Fiend at Court Unplugged
A few weeks ago I competed at the USTA Level 1 National Clay Court Women’s Championships in Houston. My adult daughter that played junior tennis currently lives in Houston. She came out to watch some of my matches on her off days from work. After missing my third swinging volley during one of my singles matches, I loudly exclaimed “Can someone please write down that I need to work on that?!?!?!” She was on the spot to record that fact for me. Additionally, that statement was interpreted as an open invitation for additional observations regarding my play.
Yesterday I shared a story about a time when my daughter told another junior parent that every time I looked down at my phone during her junior matches, that I was texting her dad about her poor footwork. She probably wasn’t wrong.
During my recent tournament match play, the text message chain between my daughter and the trophy husband was a litany of observations about my poor footwork and shot selection. Their communication was additionally punctuated with recommendations on the drills that I needed to perform to improve my competitive level. We have come full circle.
I am happy to report that it brings me great satisfaction to summarily dismiss her post-match tactical advice. For example, my daughter doesn’t subscribe to modern staggered net positioning that is commonly used in senior women’s doubles. There is a fundamental difference in court positioning philosophy. I’m not sure she realizes how old I am.
Her observations on my match play are influenced considerably by how she played when she advanced to the Texas State Tournament in 6A Mixed Doubles her senior year of high school. In that amazing run, she was playing with a boy that ran down all the lobs. That enabled her to play with her belly button less than six inches from the net tape. That isn’t great positioning for me since I am occasionally expected to run down a lob.
I can’t wait until she has children of her own. If there is any justice in the world, they will play tennis.
