12 “Gifts” To Improve Your Tennis Life (Part 1)

Fiend at Court Unplugged

In December of 2020 I gave a Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) webinar on 12 “Gifts” to jumpstart a career in cybersecurity. Each item in that list is a practice or habit that I regard as a career success factor. I was recently reviewing my own performance against those items over the past year had the sudden realization that the same core concepts would be equally effective if framed out in terms of tennis. This weekend I am launching into a whirlwind tour of these tennis life hacks.

Here are the first four items for today.

1. Carve Out (or Reclaim) Time for a Tennis Related Activity

Chances are that you have regularly intervals of time that are not spent productively. With a little bit of conscious thought and anticipation, you can convert that otherwise wasted time into something that improves your game or makes a contribution to the tennis ecosystem. For example, you could jump rope while loitering at the park during a youth soccer practice or practice positive visualization while a kid hammers away at piano lessons. Chance are you will discover many opportunities to do something constructive in otherwise wasted time.

This blog was launched two years ago to recoup early morning time that I realized I was habitually squandering. A little bit of recovered time can make a big difference.

2. Write Thank You Notes (The Gift of Gratitude)

There is probably someone in life who has helped you in tennis. Writing a thank you note is a great way to tell people how much you appreciate what they have done for you. A thank you note provides positive reinforcement to the recipient that their tennis promoting and support activities are making a difference. That increases the odds that they will continue to engage in those activities for you or someone else.

Additionally, writing a thank you note gives you a moment to reflect with a heart of gratitude. It builds relationships and also helps you recognize how you can similarly help and support others around you. Win-Win.

3. Tend to Your Tennis Network

Tennis is a naturally networking sport. When I resumed playing as an adult, I was astonished at how rapidly contact information of new players is passed around. Do not take your tennis circle for granted and leave it up to autopilot. You should periodically assess your tennis network for opportunities to extend it in ways that benefit both your tennis game as well as the tennis ecosystem.

As a practical example, if you would really like to play the Cone Game and don’t have a practice partner that is interested in that kind of drill, you should actively seek someone out to fill that gap. Alternatively, there might be someone in your tennis network that would love to join you in intentional practice if you only start those conversations.

Be the catalyst.

4. Develop a New Tennis Skill

This is an obvious one. Beyond the basic shots in tennis, there are those subtle variations and point patterns that give you more options in the toolbox that can provide a strategic advantage in match play. Pick one shot that you want to develop or enhance this year and create a written roadmap on how you will work to develop it on at least a weekly basis.

Adding a new shot is a long term investment that requires a progression of mastery. You have to learn the fundamentals of the stroke and create a plan for the practice games and drills to hone the muscle memory. It also requires a conceptual awareness of how the shot fits in with point composition and when it should be used. Finally, the confidence to deploy it in match play must be achieved.

It is an investment worth making.

Finishing Shots

We will cover the remaining 12 “Gifts” over the next two days. Just as there are 12 days of Christmas, there happen to be 12 months in a year. I plan to revisit each of these items by deep diving on each one on the first Friday of each month in 2022.

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1. 12 Gifts to Give Yourself this Holiday to Jumpstart your Career in Cybersecurity, Teresa Merklin, WiCyS Webinar, December 15, 2020. (Registration required, but it is free.)