My high school had an all comers JV tennis team (at least for girls). Beginning of sophomore year, a friend said she was turning out for tennis and said I should too. I was not good at any sport involving hitting or throwing or catching anything, but I liked the idea of tennis, so I did.
My friend turned out to be an excellent player. I…
My high school had an all comers JV tennis team (at least for girls). Beginning of sophomore year, a friend said she was turning out for tennis and said I should too. I was not good at any sport involving hitting or throwing or catching anything, but I liked the idea of tennis, so I did.
My friend turned out to be an excellent player. I was terrible, but I kept at it for three seasons. JV players got two or three doubles matches each season. After year two, I was given the Most Improved JV award, which I knew was actually for being the most doggedly persistent bad player on the team. In my senior year, my doubles partner & I won a match, and I'll never forget how enthusiastic the best players were in congratulating me.
Maybe it taught me to keep at something that isn't really working very well ... but I'm thankful to the coach who was so encouraging the whole time.
There's a coda: After a long time of avoiding sports involving hand-to-eye coordination, I had occasion to try a bit of softball, then shoot some baskets, go bowling, try tennis again, shoot some pool - and I did much better at all of them than I had previously done. Or at least I did really well once, in some cases. (My basketball story is a little bit insane, but absolutely true.) My first time on a golf course, my brother (who's not given to idle praise) said I did better than most beginners he had seen.
If there's a usable life lesson in all that, I haven't found it yet, beyond "There's no harm in giving it a try."
My high school had an all comers JV tennis team (at least for girls). Beginning of sophomore year, a friend said she was turning out for tennis and said I should too. I was not good at any sport involving hitting or throwing or catching anything, but I liked the idea of tennis, so I did.
My friend turned out to be an excellent player. I was terrible, but I kept at it for three seasons. JV players got two or three doubles matches each season. After year two, I was given the Most Improved JV award, which I knew was actually for being the most doggedly persistent bad player on the team. In my senior year, my doubles partner & I won a match, and I'll never forget how enthusiastic the best players were in congratulating me.
Maybe it taught me to keep at something that isn't really working very well ... but I'm thankful to the coach who was so encouraging the whole time.
There's a coda: After a long time of avoiding sports involving hand-to-eye coordination, I had occasion to try a bit of softball, then shoot some baskets, go bowling, try tennis again, shoot some pool - and I did much better at all of them than I had previously done. Or at least I did really well once, in some cases. (My basketball story is a little bit insane, but absolutely true.) My first time on a golf course, my brother (who's not given to idle praise) said I did better than most beginners he had seen.
If there's a usable life lesson in all that, I haven't found it yet, beyond "There's no harm in giving it a try."
Good for you.