To Quit Tennis?

[raftermania]

Gosh, I've been training for 20 years to beat Roger Federer, and when my moment finally came I got smoked! Gosh, I hate tennis, I'm going to quit. wahhhhh, i can't play tennis if I'm not the best boohoo

Just joking with you angelo. Basing your motivation on results is a dangerous ballgame. Instead of having one broad goal of defeating your coach, make many smaller, progressive goals, i.e. get my first serve percentage to 80%. Don't take this loss as a total failure, he is your coach afterall, do you think he would want one of his players schooling him?

Forget about your ideal levels of accomplishment, you can still play competitive ball and have a blast at the same time.

"Winners never quit. Quitters never win." haha Noelle is a genius.

[Bungalo Bill]

Originally Posted by Tim Tennis

If you want a bunch of simpathy and poor baby stuff you need to go join some women's support group forums. Tough love baby, get out there and play.

LOL! LOVE IT! "Tough love baby, get out there and play".

That reminded me of a day out surfing at Log Cabins North Shore Hawaii. Waves were huge and looking to just eat something. A friend of mine fresh from Florida was freaking out and hyper ventilating. "Oh my god, they are too big, oh my god, I am freaking out, etc, etc, etc. He was a basket case.

We were scared as well but there has to be a time when you say "screw it, I am going for it". My friend paddles over and hits him upside the head and says "would you shut up and take off on one". lol

Tough love, baby.

[andfor]

Hang in there kid. Almost all of us oldtimers have a tennis horror story or two that could have lead to a exit (quitting) the game long ago. But we're still here. Heck I just lost a big doubles match Sunday after having match point in the 3rd set tiebreak, losing it and then double faulting match point down. It's a situation that rarely happens but next time I'll do what I can to make sure the same situation does not occur. e.g. I should have been at net on matchpoint after my return instead of slugging from the baseline and isolating my partner at net. Then when I was serving match point down I should not have gone for such a big first serve. I'll live to play another day, for the better.

Look at it each match and practice for the positives and constructively use what happened on the court to plan for your next outing. Tennis takes a long time to develop and progress. During some of those periods actually seeing your own progress may be difficult to quantify. A good coach or team mate can sometimes help. Did you ask your coach for constuctive feedback after playing him? If he's any good he'll have good things to say and hopefully also give you the reality of what you need to work on in a positive manner. Remain positive.

[Xevoius]

I have a hitting partner that plays in the same division as I do. He blows me off the court if I try and go toe to toe with him from the baseline and since serve and volley is his actual play style, I feel like I am totally trumped every time we play a match - the last time we played he bageled me.

This was after he took a bunch of time off!!!

Anyways, since I have been able to routinely take the beating month after month, I think I have found a chink in his armor. It took me months to finally come up with some type of plan to start evening out the percentages of points won. It also took some physical conditioning as I needed to find some way to stay in the points longer.

As a result, I feel I am close to getting my first "practice set" win on him and if it takes another couple of years to get it, so be it. The extra work I have put into beating the guy will pay off in my better physical health, strength and more wins on everyone else.

Good luck with your nemesis and find a smaller fish to routinely hand a beating to so that you can work to get your confidence back.

[Marius_Hancu]

Originally Posted by Xevoius

Good luck with your nemesis and find a smaller fish to routinely hand a beating to so that you can work to get your confidence back.

Yes, there's only one player in the world who doesn't have this problem right now: Roger Federer.

[shindemac]

No way you should quit. You should definitely learn from your losses and see what areas you need to improve. It's very unrealistic to expect to beat someone 3 levels higher than you, let alone someone even one level higher than you. Yes, the differences in levels are that huge, and most players underestimate this. Otherwise anyone could improve from 4.0 to 5.5 in one summer and play in Div I tennis. I don't want to discourage you, but I hope you'll be more realistic and realize it takes a LOT more work to even go up one level.

You should be setting smaller and short term goals along with your long term goal (play in div I tennis). Maybe beat the next person better than you on the team, and then the next, etc. Increase your first serve percentage, accuracy, etc. Maybe play in USTA league tennis and move up to the next rating, 4.5. Also, never think you're the top dog. Instead be hungry and always strive to improve.

[stc9357]

Stop acting like a baby and get on the court if you keep having a neg. attitude you won't get better. If I coninually felt sorry for myself then I would suck you take your lumps and keep moving. You have to have the attitude that you can do this. Go whoop his *****.

[FiveO]

"What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!..........And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the going gets tough . . . the tough get going. Who's with me? Let's Go! Come on! AAAAEEEEEGGGHHHH!!"

-John "Bluto" Blutarsky


Nah. Don't quit. Look at it this way, it hurts like hell because you care enough about it. That's a good thing to a point. Putting too much into the outcome of any one match is probably the wrong approach. Everyone does it, but it is still the wrong approach. Think back to Roddick's loss to a sub-par Federer in Cincy this summer. Andy was coming off one of his best wins this year, dominating Hewitt in the semis. He was playing great. Then Fed slapped him back into the rank and file. I think Roddick went into a tailspin for a month or more in the aftermath of that match. It happens. Don't quit over it. Take some time, maybe a couple days, to reflect and learn from the experience, then come back with fresh batteries. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.

[AngeloDS]

I'm going to stop tennis for awhile, atleast 2 weeks to let my body get to 100% and my mind to 100%. I think my body is burning out from tennis and training, but my mind hasn't.

I know I'm lacking in experience, because I've been drilling and training so hard but haven't had much match experience (in higher levels).

I'm going to sign up in th USTA and do tournaments to get more experience in higher levels of play.

[x Southpaw x]

You a college tennis player Angelo? It says so in your sig. You know I'm dieing to be in your position. Instead of being able to have 3 hours of solid tennis practice everyday, I'm stuck with ****ing schoolwork and essays. One day I hope to enter my college varsity team... just like you one day hope to beat your coach. I think it'll happen.

[goober]

Originally Posted by FiveO

"What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!..........And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the going gets tough . . . the tough get going. Who's with me? Let's Go! Come on! AAAAEEEEEGGGHHHH!!"

-John "Bluto" Blutarsky.

I like this one:


Trautman: You did everything to make this private war happen. You've done enough damage. This mission is over, Rambo. Do you understand me? This mission is over! Look at them out there! Look at them! If you won't end this now, they will kill you. Is that what you want? It's over Johnny. It's over!

Rambo: Nothing is over!!! Nothing!!! You just don't turn it off! You asked me I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win...

[ironchef21]

I'd ask myself the fundamental question: Do I enjoy tennis? If yes, don't quit. If it makes you miserable, then stop.

Let's face it, if you play tennis or any other sport you're going to lose your share of matches. Your game will stagnate from time to time or you'll face mental blocks. In my opinion if you are passionate enough for a particular sport that should overcome any "setbacks" you'll face along the road. But only you know that.

You probably just need a temporary break. You should probably stop and reassess where you are and what your goals are and how you can improve. Then come back refreshed and ready to go.

[hipster]

I'd find someone that sucks and beat up on them. If you keep playing against people that you can't beat, of course your confidence is going to hit the bottom.

[cervelo]

You know what else occurred to me, where you likely failed to improve and I'm sure your coach noticed ... MENTALLY!!!

Your game plan wasn't working and you failed to analyze and got noticeably frustrated. Maybe your level isn't such that you have a PLAN B or C, but by imploding, you stopped evaluating shots and match-ups. This is, by itself, is a way to fail and (sorta) stop trying.

An improving player eventually comes to grips with the risk of losing and never stops strategizing. You'll live to play tennis again and again and again. So in that respect, you never really lose at tennis, but at each outing, you can run out of time before figuring out a way to start winning.

[dannyjjang]

play table tennis

[goober]

wrong thread... oops

[Kaptain Karl]

KK reveals a Coach's secret.

AngeloDS - You've gotten really good advice. I'm going to post from "the other POV." That of the Coach's.

My best HS player from two years ago "ought to be" rated at least a 4.5. I post "ought to" because his head is still holding him back.

He has played practice sets against me the last three years ... and won more than half of them. But every time we've played a Ladder Match (On our Town's Ladder.) I have won.

It drives him nuts.

He believes he should beat me. (He is 19; I am 49. His belief is colored by the confidence of Youth, IMO.) He simply hasn't done so ... yet.

Last summer we met in a tourney. He was playing well -- and both my calves were cramping. I won in a 2nd set Tie-breaker. (He never knew I was hurting. Either I managed to "disguise" my limping ... or when you're limping off both legs it looks normal.)

As his former Coach, I really look forward to the day he "breaks through" and beats me. (Honestly!) But -- as his former Coach -- he's going to have to earn it. If I don't play my best, I would insult him. When he wins I want it to be because he won; not because I gave it to him.

Your Coach will not insult you by "taking it easy on you." You wouldn't enjoy the special sweet taste of victory, if you thought he'd eased up.

Keep trying. In a few years you may take him. Only then will you realize the only person whose pride rivals yours on that day ... will be his.

- KK

[Camilio Pascual]

Originally Posted by AngeloDS

I play tennis for competition and I take it pretty seriously. But, not being able to come close to matching my varsity coach after several months of working on my game and my body. It seemed like I didn't even improve a little bit.
My goal to transfer in Division I and play for the tennis team seems impossible now. If I can't come close to my varsity coach who is 50+, and a 5.5 player. If I can't beat him, it's obvious I can't beat or match anyone else.

First of all, everybody here is giving you really good advice.

From what you say above and what is in most of your other posts, I think you are putting WAY too much importance on your results against one, single player. You are making generalized "catastrophic" predictions ("I can't beat or match anyone else"), from a single case and it will not help you perform your best.
How have you been doing against other players? Have you lost to somebody and then beaten them in a rematch?
You are on the right track to sign up and play some tournaments. Good luck.

[markp]

as an 18 #1 junior from venezuela a 50+ pancho segura kicked my butt on the court and then told my dad the "plan" he saw for me was to win the nc2as in 2 years. go figure. two points: don't sweat it, and you'll rarely beat your coach.

[akj27]

hes not really a college player