What's Your Story?

Stories sell. I am not just talking about selling to make money. A testimonial story has the power to influence and transform.  I don't think I have told my story a whole lot, but I think it is one that needs to be told. One of the things I have learned about tennis over the years is you do not have to be a great athlete to be successful at this game. Unlike sports like basketball, football, base

ball, soccer, usually the faster, stronger players are more successful. Tennis is a learned sport and while athletic skill levels can help in your development, it is not the determining factor in your mastery. 

I am not a great athlete, as a matter of fact, I was the last man on my high school team ladder when I started playing. That year I was a freshman in high school. I remember telling people one day I would teach tennis and they laughed. I just remember the many hours spent learning with a friend of mine from high school, going to camps, and winter lessons. For four years I worked and worked, I finally earned a Varsity spot my senior year, but never got to play in a Varsity match. Overlooked for others. Discouraged. Yet, that was not the end of the story. Three years later I had earned a scholarship to Mesa Community College. I hung around on a team that qualified for nationals, even winning a college match. What's my point in all of this? It wasn't my talent that got me to where I wanted to go. It was my determination, passion, and a WHY that helped me on the road to mastery.  I tell this story because one of the main reasons I went into teaching tennis is because I wanted to give students the kind of instruction that I wish I would have had when I was learning. I want to be able to teach the students it seems nobody wants and turn them into somebody everybody wants. I want to help those who are willing to find great difficulty in tennis and yet they still continue on. These are the students who have that passion for mastery.