Embracing my loser side
I played in my very first tennis tournament today. I lost the first game I ever played in a tennis tournament today. The first tennis tournament I ever played in ended for me today.
In an obvious attempt to fix my wounded pride here are my reasons for losing. I was playing in a higher 4.0 level and I have a 3.0 ranking. My opponent has 20 more years of playing experience. My racquet needed restringing. It was too hot. It was too windy. The stars were misaligned. I was not wearing my lucky underwear. Should I continue? I'm reading a book about the mental aspects of the game which says you should learn to embrace and learn from your loss. That's so difficult in a game where you're playing by yourself because every mistake belongs to you. There is nobody else to share the loss with.
Enough pity though because two important things came out of today. My own personal victory was that I didn't defeat myself, I was simply outplayed by a more experienced play. I was worried about being too nervous and making too many unforced errors but I managed to focus on the game and settle my brain. Secondly, competing lit a fire under me and my passion for tennis has reached a higher level. I'm excited about seeing just how far I can go. My dreaded first tournament is finally in the past and I can only advance from here. However, it is still going to be a couple days until my pride heals and I'm not feeling like a complete loser.
(update: Just learned the woman that I lost to ended up placing first overall. Somehow that makes me feel a little less loser-like.)
In an obvious attempt to fix my wounded pride here are my reasons for losing. I was playing in a higher 4.0 level and I have a 3.0 ranking. My opponent has 20 more years of playing experience. My racquet needed restringing. It was too hot. It was too windy. The stars were misaligned. I was not wearing my lucky underwear. Should I continue? I'm reading a book about the mental aspects of the game which says you should learn to embrace and learn from your loss. That's so difficult in a game where you're playing by yourself because every mistake belongs to you. There is nobody else to share the loss with.
Enough pity though because two important things came out of today. My own personal victory was that I didn't defeat myself, I was simply outplayed by a more experienced play. I was worried about being too nervous and making too many unforced errors but I managed to focus on the game and settle my brain. Secondly, competing lit a fire under me and my passion for tennis has reached a higher level. I'm excited about seeing just how far I can go. My dreaded first tournament is finally in the past and I can only advance from here. However, it is still going to be a couple days until my pride heals and I'm not feeling like a complete loser.
(update: Just learned the woman that I lost to ended up placing first overall. Somehow that makes me feel a little less loser-like.)
posted by sammy at 7:00 PM
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