Vincent Ho
Mr. Trimm
EN 1103-33
September 24, 2012
The Journey of Being the Tennis Player The moment I picked up a tennis racquet, I knew this was what I wanted to dedicate my time to, but it was not going to be an easy task to pursue. The summer before the beginning of high school was where it began. My friends and I would play tennis everyday for endless hours on the available courts provided in my neighborhood. We would often joke around when we had first started, but eventually it had grown upon us that it was serious. Not only did I enjoy playing tennis, watching the professionals play with graceful strokes and footwork was jaw dropping. The intensity of long rallies and competitiveness between two players in singles was nerve-racking, especially to see who would win the set point. One particular player that caught my eye was a gentleman from Switzerland, Roger Federer. Tennis critics, former, and current players have considered him the greatest tennis player of all time, even to this day. Watching him play tennis had become a daily routine for me. I would also record and watch videos of Roger Federer’s highlights to mimic them the next time I would go out to play tennis. From that point on, I realized that Roger Federer had become an icon for me. Knowing that I had the mindset of becoming a great tennis player meant ample amounts of hard work of training. To start off this ride, conditioning was one of the many important requirements. That had also meant having an excellent cardio system was needed. Everyday I would run a total of four miles, two miles in the morning and two at night. Plyometric routines were also beneficial for me due to the results of explosive leg power. That being said, it had also assisted me in footwork drills. Numerous amounts of time were spent doing feet shuffles, cone runs, slides, etc. Change in diet was also a main component in keeping the metabolism in my body balanced with my workout routines. Meals were mainly composed of high carbs, lean meats, no junk food, and drinking water constantly to stay hydrated and balanced. Groundstrokes and serves were the next key components needed to tennis success. As I would play tennis with close friends, it was noticeable that we all needed to perfect our groundstrokes and serves. Lessons were an option but money was an issue. But one day as we were playing at another local tennis court, the tennis instructor of the facility had came up to us and helped us on little adjustments to our swinging motions. From that point on, more than sixty percent of my shots and service were in. I was astonished and amazed by how little adjustments could help improvement my tennis game. The instructor was so impressed with the quickness of pick up I showed, he questioned if I would like free private tennis lessons. I instantly said yes. That night, I could barely hold in the excitement because I felt very fortunate to have one on one sessions with an actual certified tennis instructor. As day one of tennis lessons approached, I had started off with forehand and service motions. Backhands were also involved, but every other day was a mix of different forms. Although I knew it was going to be fun, it was not an easy task to perfect. The drills were intense and nothing compared to the videos I would often research online. I was doing advanced drills the professional players were doing. There was no complaining whatsoever; I had to push myself in order to keep moving forward. With the months going by, the training had become more easygoing. Consistency and accuracy of ball shots had progressed from sixty to eighty percent. It was time for me to try out for my high school tennis team and put everything I was taught to us. Try-outs was a breeze for me. Each of us were instructed to hit specific spots on the court whether it was a forehand, backhand or service. Every shot I had performed were executed flawlessly. The head coach was very astound of how young and the amount of potential that was in me, he had added me to the varsity team on spot. I was enlisted to play as the head singles position. I was pleased to given such an important position, the nervousness of not disappointing my teammates and coach were on my shoulders. As the first match approached, I was the first to start off to put my team in the lead. With tensions boggling in my head, the beginning of the match did not start off great. My ball shots were spraying in various directions and serves were not getting in. I was down two set points in the first set. When it came for the players to take a break, I took the moment to put myself together and told myself not to worry about anything and to put everything I was taught, into play. After the break, it was serve to continue with the set. I took a deep breath to clear my mind and continued on. I had aced the opponent with such speed; everyone in the crowd was speechless. This gave me the confidence and motivation that it was not over yet. Later on, I had came back and won my first match. With that in mind, the rest of the tennis season for my high school had become a success. To continue on with the tennis path I had, my former coach advised me to play in summer league tournaments if I wanted better gaming experience. I took his advice and signed up. That summer had become such an adventure with all the new friends made and tournaments I had won. Throughout all the past matches in high school and summer tournaments, there was one valuable lesson that I learned. It was not only to keep a consistent game, but it was to have mental toughness. Without this wow factor, your mind will start to lose focus of what is in front of you. The feeling of not being able to overcome your opponent will start to bother you during play, causing you to choke up. Controlling your emotions is furthermore another element every tennis player should conquer. Having your emotions falling apart would result in you hitting balls out of bounds, giving away free points, and possibly racquet abuse. The major effect of this would also cause you to lose your tennis match. This has happened to me numerous of times when I first started to play tennis competively. Not only did I lose matches often, but also anger breakouts would burst and scenes would be an issue to some. In order to prevent any embarrassment to my teammates, and myself controlling my emotions was necessary. Not letting your opponent getting inside your head is also critical in tennis. There have been several handfuls of moments where the opponent is the better player than myself. Overthinking the difficulty level was what frightened me. I started to not trust my grounds strokes and service plays. Attempting to be careful with every shot was usually my choice when these times came. That being said, the consequences in the end were not pleasing. But to overcome this fear was to think back in my freshman year of high school, when the same event had happened in my first match. I had to put the thought of not being good enough, aside and had to trust every stroke within me. Majority of the times, I begin to come back from match points and sometimes win. As my journey of playing tennis progress, hard work truly paid off. Over the past years four years of playing for my high school, I was chosen as the most valuable player. Not only that, but I had made it to the state play offs not once, but three times. Senior year was also the year where I had first won state play offs, becoming the state champion. All being said, I am truly fortunate with every thing that has happened thus far with my tennis career. I could not have done it with out the support of my coaches, friends and family, and most importantly myself.