Wednesday Wonder: Daily Routine and Practice Planning

Hi Everyone, 

A bit of a quick one, as I was working on the Club newsletter today (You’ll get that in about a week). 

I remember talking to a friend of mine when shelter in place started, and he said that his life had not changed that much, other than not going out in public. You see, he is retired. For me, this has been a big change, even though now I work at home each day. Mostly writing, but some bookkeeping and such. Not being at the Club felt very strange at the beginning, and still odd today. This isn’t the life we envisioned, is it? 

At first I was lost, I couldn’t go to the place I loved, do the things I loved to do, like teaching, programing and helping people to enjoy our game of tennis. One of the good pieces of advice I heard early on was to establish a routine. Work had been my routine. Again, I guess people that are retired already know this, but this was new ground for me. But now, in our fourth week, I have a good routine going. And I actually eat breakfast, which I never felt I had time for when I was working (always grabbing a power bar on the run). Most important meal of the day, I hear. :-) 

So, I wake up, meditate, eat breakfast, do some writing (e-mails, other work), a workout of some kind, go for a walk or ride the Peloton. More work, more writing. I read some tennis blogs, get some ideas. Practice guitar (badly, my growth / looking forward project) for ten-fifteen minutes a couple times a day, Make dinner, watch a movie. Do a bit of reading in bed. The routine varies some, but it keeps me sane. Of course, there are other elements, connecting with people, texts, members, office staff, Patric, but all that varies a bit from day to day.

The goal is to get stuff done, shelter in place, and keep myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually as sane and healthy as possible. I hope you have such a routine as well. One that works for you.  

Our tennis practice can be like this too. Establishing a routine, making sure we are taking care of the different parts of developing our game. It is said, that tennis life is ideally, for optimum improvement and enjoyment, divided into four parts: playing matches, playing practice matches, education / individual practice and clinics / group workouts. Some people just play matches and do the same thing over and over again. They tend to stay at the same level. Other people never play matches, they just practice and work out, and so never put what they have learned to the test. Have you really learned something, if it can’t stand the test of pressure? An interesting question.

In the end, we all play tennis for our enjoyment, and so there is an element of doing what pleases us, what is fun. And that is usually what is most comfortable. Competition or practice. But tennis is also a game that challenges us, and prods us to grow, to take on new challenges. It is a microcosm of life after all, and yet a relatively safe place to try out new ideas, ways of living, attitudes. So, ideally, we want to spend time in each of these four growth / development areas. 

Of course, with shelter in place, we are not playing. But we can plan ahead for when we return. How you are going to schedule the four parts? Education, practice, match practice, and match play. The four parts of a balanced tennis life. 

Education can be a lesson, watching videos, reading a tennis book, even just contemplating your game, but something to take you forward, to grow, so you don’t remain stuck in the same place, doing the same things, getting the same results. 

Practice is a place to hit, to work on your strokes. We have Hit and Fit, there is the ball machine, hitting with a friend, group lessons and clinics.  

Practice matches are the next important part because they have “no pressure” and allow you to try out some of the things you are working on, like coming to the net behind a short ball, hitting a more assertive second serve, or crushing the 3.5 sitter. 

And then there is match play. It can be league, USTA, or your Saturday game, but something that you value as important, and want to do your best, play to win. A game where perhaps you feel a bit of pressure. The need to perform. You want to shine. 

And of course, in this time of shelter in place, you can do some of that tennis education that you have been hoping to do. Get a head start on the 25% of your tennis development. There are many great tennis books (and mental toughness books) to look at: Here are a few that I have loved over the years:

Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert

The Only Way to Win by James Loehr

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey

Inner Tennis: Playing the Game by W. Timothy Gallwey

If I’m the Better Player, Why Can’t I Win by Allen Fox

The New Toughness Training for Sports by James Loehr

The Power of Full Engagement by James Loehr and Tony Schwartz

The Power of Story by James Loehr

Looking at that list, I would have to say I’m heavily drawn to the mental / emotional / spiritual side of the game. I guess I found that the most challenging growing up on the court, and the area with the most need for improvement. And of course, there is the time-honored saying from so many sports (substitute the name of your sport), “[Tennis] is 90% mental.” And it is once you have learned the strokes, the basic techniques, the strategy. It is all about letting your game shine, in situations where that might not be so easy to do. 

For stroke production, strategy and tactics, there are great websites. As I mentioned in an earlier e-mail I really like these four, but there are others:

Jeff Salzenstein’s Tennis Evolution is very good. 

Craig O’Shannessy, The Brain Game 

Will Hamilton, Fuzzy Yellow Balls 

Tennis Player, John Yandell (best tennis videos on the internet) 

With doing a bit of homework now, when we return to the court, we’ll have plenty to practice, questions for our pros, new techniques to try in practice matches, and when we feel ready, take into match play. This is how we get better, how we play tennis, develop our game, with our long-term interests in mind. 

In closing, I will leave you with a bit of Sufi wisdom, mostly Hafiz today. The Sufi mystic and poet from the 14^thcentury. A very wise man, whose wisdom is just as true today. Here’s a sampling, a couple random favorites, that lift and inspire me: 

Throw the Rascals Out

Who would want to live with some crickets in your room carousing loudly all night?

That is to say, either befriend all your thoughts, party with them the best you can… or throw the rascals out.

– Hafiz

Brings Life to a Field

It is not possible to complete yourself without sorrow

Sorrow is a vital ingredient that shapes the heart and enriches it.

So endure sadness the best you can when its season comes.

That rain that can fall from your eye brings life to a field,

And on other days when you laugh, 

A sun takes birth in a sky you will someday know.

See how all the elements are inside of you.

See how your soul is a sire of light

-- Hafiz

We Should Dance

A thousand times I have ascertained and found it to be true:

The affairs of this world are really nothing into nothing.

Still though, we should dance.

--Hafiz  

I wish I could show you,

When you are lonely or in darkness

The astonishing light 

Of your own being.

-- Hafiz

And I close with a favorite from Rumi, the 13^th century Sufi poet. Perhaps our reunion at Orindawoods on the courts will be something like this: 

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing,

There is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul likes down in that grass,

The world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase each other

Doesn’t make any sense. 

-- Rumi

Blessings and I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday,

-- Keith