The Tennis Journey and Discipline
The Tennis Player: Journey and Discipline
Success is the consistency of effort. If you look at Tennis as a journey not a destination you have the opportunity to appreciate it all the time. Tennis is often divided up into everything such grades, ratings, divisions, numbers, sets, games, points. This is important as it provides a measure of your development but it’s not why we play the game. We play the game due to many many factors such as:
1. Having Fun
2. Social Interaction
3. Staying Fit
4. Challenging body and mind and aiming to improve.
“The tennis player journey is about keeping a comfortable level of discipline and have a commitment to improving as a player.”
On Wikipedia, a quote about discipline is a good one:
· “The ability to do the right thing even when no one is watching or suffer the consequences of guilt which produces pain in our bodies, through pain comes discipline.”
(United States Marine Corps)
Now pain doesn’t need to be extreme but we all know that if you don’t quite put in the discipline you don’t have the confidence. This may be in a tournament when in the third set you are battling and subconsciously you know you didn’t train as hard as you could or you missed some sessions cause you were tired. Through discipline and the aim to improve your returns you are on the right track
So remember at whatever level you are playing at keep a level of discipline which you comfortable with. Your discipline may be to train at a high intensity for 10 hours per week and commit to setting weekly goals. As a performance junior you need to maintain a level of discipline which includes before school training, match practice, squad training, private lessons, goal setting, physical conditioning, mental conditioning and other aspects of the tennis world. Therefore again if you are aiming at becoming the best you can be, have you already won the race? Yes you have and how far you go will be exciting part but you have already won and the life lessons you learn and amazing memories you achieve are invaluable.
Sport teaches us so many lessons at absolutely every level so whether you’re a lower grade or top pennant player if you are aiming at improving and maintaining a discipline which you are comfortable with – then you are the winner already!
