losing passion for tennis

K

kayserRF

New User
Hi,

I am a 16 year old junior and play at a very high standard and so také tennis very seriously, playing 5 times a week as well as fitness. In the past week i have had a big dip in form , after going through a purple patch.
As well as this i feel as if im starting to lose my passion for tennis and it is beginning to feel like a chore to me now whenever i play the more serious it gets, where as before i would be so excited to play and didnt want to stop. I also have exams coming up soon, and am finding it hard to balance with tennis, as well as some family issues, and all of this has put me in a bad mood as of late. What should i do? Do i stop tennis for now? Perserve through? I also find i get angry a lot now on court and am becoming more anti social off court.

Thanks
 
user92626

user92626

G.O.A.T.
OP,

What you call passion is only your body balancing work (pain) and reward. I love tennis very much and would play it 5x a weekn but I have zero passion for say reaching 5.5 and competing in tournament.

Just find ways to reward your body for all the work and pain it does accordingly and you'll find that drive again. :)
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Take the spring off, plan on coming back 6 days a week during the summer.
Everyone get's burned out, no biggie.
Or, play just for fun, working or hitting out ATP style, and not caring about mistakes for a while. It has to be fun to hit 120 serves and 90 mph groundies.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
From what happenned in my past, and from what I'm seeing now of two ranked juniors that I play with....
You lose passion because you lost the FUN factor. What is FUN? Smacking ATP shots? Winning? Beating the guys you're supposed to beat?
For me, if I can't hit what I perceive at "ATP" level shots, it's worthless to waste my time on the courts. Talking one in 5 now.
What was your passion that kept you in tennis? You need to look inside, and rediscover WHY you took up tennis with such a passion that it worked for you.
 
Relinquis

Relinquis

Hall of Fame
you're a teenager, you're going to be moody and your opinion will change in a few weeks... date a girl or something. you'll feel better.
 
HughJars

HughJars

Banned
I suck at tennis but would play 24/7 if I could, except work and responsibilities get in the way. I have so much I want to learn so it keeps me going. But if you've reached a level you're comfortable with then it's not surprising your passion is melting. Maybe take a few weeks or even months away from it all, set some S.M.A.R.T goals and go from there. At the end of the day tennis should be about enjoyment not a chore I reckon.
 
Greg G

Greg G

Professional
try changing it up! More doubles, perhaps a different playing venue will help. Something to keep it fun. If not, maybe a few weeks off would help rekindle the fire.

Just don't do what I did and stop for 20 years, I guarantee you'll regret it :)
 
M

Mick3391

Professional
kayserRF said:
Hi,

I am a 16 year old junior and play at a very high standard and so také tennis very seriously, playing 5 times a week as well as fitness. In the past week i have had a big dip in form , after going through a purple patch.
As well as this i feel as if im starting to lose my passion for tennis and it is beginning to feel like a chore to me now whenever i play the more serious it gets, where as before i would be so excited to play and didnt want to stop. I also have exams coming up soon, and am finding it hard to balance with tennis, as well as some family issues, and all of this has put me in a bad mood as of late. What should i do? Do i stop tennis for now? Perserve through? I also find i get angry a lot now on court and am becoming more anti social off court.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I presume you, like everyone else, is trained to be a pure baseliner. That would bore me to tears also.

You should practice all court aggressive play, you'll find it's much more fun and necessary. A great aggressive player will always beat a great baseliner.

Think about it, baseliners, all they do is hit back and forth, left to right as hard as they can, whoever is out of shape, makes the most errors, or loses concentration wins, what a drag. Aggressive all court players can baseline with baseliners, but shake them up, dictate the pace from all areas of the court.

Watch Tommy Haas last two matches, talk about a throw back, a guy who played Sampras, 35 years old, DISMANTALING the best baseliners in the game recently.

That or take a break and just watch tennis, will get your desire back.
 
U

usta2050

Rookie
kayserRF said:
Hi,

I am a 16 year old junior and play at a very high standard and so také tennis very seriously, playing 5 times a week as well as fitness. In the past week i have had a big dip in form , after going through a purple patch.
As well as this i feel as if im starting to lose my passion for tennis and it is beginning to feel like a chore to me now whenever i play the more serious it gets, where as before i would be so excited to play and didnt want to stop. I also have exams coming up soon, and am finding it hard to balance with tennis, as well as some family issues, and all of this has put me in a bad mood as of late. What should i do? Do i stop tennis for now? Perserve through? I also find i get angry a lot now on court and am becoming more anti social off court.

Thanks
Click to expand...

you should talk to your friends instead of posting stuff on the internet..this board as well as the FB can be huge waste of time
 
2

2ndServe

Hall of Fame
buy an old racket that's new to you, try a different set of strings, a new shoe model. Make small improvement changes to your forehand, backhand, serve, whatever.

Any time I get in a lull I get a new (or old but new to me) racket. I can't wait to get out and try it even if it sucks. Or I change my lead tape arrangement or change my stroke, I'm always curious to see what it does and fine tune it.
 
D

DaveInBradenton

Rookie
LeeD said:
From what happenned in my past, and from what I'm seeing now of two ranked juniors that I play with....

You lose passion because you lost the FUN factor.
Click to expand...

I agree. It sounds like tennis has overwhelmed your young life. Sometimes this happens when parents push their children too much.

I think if you played less, you would enjoy it more and your practice time would be more productive.

My suggestion would not to play consecutive days. Use your days off for school and social activities. Have some off the court fun.

Soon you'll be looking forward to your next tennis session.

Good luck,
Dave
 
andrehanderson

andrehanderson

Professional
Although I wasnt as skilled or talented as you when I was your age, I had a similar schedule with tennis and wanted to take it as far as I could...then I, too burned out. I didnt play again for over 20 years and I regret that and always will regret that.

I think a short break is in order, but I also think you should find some mini goals within your game to work on. Like Mick said.
 
The Meat

The Meat

Hall of Fame
OP, you should change up your practice sessions. Instead of constant repetitive drills, you might just want to play practice points with some people. Don't take it like a sudden death match, just mix up your shots and do some things that you never would in a real match.

Bottom line, just have fun on court. It's the only cure.
 
D

dominikk1985

Legend
tennis_balla said:
If you have a coach then you should to talking to him, communication. Asking on TTW a bunch of strangers who you do not know, and don't know your situation is pointless.
Click to expand...

I can see why he is doing that in an Internet Forum.

when you are a 16yo high Level Player you probably won't get a lot of understanding from your Coach and parents who paid him 1000s of Dollars that you don't want it anymore.

he is probably afraid of dissapointing his Coach.
 
goran_ace

goran_ace

Hall of Fame
KayserRF, this is normal. You're not the only one that feels this way. I wanted to quit so many times as a junior. Tennis hadn't really been 'fun' since I was 12. It's tough watching your classmates live the easy life, having fun, going to parties, meeting girls. You start to resent this lifestyle you have and wish you could just be 'normal' like the other kids. You start to think what's the point of it all???

My advice to you is to manage your schedule better. Yes, you should be playing and training year round, but there's no sense in playing 5-6 times a week during the lightest part of the season (e.g. winter) when you don't have many tournaments scheduled, or during the busy part of your calendar when you're playing tournaments back-to-back weekends. You need an off-season. Play another sport in the winter just for fun like basketball or indoor soccer and only pick up your rackets once or twice a week. Cross-training keeps you in shape, works out different muscles, and varying your workouts keeps it interesting. During the middle of the summer you need to let your body rest/recover in between tournaments. Don't work yourself to exhaustion a day or two before a tournament. In the days before/after a tournament I used to get in a short hitting session just to make sure everything is still working and keep the groove, then maybe do a light run to stay loose and stretch.
 
K

kayserRF

New User
goran_ace said:
KayserRF, this is normal. You're not the only one that feels this way. I wanted to quit so many times as a junior. Tennis hadn't really been 'fun' since I was 12. It's tough watching your classmates live the easy life, having fun, going to parties, meeting girls. You start to resent this lifestyle you have and wish you could just be 'normal' like the other kids. You start to think what's the point of it all???

My advice to you is to manage your schedule better. Yes, you should be playing and training year round, but there's no sense in playing 5-6 times a week during the lightest part of the season (e.g. winter) when you don't have many tournaments scheduled, or during the busy part of your calendar when you're playing tournaments back-to-back weekends. You need an off-season. Play another sport in the winter just for fun like basketball or indoor soccer and only pick up your rackets once or twice a week. Cross-training keeps you in shape, works out different muscles, and varying your workouts keeps it interesting. During the middle of the summer you need to let your body rest/recover in between tournaments. Don't work yourself to exhaustion a day or two before a tournament. In the days before/after a tournament I used to get in a short hitting session just to make sure everything is still working and keep the groove, then maybe do a light run to stay loose and stretch.
Click to expand...

Yeah definitely it does frustrate me sometimes how my friends can just go home and relax after school but I go out to play till late and have to eat so healthily aswell. But I love the sport so much I'm happy to do it. I think I'll take a week off and see how I feel then, but even after just taking one day off I kind of want to go back already haha
 
K

KMV

New User
Every time I went thru these phases, have tried doing something different on court and it helps.. For example, try a different play pattern, a different serve variation, a different string set up etc.. I picked up some of my better strokes and plays during these dull patches (eg reverse forehand on the run, slice approach shots etc..) worked for me!
 
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