Part-Time Tennis Player I've played sports for as long as I can remember. Since I was a little kid I tried my skills in anything that involved a ball or running. I remember it was getting so busy I was playing two double-headers in one day for two different sports. I loved playing most of my sports, but it was too much, and one by one I started quitting. By 4th grade, my main sport was tennis. I took lessons once a week with two of my best friends, and I enjoyed it. However, when I improved a lot, a family friend suggested to start taking lessons from a better coach, who in turn told me to start playing tournaments. Thus began my life as a tennis player. At first, I didn't know what to expect. But within a few months of lessons, I had my first novice trophy. A few weeks later, I moved up into the open division, which is the best division. Things were really looking up for me. Spending my life on a piece of hard ground with lines painted on it didn't seem like a bad idea at all. But that was only the beginning, and I had a long way to go. About a year into my tennis "career," I started to discover how delicate the tennis community was. It was a complex web of relationships between players, coaches, friends, opponents, and intense moms. It was a little weird, but I understood it. My competitive drive was always strong, but this environment only made it stronger. Tennis wasn't just a game anymore, it was a religion, or some weird cult that believed hitting tennis balls around was a way of life. Eventually, I got used to all of this and everything was pretty normal. But during the summer of "09", I failed to make the cut for Tennis Zonal, a competition where all the best players in the nation play. I worked my butt off to get into the top 10 in the state, but I still wasn't chosen. This probably was the turning point in my tennis career because to make up for it, I practiced a ton for the rest of the summer. I would go up to seven hours at times. I needed to get better, and I did. I was poised for a big year. I did pretty well the next few months. During that time, I played the one match I will never forget. After scraping my way into the boy's 14 singles finals, I ran into the Iolani number one player. I remember that day clearly. The sun was scorching hot. It was almost like its rays were hands and they were grabbing me and wringing all my sweat out of me. On top of that, I was nervous as hell. I wasn't ready to play, and because of that, I fell behind 1-6, 1-4 early. In tennis, that's a lot. All I remember is thinking to myself: "At least make him earn it." That calmed me down. I stormed back and eventually won the match 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the third set. When I walked off the court and accepted the trophy, I felt like I was in a dream. That moment was my version of a Super Bowl, or a Grand Slam. As my family cheered for me I felt like I was on top of the world. However, things would not stay that way. Something changed shortly after that. At first I thought it could've been that I was contempt from finally winning a tournament, or my expectations were too high, but the one certainty is I did not have fun playing tennis after that. I would get angry at any little mistake when I played, or some days I wouldn't want to play at all. It took me a while to realize what had really happened. I got burnt out, plain and simple. All the times I practiced for 7 hours during the summer overloaded me, and every time I played, I made it worse. I just didn't have the passion I used to have every time I stepped on the court. Of course, since I was burnt out, I thought about quitting a lot during that time. I still played, but only half-heartedly, hence "Part-time Tennis Player". But I did still want to try and have fun. To accomplish this, I tried and change things up and play for a team. First, I tried the Punahou ILH team. We easily became state champions, but that didn't help me find any passion to continue. Not to mention, I had a few too many arguments with the coaches. Overall, that season made me want to quit even more. But tennis wasn't done with me quite yet. In a surprising turn of events, a few of my friends convinced me to join a Junior Tennis Team. I really didn't want to, but did anyway. Somehow, We ended up winning sectionals and going to nationals, where we eventually place 7 out of 30. For the first time in ages I played well and had fun at the same time. It definitely made me think twice about quitting. It made me realize how good I was, which made the decision to quit harder. Shortly after that, I headed to Wailuku. It was a good place to have what I previously planned to be my final tournament. Tennis trips were my favorite part of tennis, and the Wailuku tournament was one of my favorites. I didn't really have expectations in this tourney. To make a long story short, I did well. I dominated in the tournament, winning my first 4 matches without losing a game. I ended up winning a double crown, which is winning the singles and doubles division in the same tournament. This confused me even more. How was I supposed to quit after that? I can't remember exactly what I was thinking during that time, but I know the decision didn't come very fast. Eventually, however, I did come to a conclusion. It might have been my pessimistic side, but I knew the happiness wouldn't last. On the other hand, I also had many good times I could look back on through the years. To help make my decision, I tried to look at the big picture. My first thought was that I couldn't just throw away all the time and money my family had spent on me. But in the end I thought that I had to do what made me happy, and so I did. In other words, I quit. Looking back, I made a good decision. After I quit, I had time to find what I really wanted to do, and that's music. I probably like it more than tennis because there's no winning or losing. Everyone is just happy when you play, and that's all that matters. From all of this I learned just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do it, and doing what you enjoy is always best. It's cliché, but life is too short, and a being part-time anything just isn't the way to go.
Part-Time Tennis Player
I've played sports for as long as I can remember. Since I was a little kid I tried my skills in anything that involved a ball or running. I remember it was getting so busy I was playing two double-headers in one day for two different sports. I loved playing most of my sports, but it was too much, and one by one I started quitting. By 4th grade, my main sport was tennis. I took lessons once a week with two of my best friends, and I enjoyed it. However, when I improved a lot, a family friend suggested to start taking lessons from a better coach, who in turn told me to start playing tournaments. Thus began my life as a tennis player.
At first, I didn't know what to expect. But within a few months of lessons, I had my first novice trophy. A few weeks later, I moved up into the open division, which is the best division. Things were really looking up for me. Spending my life on a piece of hard ground with lines painted on it didn't seem like a bad idea at all. But that was only the beginning, and I had a long way to go.
About a year into my tennis "career," I started to discover how delicate the tennis community was. It was a complex web of relationships between players, coaches, friends, opponents, and intense moms. It was a little weird, but I understood it.
My competitive drive was always strong, but this environment only made it stronger.
Tennis wasn't just a game anymore, it was a religion, or some weird cult that believed hitting tennis balls around was a way of life. Eventually, I got used to all of this and everything was pretty normal.
But during the summer of "09", I failed to make the cut for Tennis Zonal, a competition where all the best players in the nation play. I worked my butt off to get into the top 10 in the state, but I still wasn't chosen. This probably was the turning point in my tennis career because to make up for it, I practiced a ton for the rest of the summer. I would go up to seven hours at times. I needed to get better, and I did. I was poised for a big year.
I did pretty well the next few months. During that time, I played the one match I will never forget. After scraping my way into the boy's 14 singles finals, I ran into the Iolani number one player. I remember that day clearly. The sun was scorching hot. It was almost like its rays were hands and they were grabbing me and wringing all my sweat out of me. On top of that, I was nervous as hell. I wasn't ready to play, and because of that, I fell behind 1-6, 1-4 early. In tennis, that's a lot. All I remember is thinking to myself: "At least make him earn it." That calmed me down. I stormed back and eventually won the match 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the third set. When I walked off the court and accepted the trophy, I felt like I was in a dream. That moment was my version of a Super Bowl, or a Grand Slam. As my family cheered for me I felt like I was on top of the world. However, things would not stay that way.
Something changed shortly after that. At first I thought it could've been that I was contempt from finally winning a tournament, or my expectations were too high, but the one certainty is I did not have fun playing tennis after that. I would get angry at any little mistake when I played, or some days I wouldn't want to play at all. It took me a while to realize what had really happened. I got burnt out, plain and simple. All the times I practiced for 7 hours during the summer overloaded me, and every time I played, I made it worse. I just didn't have the passion I used to have every time I stepped on the court.
Of course, since I was burnt out, I thought about quitting a lot during that time. I still played, but only half-heartedly, hence "Part-time Tennis Player". But I did still want to try and have fun. To accomplish this, I tried and change things up and play for a team. First, I tried the Punahou ILH team. We easily became state champions, but that didn't help me find any passion to continue. Not to mention, I had a few too many arguments with the coaches. Overall, that season made me want to quit even more. But tennis wasn't done with me quite yet.
In a surprising turn of events, a few of my friends convinced me to join a Junior Tennis Team. I really didn't want to, but did anyway. Somehow, We ended up winning sectionals and going to nationals, where we eventually place 7 out of 30. For the first time in ages I played well and had fun at the same time. It definitely made me think twice about quitting. It made me realize how good I was, which made the decision to quit harder.
Shortly after that, I headed to Wailuku. It was a good place to have what I previously planned to be my final tournament. Tennis trips were my favorite part of tennis, and the Wailuku tournament was one of my favorites. I didn't really have expectations in this tourney. To make a long story short, I did well. I dominated in the tournament, winning my first 4 matches without losing a game. I ended up winning a double crown, which is winning the singles and doubles division in the same tournament. This confused me even more. How was I supposed to quit after that? I can't remember exactly what I was thinking during that time, but I know the decision didn't come very fast.
Eventually, however, I did come to a conclusion. It might have been my pessimistic side, but I knew the happiness wouldn't last. On the other hand, I also had many good times I could look back on through the years. To help make my decision, I tried to look at the big picture. My first thought was that I couldn't just throw away all the time and money my family had spent on me. But in the end I thought that I had to do what made me happy, and so I did. In other words, I quit.
Looking back, I made a good decision. After I quit, I had time to find what I really wanted to do, and that's music. I probably like it more than tennis because there's no winning or losing. Everyone is just happy when you play, and that's all that matters.
From all of this I learned just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do it, and doing what you enjoy is always best. It's cliché, but life is too short, and a being part-time anything just isn't the way to go.