Sophie Ziegler

McCaskey High School  •  Tennis Central  •  Spring 2018

Earning my own tennis racquet from Tennis Central would mean multiple things
to me. One would be that it would allow me to play to the best of my abilities, without
anything holding me back. It would increase my self-confidence. I would know that
everything I put on the court is all from me, whether those are mistakes or successful
shots. My tennis playing abilities and skills would improve since the racquet is an
upgrade from the one I am currently using. It would feel good to have a quality tennis
racquet to bring on to the courts. Of course my skills wouldn’t immediately change, but
the new racquet would be an incentive to dedicate my time to working on my tennis
playing.

Throughout tennis seasons and different programs throughout the years I have
learned many lessons. Not only that I can learn from to improve my tennis playing on the
courts, but that I can use off the courts throughout my everyday life. While playing tennis
I have proved that practice does indeed make perfect, or pretty close. This is a universal
lesson that I use now and will continue to use through my adult life. I have learned that
you can still gain from losing. When in a match, if I lose, I know exactly what I can do to
improve. Knowing this is idea/skill is something to gain from losing. In life I have
applied the same concept. I have also learned that at the end of a stressful situation, it
wasn’t worth putting in the energy to stress over it. Something that is very important tome and may be helpful to new tennis players, is to stick with something, whether that be
tennis or something else, even if you are not the best in the beginning. I have learned all
of these lessons with the help of my coaches and teammates. Tennis may be competitive
but it is also a calming sport. It works as a stress reliever, even when stressed in situations
off-the-court.