Simple As This: A Great Article

We need this attitude. From every one of us...

From Tennis Thoughts

Asserting Themselves in the Face of Defeat

I just ran across this article on Wozniacki by James Martin of Tennis.com. On the surface, the article might appear to equate offense with power. “She needs to hit harder and go for more winners.’ But if you read a little deeper you will see that there is more to it than that.

James Martin also talks about a mindset. It is an assertive mindset that distinguishes the true champions. Sampras does not have the most powerful serve. Federer does not have the most powerful strokes. They hit hard but there are others who can hit harder. They both have fluidity and variety. In fact, if you think about Federer, Sampras and McEnroe everyone would agree they have incredible hands. So does Borg and so does Nadal. It is not as natural but they have used variety to augment their games. And all of them used offense. But the overall theme of the article seems to bottle up the essence of a higher level of tennis.

In fact, I really think that Federer is the king of variety and strategy. He just uses all his weapons to move people around the court and then hits an easy winner. He is also not afraid to attack. There are times were seems to be shanking his backhand but will continue attacking. The same with his forehand. He is willing to lose a match but he will not give up attacking. In fact, you can watch Federer vs. Nadal in the Wimbledon final in 2008.

You probably saw Nadal falling to the ground and Federer missing a forehand after a somewhat awkward bounce. But what was Federer doing. He was hitting an aggressive approach shot. And that was on the last point of the match. He missed and the rest is history but he did not back down and stop attacking. If you watch the great players they will keep attacking until the very end. But they attack in all sorts of ways. Federer is the king at this because he uses variety to confuse opponents and create openings.

Martin points out that Wozniacki has reached a level of success with a pretty simple plan. She gets everything back and just outlasts her opponent. The problem is that the true champions will do more. They will assert themselves even if it means losing. He suggests that this is a necessary step that is needed for Wozniacki to begin winning tournaments.

There is one last thing that is interesting. Both Federer and Sampras seemed to arrive a little later (if we exclude Sampras USO at 19). Sampras talks about the fact that he was never afraid to lose. This might be part of the key. They might lose but this does not shake their self belief. Some people have even commented on Serena Williams as never admitting that she lost. It is is almost as if she could have won had she just had a little more time. Now it is not that they don’t know they lost. They know they lost. But I suspect that they quickly search for a reason and then try to rectify this. Champions may actually be defined in how they respond to losses. Federer seems to have actually improved his backhand in the last year. Lendl took the whole summer to prepare for Wimbledon and made it to the finals. Martin points out Bill Tilden actually developed a whole new weapon. Sampras switched his backhand in order to be able to approach and volley better. These things all indicate a certain mindset. It is indicative of them taking control and asserting themselves even in the face of defeat. It does not always guarantee victory. But it does guarantee that they will lose on their own terms. And for many of the best champions this assertive mindset led to victory more often than defeat.

Tennis is Life, Life is Tennis

This is an article written by Goshen College tennis player Sheldon Good. It looks at how tennis mimics life, specifically in the area of conflict resolution. I think it is a good reminder that the skills we learn on the tennis court translate to such larger life situations.

Sports have the ability to bring out the best and worst in people. I’ve played tennis since I was five years old but only really got into it around the fifth and sixth grades. When I was in high school, my coach shared with me a saying that will forever be etched in my mind: tennis is life; life is tennis. What this means is that how you act on the court is congruent with how you live life. In other words, tennis is a microcosm of life and how we deal with life’s successes and disappointments.

In many ways, tennis shows how I deal with conflict. Athletics tend to do this, but I think tennis does this in a special way. You’re out there all alone – no coach, no one to tell you what you’re doing wrong, no one to encourage you (unless, on the rare occasion, there are fans present!), nobody to get you water when you need it. It is just you, the ball, and your opponent. You must figure out and exploit your opponent’s weaknesses while disguising your own. You must avoid your opponent’s strengths while playing to your own.

Dealing with conflict comes into play most often when you’re losing. How will I react? Will I deal with the situation or avoid it? Will I challenge my opponent by playing aggressively or play cautiously and allow my opponent to make a mistake? You must develop a high level of self-awareness in order to call on the right attitude and abilities in times of struggle. You must be able to use the tension of a crucial point in the match to your success. All the while, you must display utmost respect for yourself and your opponent (and your equipment!).

Tennis is a simple game. But it provides context for how to deal with conflict and transform problems into successes. Ultimately, you can only control your shots, not your opponents. You win in tennis by hitting better shots. In life, we must learn how to transform conflict better.

--Sheldon Good, Goshen tennis team, September, 2008

The Reality of Our Hype

As some people might know (while others might not) besides being a tennis enthusiast, I am also an avid Xavier University basketball fan. Earlier this year while perusing the reports on the latest Xavier victory, I came across this quote from Xavier coach Sean Miller: "the reality of our hype is we're really average when we play anything less than as hard as we can and as unselfish as we can." Upon reading this quote I thought about how it might be applied to another area of my life, the tennis court.

Just like our tennis team, Xavier had a majority of its players returning and were widely expected to be fairly successful, but instead of embracing "good," Xavier went for "as good as possible," and through hard work by all and an equal amount of contribution from the top seven players on the team, Xavier widely exceeded expectations (currently they are ranked #13 in the nation.) I see a possibility for our team to have a historic season that will long be remembered by future Bethany teams, but we also have the possibility to not put the work in and being no better than last year. None of our sectional opponent teams are sitting around, we won't have any easy wins against them. We have the choice, we can kick back and be average or put in the hard work and exceed everyone's expectations.

--- Kashmar (Jonny Shenk)

Providing Context

During the off-season, I don't have a whole bunch of match reports or match previews to post. So I think that I want to do something else. I want to have articles on the site, mostly written by the Bethany Christian players- you. Figured we would look at all sorts of topics, but I thought I'd start the trend...

Providing Context

I was watching the Today Show this morning, and one segment was dedicated to discussing the pursuit of happiness. The producers had found a psychologist, a rabbi, and a motivational speaker to talk with Matt Lauer about what makes people happy and provides meaning to their lives. The debate was spurred by the fact that many Americans are noting that they are more depressed than ever. I was surprised to find myself agreeing with them on two of the three aspects that they named as "keys to happiness."

The first aspect that they mentioned was the quality of our relationships. Ponder what is happening to relationships in the U.S. All sorts of technological advances are making it easier to live on your own, to remove yourself from real relationships.

In the ancient Greek world, a word of contempt arose that has stuck around (albeit in a bit of a changed form and meaning). The word is idios, which you might recognize looks a lot like our modern word idiot. The Greek word simply meant a "private person" or "one who is on one's own." The reason this was an insult was also simple, if you are all to your own or too much of a private person, you are often too focused on your own affairs to see the big picture of life. When you become too self-focused, you begin to lose meaning in life. When you lose interest in relationships, you are an idiot.

The second aspect discussed on The Today Show was that of purpose. People tend to find meaning in life when they are pursuing some sort of purpose, whatever that may be. Sometimes there is disappointment in the realization of purpose, but what we often find is that in the pursuit of a goal there is fulfillment.

Why do I mention all of this on a high school tennis website? Because these two things are two of the main reasons that I coach. Tennis, Bethany Christian tennis, provides these contexts for me. The team, my little brothers (and not in a derogatory way), relationships that I value very highly. Relationships that prevent me from hiding out in my home everyday after school and building my own world of Guitar Hero and Worldwide Soccer Manager. Relationships that allow people like Jordan Kauffman to say, "You're fat," and me not get mad at him. Relationships that allow me to realize that Jordan's right, and that have the ability to motivate me to change. It's these relationships that prevent me from being a fat, lazy, unmotivated idiot.

And purpose. Of course, we are pursuing a goal together. We want to win a Sectional championship. But the journey so far has been amazing. Memories abound, and good memories. Remember when we came back being pounded 5-0 by Fairfield to beat them in the first round of Sectionals this year? Remember when we traveled to Warsaw and got to see one of the state's best teams? Remember when our JV beat Concord? Remember Russell singing sexy songs in the back of the bus? Remember when there was almost a tornado at our Fremont match, and we escaped to go to Pizza King and eat breadsticks? This goodness abounds throughout the journey. It makes the goal sweeter when realized, and makes the work that it takes to get there easier to go through.

What's even better is that at Bethany, we get to go deeper together. There is a certain limit to how close a high school team can get, to how moving the purpose of winning a Sectional can be, but those limits are pushed out when we are also striving to be disciples of Christ. There is a whole new depth, a whole new area of transformation that is opened up in this. Nothing warms my heart more than watching teammates become Christ to one another and the rest of the school. From giving rides, to giving lessons, to offering prayers, we've a real chance to pursue Jesus together. And there is a lot of goodness on that journey as well.

So that's why I coach, because tennis provides the setting for part of my journey, a context for my relationships. So I continue to wish your journey well, and will right beside when your journey turns through tennis.

--- Coach Matt