The vast majority of teaching pros focus on two things — technique and strategy. These are essential, needless to say — you can’t play good tennis without them. That being said, I see a hole in the standard approach, and it’s a big and important one. One could call what’s missing the ‘inner game,’ but […]
When I was sixteen years old, I played a fourteen-year-old named Harold Solomon. You may recognize the name. He’s the semi-famous moonballer who got to number five in the world. He was just a kid then, as I was, and he was newly back to the Washington, DC area from full-time tennis immersion in Florida, […]
In past meditations, I’ve written about the all-important moment of not-knowing. This is when we’ve set up to hit our shot and have committed to our swing. Will it succeed or will it fail? Will the gods smile when we find out how we’ve done? Also: How do we respond emotionally to that plunge into […]
I got some shocking news the other day. I’ve always felt supremely healthy — invulnerable, almost. For years now, I’ve had no serious physical issues. At the age of 73, I felt healthy enough to start seeing a longevity doctor who helps people maximize their healthspan, the emerging term for a full and active life […]
You‘re playing a match that you’ve gone into with a clear strategy. The competition sucks you in and when you emerge from the vortex, you realize that as things got hotter, you totally forgot about your strategy. Sound familiar? Hell, I’ve even written instructions on my sweatband and forgotten they were there! Why does this […]
It’s been a long time coming — I’m not a guy who’s good at commitment. But now, at last, my time has come. I know when I’ve found The One, and so I’m dropping onto one knee. “Tennis, will you marry me?” I’ve finally come to realize that you have all the qualities I look […]
I had a moment of sobriety over the weekend — a moment of tennis sobriety. What do I mean by this? Well, I understand the term ‘moment of sobriety’ to mean that the addict has a moment where they see with luminous clarity what they’ve been pushing out of sight forever. The distractions fade away, […]
I’m a bit weird. When someone communicates to me, I try to respond immediately. This is partly self-protective — I don’t want to carry the stress of having to remember to get back to them — but the more important consideration is that anything less feels discourteous to me. In a world where people habitually […]
Among other things, tennis is a dance — and it’s a dance that starts with the feet. Like many people, I tend to forget this. I focus on the ball coming at me, getting into position for it, and striking it well and correctly. That’s all good and necessary, but inside the busyness of all […]
‘Micro-tennis?’ Micro-tennis???? Yup! Or, as it’s usually known, short court. I’ve become a huge fan of starting off with short court. I find that I play much better when I spend a few minutes hitting the ball gently, focusing on things like feel off the racket and slow-motion technique while allocating special attention to what […]
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