Thursday Thirteen: Excuses, Excuses

As a tennis coach, I've heard them all.

Here are the top 13 excuses tennis players give for losing:

·        Ate too much lunch

·        Did not eat enough

·        Favorite racquet broke

·        Balls too heavy

·        Net was too high

·        These strings just don’t give me the power I need

·        How can I be expected to play my best on these courts

·        This injury keeps me from playing well

·        I just couldn’t get into it today

·        Opponent was ranked

·        Opponent didn’t play tennis, just hit the ball back

·        Opponent was so bad I couldn’t play my game

·        I didn’t realize opponent was left-handed until the next-to-the-last-game

·        Tournament director didn’t seed me

·        I can only play good players

·        I don’t know what happened

When the athlete decides what he really desires with all his heart and the price that he is willing to pay for it, he stops worrying about the small pains, those things that the opponent does, and any other stumbling blocks, and he focuses on the job at hand.

Give all in practice: Risk all when you compete