Lu Creative Writing

Tennis is a beautiful game that pits two people in fierce strategic competition. I remember when I first began playing the game. It was freshman year of high school, and I distinctly remember being pulled into the sport after watching some seniors play the game. They were hitting the tennis ball with such power that I immediately wanted to imitate their style of play. I love how their strokes would send the ball just barely over the net with such great velocity. As I began my tennis career, I styled my love for the game around power hitting. My aim was to blast the ball as hard as I could so my opponent could barely see the ball go by them. This gave me a sense of power also, as I felt unstoppable. That is, unstoppable until I encountered an opponent who loved the game just as much as I did, but in a different way. Instead of imposing his will by sending the ball off at high speeds, he used the tactile precision of spin as his weapon. He loved to spin the ball so that it made it almost impossible for me to predict where the ball was going to land, or where it was going after it landed. This style of play confused me. How was it hat he could beat me without "beating" the ball at me? After some personal experience and practice, I soon realized that power was not everything. The subtle strategic wit that other players possessed and used was just as powerful, if not more, than the carnal ferocity with which I played my game. Just ast the saying goes, "mind over matter," strategy in tennis can beat pure physical power.