Tennis - my favourite sport

It took me time to figure out what my talent was. At nine years, I was into swimming, playing football and sometimes tennis. I loved all the three sports but balancing them during practice was kinda hard. I loved swimming because my couch was kind and always welcomed me with a smile! Football trained me to be a man because juggling through the big boys and getting to the ball wasn't an easy experience! With time I lost interest in the game! I loved tennis so much, every time I would see gentle men dressed smartly in their tennis attires and carrying their racket bags, my heart would skip a bit🥰.

It was in one of the cold nights that I had to take a life time decision that entirely changed my life! With my head on my pillow and legs swinging up from one corner of the bed, I carefully ran through all the experiences I had been through with the three sports! I loved football and swimming but tennis was my favourite. In the dew morning, I woke up, put on my tennis attire and off I went to meet my tennis couch. “ Have you made up your mind to focus on this game lad?” My couch exclaimed. “ Yes couch, I thought about it carefully and made up my mind to join the big game!

I never looked back on tennis hence fourth. I gave practice most of my time so that I could be able to become one of the best tennis players around! In the course of the numerous trainings I always got, I learnt being patient, responsible calm and above all respecting winning and loosing. My health was also greatly improved since I became more physically fit! I leant managing my emotions aswell given the fact that tennis is a mind game. You need to concentrate very well and put on a good vibe if you are to win a game. Hard work is another aspect I gained as I continued with the game.

I reached a point and wanted to start taking on games but guess what, my couch always told me that I needed to train more. From my own point of view I was ready to start competing but my couch knew what I needed and how much I had achieved at that time. I patiently held on though at times I would break down. My couch realised I was getting stressed and had to give me a chance to take on a friendly match!

The morning prior to the match I din’t nap. I kept my eyes in the window waiting for the morning whistles from birds. I woke got ready and off I went to the court. Everyone was eagerly waiting to see me take on my first game. In a nut shell, the game started and everyone cheered from the sides. All was well until my opponent took the first point. I lost concentration and panic took over. The racket became too heavy in that I couldn’ put it in the ready position or even swing my arms to hit the tennis ball. With time my opponent got alot of support and I was left like an orphan standing In the middle of nowhere. I could constantly raise my eyes and tearfully look at my couch. I felt like being swallowed by the ground but nothing like that happened. It's at this point I accepted my defeat and shamefully ran into hiding.

The following morning I arrived for training and had a long jazz with my couch. “ Patient pains but pays” he told me. At this point every word he said made sense to me and i happily took each word that came from his mouth. I decided to double my training efforts and follow every step gven to me by my couch. I even had to land a motorbike so that nothing could ever stop me from arriving for training on time.