Take the Time

I have heard of tennis coaches and their students who put in 10 or more hours a day practicing and training. While I believe in putting in time to master your craft, I have wonder what these coaches and students are doing that they feel they need to put in ten hours a day.  This game is not that hard, keep the ball deep, attack the short ball. It is more important to be consistent and intentional than to be putting in the long hours. Now, there are times when we need to put in more time. I remember Andre Agassi had fallen to 138 in the world back in 1998.  For one year he recommitted himself to better fitness, mental skills, and training to get back to being one of the elite players in the world. That is fine, when ever we have a particular goal we want to meet, there is nothing wrong with going intense and putting in all of our time into something in the short term. When we meet that goal though, we need to set a schedule and a routine that will allow us to be efficient.  Practicing your skills in practice matches or with a hitting partner for an hour or two every day or every other day can be just as beneficial if there is intention to what you are doing. Remember to take the time to regenerate the body and focus on the mental skills to create the image of success in your mind.