Beginner Tennis: Measuring Success

Video Transcript

"OK, a lot of people, they play in their leagues or their children are young and they get them into tournaments but people are always going, " well how important is winning", and I think that winning is really the result of doing things right. So if you are obsessed with winning, a lot of times it's going to stunt your growth as a player because you could win at a low level with bad technique and bad form and then you'll never do any better. But if you focus on trying to improve your skills then winning will take care of itself. So if you look at the great players such the Federer's and the Sampras' and the Agassi's and the McEnroe's. Those guys were great players with great technique. And then they became winners. So if you can say to yourself, if I can hit the ball fifty times in a row against the wall. Well, when you start playing somebody that fifty times in a row is going to produce some victories. If you can't hit the ball fifty times in a row against the wall, yet you want to win matches then you're asking for something that really isn't all that realistic. So the best way to measure your success is to see how well can you keep the ball in play against the wall. How well can you do the drills that we've demonstrated in the series so far. And if you can do those competently and keep improving at them, then winning will take care of itself. And the more that you practice the better you'll play, the more that you play the better you'll be at winning. And then winning I would say will show that you're doing the right things. But I wouldn't be obsessed about it. Enjoy the game cause it's a game for a lifetime and there's always somebody that's tougher coming along."