Personal Narrative: Why I Love Tennis

While I am not a tennis pro like Serena Williams or Roger Federer, I have learned to love tennis, and I play my heart out on the court. Since I began playing the sport five years ago, it has allowed me to teach others, build my confidence level, and appreciate the value of hard work. The first week of the season my junior year, the team was a disaster. Many of the players were new to the sport, held their racquets the wrong way, and hit balls out of the court. Since I was experienced, I was named captain of the team as a junior, an honor that I had hoped to achieve as a senior. As captain, I taught the new players the skills of the game and answered questions about the intricacies of the sport. As the season progressed, I could tell when they retained the knowledge by tracking their improvement in their matches. Because of their newfound success, I gained the respect of the players I assisted.

I worked with Ally at practice to change her racquet grip so that she had more control, and increase her hand-eye coordination enabling her to make contact with the ball every time she swung. By the end of the season, Ally was winning matches on varsity. Her happiness after winning a match gave me a sense of pride, satisfaction, and accomplishment. I admittedly lacked confidence in myself on the court at times. This past summer, one of my coaches taught me how to increase my confidence level by having a firm handshake, a quick recovery time, and a positive body posture. He explained to me that the skills I learned applied not only on the court but also when interacting with others. I have used these lessons in Student Council, National Honor Society, and public