Hey Claire, I very much appreciate the post. I can relate to a lot of what you're emphasizing here. I grew up playing tennis as a kid, and shortly after (around middle school or so), tried as much as I could competing and developing in tennis. I dreamt of being a professional tennis player, though I was not able to compete in as many tournaments as I wanted. I was able to make my varsity team in high school, but despite my efforts, I was cut from my college team.
I remember some of my coaches mentioning something along the lines of "Do you think we wanted to get up at 6am every day to come and work on tennis drills/skills? No way, but we did it" as motivation for one of my groups to work on our tennis (this was an anecdote of them describing extra coaching they went through as kids themselves, while developing into pros). I just remember thinking to myself as a kid "If I were given the chance to wake up and work with anyone who could help me improve, I'd love to wake up even earlier than that at 5am every day!". I was gung-ho about any sort of opportunity to put in long, hard hours of work on drills when I was a little middle-schooler.
It's refreshing to hear that the superficial quotes you mentioned were not always well received. Even though dwelling in the past is not always the best, my endlessly competitive side often thinks about all that I've learned about tennis from just a superficial level and internalizing how the pros work on themselves (analyzing tape, drills to improve agility/coordination/full-body-utilization, study of biomechanics and kinesiology, etc) and how I could have been such a great hypothetical coach for my past self. If I were given the option to ascend to pro as a kid by just "dreaming it", "putting in the effort", etc, I would've taken that offer and done whatever it took probably by 16.
However, this is not reality, and I'm sure many others have had similar thoughts. That being said, I'm very grateful and fulfilled living how I currently am as a software engineer. It's fantastic to experience a field I never thought I'd have a career in early in my life (until just about two years ago actually). Additionally, I may not have developed my brain in the same way if I were given such a simple path to pro. I credit my personality to just figuring out what I do best, doing it better than my previous best (repeating that cycle endlessly), and using that best version of myself to further improve myself and other's lives. If life were as simple as the inspirational quotes you mentioned, perhaps my never-ending quest to better the lives of myself and others wouldn't even be on my mind.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. It's a lot of rambling and just thought-vomit, but I appreciate your new blog, and I hope to be able to comment on and relate (in a positive way) to future posts! It's also amazing to have the opportunity to contribute like this to someone like you who is living the pro tennis life! I wish you the best of luck through the qualifying rounds of San Diego! Finally, thank you for complementing your post with quotes you do find great! It's refreshing to see that extra positivity at the end of your post!
By the way, please let me know if anything I comment on is not well received, and I'll be sure to be more thoughtful about what I comment in the future.
You are so right on! xx
Way to choke. Absolutely humiliating.
4th comment!
2nd to leave a comment!
Hey Claire, I very much appreciate the post. I can relate to a lot of what you're emphasizing here. I grew up playing tennis as a kid, and shortly after (around middle school or so), tried as much as I could competing and developing in tennis. I dreamt of being a professional tennis player, though I was not able to compete in as many tournaments as I wanted. I was able to make my varsity team in high school, but despite my efforts, I was cut from my college team.
I remember some of my coaches mentioning something along the lines of "Do you think we wanted to get up at 6am every day to come and work on tennis drills/skills? No way, but we did it" as motivation for one of my groups to work on our tennis (this was an anecdote of them describing extra coaching they went through as kids themselves, while developing into pros). I just remember thinking to myself as a kid "If I were given the chance to wake up and work with anyone who could help me improve, I'd love to wake up even earlier than that at 5am every day!". I was gung-ho about any sort of opportunity to put in long, hard hours of work on drills when I was a little middle-schooler.
It's refreshing to hear that the superficial quotes you mentioned were not always well received. Even though dwelling in the past is not always the best, my endlessly competitive side often thinks about all that I've learned about tennis from just a superficial level and internalizing how the pros work on themselves (analyzing tape, drills to improve agility/coordination/full-body-utilization, study of biomechanics and kinesiology, etc) and how I could have been such a great hypothetical coach for my past self. If I were given the option to ascend to pro as a kid by just "dreaming it", "putting in the effort", etc, I would've taken that offer and done whatever it took probably by 16.
However, this is not reality, and I'm sure many others have had similar thoughts. That being said, I'm very grateful and fulfilled living how I currently am as a software engineer. It's fantastic to experience a field I never thought I'd have a career in early in my life (until just about two years ago actually). Additionally, I may not have developed my brain in the same way if I were given such a simple path to pro. I credit my personality to just figuring out what I do best, doing it better than my previous best (repeating that cycle endlessly), and using that best version of myself to further improve myself and other's lives. If life were as simple as the inspirational quotes you mentioned, perhaps my never-ending quest to better the lives of myself and others wouldn't even be on my mind.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. It's a lot of rambling and just thought-vomit, but I appreciate your new blog, and I hope to be able to comment on and relate (in a positive way) to future posts! It's also amazing to have the opportunity to contribute like this to someone like you who is living the pro tennis life! I wish you the best of luck through the qualifying rounds of San Diego! Finally, thank you for complementing your post with quotes you do find great! It's refreshing to see that extra positivity at the end of your post!
By the way, please let me know if anything I comment on is not well received, and I'll be sure to be more thoughtful about what I comment in the future.