Strictly Personal

Earlier this fall, I joined the Silver Bullets Tennis team for the fall USTA combo leagues. Amateur tennis at its best. A good reason to get out and hit some balls around and chug a couple of beers after.

Anyways, the team went undefeated during the regular season (Durham leagues). In the state championship, we made it to the finals where we lost 2-1. Disappointing. However, I remained undefeated in the tournament including the finals where I was part of a #1 seeded doubles team.

I am new to tennis but I took to it faster than any other sport I have picked up before. It almost has me regretting the years I ran track. My body seems like a perfect fit for tennis but even more importantly, it is a lot of fun. Track bored me, it took me a while to realize that. You can’t really sabotage your opponent in a track race. If another runner is faster than you, that’s that. It is not going to change at a track meet, the result was penciled in months before at some practice.

I especially love tennis because there is quite a lot of creativity involved. And that creativity involves knowing your opponents, their weaknesses and strengths. You can beat a better player on his good day if you have a better plan or you make better adjustments or you are better in the moment. There are many paths to success.

Part of why I think I had a good run at the states was because I had one partner and we had an excellent relationship on court. A relationship that didn’t always click in the past but through a lot of communication blossomed at the tournament. Just another lesson of not avoiding conflict in a relationship because in most cases, conflict bears stronger fruit.