Getting old sucks.  I have just risen out of my hot tub after a 60 minute soak and some Washington state Chardonnay.  It has become something of a ritual as I put my aging and out of shape body through 4 to 5 tennis drills a week.  On days where I can not perform the ritual due to work obligations, I pay for it in stiffness and pain the next day.

Why do this to ones self?  Why go through the recovery process?   Essentially, my response is that tennis gives me more in return than the debt of pain.  The pure joy of playing tennis energizes me more than the pain takes away.   I can suffer the physical pain in return for the mental and emotional gains that I achieve by playing tennis.  Tennis helps me cope with life in general.

Everyone needs that release from day to day life.  They need something to hold on to that centers their well being.  For me, I use tennis.  For 90 minutes a day, I am lost in the world of improving my backhand or adding another serve variation to my arsenal.  Learning to hit out on the ball with enough top spin to keep it in the lines.  Celebrating a good day when drilling at the higher level.  Building a desire to improve my game and learn how to defend my weakness.  It keeps me going.

As most of my instructors say, just make them hit one more ball.  Stay in the game.

 

Sky Dog