At the advice of a pastor, I developed a habit as a younger man of considering goals each December in various areas of life for the coming year, and I've carried that habit over into fitness and tennis. Having recently turned 50 and realizing (with some frustration) that most of my athletic pursuits are in a long, slow, irreversible decline, I've decided to frame my goals around greater enjoyment, blessing those around me, and maintaining fitness and quality of life rather than "improving" or "winning" which presents greater injury risk and robs my enjoyment. I'm at a point where more practice and effort are often counter-productive. My medical advisers are unanimous that I need to slow or stop stuff that hurts to prolong participation and quality of life as far into the coming decades as possible. With that in mind, my tennis goals for 2018 are:
1. Manage the frustrations of aging and diminished skills and athleticism without taking out my frustrations on myself, my partners, or anyone else. Death is the destiny of every man. I should be thankful and content just to still be able to step out onto the court and play at the level I do. Now in my 50s, I'm faring better than most of my high school classmates and other people I knew growing up and most men I know of similar age now.
2. Avoid injuries, especially injuries that might interrupt my mountain biking, elliptical work, and other cardio fitness activities that are more important than tennis to my overall health. Toward this end, try and find shoes that reduce impacts, and try and find clay courts closer to home that fit into the family budget. Keep the annual goal of 2000 miles mountain biking higher than tennis accomplishments.
3. Put my wife's and my son's tennis participation as a higher priority than my own. Be available as their doubles partner as they desire, and put them ahead of other partners when injury risks lead me to curtail my play.
4. Start playing a higher percentage of age-limited events. Playing youngsters runs me around and is harder on my joints than playing folks closer to my own age.
5. Be content with the number of games won in an event, regardless of the outcome of the matches.
6. Make a wholehearted effort in entered events, curtail the number of events entered to protect from injury, not the level of effort once an event has begun.
7. Keep encouraging and supporting younger players. Remember the lesson of the Air Force Academy - their success is your success. My game may be in irreversible decline, but through years of effort and experience I may have gained wisdom that can benefit younger players.
... but dropped out of rotc due to changing schools.
