Droplets of sweat began to run down my face as I approached the top of the line. I felt sick with apprehension, the closest I have ever been to playing tennis was Wii sports. As a freshman, I was required to play tennis during my PE class. I stood next to my best friend, Nyla, who was barely breaking a sweat. She was good at nearly everything so I knew she would do well. Soon it was my turn to return the ball over the net, I twirled the racquet back and forth between my sweaty hands but I just couldn’t get a good grip. Before I knew it, Coach Bordelon had served a ball over the net and at a warped speed it came hurdling towards me. My immediate instinct was to swing the racket as hard as I could. “Remember this is tennis not softball!” Coach yelled in a concerned voice, I sulkily walked off the court.
For the rest of class, Coach desperately tried to find easier ways for me to gently tap the ball over the net. Even though I had to have been one of the worst in the class, I did not want to give up just yet. At the very end of class, Coach announced how tennis tryouts were approaching and that the team could use a few new members. All my other friends were involved so I thought why not try out. Even though I was not the best at tennis in the beginning, I learned that everyone is a beginner at something in life.
It was finally the day of tryouts, which took place over the course of two days. On day one we will do drills and condition. Then on day two is when we will be
I was late in entering the realm of tennis as a lanky eleven-year-old. Among the countless midgets who had gripped onto a racquet since birth, my presence was uncomfortably conspicuous. Yet, I unabashedly attended every lesson, willing to stay for hours.
She said, "Either you love volleyball or you don't the coach doesn't matter," she replied. At that moment I knew that I love volleyball and I love to play and I'm not gonna let anything get in the way of that. When I play volleyball all the abominable things in the world just seem to go
As I first joined the Prince George’s Tennis and Education Foundation tennis team, I was extremely pleased with the environment. I was met with friendly individuals and warm personalities from my peers and coaches alike. The coaches were exceptionally supportive, and I maintained a healthy, competitive relationship with my peers. Athletically, the PGTEF coaches were devoted to assisting the members of the team in comprehending
“Oh no, please don’t tell me this is happening. Mom, can I just skip this tournament?” I pleaded, “There is absolutely no hope for me.” Being the dramatic person I am, I lamented the imminent end of my tennis career. I went into the tournament with an expectation of failure. I started the match by accidentally whacking the ball over the fence, tripping on my own feet rushing to end the point. The little confidence I had when going into the match dissipated within a few minutes. I continued the match pondering how to angle my racket to put spin on the ball. Every time I failed, I blamed it on the high skill level of my opponent. Unsurprisingly, I lost in an hour. When looking back on that match, I realized that it could have gone differently had I not brought myself down before. My lack of
Transition: Now that you have some sort of an idea as to what tennis is and how it’s played, I’d like to share with you some history of the sport.
A few years ago I was training to be professional tennis player at one of India’s top tennis academies. I had been playing tennis only for ten months when my tennis coach suggested I participate in the upcoming national level fastest serve tennis tournament. There was a fear in me, a fear of facing the more skilled, experienced, and accomplished competition, yet my mind wanted to overcome that fear and trust my coach and ten months of training. My coach had immense faith in my abilities to perform well, but being the underdog, I lacked the confidence to compete alongside top ranked players. As the tournament date grew closer, I found myself battling between two paths - give in to my fear and surrender any chance of winning, or escape my comfort
Practice was going to be over in ten minutes, and I thought that everyone on my team, at least my best friend would come to ask me how I was feeling. However, not even one soul walked towards me to question my condition. I, quietly gathered my belongings, and started to head to the front of the school. While I was gathering the courage to walk properly, I called my mother and told her that I was done with practice.
I was aware that I had another set to play ahead of me. I knew that somehow I needed to drastically change my attitude and approach on the match. Forcing myself not to shut down after the first set is one of the biggest hardships I have ever experienced on a tennis court. The second set granted me one last chance to redeem myself, one last chance to display what I was truly capable of.
We went in through the back and sat down in the athletic hallway so we could put on our shoes. The upperclassmen looked at us with glares, but what could we do? Us being freshmen drew eyes, especially since we didn’t know what we were doing. About ten minutes after sitting down, the head varsity coach called us into the gym. I had a plan to pass with one of my good friends who had played before to show the coaches I know what I’m doing. We all had to sign in at a table, and then we were given
My ascent to the Baylor Men’s Tennis Team is a story of using relentless hard work to accomplish a goal that seemed like a long shot
We decided to pass the ball around to help kill time. I saw many familiar faces many of the girls I grew up playing with on rec leagues were going to tryout. At exactly 5:30 sharp the tryouts commenced. We started with a simple 3 lap jog or so it sounded. At the pace the older girls were taking those three laps they might as well have called it a three lap sprint. After the worst three laps of my life I was drenched in sweat and breathing as heavily as a dog after it chases a squirrel. After we got past the sprinting and stamina part I began to show what I could really do. I tried my hardest on every drill that they had us do so I could ensure myself a spot on the team. After that there was still one day of tryouts that would be the following day. The next day we did mostly the same stuff we had done the day before but you could feel that everyone was trying their best to impress the coaches that were judging us. As the tryouts came to a close I hoped that had done just enough to catch the eye of one of the judges. After the second day of tryouts the coordinators told us that know who did and didn't make the
After a long couple of weeks the tryout arrived. The first day seemed intense with many people trying out. Most of these kids were just looking for a sport to play and had never played before. This loosened me up and I started to lose the butterflies.It was a long lasting 2 hour try out and I was glad to be done. I worked my tail off and hoped for the best. I became very nervous as I came home. In the car down the long black street that you could see the heat waves coming off of, my father peppered me with
As we all know, America is a nation of sports enthusiasts. Most Americans participate is some kind of sporting event, either as a spectator or as a competitor. In the pantheon of great American sports, there is one that stands out. It has been called the great American pastime. Yes, that great sport known as tennis. Tennis requires a mastery of many skills to be able to play competitively, but the primary skill needed to win in tennis is the serve. The serve is the primary offensive weapon used I tennis, because it is the only time when a player gets to put a ball into play. The player controls the speed, the placement, and the spin of the ball. With proper procedure, the serve can win many points and games for the server. The technique
Arnold Palmer said it best. “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect.” The straightforward yet difficult facet has always drawn me to the sport. Golf has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I love all aspects about it: the competitiveness, the focus required, the life lessons, and the bonding it can create. The game of golf is my passion.
As my heart grew for the love of volleyball, I took my talents to harder competition, Great Lakes at the end of my sixth-grade season. This is a very well-known team and they are very superior at volleyball. That was one of the scariest tryouts I have ever attended because there were over three hundred girls trying out for the volleyball team! The first thing everyone was tested on was "hitting". Every girl got in a line and tried their best to hit the ball over the net. Well, I was still in sixth grade at the time along with many other girls and most of us were all still fairly short. I was the next girl in line to hit, I had butterflies in my stomach like no other. I walked up to the ten-foot line and did my approach. Boom! The ball goes screaming over the net! I never knew I had such great power in my arm. Next up in line was the girl behind me her name was Megan, she was also short. Megan goes up to the line and swung at the ball but missed. The girls in the gym were laughing at her because the ball went under the net instead of going over. Suddenly