Age 54 versus Age 16: Mental & Physical Challenges

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Age 54 versus Age 16: Mental & Physical Challenges

by RiC
(Tennis-see USA)

My age is 54 and I began playing tennis four years ago. Recently, I signed up to play in a Men's Singles 3.0/3.5 league for a once-a-week match for the next 6 weeks.

My opponent this week was a 16-year old boy that plays for his high school tennis team and practises twice-a-week with 4.0/4.5 adult male players. This was his 'home' court with his very own two-person cheerleading section comprised of his mom and his coach.

This match was a best 2 of 3 sets with any third set to be a 7-point tiebreaker. It was a hot and humid day.

Going into the match I was sizing up my younger opponent. I couldn't help but be curious about the effects on the match due to the differences in our ages, conditioning, experience, etc.

In an attempt to prepare myself mentally I decided that my main overall objective was to enjoy the experience with a desire to win while remaining injury-free and, if necessary, be willing to go through a third set, regardless of how much time and effort would be necessary to go the distance and complete the match.

My opponent had a decent serve, above average top spin forehand cross court groundtroke and a wicked 2-hand backhand down-the-line. Apparently, during the warm up, he had sized me up, too, because he made a significant effort to pull me to the net with drop shots, then lob over me to the back of the court and would pull me side-to-side with his cross court and down-the-line shots. After an hour and fifteen minutes, he took the first set 7-5.

I repeated my pre-match objectives to myself and considered that my younger opponent could have experienced a sense of relief at winning a hard fought first set and could let his guard down and, therefore, it was time for me to take advantage by playing with more 'controlled aggression' to even the score by winning the second set.

I broke his first service game and held all my service games to take the second set 6-4. Another hour had elapsed. We had emptied our water bottles and both of us were thirsty and we agreed to walk to the nearby water fountain for a refill before starting the tiebreaker.

Having returned to the court, I reasoned to myself that my opponent had to work harder than me to win the first set and was likely disappointed to lose the second set and I thereby convinced myself that I had the edge going into the match deciding tiebreaker.

Our match time was already more than 2 hours in duration. However, I felt invigorated. There was a sense of calm within me. My younger opponent won the first point on his serve. I won the next 2 points on my serve.

He defaulted on the fourth point and he won the fifth point. I won my next service point and we changed sides at 4-2. He won the next point and I won the following two points bringing the score to 6-3. We were nearly 2 1/2 hours into the match. We split the next two hard fought points, giving me the victory at 7-4.

I congratulated my younger opponent for his effort and encouraged him by acknowledging how well he played. On my way home I acknowledged the experience was indeed enjoyable and expressed gratitude for the win while remaining injury-free for 2 1/2 hours with enough fuel in the tank to get through a third set tiebreaker.

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Age 54 versus Age 16: Mental & Physical Challenges

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Jul 25, 2008
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Challenges
by: Anonymous

Hi Ric,

I would like to know more about your background in sports. It seems to me that in four years time you have reached a high degree of mastery.

How did you do that?

Best regards,
Walter D'Amico
www.passion-4-tennis.com

Aug 02, 2008
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Answer to Walter's Question and the Rest of the Story
by: Ric

Hello, Walter:

Thanks for your interest and inquiry. This may surprise you because I never played sports before I was age 29. However, between the ages of 29 and 38 I played amateur slow pitch softball. Because my coaches claimed I exhibited advanced eye-hand coordination and was one of the fastest runners on whichever amateur softball team I was a member during that 9-year timeframe, I usually played center field. At age 38 during an amateur championship softball game, I fractured the clavicle on my right side by crashing into the ground after lunging for a high fly ball that was falling almost outside my reach. (I did catch the ball for the final out and our team won the championship.) It was a painful injury and my shoulder has never been the same. Because I’m right-handed, I couldn’t swing a bat or throw a ball the way I had prior to the injury and, therefore, I decided never to play softball again.

The following is likely more than you care to know about me but it is part of my real-life story and how I was led to play tennis. Therefore, if my answer here-to-fore is satisfactory, there is no need to read “the rest of the story.” However, to satisfy the curiosity of anybody who has cared to read this far, this story is offered in 3 Parts.

Ten years later, at age 48, I noticed a pain in my right, lower extremity. During subsequent months, the pain became worse and ran from my right hip down to my right foot. After several misdiagnoses over a period of seven months, a specialist finally discovered a mass the size of a soccer ball attached to the right side of my pelvis. The massive tumor was pinching my sciatic nerve, causing excruciating pain. The official diagnosis was “Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.” The tumor could not be surgically removed and, therefore, the oncologist prescribed six months of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor. Losing all my hair was only one of the many side-effects. After the final chemical treatment, having endured what could qualify as he worse six months of my life, the oncologist pronounced the tumor “undetectable” and ordered me to “resume all normal activities.” Not knowing what caused the tumor but realizing I could make improvements to my lifestyle in a hopeful effort to reduce the chances of a relapse, I decided to add more exercise to my regimen.

End of Part 1 of 3

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Aug 02, 2008
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Submitted by: Ric

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Hello, Walter: Thanks for your interest and inquiry. This may surprise you because I never played sports before I was age 29. However, between the ages of 29 and 38 I played amateur slow pitch softball. Because my coaches claimed I exhibited advanced eye-hand coordination and was one of the fastest runners on whichever amateur softball team I was a member during that 9-year timeframe, I usually played center field. At age 38 during an amateur championship softball game, I fractured the clavicle on my right side by crashing into the ground after lunging for a high fly ball that was falling almost outside my reach. (I did catch the ball for the final out and our team won the championship.) It was a painful injury and my shoulder has never been the same. Because I’m right-handed, I couldn’t swing a bat or throw a ball the way I had prior to the injury and, therefore, I decided never to play softball again. The following is likely more than you care to know about me but it is part of my real-life story and how I was led to play tennis. Therefore, if my answer here-to-fore is satisfactory, there is no need to read “the rest of the story.” However, to satisfy the curiosity of anybody who has cared to read this far, this story is offered in 3 Parts. Ten years later, at age 48, I noticed a pain in my right, lower extremity. During subsequent months, the pain became worse and ran from my right hip down to my right foot. After several misdiagnoses over a period of seven months, a specialist finally discovered a mass the size of a soccer ball attached to the right side of my pelvis. The massive tumor was pinching my sciatic nerve, causing excruciating pain. The official diagnosis was “Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.” The tumor could not be surgically removed and, therefore, the oncologist prescribed six months of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor. Losing all my hair was only one of the many side-effects. After the final chemical treatment, having endured what could qualify as he worse six months of my life, the oncologist pronounced the tumor “undetectable” and ordered me to “resume all normal activities.” Not knowing what caused the tumor but realizing I could make improvements to my lifestyle in a hopeful effort to reduce the chances of a relapse, I decided to add more exercise to my regimen. End of Part 1 of 3

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Aug 02, 2008
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Part 2 of 3 Answer to Walter's Question
by: Ric

Start of Part 2 of 3

At the age of 51, while in front of the TV channel surfing, I stopped at a program with two guys playing tennis on a grass court. One was a guy named “Roger Federer” and the other was an “Andy Roddick.” During the program the commentators identified the event as the “2005 Wimbledon Championships” and this contest was for the “Gentlemen’s Singles” title. As I watched it occurred to me that, not only did tennis appear to be good exercise, but it also appeared to be a fun activity. During a commercial break there was an ad that instructed the viewer to visit an online website (identified as TennisWelcomeCenter.com) and input a zip code to find a nearby tennis court. I followed the instructions and discovered a court less than a mile from my residence. I decided to visit the court after the conclusion of the TV coverage of the “Championships.” I was pleasantly surprised to discover that ‘the court’ is actually a tennis academy with four courts (3 hard and 1 clay) and a fully furnished clubhouse on a private residential property that the owner had opened to the public. I introduced myself to the owner and eventually arranged for a few lessons to learn the basic strokes. I was permitted to use the ball machine to practice what I learned from the lessons. The Wilson Tennis Academy (WTA) also has a hitting wall. It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t need a ball machine or another person to help me practice my strokes by hitting against the wall. Furthermore, I spent many hours alone on the court with a hopper of balls practicing my first and second serves. I often studied the strokes and serves of players I learned to admire in an effort to develop and maintain good habits.

Unfortunately, my performance as a novice tennis player was too inferior compared to the superior performance of the intermediate and advanced tennis players and, consequently, it was a challenge for me to find a hitting partner or a friendly match. Playing against me meant spending more time chasing balls than actually playing the game of tennis! I searched the Internet for more tennis-related information and discovered a program called T2Tennis, whereby one could pay a fee and be guaranteed to play several singles matches, with a few at a designated “home” court and the others at the opponent’s chosen court within a certain geographical area. Signing up for this program required that I choose a “rating.” Well, I decided to jump in at the 3.0/3.5 levels to get my feet wet. Ironically, I won 3 out of the 5 matches. I quickly concluded that playing tennis was the kind of exercise I wanted and it was more fun than I’d imagined. However, while watching several doubles matches it seemed to me that playing doubles was less work than playing singles and probably more fun, too. Now, I wanted to try playing doubles.

End of Part 2 of 3

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Aug 02, 2008
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Submitted by: Ric

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Start of Part 2 of 3 At the age of 51, while in front of the TV channel surfing, I stopped at a program with two guys playing tennis on a grass court. One was a guy named “Roger Federer” and the other was an “Andy Roddick.” During the program the commentators identified the event as the “2005 Wimbledon Championships” and this contest was for the “Gentlemen’s Singles” title. As I watched it occurred to me that, not only did tennis appear to be good exercise, but it also appeared to be a fun activity. During a commercial break there was an ad that instructed the viewer to visit an online website (identified as TennisWelcomeCenter.com) and input a zip code to find a nearby tennis court. I followed the instructions and discovered a court less than a mile from my residence. I decided to visit the court after the conclusion of the TV coverage of the “Championships.” I was pleasantly surprised to discover that ‘the court’ is actually a tennis academy <WilsonTennisAcademy.com> with four courts (3 hard and 1 clay) and a fully furnished clubhouse on a private residential property that the owner had opened to the public. I introduced myself to the owner and eventually arranged for a few lessons to learn the basic strokes. I was permitted to use the ball machine to practice what I learned from the lessons. The Wilson Tennis Academy (WTA) also has a hitting wall. It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t need a ball machine or another person to help me practice my strokes by hitting against the wall. Furthermore, I spent many hours alone on the court with a hopper of balls practicing my first and second serves. I often studied the strokes and serves of players I learned to admire in an effort to develop and maintain good habits. Unfortunately, my performance as a novice tennis player was too inferior compared to the superior performance of the intermediate and advanced tennis players and, consequently, it was a challenge for me to find a hitting partner or a friendly match. Playing against me meant spending more time chasing balls than actually playing the game of tennis! I searched the Internet for more tennis-related information and discovered a program called T2Tennis, whereby one could pay a fee and be guaranteed to play several singles matches, with a few at a designated “home” court and the others at the opponent’s chosen court within a certain geographical area. Signing up for this program required that I choose a “rating.” Well, I decided to jump in at the 3.0/3.5 levels to get my feet wet. Ironically, I won 3 out of the 5 matches. I quickly concluded that playing tennis was the kind of exercise I wanted and it was more fun than I’d imagined. However, while watching several doubles matches it seemed to me that playing doubles was less work than playing singles and probably more fun, too. Now, I wanted to try playing doubles. End of Part 2 of 3

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Aug 04, 2008
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Great Story!
by: Tomaz

Thanks for sharing, Ric!

It's great to see that even if you start tennis later as an adult you can still master it to the point of really enjoying the game...

Your story has won you a free ebook too!

Aug 05, 2008
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Part 3 of 3 Answer to Walter's Question
by: Ric

Start of Part 3 of 3

After nearly six months of playing tennis singles once or twice a month, I met with the owner of WTA to talk about an idea for developing a weekly activity for doubles. During the conversation, I learned that he had built a database of email addresses for tennis players in the area. He offered it to me to maintain and use to send a weekly email inviting the recipients to play doubles at his facility. I confess to having a selfish motivation for wanting to implement my idea. Admittedly, I saw this as a potential solution to my problem of finding a partner to play doubles and opponents to play against and as a means whereby I could gain experience and, hopefully, improve my game at a faster pace. To my pleasant surprise, players began to show up on a consistent basis and what we fondly call “Doubles on the Ridge” continues to grow in popularity.

In addition to my desire to gain match experience, I seem to have an unquenchable thirst for learning more about tennis from many excellent tennis-related books, videos, websites and other more experienced players. Everything I’ve obtained from Tomaz Mencinger has been beneficial (and NO he did not pay me to say that). I also took 5 one-hour lessons from a local tennis pro in an effort to correct any bad habits I may have been developing. I intend to take more on-court lessons with that pro.

Speaking of ‘thirst’… Before, during and after a match I drink a natural dietary supplement that contains 75 plant derived mineral elements, which gives me a burst of energy and aids in sustaining my energy level throughout a match. (Lance Armstrong, Shaq O’Neal and other athletes not paid to endorse the product are known to drink this same product.)

While developing “Doubles on the Ridge” other players have noticed a steady, rapid improvement in my game and, consequently, I’ve had many opportunities in the past 3 ½ years to play in several leagues for Singles, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles, some USTA-sanctioned and others not. By God’s grace, I expect to reach age 55 in August 2008, while celebrating my fifth year as a cancer survivor. Meanwhile, I continue to enjoy the journey of life and the life-long game of tennis. I trust you will, too. Be blessed!

End of Part 3 of 3

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Aug 05, 2008
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Submitted by: Ric

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Start of Part 3 of 3 After nearly six months of playing tennis singles once or twice a month, I met with the owner of WTA to talk about an idea for developing a weekly activity for doubles. During the conversation, I learned that he had built a database of email addresses for tennis players in the area. He offered it to me to maintain and use to send a weekly email inviting the recipients to play doubles at his facility. I confess to having a selfish motivation for wanting to implement my idea. Admittedly, I saw this as a potential solution to my problem of finding a partner to play doubles and opponents to play against and as a means whereby I could gain experience and, hopefully, improve my game at a faster pace. To my pleasant surprise, players began to show up on a consistent basis and what we fondly call “Doubles on the Ridge” continues to grow in popularity. In addition to my desire to gain match experience, I seem to have an unquenchable thirst for learning more about tennis from many excellent tennis-related books, videos, websites and other more experienced players. Everything I’ve obtained from Tomaz Mencinger has been beneficial (and NO he did not pay me to say that). I also took 5 one-hour lessons from a local tennis pro in an effort to correct any bad habits I may have been developing. I intend to take more on-court lessons with that pro. Speaking of ‘thirst’… Before, during and after a match I drink a natural dietary supplement that contains 75 plant derived mineral elements, which gives me a burst of energy and aids in sustaining my energy level throughout a match. (Lance Armstrong, Shaq O’Neal and other athletes not paid to endorse the product are known to drink this same product.) While developing “Doubles on the Ridge” other players have noticed a steady, rapid improvement in my game and, consequently, I’ve had many opportunities in the past 3 ½ years to play in several leagues for Singles, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles, some USTA-sanctioned and others not. By God’s grace, I expect to reach age 55 in August 2008, while celebrating my fifth year as a cancer survivor. Meanwhile, I continue to enjoy the journey of life and the life-long game of tennis. I trust you will, too. Be blessed! End of Part 3 of 3

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Aug 06, 2008
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Good going!!
by: Hale Shine

Cool..I am a 17 year old who picked up tennis about 3 yrs ago. I can play decent tennis but often lose matches due to my highly unstable mind..I always have a problem with a high bouncing topspin ball on my one-handed backhand and tips for me;)...anyway good going for your body with tennis and for the mind as well.. Tennis is Meditation i realised..you have to go zen to play at your best..at least that's what i think..

Aug 19, 2008
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Ric!!!
by: kayll

Hi Ric,Well,what a win.Would we of heard about it if you had narrowly lost?.What was your point?.You beat a 16 year old,come on man,get a grip.Buy a sports car instead.How did you really play?.Did you shape for the shots correctly or did you just scramble and moonball?.What was the lads error count due to nerves at playing someone so senior and probably, obviously new to the game?.Your game plan was all about survival and nothing to do with the betterment of your game.If I was your coach at your late stage of development,I'd of advised you to concentrate on keeping the ball deep until you recognised an opening to use a shot you want as a weapon.
Did you really learn anything about yourself?.Its a well known fact that one learns far more from defeat than from victory.May I suggest,if you want to develop as a better player,that you set your matchplay targets a little higher than survival and the defeat and the boastful deflation of your up and coming junior opponents.
Can't wait to hear about the re-match stats.My monies on the kid!.He'll have learnt more.

Aug 19, 2008
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Ric's response to “kayll”
by: Anonymous

Hello, “kayll”:

Thanks for giving me a glimpse of your perspective. While I’m sorry you missed my point, I doubt there is any more I can add to help you understand; however, I’ll attempt to address one of your stated issues.

What you claim to be my “boastful deflation…of junior opponents,” could be an error in my judgment for expressing my joy for experiencing a rare victory in contrast to the normal frustration I have felt from the numerous losses to those younger, fitter and more experienced than myself in this sport. To pay to play in USTA-sanctioned tournaments by entering 3.0/3.5 singles and doubles only to discover that many of my opponents are far superior to me physically, because they are a third to half my age, blessed with greater stamina, mobility, agility, etc., does challenge me. Therefore, in an attempt to compensate for my physical deficiency, I endeavor to draw deeper from my mental and emotional strengths to level the playing field.

Because Tomaz has already been very generous with the space he has given to me on his website, I will only briefly tell you about a recent, narrow loss of mine.

This past week I lost a 2-hour match in a third set tiebreaker by 2 points. My opponent was a couple years younger than me and, according to him, he’s been playing tennis for more than 30 years. I had narrowly defeated him in all three of our prior matches. What I learned from this defeat is that I need to empty my bladder before starting a match. (Unfortunately, the court restrooms were locked and there was no place near the courts to relieve myself without risking a citation for indecent exposure.) Of course, I learned more from the match than that; however, this one issue was a large distraction for me. Regardless of my defeat, I was grateful for ‘surviving’ that match played under duress and also for both my opponent and I walking off the court injury-free after a 2-hour struggle, having had a competitive and fun-filled experience. While what I’ve described of this experience is unlikely to satisfy your desire to know what I really learned about myself, error counts, my game plan, match play details, etc., there is nothing much to boast about, other than I can hold my water longer than I expected.

Meanwhile, I’ll consider your suggestions and perhaps I will benefit from your wisdom. Thanks for taking time to write. Good luck with your coaching career.

Ric

PS When I make enough money from my amateur victories in this sport, I’ll buy a sports car.

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Aug 19, 2008
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Submitted by: Anonymous

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Hello, “kayll”: Thanks for giving me a glimpse of your perspective. While I’m sorry you missed my point, I doubt there is any more I can add to help you understand; however, I’ll attempt to address one of your stated issues. What you claim to be my “boastful deflation…of junior opponents,” could be an error in my judgment for expressing my joy for experiencing a rare victory in contrast to the normal frustration I have felt from the numerous losses to those younger, fitter and more experienced than myself in this sport. To pay to play in USTA-sanctioned tournaments by entering 3.0/3.5 singles and doubles only to discover that many of my opponents are far superior to me physically, because they are a third to half my age, blessed with greater stamina, mobility, agility, etc., does challenge me. Therefore, in an attempt to compensate for my physical deficiency, I endeavor to draw deeper from my mental and emotional strengths to level the playing field. Because Tomaz has already been very generous with the space he has given to me on his website, I will only briefly tell you about a recent, narrow loss of mine. This past week I lost a 2-hour match in a third set tiebreaker by 2 points. My opponent was a couple years younger than me and, according to him, he’s been playing tennis for more than 30 years. I had narrowly defeated him in all three of our prior matches. What I learned from this defeat is that I need to empty my bladder before starting a match. (Unfortunately, the court restrooms were locked and there was no place near the courts to relieve myself without risking a citation for indecent exposure.) Of course, I learned more from the match than that; however, this one issue was a large distraction for me. Regardless of my defeat, I was grateful for ‘surviving’ that match played under duress and also for both my opponent and I walking off the court injury-free after a 2-hour struggle, having had a competitive and fun-filled experience. While what I’ve described of this experience is unlikely to satisfy your desire to know what I really learned about myself, error counts, my game plan, match play details, etc., there is nothing much to boast about, other than I can hold my water longer than I expected. Meanwhile, I’ll consider your suggestions and perhaps I will benefit from your wisdom. Thanks for taking time to write. Good luck with your coaching career. Ric PS When I make enough money from my amateur victories in this sport, I’ll buy a sports car.

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Age 54 versus Age 16: Mental & Physical Challenges

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Age 54 versus Age 16: Mental & Physical Challenges