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My biggest regret.

2K views 26 replies 21 participants last post by  Lopez 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, I would like to talk a little bit about my biggest regret...

I wanted to be a tennis player badly but sadly it was too late. I started following tennis in 2007 and started playing it in 2008. Before 2007, I was watching some matches between now and then but that was it and at that time tennis wasn't my fav sport. I was huge football fan back then and I was really determined to be a footballer. I was playing football a lot but since the day I became a big tennis fan, I didn't give a shit about football and almost never played it again. The last time I played football was in 2009 probably. I don't really remember. I became really obsessed about tennis and it's the only sport I really care about.

Anyway, it was too late for me to be a pro tennis player. I blame football. :lol: Seriously, I wish someone interduced to me this great sport when I was a kid. Oh well...

I started playing tennis in 2008. I was a joke of a player back then. Just a weaponless pusher with no techinque at all. :lol: 2 years have passed and nothing changed in my game. In 2011, I started to develop my own tecqinque and style of play. I watched some tennis lessons on youtube (plus the pro players hitting) and after that I started training my swings (working on my techinque) in my bedroom almost everyday following the tips I got from these tennis videos. I learnt pretty good techinque in short period. I can now slice the ball pretty well from both wings, hit the ball cleanly and place it where I want with my FH. I can hit the ball really hard too but I focus on timing the ball well more than hitting it hard brainlessly. I found playing tennis isn't really hard after learning the basics. I love to use my imagination when playing tennis btw. That's my real strength. Playing safe is really boring to me and there is no much fun in that. I'm also one of those guys who really hates to lose.

One day when I was training with a wall, a tennis coach was watching me. I got bored from hitting with wall so I asked that coach to play a match with me if he don't mind. He couldn't because he was about to leave but he said to me "Which coach taught to play tennis? You are good. The way you hit the ball is really good. You have very good techinque". Well, that me happy obviously. He thought I'm a tennis player. :lol: I answered "I taught myself".:lol: He was like "WTF?! Really?".:unsure::lol: I told him that I love tennis so much so that's why I wanted to get better and enjoy playing good tennis on a tennis court. Also watching much tennis on TV/Internet helped me a lot surely.

I was wondering, how far could I go in tennis if I took tennis seriosuly at early age. I think I would be good enough to be in the top 100 or maybe even higher. I will never know anyway.*sigh*

Watching tennis is really fun but believe me, playing the game and experience the joy of competing on a tennis court is much more enjoyable. My biggest regret is clear now I guess. It would have been really fun If I was a top 100 player and posting on MTF at the same time.:lol: I have a thick skin so I could deal with MTF I think.:smoke: Oh and I can just imagine what could have been said about my match with Djokovic. "The pathetic Fakertard will bend over for his hero. NID". :spit: As if I can beat him in the first place. :lol: I would certainly try my best though.

Oh well, one can dream at least...
 
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#2 ·
I almost cried reading this. How moving :sad:

But it's never too late.
 
#4 ·
What was the name of that american qualifier at the uso a few years back who rented out an apartment with his friends and ate pizza for the first few rounds? :lol: great run.

I too have regrets about not being more committed during my teen years. I had some promise in both tennis and hockey but hated the training and dedication, took the lazy way out, started to party from thursdays to sundays. Smoking pot and drinking with my friends seemed to be more fun at the time. That wore off, then the regret set in like a kick in the nut$. Parents should have kicked my ass a little more. Teenagers are naturally lazy and want to take the path of least resistance. Eminem says you only get one shot...
 
#9 ·
Yeah Witten. That's the guy. :lol:

Be a Witten and squeeze out a decent living being an ATP tour groupie. A couple rounds is all it takes to live the good life.
 
#7 ·
Mug
 
#8 ·
Mine is similar but I started playing when I was 7, and gave up when I was 10 out of pure laziness. :lol:

The next time I picked up a racquet was at 19 years old. Picked up the game very quickly from there and sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I never quit. I doubt I'd be top 50 but I could have mugged around the 200 rank maybe.

It's not a regret, just a question is all.
 
#10 ·
I won't tell u to go after it if u don't have the money to cover the enormous costs of flights hotels coach atc atc, I do think u should try to play as much as possible with ppl or try enter a challenger level or something.

I guess u will never know but at least u have tried, I wish u best of luck!!!!
 
#11 ·
Two words: Johnny Groove.

Move on.
 
#13 ·
Well, you're much younger than Johnny and he thinks he's the next big thing, so it's not half as bad :lol: You could still get a few months worth of lessons with a real coach and see whether you could really be a player or that there's nothing really to regret about in the first place. Of course, you're not going to be a Wimbledon favorite, but you could make some noise on national level if you are a real talent, specially if you're actually from Korea :p
 
#23 ·
That is true, though I think that you need to be a top junior to be able to compete in the men's tour, so I'd say the latest possible starting ages could be around 8-10 years old, so that you could compete in the U14 and U16 competitions later on. Feel and technique are so important in tennis and you learn those when you're young.
 
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#18 ·
Feel bad for you man. :sad::hug:

But the fact is that, realistically, you only have a small window of opportunity to become a tennis players and it begins way before your teen years. Players usually start development as little as 5/6. You have to face the fact that your window of opportunity has long gone, even when you started in 2008 it would have been extremely hard to turn pro, unless you turned out to be a huge anomaly the chances of which are probably one in a million, perhaps even less. But one thing you can do is of course is play tennis recreationally. Also more importantly you can learn from your 2008-2011 years is to never let your guard down and be lazy. You can transport this experience to your other areas of life such as work, education, fitness etc.
 
#20 ·
It would be really cool if someone documented at what age all the pros started playing throughout history. I agree though that most pros today are brandishing a racquet before they even learn how to walk.
 
#25 ·
Of course you will have a lot more chances if you start young, but some people start late and still make it.

Luca Toni (football player) was 23 years old and playing in Italy's 4th division (pretty much amateur level), and a few years later he was playing in the World Cup. Another sport but....There are some strange cases.
 
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