SINGLES TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Well, today I participated in my FIRST Tennis Tournament! Not only a tournament, but a SINGLES tennis tournament! Yes, I'm off my rocker! :-)

Last weekend when I went home, I had a GREAT lesson with my fav pro Troy. I realized that one of the big things missing from my game since moving is "individualized" tennis instruction...essentially, playing for myself and singles. Everything here is geared for doubles, which is great, but I felt like I was losing my identity.

So, when I came home, I decided to look into more "singles" play. So, Thursday, a match was arranged between a nice girl at my club, and we got to talking about the upcoming "Club Championship Singles Tournament". She said there were only like 4-5 women signed up. I thought those were pretty good odds, plus, what would it hurt? So I signed up.

Now remember, I've never been a singles player. Sure I played in the singles league at my old club, but it's a tough "game" for me. I have a REALLY hard time keeping my head clear, and not letting my frustration and discouragement get to me. In the past, I've always had Troy there to help me get my brain resettled and refocus, but I was going to be on my own here. SCARY! :-)

So, this morning, I got up and hit a cardio clinic to get my body loosened up (7 am! and it was FREEZING here this morning!). Great clinic! :-) My match time was 10 am. I headed home and helped get Brent and the kids out the door, and they surprised me by coming to WATCH! It was really cool to have spectators and supporters! While the kids can't still to watch, it was cool having Brent there to see me play. I liked him seeing that I have DEFINITELY improved :-) LOL.

So, my first match I won easily. I beat the poor girl 6-0, 6-2. I definitely outranked her. Since I won, I went UP the ladder. OH BOY! I was recently ranked 3.5 which means I know what I'm doing - I have control of my ground strokes, serves, etc. I just lack "consistency" (it's coming...). So, moving UP the ladder meant I was playing with 4.0's - these ladies DO have consistency and they know how to PLACE the ball *gulp*.

I know I was in trouble, but I was determined to go in there and try my best and maybe get lucky! LOL Well, I got SPANKED! :-) I lost 2-6, 1-6. She was really good, and really sweet, and I was really .... well, we'll leave all the negativity at the door... :-)

I'm very proud of myself for trying. If you don't put yourself out there, how will you ever know what you can do? There's always next year :-)