Tennis is a big part of my life and has been for many years. I first picked up a racket when I was around 9 or so and to this day I can be found on a tennis court almost 4 days a week.
I’ve always wanted to be a tennis pro. When I was about nine, I visited some family on Cape Cod and that is when I first found tennis. I can still remember this one pro who was just the coolest dude around. He had the club polo, the crisp white shorts, the shaggy hair and club cap and he could hit all the shots and had great energy and just seemed so chill and confident in his game. I remember being awestruck by his talent and composure and general cool factor. Only now do I realize he was probably a local college player, home for the summer to teach us urchins how to play, but to a young, toe-headed eager player, he was a rockstar.
My second coach was Ron, he was a middle-aged coach based in central Florida and forever wearing aviator sunglasses perched atop a stellar, Tom Selleck-style stache, and sporting the typical 1980’s gym teacher shorts that exposed more thigh than is really necessary. He was another level of cool, he was cut of the same cloth as the Top Gun fighter pilots and he looked the part even if it was 1992. He was a bulldog of a player and a tough coach and I only got to see him twice a year, but he, almost single-handedly got me good enough to make my high school team in New Orleans and to play in some junior tournaments…I had wanted to go to the prestigious Bollettieri Academy, but we couldn’t afford it, so on trips to visit my grandparents in Stuart, Florida, I got to hit with Ron. I remember training with Ron from about age 10 – 17 and every summer and Christmas I would get to visit my grandparents and get reps with Ron.
In high school there wasn’t much coaching available so we ran practices ourselves and showed up to matches and in all honesty the most challenging part of playing in the New Orleans Public School league, was not getting stabbed after the match. The private school kids didn’t threaten us with knives, they just destroyed us on court…so that was special, but at least it didn’t require stitches.
I wasn’t good enough to make any college teams and gave up on tennis for awhile, before coming back to it about ten years ago while I was living in Central Florida (but sadly, not hitting with Ron). I had the wrong equipment and an unhealthy lifestyle that compounded with my technique of trying to murder every shot and resulted in a solid case of tennis elbow that got bad enough that I couldn’t hold a glass of water. So I stepped away again, for about a few years and battled depression, anxiety and alcoholism during that whole period of injury and despite some seriously dark thoughts, the idea of never playing tennis again was one of the things that kept me from entertaining some of those suicidal thoughts. After some sad, yet necessary darker times in Florida, I moved to California and rediscovered tennis again in 2012. There I found a great group of players that I now call some of my closest friends. I started playing league tennis and finding a competitive outlet again. I played constantly and honed my skills and we all moved up the ratings together. Even though I had moved to a new state I had not really left my problems behind as I had hoped and fell back into alcohol abuse, which put me right back in the worst of it in a matter of months. Tennis once again became a refuge for me as my drinking finally caught up with me again and I was forced to face some cold, personal and legal truths…I found support in the community of players and was able to rely on those relationships to help me through more dark times. These people will likely never know how much they helped me keep moving forward in life and recovery.
In sobriety, I found my skills improving rapidly (duh). I spent more time on court and continued to improve in competition and in league play. While every person I play with helps my game and my life in some way, there were a few specific players who dedicated time and energy into my game and both the quality of my tennis and my life improved dramatically. I am so proud to call these people some of my closest friends. With this confidence and support I found the courage to apply for a teaching position and am now teaching out of the very same club I found when I first moved to California.
While teaching isn’t as romantic as I remember or imagined as a kid, I am finding a deep sense of satisfaction from teaching and sharing my passion for tennis with others. There is something meaningful for me in being a part of someone else’s success and sharing in the joy of discovering a new shot, new ability or improvement. There is also a piece of me that feels indebted to the sport and giving back through teaching and coaching makes me feel like I have found a purpose I’ve been seeking for a long time.