Life is great! I am staying in a fabulous home on the beach at Cape Cod. This morning we enjoyed a breakfast at Wimbledon and watched as Roger Federer secured his 8th Wimbledon title and his 19th victory at one of tennis’ major tournaments. For those who didn’t see the match, it wasn’t the greatest final in terms of quality of play. Unfortunately Marin Cilic was not able to produce his best tennis. But it was great theater. I found it especially touching when Roger was quite emotional in his chair after the match was over. While some people may debate whether Roger Federer is the greatest player in the history of tennis (I feel he is), there can be no debate that he is the most beloved player. As Brad Gilbert calls them, the “FED FANS” are everywhere. I have been an avid fan, player, teacher, coach, and observer of tennis for well over 40 years and I cannot remember any tennis player who has had the kind of fan support and admiration that Federer enjoys in every country that he plays in.
My question is why? Is it his beautifully elegant strokes, the amazing graceful movement around the court, his incomparable record of winning matches and titles, or maybe it is the way he treats the public and the media. There has been no top player who is as gracious and cooperative off the court as Roger has been throughout his career. Maybe it is the amount of charity work that he does around the world. Actually it is all of the things we have mentioned plus one more and in my opinion it is by far the most important. Roger truly loves tennis! He plays the game with a passion, purpose and JOY that sets him apart from every other player in the history of the game. When Roger plays a particularly competitive rally or hits a truly amazing shot he celebrates with true joy. His smile, his body language, his enthusiasm all communicate that he loves playing tennis.
This is my first post on my new blog, and I am very pleased that it coincided with RF winning his 8th WImbledon. The dictionary gives the definition of Joy as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness” with synonyms such as “jubilation” “triumph” and “exultation”. Obviously winning Wimbledon would give anyone a feeling of “triumph” but for those of us who play tennis on a more mortal level there are countless opportunities to experience joy on a tennis court. The satisfying “thwock” of connecting with a tennis ball on the sweet spot of the racket is a joyful feeling. Having a long competitive rally with a player of equal skill can be joyful. Learning how to execute a new shot can be a wonderful experience of joy on the tennis court. For me one of the most beautiful things about tennis is that joyful play can be accomplished at any level of skill or any age. In my tennis career I have been lucky to work with players aged 3 – 96. I have taught tennis to players in wheelchairs, players with mental handicaps, deaf players and i was even lucky enough to be on court with a remarkable young woman who was blind. I have also coached 9 professional players, many top juniors and collegiate players, excellent players who won club championships and achieved rankings in their age divisions. I have coached teams of women, men and children.
Over the years I have been asked many times who do you like to teach the most? Most of the time they mean what type of player. Do I prefer professionals to juniors? Do I prefer more advanced players to beginners? I am afraid that i often disappoint the questioner because I do not have a preference of age or skill. I love to teach anyone who loves to learn and improve. To me there is no greater joy than when I see one of my students excitedly accomplish something new. That look of astonishment and the “a ha” moment that accompany the realization that they can do this! That this tennis thing is doable and maybe they CAN get better. Any person that wants to learn tennis this way can be a student of mine.
This blog is an attempt to share some of the knowledge, experiences and ideas that I have learned over these decades in the game of tennis. I hope it will become a dialogue between us. I would love to answer your questions and hear your comments. If you have any ideas for blogs please let me know.
Thanks for reading and please head out to the courts to experience
THE JOY OF TENNIS
Dan:
I’m so glad you have a tennis blog. I will happily read it as I’m an avid fan. I’m also a die-hard RF fan so I appreciated your comments on his Wimbledon victory. I’m going to York, ME to visit my cousin Tony today. Glad you’re back in MA.
Thanks for the comment Susan…I am going to York next Tuesday. I am looking forward to this blogging thing if I can figure out how to manage the site. Thanks again for reading my post.
I was just at the Western & Southern Open for the 2nd time. It’s a great venue. I went early to see lots of tennis celebs and lots of great players were there. I was most impressed with Frances Tiafoe’s win over Zverev – I hadn’t seen him play. Lots of excellent men’s and women’s doubles but I think they need to start putting the doubles matches in larger venues as the audience for doubles is pretty large. Several of the singles matches were in larger venues but not as well attended. Let’s hear it for the doubles fans! Nice dog!