Tag Archive for 'tennis player'

Personal tennis success or reflected glory? You choose.

Published on February 23, 2009 in junior tennis, tennis and tennis success. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Whether it is in the world of tennis or in any other aspect of our lives, is there anything so wonderful as achieving success or feeling successful?

One of my tennis juniors was telling me how much he enjoyed watching Andy Murray playing international tournaments knowing there is a good chance he will win – or ‘get the W’ as Andy Murray calls it.

Every time Andy Murray wins a tennis tournament, this tennis junior feels he’s personally won as he bathes in the glory of the international tennis star.

I told him that it is OK to be motivated by the wins of this top class professional tennis player but dangerous to focus too much on tennis playing success by proxy.

Achieve success in most sports disciplines takes at least 10,000 hours of concentrated effort, many say, and this means a huge commitment covering possibly many years.

Naturally, it is daunting when success, these days, is increasingly measured in international terms which means that only the few out of many millions can reap the rewards of getting to the top of a very high pyramid of achievement.

In comparison, it is so easy for the rest of the world to switch on their televisions, support their favourite successful professional tennis player and feel good about the result.

But such easy feelings of success, however seductive,  are probably a trap better avoided.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that our greatest happiness comes from self-actualization and achieving one’s personal aims or objectives. Perhaps the best way for all of us to achieve true happiness is through our own personal successes and not through reflected glory of others.

So I told him that spending time on the practice court was more likely to give him a true feeling of success as it steadily improved his chances of becoming a tennis champion too.

It was good to see him out on the tennis practice wall the next day.

Teresa talks about tennis rackets, tennis racket strings, tennis shoes and sports shops

Published on February 4, 2009 in tennis. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , .

Thinking about the good and bad bits of tennis makes me realise what a complicated subject it is with many different aspects. There are all sorts of tennis rackets, each suited to different levels of player. Even the size and stature of the tennis player can change the type of racket that will work best for them. Tennis rackets string tension is also vitally important and some tennis strings last longer than others. Some string tensions are designed for power and others for feel.

Tennis shoes are another interesting topic. There are so many shoes on the market sold by retailers as tennis shoes that are really only designer trainers. They are not at all suited for true tennis play.

Talking about tennis racket string tension reminds me of a famous musician I once coached. He used to drive the people in his local sports shop crazy because he always used to know whether they had strung his racket to the correct tension or not. Each racket has a specific string tension that is designed to work with that racket. Once he had identified the string tension that was right for his racket, through working with me, he immediately demanded that his local sports shop string the racket to that exact tension.

When the sports shop gave each of his rackets back after each re-stringing, he would ping the racket strings with his finger and tell them whether they had strung the racket correctly or not. On one occasion, they incorrectly strung the tennis racket’s string tension to twenty-six lbs instead of twenty-six kilos. One flick of his finger on the tennis racket told him the tennis racket string tension was wrong. He actually explained to the sports shop that the tennis racket was in the wrong key. They checked and found he was absolutely right about the wrong tension. As I said, he was a famous musician and had perfect pitch.

Teresa the tennis coach, sulking after losing a tennis match and tennis playing boyfriends

Published on February 3, 2009 in tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Soon after I came to Devon to work at the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre, I was interviewed by the local radio station. I think it was because they thought it was unusual to have a kiwi tennis player living locally. People are very insular in this part of Devon. Or maybe it was engineered as a bit of public relations by the management of the sports centre where I work.

Anyway, one of the big things that the interviewer talked about was how angry he gets when he plays tennis with his friend on the local recreation ground tennis courts. He says that if he wins, he feels good, but if he loses, he gets really angry and refuses to talk to his friend for several days. Usually his friend has to buy him a drink in the local pub so that they can make up and become friends again – until the next tennis match.

All of which, is something I absolutely didn’t understand. At the end of a tennis game, club tennis tradition is for the players to always shake hands. It marks the end of the battle. Sometimes I don’t want to shake hands, if I have had a bad match, but it is a ritual that everybody follows and afterwards I always feel better.

I suppose that the hand-shaking bit at the end, is a formalised way of ending the conflict. As soon as we shake hands, we can talk about other things and continue with normal friendly relationships.

I tried to explain this to the local radio interviewer but I don’t think he was listening. Just about the time I was talking about shaking hands, I made the mistake of uncrossing my legs and I was wearing a short tennis skirt at the time. This simple action seemed to take his whole attention.

Afterwards, he tried to make a date but he was too short and balding. Plus, I don’t think I would like anybody who was so immature enough to sulk after losing a tennis match – or perhaps even somebody who makes a habit of losing games of tennis, for that matter.

Not that I wouldn’t like a little bit of boyfriend activity, if I could get it. Living and working in the Devon countryside is all very well but a girl’s got to think of her social life and for me recently it’s been a big zero.

In fact the last real relationship I had was in New Zealand with a sleaze-ball rep for a tennis equipment manufacturer. I suppose I had hoped I would get some free equipment and maybe some sponsorship, as well as a little loving, but he wasn’t really interested in how I played tennis. Instead, he was more interested in how he could play me along.

When I discovered he already had a wife and two kids, I dropped him like a brick. I always regretted not getting back at him. I should have done something dramatic to teach him a lesson but I couldn’t think of anything at the time and, anyway, I’m not usually vindictive. I suppose we had some good times and the relationship had perhaps just run its course.

It was soon after that I cane to the UK and the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre.

Teresa the tennis coach – my background, Mr Right and why I am keeping this blog

Published on January 30, 2009 in tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

When I think about it, my whole life has been about tennis since I was a young child and my father, a keen tennis player, put a small tennis racket into my hand and started hitting balls with me on the patio in the back garden.

My mum was also a keen tennis player and played with my dad in the local tennis club at Auckland in New Zealand. She used to watch me and my dad playing sometimes and I could see that she wanted to join in but, eventually, she would just sigh and go back to washing the dishes and cleaning the house. I’ve always said that, if I ever meet my Mr Right, he will definitely be the one to wash the dishes and clean the house and I’ll be out of the tennis courts with my kids.

Talking about Mr Right, Max is quite a juicy prospect! I’ve not really see much of him but he is one good looking guy, although perhaps a bit young for me. He is tall, dark and those heavy eyebrows give him a strong neanderthal look that really could make my legs go weak. I have a strong suspicion that he is attracted to me from the way he keeps looking at my legs. Max makes a change from the usual crowd at the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre where the average age of the management is around middle age.

I had a game of tennis with Max today and he’s a strong tennis player. Maybe together we could breed some great professional tennis players who would win Wimbledon, the US Open, the Australian Open and all the other tournaments and keep us in our old age – well a girl can dream!

Anyway, back to the reason for keeping this blog. Max tells me it’s a good way of meeting my public. He says that by recording all the tennis things I do and the places I go which are to do with tennis, I will be able to link up with people who are interested in the tennis services my tennis centre provides.