6 Things Tennis Has Taught Me

/ Absolutely Olivia

As you may or may not know, tennis is a big part of my daily life.  I love tennis and play it as much as possible!  This sport has had a great effect on me and has definitely helped to shape me into the person I am today.  That being said, I have learned and am learning a lot from tennis and today I am going to share with you 6 of those things.

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_Second Chances_

One thing tennis has taught me about is second chances.  With every missed first serve comes a slower, steadier second serve, just like how with each mess up in life comes a chance to better what you first did.  It is vital to look at your mistakes and figure out what needs changing and why your first effort may not of worked, before hurrying to try again. Second chances are important to use wisely and correct a previous error.

_Practice Pretty Much Makes Perfect_

This is an obvious one, but also one of the first things I ever remember hearing out of a coach’s mouth.  Practice is the best way to improve and reinforce what you are struggling with or want to become better at.  Though I believe perfection to be unattainable, practice can help you get the closest you can to the ideal. It is almost a form of creating habits, which in turn can help you become more consistent at whatever you are doing, whether it is tennis or excelling in your school/job work.

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_Win, Lose, There’s More To Improve_

At the beginning of the school year, we had to write a six word memoir for our life thus far. Since tennis is something I do and think about a lot of the time, I wanted to come up with a memoir that related to the sport and my life as well.  I  decided on: Win, lose, there’s more to improve.  After playing many matches and tournaments, I realized that although you become better as you go, there will always be something that can use a little tweaking. The things you adjust may not be noticeable to others, but sometimes it’s the little changes that end up making the biggest difference in the long run.

_”Hit” Smarter, Not Harder_

This point is a tennis take on the saying, “Work smarter, not harder,” which I never really understood the saying until I connected it to tennis. I have had to learn and force myself to realize, the powerful shots can’t win you every match. That’s where hitting smarter, not harder comes in. Instead of just pounding each tennis ball that comes your way, things like consistency, strategy, and putting thought into the way you hit, are what can help you along. It is the same way in everyday life. If you have a clear plan/schedule and use time management, while also taking short breaks every once in a while to refresh you brain, any project you are working on can go by quicker and you will not be working nearly as hard on it, had you not planned it out before hand.

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_Patience When Waiting_

I have almost always struggled with patience.  From learning new things to waiting for something to happen, I tend to get impatient easily.  I feel like tennis has helped me with this problem, even though I still may not be the most patient person ever :).  When you have to hit smarter, not harder, like I said above, patience is key.  You must wait until the other person hits the ball, wait until the ball reaches the right point to be hit, and wait for the opportune moment to finish off the point.  Waiting is a hard thing to do in life, but impatience can ruin whatever you were waiting for.  The majority of the time, it will benefit you more to slow down and think things through before rushing into something like a tennis point or a job/project.

_To Cheer Others On_

For the most part, tennis isn’t a team sport, but when you go to tournaments and matches, it is almost guaranteed you will see and hear players cheering other players on. Over the years, I have made tons of friends through this sport and we have all became a part of a big support system.  When you cheer others on, it can create a sense of community and it always feels good to know people who can congratulate you on your successes and have your back when you need an extra boost.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and got something from it! Thanks for reading and go check out my new Instagram if you would like!

Instagram: @absolutelyolivia

💜Love, Olivia

 

 

25 thoughts on “6 Things Tennis Has Taught Me”

  3. Lovely post. There’s so many comments in there that relate to a lot of sports I think, including dance. There’s always things to improve. I won my last dance competition but I still came away with as many self-criticisms as the times I don’t even make the final as there’s always improvements to make. That’s part of the journey I think though. If you were the best at everything there’d be nothing to learn and I think that also takes the fun out of it 😋. Great blog post x

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    • Everything you said is so true! Even if I win, I still find negative things. I think sometimes it is hard not to pick apart every single moment and find something wrong. I have slowly started to realize that tennis and other sports are meant to be a learning experience and shouldn’t be taken so seriously all the time. It’s definitely difficult to only focus on the positives for some matches, or in your case dances, but doing that I have found can really help in the long run! Thanks for reading and I’m glad you could relate😄💖

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  7. I use to play tennis, and something I’ve learned, which you sort of talked about , it that many sports are really like a mental game. My coach use to say that tennis is 60% mental and 40% physical. Great post💟😊

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  9. I agree with everything you said!!

    Tennis is my life too! Even though I consider myself to be a beauty, nail and skin care blogger, I think I follow more tennis players and tournaments than I follow other beauty bloggers! 😀

    I don’t get to play tennis as often as I’d like to. But I’ll always love tennis. It exercises the body and the mind and it’s the best sport to watch as well! I also discuss tennis with my husband, and I kind of make him watch tennis all the time too. 😀

    So whilst my husband probably wouldn’t watch tennis if it weren’t for me, I have to give him credit for paying attention and keeping up with the results. And I think it’s awesome that he knows and recognises players who aren’t super famous, like Varvara Lepchenko, Danka Kovinic or Annika Beck. My husband loves Aga’s trick shots, he thinks CiCi will be more successful than Kayla (although he knows Kayla has just turned pro and she has plenty of time to become one of the best next generation players), and he knows that Destanee Aiava is destined for future tennis greatness!

    What I was going to say… I ♥ tennis – but I guess that’s obvious now!

    May I ask you… do you prefer to watch ATP or WTA? Are you interested in the ITF circuit too? Which players do you like? Who do you think is going to win Indian Wells?

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