Getting into shape for tennis

by Gayathri S.
(Chennai,TN, India)

I am an avid tennis player and I have been playing tennis from my school days. On completion of my school, I joined a Bachelor of arts course with English as my major.

During my college days, I represented my college in inter-collegiate tournaments and I performed reasonably well. I also played a couple of local club tournaments.

After graduating from my college, I started my own business of making and marketing pre-recorded video cassettes, which were popular before the advent of CDs.

I got busy with my business and slowly the time I spent on the tennis court became less and less until I reached a point that I was happy if I could play tennis twice a week.

Then I ran into some unexpected problems in my business venture and I had no choice but to give up tennis for a period of three years.

After three years, somehow I managed to come out of my business unscathed and I was feeling relieved. I was dying to start playing tennis again.

The first day on the tennis court I felt so happy that I did not mind exerting myself more than I should have. My body became sore and I could hardly walk without aches and pains.

Since I was a regular tennis player in my younger days, I knew exactly what I should do. I should have never over-stretched my endurance.

So, I decided to go slow and train myself back in to shape.

I started jogging for about a kilometer everyday for the next three weeks and I spent only about half an hour on the tennis court, always being careful not to injure myself or overplay.

Gradually I started feeling better in the course of three weeks. In the mean time I had also started getting my timing back on my strokes.

By the end of the month, I was back to my best fitness and I started enjoying tennis again.

Understanding your physical limitations and training with a purpose will certainly spell success.

Gayathri S.