Monday's Important Things

Part One: Goodness
Part Two: Knowledge
Part Three: Self-Control
Part Four: Perseverance
Part Five: Godliness

2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

While we begin the maturity process by realizing there is more to life than ourselves, it takes a little while to put that into practice. But now, in the end of the process, we are back around to specifically focusing on others again. 

Brotherly kindness, the Greek word is philadelphia, is literally treating others as they are family. We extend the kindness to others that we would extend to family.

Another way of saying this might be: we extend our family.

I see the tennis team, throughout the years that I've been coaching especially, as one large brotherhood. You are all my little brothers. I want to see you succeed in tennis, my heart rises and sinks with your matches as it did when I watched my own brother compete. And I care about more than just tennis in your lives as well. I want to spare you from the heartbreak of bad decisions, support you through your worst times, and celebrate graduation with you. But I'll continue to follow your future success in college, whether playing tennis or not. I love to make contact with players I used to coach: Colin Yoder, Jordan Kauffman, Daniel Buschert, and others.

I hope that you will have this family attitude for those who have come before you, who will play with you, and who will play after you. I hope this year's seniors reach out to their little brothers, this year's freshman.

Tennis brings us together, but we will be a family. We will look over each other with kindness and concern.  We will be brothers.

Monday's Important Things

"behaving like God is the number one priority..."

Part One: Goodness
Part Two: Knowledge
Part Three: Self-Control
Part Four: Perseverance

2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have considered the good of others, filled ourselves up with knowledge, controlled our actions as to follow through on what we've learned, and then persevered even when things get difficult.

And now we are to have godliness.

The word godliness comes come the Greek word eusebeia, which literally means reverence toward God. Reverence meaning to place as the number one priority. In other words, this "godliness" is that in all things, behaving like God is the number one priority.

This has many different applications to it. It has as many applications as there are characteristics of our Lord. For example, one of God's great characteristics is giving. Our Lord is eternally generous. Therefore, in all situations, we are to be generous and giving. For example, a JV player needs assistance on their serve. We are to be generous and giving with our time, stop and help them. For example, we are unsure of a line call. We are to be generous and giving to our opponent. For example, a teammate runs out of money for food at team camp, we are to be generous and giving with our help, and money, if possible.

God has more awesome characteristics as well. God is love. God is hope. God is peace. God acts on behalf of the weak. God speaks truth and honesty. These and more are part of the process of godliness, reflecting these values.

Hopefully, as we have gone through this maturity process, we have gained knowledge of what the Lord is like. Hopefully, as we have learned to control ourselves, these values and characteristics are things that we have learned to practice. Hopefully, as we have gone through trials and difficulties, these actions have been practiced even when not its not easy. Hopefully, then godliness is something that begins to flow naturally from us.

The more we get to know God, the more we practice his values with thought and intention, through the rough spots, then the more it becomes our character. We then become defined by godliness.

Christian simply means "little Christ." Each one of us bear that because of the school we have chosen. Let us be like Christ this season, as we learn to let the very nature of Christ define who we are and how we react.

Monday's Important Things

"At it's core, perseverance is saying no to fear."

Boy, am I ever behind. Oh well, moving forward as if nothing was out of place...

Part One: Goodness
Part Two: Knowledge
Part Three: Self-Control

2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Last week, we talked about being a team of self-control. Being a team that learns and then has the discipline to put our knowledge into practice. As we begin to do what we know is right, we will face difficulty.

This difficulty has come in many ways through the years of my coaching experience. One way has been defiance. A prominent member of the team decides that what is important to everyone else, the things that every one else is doing; it's not important to them and they will let everyone know about it. This might be taking practice seriously and working hard to get better. This might be the devotional nature of team camp. It might be my serious commitment to helping us engage the Christian life in a real way. It might be the support of others that they don't want to participate in. This causes a difficulty for the team.

In one of my seasons, we had a prominent member of the team, a senior, decide that working hard in practice was over-rated. They had been successful in the past, didn't need to show up on time for practice, didn't need to actually commit to focusing during drills. At the same time, there were juniors and sophomores who were committed to getting better. This tension was felt throughout the whole season. Could the underclassmen persevere, and stay committed to what they knew was important in the face of defiance?

Another form of difficulty is loss. Too many times, we abandon our maturity so that we can win now. We cheat on a line call to win and important point. We stop hitting our second serve the right way because we want to win an early August challenge match. We disregard our self-control and good decision making because we want to do something "fun" with our friends right now. We get caught up in the immediacy of winning, and even more to the point, the fear of losing.

At it's core, perseverance is saying no to fear. Not changing or panicking because we are afraid to lose, afraid of someone who is defying us. Perseverance is a courageous step. It is an ongoing response of faith. Staying committed to the right course of action, even though it appears that you might lose something at the time.

Stay committed to hitting shots with the right form, even though it will cost you some offseason matches. Stay committed to living in love, even though it might require you to make some sacrifices, might even allow you to be taken advantage of. Stay committed to the good of others, even though it might require more of your time and more of your focus.

We will be a team who stays committed, if for no other reason than we will be a team that refuses to be motivated by fear. Let us choose what is right, let us forge that path, and let us persevere.

Monday's Important Things

"If you don't do something, then you obviously don't believe its important. Self-control is what helps you to do it."

Part One: Goodness
Part Two: Knowledge

2 Peter 1:5-8
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "

And in pursuing knowledge, we arrive at the next step self-control. I could make this the shortest post ever, and as a matter of fact, I don't think I'll waste a lot of words. Self-control is simply making the choice to do what you now know that you should.

If you know that you need to spend more time in conversation with God, schedule some time and do it. If you know that you need to be at open courts to further your game, bring your racquet everyday and do it. If you know that you are to love your neighbor, but you have wronged them, control your emotions and apologize. If you know it is best for the team for you to play #2 doubles instead of #3 singles, adjust your attitude and do your best at it.

Self-control is about bringing action to the knowledge you have gained. It's about doing it. It gives validation to your knowledge and beliefs. If you don't do something, then you obviously don't believe its important. Self-control is what helps you to do it.

Like I said, short, simple and to the point. We will be a team that seeks the best for each other, seeks to know the best way of living and playing, and then puts what we learn into practice. And that will make for a very joyful and memorable season.

Monday's Important Things

"The one who is interested in gaining knowledge is asking questions!"

Part One: Goodness

2 Peter 1:5-8
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "

You have to start with goodness, concern for the good of all. Without it, anything else will get lost in the void of selfishness. But it is not enough to stay stagnant, maturity is about learning and growing. And learning is the very next step. To your goodness, add knowledge.

For faith, knowledge can go two ways. There is knowledge of what God is doing, who God is, how God acts and then there is knowledge of how we fit into that. Because God created the world and is constantly working to caress the world back into God's original intent, we need to have knowledge of what that intent is and how we can work with God to bring it about.

This is why we read the Bible, this is why we practice spiritual disciplines like prayer and silence, this is why we go to a church service and listen to a sermon.

We are a people called to learn and know.

In knowing the ways that God works, we find confidence in our own lives. We start to know what we are supposed to be doing, and we can find our purpose in that. But this never happens if we stay ignorant. If we don't seek knowledge of God, we will always be pushed around by whatever immediate interests there are at hand, by our own selfish desires, by the devious control of others. Only in knowing can we stand firm with purpose.

And it's the same in tennis, knowledge gives confidence. It allows you to know that you really are doing what is best, as determined by the work not only of yourself, but thousands of coaches and players over decades. When you know the right form, you can be confident that your thousands of serves hit in that form are taking you toward something better. When you line up your aggressive short ball and pound it crosscourt, you know that this strategy has been developed through years of learning, testing, thinking and practicing.

It gives you something firm, a plan with which to attack, instead of just flying by the seat of your pants. Knowledge creates a framework for you to work and build within.

So, whatever area of life, we should be pursuing knowledge. But what does that look like, how can we know if we are pursuing knowledge? That's pretty simple, the one who is interested in gaining knowledge is asking questions! Asking questions is key to maturing and growing as a player and a person.

Daniel Buschert is the king of asking questions. He'd miss a shot and immediately want to know what he did wrong. He'd lose a point in a challenge match and ask me what he should have done. He'd come to practice wondering what lineups were going to be like, what Jared had to do to beat Jonny on a consistent basis, what conditioning exercise the team needed to do better on... he asked a ton of questions.

Because he wanted to improve. He never settled for just where he was. Questions indicate desire.

So, what are you asking questions about? Your grip, your swing, your strategy, your faith?

We will be a team that desires to know. We will be a team that asks questions. And because of this knowledge, we will have a framework of faith, form and strategy upon which we will grow.

Monday's Important Things

This season, for "Important Things," I am going to think about the characteristics needed to be a successful player in this tennis program. But these are not tennis characteristic, instead they are traits of a life lived in pursuit of Jesus. That is important, because pursuit of Christ leads to maturity, understanding, and the best life possible. It also leads to a better tennis player, which I will explain in each post.

The textual basis for this maturity is 2 Peter 1:5-8

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "

So, off we go with the first trait: goodness.

It's been said by some (Soren Kierkegaard for one, who is a brilliant, confusing, Biblical scholar) that purity of heart is to will one thing: the good in every situation. In other words, whatever situation you find yourself in, you want the best thing possible for everyone involved to happen. This is obviously what God wants, and so it should be what we want to as we strive to be like Him.

Of course, like many Biblical ideals, it is easier said than done. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be attentive to it. The basic idea is the cornerstone of belief and maturity in the Christian faith. To will the good in every situation is simply to face one simple fact:

This isn't about you.

Hard as this is to realize, faith is much more about what we do for others. Sin is nothing more than turning away from faith and going in the other direction, and at the root of every sin, and the root of every thing that makes us head in the opposite direction than God, is selfishness. Just think about the "deadly" sins. Wrath: to want one's own way and attempt to get it through uncontrolled anger. Lust: to want one's own sexual desires fulfilled. Greed: to want money and possessions beyond what is needed. There are more, but you get the idea.

Wanting your own way, this selfishness, almost always leads to the oppression and fear of others as a result. Just think about how American greed affects families around the globe who work under the poverty line to provide us with extra possessions we don't need. Or think of the one who bears the wrath of another. Selfishness tears away at others.

And so goodness is turning away from this tendency to worry only about self. Goodness is putting the good of everyone above the best for you. It is an attitude, an intention, that we all must begin with.

In tennis, this is a huge thing. A selfish attitude tears apart a team and builds stress upon all members of the team. A selfish attitude comes out in wrath towards opponents and teammates, who must live in fear and discomfort or even bear the brunt of the wrath. Selfishness comes out in lust for what others have, their position of #1S that you've always wanted, their brand new K-Factor racquet, or the tennis lessons that they've been taking that you can't afford. These attitudes wear and grate on others, oppress them with stress, and stress affects how we begin to play.

Selfishness also breaks down yourself. The problem is, once you begin to think in term's of self, what is good enough? #1 singles? 6-4, 6-3 wins over good players? Undefeated state champion? Where will you be satisfied, and what will you do if you fail? What will you do if you fail?

Because you will.

And selfish people will be alone. There will be few there to help after a loss... unless...

Pursuing the good of the team gives you true teammates, but more than that, it takes the pressure off of you.

It takes the pressure off of you.

You don't have to win, because it isn't about you. The more important thing is how do you respond to your teammates. Think about this...

The match is tied at 2-2, you are playing (or you and your partner), and it is all down to you. You know that if you lose, the team loses. If you win, the team wins. Do you want:

---- A. To know that the team will meet you on the court when you lose, give you a slap on the back. On the way home they will tell you about their favorite points in your match, laugh about how awkward you looked hitting an overhead winner, talk about the next game and how fun that can be. They'll tell you about their match, and you'll listen because you care and want to know their funny stories, their successes, and their failures. You'll arrange to hit on Saturday, because you're all kind of disappointed that you lost and you want to work on your backhand passing shot. They'll stand at the net on a Saturday morning at 9:00 AM and let you pass them over and over and over until you are confident of the work put in. You'll let them serve 50 balls in a row because they double faulted 12 times in their match, which they happened to win, and you're glad because you know that will give them confidence going forward. You leave knowing that you're still disappointed from the loss, but you've worked to put in the time and you've got support and the you will continue to go out and play your best.

---- B. You scream, yell, and curse and no one says anything to you.

Our team will be a team of goodness, of seeking the good of everyone, and it will succeed.

Monday's Important Things : Power

Part Four of "Building a Better Varsity Player"

Part One: SPIN

Part Two: CONSISTENCY

Part Three: PLACEMENT

Part Four: POWER

POWER= All-District/All-State Player

Examples from Past Years= Deon Shafer, Warsaw; Preston Swain, NorthWood; Omar Turk, South Bend Adams

Examples from Our Team (Shots)= Mikey's serve; Jared, Luke, Daniel, and Matthew's forehands; Johnny, Jeremy, and Daniel's overheads

Power is the last of the important things to build a stellar high school player. I feel like I need to mention something here right from the beginning, because it is important to note. IF YOU HAVE NOT DEVELOPED SPIN, CONSISTENCY, AND PLACEMENT, THEN POWER IS USELESS. The parts follow in order. In other words, a player who is at stage four (like Omar) has the correct form, is consistent with their shots, can place the ball all over the court and hit with extreme power. So don't try to skip the other phases just to get to power.

Most likely, none of us will get to the Deon, Preston, Omar stage with our complete skill set this year. We'll be pushing for it, but unless we spend whole 8 hour days throughout the summer hitting, lifting, shuffling our feet, etc, we probably won't get all the way there. And that is okay. Our goal is to be the best we can work for, which is why I want to introduce the fact that these stage can work for individual shots as well as the all around game.

Let me take Ben Mast as an example. Hope you don't mind Ben! (P.S. This is hurried and not completely accurate. It's an example, give me some grace...)

Ben's Stroke Breakdown for This Season

Forehand: Definitely 3 and could get to 4

Backhand: Need to establish 3

Volley: Need to establish 3

Overhead: Need to establish 3, work to 4

First Serve: Need to establish 2, work to 3

Second Serve: Need to establish 2

So, if Ben works hard this summer, his goal should be to push all his strokes through these stages as best as he can. His forehand he needs to continue to work on placement while beginning to work in some power shots. His backhand he needs to establish placement, so most of his backhand work should be on working the ball to spots. He should not get too concerned about backhand power yet. And so on and so on.

Each of us need to determine where we are in our game. What is the next stage for us to work on? Getting to be a stage 4 player is awesome, it is a huge advantage, but we cannot be impatient with the whole of the sequence.

Just as a way of guiding our team this season, here's the stages that I think we had on the team that won Sectional last season, without names.

Stage 4 Players: 0

Stage 3 Players: 4

Stage 2 Players: 3

Stage 1 Players: 0

Now, each of those players had specific shots that worked at a higher stage. For example, most of our players had forehands that were 3-4, while most didn't have serves that were past stage 2.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a team that is consistent and can consistently place the ball will win Sectional. And that's the goal. That's always the goal.

Monday's Important Things : Placement

Part Three of "Building a Better Varsity Player"

Part One: SPIN
Part Two: CONSISTENCY

PLACEMENT = Highly successful varsity player
Examples from last year: Luke Hostetter, Jared Schwartzentruber

We began with good form and proper spin, we continued to learning to put the ball in the court consistent. The third step of developing as a varsity player is to gain the ability to place your shots where YOU want them in the court.

What does placement do for you? The most important thing that it does is give you the ability to move your opponent. In tennis, almost every level of player is adept at standing in one spot and hitting the ball back. In tennis lessons with first graders, you begin with students standing in a line and hitting the ball from where they are. And they can get pretty good at it. The difference, and difficulty, is when you make players adjust and hit on the move.

The best players in the game today make the majority of their mistakes when they are on the move, and that is true of high schoolers as well. In fact, you have the added push of impatience in high school players, which often influences them to try for incredible shots from compromising positions. Being able to move a player is the foundation of any singles game.

Obviously, it is important in doubles as well. Many times one player is stronger than the other and you want to direct play to the weaker opponent. This requires the ability to place the ball. Many times you need to avoid the net player by hitting crosscourt, or passing down the line. These skills require placement.

While consistency allows you to stay in points, placement allows you to be in control. When you can place the ball, then you can dictate the points. Want your opponent to hit backhands, then direct play to their backhand corner. Want your opponent to have to move, then take play from side to side, forehand to backhand. The ability to place the ball gives you the most control.

You can see the results of having that control. Jared went 19-3 at #2 singles, Luke went 15-7 at #1 singles. So, having three elements of the ladder can make you an extremely successful player. Before the week ends, I hope to put up the last element to be worked on.

Monday's Important Things : Consistency

Part Two of "Building a Better Varsity Player"

CONSISTENCY = Highly successful JV player / Lower positioned varsity player
Examples from last year: Jonny Shenk, Ben Mast, Seth Krabill, Matthew Amstutz, Mikey Kelly and others

The first part of this series was developing proper form, and thus the proper spin to each shot. Once this has been developed, the next step in the development process is consistency. This means we are still not working on pounding the ball or even on precise placement, but are simply hitting shots with good form into the court time and time again.

Without developing any further, being a consistent player can lead to wins at the varsity level. Players with consistent groundstrokes can load up the wins at #3 singles (even #2 singles if they are very consistent). A great example of this is Jonny Shenk, whose greatest weapon was his consistency and competitiveness. Over two years, Jonny won 33 matches at the varsity level. That is incredible.

What consistency does is wear down your opponent. High school players are typically not dedicated enough to the game of tennis to be patient. We all want results and we want them quickly. When an opponent makes us stay on the court because they hit everything in, we begin to get anger and try to hit shots we have not yet mastered. Consistency alone can break down many opponents.

This is true in doubles as well. If a player can get to the net, and consistently hit solid volleys and approach shots, then the pressure of having to lob every point or hit passing shots will get to them. Consistency will win you at least 15 matches if you are playing in the lower varsity spots.

But these same steps don't have to only apply to your all around game, they can apply to specific strokes as well. Let's say your have good form and consistency with your forehand, but you need to work on the backhand. Again, the first place to start is the spin and form, then move along to the area of consistency. This can be applied to any shot. First, form/spin and then consistency.

How do you develop consistency? You practice. You hit and hit and hit. This is what ball machines were made for. This is why you call your teammates and go play. This is why we do crosscourt drills every day to begin practice for 15 minutes. To develop consistency, you hit.

And not just randomly hit. You hit with the intention of getting every shot in. You don't go blasting at every shot and seeing if you can hit a winner, you hit back and forth with a friend until you can't hold your racket up anymore. A consistent player comes from hours spent on the court practicing.

This is why Daniel was so consistent this year, this is why Jonny was able to win so many matches. This is why we dominated those lower varsity positions, because those guys went out and hit. A lot. A whole lot.

So yea for step number two. For all y'all looking to be higher than #3S or #2D, come back next Monday for step three.

Monday's Important Things : Spin

Part One of "Building a Varsity Player"

Over the next four weeks, I want to walk through the important series of how to develop as a varsity tennis player. These steps should be followed in order, as this first part is an important base for the skills to follow. So check your skills for these attributes over the next several weeks at see at what point in your development you are.

SPIN (FORM) = Junior Varsity Player

The first part of developing your game is hitting strokes with the proper form and thus the proper form. Forehands and backhands should have the backswing low and follow through high, therefore producing topspin. Serves can be hit with topspin or slice. Volleys should be flat or slight backspin. But failing to hit with the correct form and spin can stunt the growth of any player.

A constant slicer of forehands and backhands can play at the JV level. But they will never excel at the varsity level. A key for any beginning player or JV member is to learn the form and spin necessary to become excellent. This means breaking out of the mold of "just getting the ball over" and beginning to look at the shape of your shot as being important. The form that you hit with being important.

You cannot hit the ball hard and in the court without correct form and proper topspin. You can't control the pace of your opponents shots without form and topspin. You can't learn to hit the corners of the court and move your opponent without form and topspin. I believe that everyone should start with learning topspin groundstrokes.

The essentials of topspin groundstrokes:

1. Use the correct grip. Forehand grip should be semi-western, backhand grip should be continental. If you need to see these, just search them on google image search. You should find a few different pictures.

2. Swing from low to high. If you swing straight back and straight through, you'll hit the ball in the net.

3. Don't force the topspin. You don't need to quick flip your wrist or spin your racket downwards or anything. Trust your grip and your low to high swing.

4. Practice and make small adjustments. Notice what isn't working and change it slightly. But remember, the goal is to get the ball spinning the right way.

Once you've mastered spin and the all important form that produces it, you are ready to climb to the next rung of the mastery ladder. So, come back next week.

Monday's Important Things : Practice

Important thing number two, practice. I should add that these really aren't in any special order other than the order that they occur to me. This one occurs to me during spring tennis season when practicing is a self motivated choice and not a school regulated requirement. It's during this season of the year that we are tempted to think of excuses not to play, because the season is far away, because we're involved in some other things, and so on and so on.

But practice, especially during the offseason, is a super important thing. Today, I want to discuss 3 reasons why it is important.

#1: Opportunity
Practice gives you lots of opportunities. The most important opportunity that offseason practice gives you is the opportunity to try new things and make adjustments. During the season, it is really difficult to change someone's entire swing pattern or teach a brand new type of shot because there is a certain amount of failure involved in learning something new and during the season that failure may cause losses on that individual's record, and perhaps the team record. So the best place to try new things is during the offseason.

Last year, Jared and Luke both worked extensively on hitting the ball on the rise. This became a dynamite stroke for them throughout the year. Jared also was able to concentrate on having proper footwork between every point, and it became a habit for him by the time the season came around. Jonny Shenk worked on passing shots, Ben and Austin developed more biting and reliable serves, Daniel's groundstrokes improved about 10 times, and Seth transformed into the most dominant #2S JV player ever.

Point being, in the offseason there should be no fear of failure. So pick something to work out, try some new things out and stick with it.

#2: Repetition
You can really gain these new skills because practice gives you the chance to repeat something over and over again. You can take a hopper of balls to the courts and hit 100 serves in a row to try to work on your topspin. That just doesn't happen when we play matches. You can hit crosscourt for 20 minutes, you can work on overheads for as long as you want. You can develop the new skills you are trying to gain through repeating and repeating and repeating.

#3: Character
Practicing develops your character. Because it takes a commitment, but it also is rewarding. This year's seniors were the hardest practicing group I've ever coached or been a part of in any sport, it's no wonder they were able to achieve a Sectional title. But that commitment, that time spent on hard work has developed their ability to pursue their goals in other areas as well. They know what it means to sacrifice time for an important task, so I would be confident asking them to take on more responsiblities in academic fields, or work oriented ventures, whatever.

When you make a choice to be dedicated, you mature as a whole person. You understand how to set goals, how to work towards them, what it means to succeed. This makes you more of a whole person, and can transfer to other areas of your life. It's not always fun to come out and practice, but if you can push yourself through that feeling, then the rewards are worth it. Life works like that too. Not everything feels fun, but staying dedicated pays off.

Well, that's the end. It is important to practice, I hope you decide to put in some time. Now is the time we catch up and work harder than other teams. Tell everyone that now is the time to practice!

Monday's Important Things : Muscles

The spring season is officially upon us, and so break out new spring segments for the tennis site. Today we begin a weekly discussion of things that are important for tennis. Of course, the topic is muscles today, and I'm sorry for all of our lady fans that there is no shirtless pictures of Mr. Hostennis on the hard drive of my computer. Maybe we can get him to post them on his own personal website, or perhaps the tennis team will get together one last time for a "Men of Bruin Tennis Shirtless Calendar." I wonder whose page would get the most views?

In any case, strong muscles definitely lend to a strong tennis game. Why else would professionals spend about as much time in the gym as they do on the courts? So what does all this hefting of heavy iron bars do for one's tennis game?

First of all, lifting weights can lead to prevention of injury. Of course, as muscles get stronger they are able to take more strain. Over the course of a quick and intense season, injuries are not uncommon. Ask Mikey, Johnny, Luke and a variety of others who experienced aches and pains last year. However, regular weight training can decrease the occurrence of these pains. Okay, this is fairly obvious, so let's move on...

Secondly, muscle strength gives stability to your tennis game. This is important in many instances. One great example is when you play against a power player, someone who pounds their shots with the aggression of Rafael Nadal (of which there would only be one, namely Rafael Nadal, but you get my point). Throughout the course of a match, good shots and solid form are not enough to combat heavy topspin and powerful groundstrokes. There needs to be strength to push back against your opponent's often tiring game. A good base of strong legs and solid core strength will help you endure through that. And you'll also have the strength to carry on your footwork and stroke through your own attacking shots, which takes us to...

Power. Yea, if you want to hit the ball harder consistently, you need bigger muscles. Well, okay, not really beefy muscles, but stronger muscles. And I'm not talking just about arm muscles so you can swing your arm faster. Real power is generated throughout the body in a swing, especially from the legs. As these parts are made stronger, you can coil your body up more often and rip through forehands, backhands, hit overheads over the fence like the mighty Johnny Kauffman and more!

I chose Luke's picture here for a reason, his game best showed the fruition of weight training. Play a match against Luke and he will simply wear you down with the pace of his shots (generated by strong legs and core) and the grinding topspin. Also, his intense training allows him to not give in when the matches get long. I look back to some of the times where he took down tougher opponents, or challenged them right to the end and can see the importance of strength in these matches. Luke's match in the Sectional final against Preston is a great example. When Preston got mentally and physically tired in the second set, Luke was in physical shape to pounce on this let down and pick up the pace and aggressiveness of his own game to steal the second set and send the match into a deciding third set.

There are other benefits too, of having nice muscles. Yes, Russell, they do look good on the beach. And if that's what motivates you to hit the weight room this spring and summer, then great. I'd love to see us stabilizing our games and getting more powerful all the time.

Hmmm, maybe shirtless tennis camp would be a possibility...