Has it Already Been 9 months on this Tennis Journey?

9 Month Status Update

Until now, I haven’t told my friends about this blog and I haven’t posted a tennis update, because I thought it would be nice to have some real success on the tennis court before providing an update. After 9 months of spending hundreds of hours on the court and in the gym, I am better at tennis and I am in the best shape of my life. But, I have not started playing anywhere near the level I had hoped, or the level I believe I am capable of achieving.

There have been sessions on the court where I have started to feel “it”, where I have been in that zone and felt like I could compete with some of the best kids in Florida. Unfortunately, I often hit this zenith in my ability, and then the next day I am back to my old self. Everyone keeps telling me, “tennis is a challenging sport, and you need to be patient.” Don’t worry, I’m not giving up on my tennis quite yet! I just wish that I could speed up my progress a little bit, it has been 9 months and I’m running out of time on this journey!

I Hate Losing

I’ll be honest with you, I lose to 16 year old children on the reg. Yes, they have dedicated their childhoods to tennis. But, hey, it’s still annoying. And, as my friends will attest, I hate losing. Every once in a while I get very frustrated and then I have to remind myself to stop being a baby and remember that I am spending my days on the tennis court, doing what I love.

Chilling with Kids All Day

I enjoy hanging out with kids all day, it makes me feel and act younger. I actually shave more often now than when I worked in NYC. Although I’m 29 years old, I can probably pass off as a 19 year old when clean shaven. The kids say some hilarious stuff and always keep me on the edge of my toes. The other day we were running two court suicides, and the instructor shouted, “why is Tanner always winning?” This 13 year old boy shouted back, “because, he is a grown man!” Best response ever.

The kids don’t know how good they have it. Their parents are paying all of this money for them to train and play tennis everyday. Meanwhile, I am spending my life’s savings! When the instructors tell us to run suicides, do ladders, jump over cones, etc., the kids often complain. I happily jog over to the fitness station, and think to myself, “these kids have no idea how good they have it, I’ll jump over this cone until I pass out from exhaustion if they ask me to.” One day, ten years from now, they will wish they were here, under the Florida sun, running suicides, instead of sitting slumped over in their office chair, under the glare of florescent lights, working on PowerPoint presentations.

My Plan for the Next Few Months

There is no doubt that I am catching up to the talent around me on the court. Additionally, my fitness has improved dramatically. I have gained 10 lbs of muscle, and I can now run two miles in 11:00 minutes. I can’t give up yet, right?!

Everyone tells me that if I want to start winning, I have to compete in dozens of tournaments. My plan, over the next three months, is to compete in three tournaments every month. Hopefully, I can get this losing out of my system and start to collect some Ws. In three months, I will have been on this tennis journey for one year; then, it will be time for me to decide whether to commit a few more months to tennis, or that it is time for me to travel!

See below for some tennis clips of me hitting in November of 2018 and then early February of 2019

Future Post Ideas

In addition to tennis journey status updates, additional posts that I plan to write in the ensuing months include the following:

• Tennis Racquet Tips the Competitive Tennis Players Don’t Share with the Rest of Us
• Fitness Exercises and Tools that have had the Most Impact on my Game
• Small Nutritional Changes that I have Incorporated in my Tennis Diet, and Plan to Continue for the Rest of My Life

Please comment below or contact me if there are other post ideas that you propose!