Why Don't We Just Quit?
The sun is shining and the court is calling. Your tennis bag is already in the back of the car just begging you to come out and play. You force your body off the couch, your knee reminding you of yesterdays three setter. You reach for the keys and your shoulder reminds you of the three aces you hit in the second set. Out to the car you go and as you turn the ignition your elbow reminds you...you are getting old.
You get to the court and pull out your tennis bag. The process begins: pop two advil, squeeze into the knee brace, strap on the elbow air splint and stretch out all the cob webs hanging around the joints. Yes the beginning of another perfect day!
Why do we do it, what compells us to put our body through such torture? Why don't we just quit? I don't have the answer to this. I have watched my son come back from two arm surgeries with a greater passion, drive and determination for the game. I watch my other son go to physical therapy three times a week just hoping to be able to play again. Why? All I can tell you is tennis is a sport that sparks an unimaginable passion inside the player. The game pushes both our body and mind to a higher level every time we step onto the court.
When we get older and our body starts to fail us we just become more creative in our game. "As the body begins to go the mind begins to grow." As we get older the game becomes even more challenging because we have to find a way to win without the speed, power, and movement we once had. We become the master of the drop and lob, our placement of the ball becomes more important than the speed. Perhaps this is why we never tire of the sport.
So we will continue to sustain ourselves with RICE (rest, ice ,compression, elevation) so we can engage in our favorite past time... the game of tennis.
I hope you enjoy another great spring tennis season and don't put your poor body through too much torture.
Comment
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Comment by Ricardo Flores on March 19, 2012 at 9:44pm
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A great post Sandra! The aches and pains the next day are well worth it! Every time I go out and play I find it very rewarding! We just learn to play a smarter game as we age!
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Comment by Mark / The Mayor on March 19, 2012 at 7:57am
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Well, I'm 42 and only getting better. I try not to think about the fact that I am getting older, but if I stay in shape I think I pretty much have the same speed I used to have, plus now I have more confidence in my strokes. I'm looking forward to a competitive singles season.
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Comment by Sandra on March 18, 2012 at 3:32pm
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We made our son play the men's 4.0-4.5 league when he was fifteen to try and get him to learn the "mature" and thoughtful aspect of the game. It was the best training he ever got. He learned that power isn't everything, and the old guys loved giving the young buck a butt whooping.
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Comment by Jazz Burks on March 18, 2012 at 3:25pm
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At 36 I am starting to realize what I had is either gone or leaving. I still love to play but I must now start to put craft into my game. Sometimes I feel like the "smarter", more anticipation tennis that I must learn is not going to be as much fun as the "rock 'em sock 'em" tennis that I have employed in my 1st decade of play. I sometimes think about about "retiring" from competitive tennis soon as I will no longer be able to do what I once did. However, that would be cowards way out and if got beat by a 60somehing guy in singles at the age of 3, it would be remiss of me not to pass that beatdown along to somebody else!
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