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Tag: positive attitude

  • Lessons Learned Playing Tennis

    lessons learned playing tennis

    People often call tennis a lifelong sport. I can tell you that so far, it has been a lifelong sport for me. There are literally pictures of me as a baby next to a tennis racket. It was bigger than me at the time. When I first started walking, I would wander around the tennis court while my dad would hit with my mom. And here we are twenty two years later and I’m still hanging around the tennis court. I’ve learned a lot playing tennis, and in my recent match in a tournament, I was reminded of something really important. 

    Playing in juniors and high school was stressful for me. I felt like there was always an absurd amount of pressure for me to perform well at all times. My coaches, including my dad were always good to me, but I could just feel this competitiveness and urge for perfection always. It doesn’t help that I’m a perfectionist either. If someone else wasn’t pushing me, I was. I put a lot of pressure on myself to always be improving and always be perfect. That was really hard to maintain and I think I suffered in a lot of ways. I became frustrated easily and discouraged if I went on a losing streak. 

    In high school, I had been working with a coach for a while and he picked up on my spiraling and tension pretty quick. One of the biggest things I could take away from him was that if you’re not having fun on the court, then you shouldn’t be playing tennis. I’m not in a life or death situation on the court. I’m not playing for money (but even if I was, I shouldn’t beat myself up so bad!). I’m playing for myself to enjoy a sport I care a lot about. So, the most important thing is to let go of any frustration or anger or tension because in the grand scheme of things, tennis is a hobby. It may mean a lot to me, but it is not a lifestyle or anything extreme. It is a passion of mine and it should be treated as such! 

    It’s kinda funny to look back on my high school tennis career. I qualified for state my first three years and then I just missed it senior year. I was absolutely devastated. But, I kept playing. Practically the second I graduated from high school, it was as if a massive weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I think it wasn’t even a month or two after high school finished, and I was hitting with another one of my coaches and she asked me what had changed. Apparently I looked much more relaxed on the court. I looked free! She was right too. I had realized that competition is great and all, but the key to really improving and enjoying the sport was to have fun. When I stopped worrying about every little thing and the competition and the things I can’t control, I was a totally different tennis player.

    This mentality has helped me immensely as I’ve come into the adult tennis world. I’m still competitive and I still want to win, don’t get me wrong. I still want to get as good as I can, but at this point, it’s all just to see how far I can go, move my body, and have fun!! If tennis is a sport that I’d like to pursue the rest of my life, I sure as heck better have fun doing it. 

    So, the lesson to be learned here: be kind to yourself and remember that your passions are your PASSIONS for a reason. You love what you’re doing and it’s supposed to be fun. Keep it that way!! Have a great week. 

  • Positivity is Key

    positivity is key
    Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash

    As many of you know, last week was a tough week for my family. With the loss of Marty, it has been tough to stay optimistic. But through writing and talking about my feelings, I’m coming back to my more positive self. In general, I’ve noticed that our world has become a more negative place. Positivity is key if you’re looking for success, progress, and overall happiness. And to me, becoming a more positive person comes from a couple of different things:

    1. Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” With this Bible verse in mind, I just know that different things in life might just might suck, but ultimately, God has plans to make me a better person and bring me closer to Him. All that happens is meant to happen and it will all be okay in the end.
    2. Count the things you have to be thankful for. I think becoming a more positive person is all about perspective and when I say that, I mean that we need to recognize the things we have in life that others may not be as fortunate to have. Remembering this allows me to be grateful for the wonderful life I’ve been gifted and stay positive.
    3. See the alternatives. There may be times in life where you’re faced with a difficult situation. Maybe your car broke down. Maybe you failed that chem exam. Maybe worse happened. With growing your individual positivity, there are many different ways to look at a situation. Looking at the chemistry exam example, maybe you did fail the exam. But you will learn from your mistakes and become a smarter person from that. Perspective comes in here again. Be thankful that you have the opportunity to be taking a chemistry exam and learning to become whatever it is that you want to become. Things could be much worse, and unfortunately there are some people in the world that have it much worse than you do. Be good to yourself and be good to others.
    4. Be kind to yourself. As a perfectionist, this can be difficult for myself when I underperform, but I’m learning how to work through that. It is important to be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to take study breaks or work breaks. Meditate, allow yourself to have a cupcake or piece of chocolate every once in a while. Celebrate the little bits of progress. Being kinder to yourself will allow you to trust more in your own progress within the different parts of your life.
    5. Pay less attention to the negative thoughts in your head. This can be a tough one too because I feel like society is so hardwired to be negative nowadays. Don’t do this. You can’t do that. Any negative thought can be altered into something positive and that’s just what you need to do with it. Let’s say I’m really struggling to hit backhands one day when I’m out hitting with my dad and sister. Instead of saying, “I can’t hit backhands. I suck,” it would be much better for my own mental health and tennis game to say, “I’ll get this next backhand in,” or visualize what a good backhand is going to look like. If you can train your brain to alter the negative thoughts, you’re going to find much more success and happiness with what you do.

    I’m going to end this post with a quote that I want you all to keep in mind this week.

    We become what we think about.

    Emily Nightingale

    And it’s so true! Positive thinking leads to positive people that leads to more positive results. Positivity is key everyone. I understand being realistic but I believe that being realistic comes with positivity. Have a good week everyone and I’ll see you next Sunday.

  • Setters Have to Have Many Abilities and Qualities

    Setters are the coaches on the floor. They lead the team and they touch every second ball on their side. Someone with a position that important has to be a person and player with many abilities and qualities. Here are a few of the abilities and qualities setters should have.

    • Servant Leadership: Setters have to lead the team by serving them. They are not selfish, but selfless. Everything they do is for the team and not just themselves.
    • Work Ethic: Setters have to be the hardest workers on their team. Getting every second ball requires a lot of work so they have to be willing to work hard.
    • Deception: As a setter, the job is to set up your hitters with a chance to score and win. By being deceptive, a setter can hold the block and create holes in the defense. This creates a better chance for the hitters to score.
    • Creativity: Setters have to be creative with their sets and all that they do so that the defense is always on their toes, guessing where the next set will go. Setters have to have different moves to get to different balls. Like a setter might do a spin move to get to a close, low ball and might use an outside foot stop move to get to a really low ball that might put them off-balance.
    • A Positive Attitude: As the team leader, a setter has to be encouraging and positive with fellow teammates. They have to have an optimistic attitude. This creates a lighter, happier mood on the court and it can keep the team strong and prevent players from getting down.
    • Communication/Vocal Leadership: Setters have to communicate with their teammates. They have to be able to tell their teammates what play they plan to run and what your opponents are doing with the block and such. This could be in a form of hand signals or actual words.
    • Confidence: Confidence is something a setter MUST have. At the higher levels of volleyball, have you ever seen a setter afraid to make a set or a setter who just isn’t proud of their skills? Of course not! Setters have to believe in their skills and know they are great players.

    There are many things that make setters the great players. Setters have to be servant leaders, hard-working players, deceptive, creative, positive and encouraging, communicative, and confident. These abilities and qualities are some of the things that make setters stand out. Without these few things, what would a setter be?

    Setters Have to Have Many Abilities and Qualities