What I have learned from sports…

I am just a rookie who is still struggling to learn tennis and basketball…

Only when I am in Leipzig that I have more opportunities to really practice and play tennis. After seven months of playing it (with some breaks in between), I have learned a lot about competitions, mental strength, friendships, and… myself.

On 25.07.2021 I played for the first time on a court in Leipzig and it was TERRIBLE; I could barely hit the ball and my serves were all wrong. I felt even worse when I made my partner run around the court just to collect the balls because they were out most of the time. Running under the sun on a summer day was definitely not a nice experience. I am very thankful for having her as my first tennis partner. We then realized we need a coach. Not everything was bad though, the highlight of the day was that we met a very kind person at the court, he told us that we could extend to play one more hour if we wanted to, no extra fee 😉

Practicing with a coach turned out to be a very nice experience. I was looking forward to every lesson. This is strange because I usually enjoy learning things by myself. After each lesson, I always wanted to play more. During the class, I had my momentum so keeping playing gave me a very satisfying feeling. Tennis also helps a lot in boosting my mood. I remembered one afternoon, I came to the court feeling very low. When I finished, a coach came and asked if we wanted to practice some more; this coach is not our regular one. We said yes, so we spent one more hour practicing backhands and forehands. I came home feeling so much better.

And basketball… hmmmm. I never thought that I would learn basketball. I am 162cm, too short for this sport and my hands are too small. One day, I came to court with a friend who is a PRO. He showed me how to shoot for the first time. It was actually much better than my first time on the tennis court. According to my friend, I have some “talent” at shooting hahaha. I became more curious about basketball and went to court more often. Now, I can do layups, fake some small moves, and control the ball a bit better. Sometimes I could shoot 10 or 15 in a row, of course not far from the basket hahaha.

I always say I am not competitive or my own competitor is no one but myself. That is true until I compete in sports. I am not a dedicated sportsperson and I do not spend hours training. I also know whom I am competing with. Even though I constantly remind myself of these things, I can’t help feeling bad whenever I lose. I hate hearing “It’s been a good game, you improve a lot” or “You almost win.” For me, losing is losing. Because of my bad moments on the court, I realize how lucky I am to have people who are very patient with me. I have an amazing basketball “coach” (also my good friend and my tennis partner) who always encourages me to try new things and believes in me. He is super competitive, yet way better than me at dealing with emotions on court. Practicing and playing against him makes me both mentally and physically stronger.

Sports help me stay focused and mindful. I forget everything else when I am practicing or competing, that moment I only have one goal which is to win. Sports also teach me that I am not good at many things and it’s okay. At the same time, sports show me that I could do more than I thought. I also understand what it means when someone wants to break his / her racket on court because I also wanted to do it so many times but… tennis racket is expensive so… hahaha. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to deal with uncomfortable moments. In real life, I can avoid them by distracting myself with other things, be it Instagram, books, or YouTube videos. On the court, I cannot escape. I have to continue playing until the end and learn how to execute the game while feeling “angry” – yes, very bad temper hahaha. The options are resorted to giving up so that the opponent could win faster and could end my uncomfortable state or keeping playing with my best and perhaps losing but feeling “I’ve done all I could.” For a rookie like me, it’s never been easy.

I started learning tennis and basketball when I was 30 so if you like something, it’s never too late to start 😉 When you’re in it, you’re in it.

And perhaps my next blog about sport is when I win my first tennis match or my first basketball game.

Today witnessed one of the most historic moments in tennis history, Nadal won AO and made a record with his 21st grand slam title, it was soooo stressful to follow the match. It’s amazing to see the resilience of top players. I love watching interviews after the match and I looooove this one of Medvedev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeHh_NJEs-M