps make Austin for me. I need them in my life and I don't need much in my life.
3. It's ok to say 'no'. Tennis peeps understand and will be thankful to hit with you whenever you can hit.
4. Watching the ball makes all the difference.
5. Sometimes change is necessary and a good thing, ie. the 'safe' slice backhand I'd come to rely on (ala Steffi Graf and Sam Stosur) is becoming a booming topspin weapon, all because my elbow can't hit a slice right now.
6. Enjoy the sweetness of a momentary flash of brilliance. It's ok to stop and stare and give yourself a pat on the back.
7. I am a tennis player. It's a bigger part of my identity that I ever imagined and an injury can't take that away from me.
8. I am a tennis fan. I love the game - Playing it , watching it, talking it, and writing it (obviously).
9. Do the unexpected and keep them guessing. Think I'm going cross-court because I 'always' do? Guess again.
10. The desire to improve doesn't have to go away with age. I hope I'm still playing and striving for improvement forty years from now.
And a bonus... 11. Stretching is a good thing.
I refuse to cry about the two months I missed. Instead I choose to be thankful - thankful for every pain-free ball I hit, thankful for every painful ball I hit, thankful for rain delays, thankful for windy days, thankful for cold, sunny mornings, thankful for physical therapists or orthopedists that 'get it', thankful for ibuprofen, thankful for my feet that keep moving, thankful for eyes that can see the ball, thankful for my tennis peeps, thankful for the game that has stood by me for more than thirty years. Above all, as corny as it may sound, I am thankful that I am a tennis player.
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