For you monkeys out there who have played the game of tennis, you know it's a peculiar sport. As with any other competitive endeavor, tennis can be incredibly infuriating one moment and immensely gratifying the next. Perhaps it is this state of flux and change that makes tennis an incredible learning experience.
When I picked up an over-sized Prince racket at the age of 3, little did I know that it would change and shape my life forever. Over the next 18 years, my life became a series of enthralling (and sometimes, extremely frustrating) tournaments and a relentless quest to perfect the game that had captured my attention at a young age. Tomorrow, I'll step out onto the court for the final home match of my collegiate tennis career. It'll be a bittersweet moment but it's given me time to reflect on my journey and as I transition towards my professional life, I find that the sport has given me a character framework that'll last me a lifetime. Here are 4 lessons that tennis has taught me:
1. Be Passionate - Regardless of what you choose to do with your life or your priorities, it's immensely important for you to be passionate about them. Let's be real. I'm not saying that you'll sing your way to work everyday but it will definitely help you keep things in perspective, act as a foundation for your goals and push you to push past your boundaries. I know I didn't enjoy every single moment of my time on a tennis court but being passionate about the sport helped me past the tough times and stay level-headed during the good ones.
2. Work Hard - Even if you're passionate about something in your life, it hardly ever pays off unless you work hard. You need to want it more than the next guy. In any field, if you want to rise to the top, there are rarely any days off and the tough part comes when you have to have the discipline to work hard on days where you feel tired or disillusioned or both. It's easy for us to marvel at the successful people in our world but we rarely see or recognize the ridiculous amount of work that they put in when no one else is looking.
3. Treat Success and Failure as Equals - One thing you learn really quickly as a tennis player is the fleeting nature of success and failure. In fact, our successes are rarely as great as we make them out to be and our failures are rarely as devastating as we make them out to be. It all comes down to perspective. After playing tennis at some of the most competitive stages, I have come to understand that true strength lies in treating success and failure as equals. If you have the courage to stay level-headed when you're experiencing success and if you have the courage to dust yourself off and get back up after your worst defeats, chances are you'll find a way to your goal.
4. Perspective - Once you truly understand and imbibe the aforementioned lessons, you'll be gifted with a sense of perspective. Regardless of your career choice or personal choices, if they follow your value system and if they're centered around some or all of the above lessons, you'll realize that nothing matters more than the fact that you're alive, living your passion and working hard towards your goals and priorities. No amount of money and fame can replace that feeling of fulfillment.
Regardless of the outcome of my final home match tomorrow and my professional journey ahead, these lessons (among others) will stay with me forever and whenever I reflect on my memories as a tennis player, I can always say that it was one hell of a ride
Good post.
I also personally found that strategy is a lesson I had to learn the hard way during my tennis years. By that, I mean having a plan and revising said plan during difficult times (e.g. switching up your strategy against a baseliner).
This applies to life in general: be ready for the opportunity, revise/reassess your goals, and hit the ground running in whatever you do.
Thanks. I definitely agree. I think it's always good to have multiple plans, backup options, contingency game plans and such. Interestingly, in tennis, sometimes against the great players, you're forced to switch your game plan mid match or even multiple times in the match because they adjust to your earlier plan.
Great thread: I used to be a professional tennis player, and although I have not played in college tennis, everything I have is because of the game of tennis. I must add that tennis contributed to my professionalism and responsibility as as a person. I learned the definition of sacrifice and dedication, and in finance you have to apply both of those values to succeed. It applies to every sport, and not just tennis.
I started with an oversized prince racket called the beast. The good old days those were.
True story haha
Did you play tennis/still play tennis competitively?
No I don't play anymore because I had leg surgery, however I used to play quite often. I was actually at IMG for a few summers and participated in tournaments regularly. It was my life for a while and I planned on playing in college. Miss the sport alot. I played with a prince diablo.
Wow man great post, and good luck on your last match! Informative and inspiring. Up until now I thought that the hardest part about tennis was telling your parents that you're gay.
Haha that was the easiest part.
You must not know much about tennis. In my opinion, becoming a professional tennis player is one of the hardest things in the world. And becoming world No. 1 is up there with any achievement. Maybe getting to No. 1 in chess is harder, as it requires being born with a gifted mind. But if only considering sports, tennis is the hardest one. Too physical, and too mental at the same time.
Extremely true. Every sport has its nuances that make it tough. With tennis, you have to be agile, quick, flexible, strong, explosive and have endurance. That's just the physical side of things. You then have to have tremendous mental stamina and strength to withstand the momentum shifts in a match and shrug off hard losses and unless you're playing doubles, you rarely have anyone else out there helping you. Then, let's not forget that you have to have decent technique, talent and feel to truly make it. Lastly, it's unbelievably tough to make a living for your entire life off tennis. Unless you're top 20-35 or higher in the world, there's no way you make enough not do anything for the rest of your life and it's becoming increasingly tougher to break into those ranks due to prolonged domination by the top guys.
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
Anytime. Just trying to give back as much as I can
Great post! I am also playing my last ncaa home match tomorrow. My first racket was a Wilson roller thought at the age of 6, such a trampoline. Tennis helps to find a way to win, adapting to your opponent strategy and response to your own strategies. It's been 10 years I serve and volley, and let me tell you, I've been passed more than everyone, and still have the courage to go to the net. Because that's what we do; we fight with our best weapons and and battles for hours in the 90's weather.
SB'ed! Definitely hear what you're saying. I started off as a baseliner but have added the serve and volley to my game as I have grown up and developed a big serve. I think the part of tennis that I have learned to deal with it and even learn from, is finding ways to win when you're playing terribly. It happens to all of us. The good players find a way to win because they have so many different weapons and strategies. Good luck on your match man. Let us know how it goes.
What college tennis program ends their season this early in April? You must not be playing D1...I'd be curious to know where you are playing at? D3 program?
Didn't mean to come across harsh, I'm just curious being a former college tennis player myself.
Haha no you're fine. We played our final home match at the time of this post. We still travel this week to play a match and then we have our A-10 conference tournament early next week. I promise I play D1 haha. Wouldn't see the need to lie about it really.
just threw up in my mouth after reading, i hope you lost, or injured, permanent like
what?
I agree that tennis is a great sport that can teach you many things beyond tennis.
Definitely. Did you play/do you play?
Great post. I think sports in general can help you build many skills that are useful for non-sports stuff
Definitely. It helps you figure out how you would react to various situations as well
"One hell of a ride" that sums it up man.
You forgot one lesson of tennis to career....to keep the shoulder joints good. Desk fucked up my shit real good
Great post, I really like tennis!
Lessons that tennis taught me: Winning the loser's game
What were your key takeaways
This is a great book by Charlie Ellis.
Basically, top tennis players win by slamming very skilful shots; but amateurs always bomb out by making the wrong shots.
Thus, for the top players, tennis is a winner's game; but for amateurs, it's a loser's game.
Therefore, as an amateur, (or, more importantly in my view, if you have no evidence whatsoever to believe you're a top, skilful player) - you should focus on minimising your errors, not on trying to make winning shots.
If you don't have evidence to believe you have an edge in the markets, then you should focus on NOT BOMBING OUT. i.e., don't try to take on idio risk. Just hold the market portfolio. That's how you win the loser's game.
Also curious
I think tennis is a great sport for getting in shape
I have to learn how to play tennis
Do you have any local tennis clubs near you? I thought most people were based in nyc where there probably aren’t as many. Kind of reminds me of when I was in HS and we had a tennis team and I should have tried to learn back then
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