Not that it matters to anyone else but I've been having a tough time winning tennis matches the last couple of weeks.  I've been winning but mostly my opponents have either not played well, picked up a minor injury during the match, or were somewhat out of practice.  I had one good match and while I started well, winning the first set 6-1, I missed several chances to get a big advantage in the second set and wound up losing it as well as the third set.  It was a depressing loss, not only because it was a finals match for a small winter league but also because of how it played out.

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Ah... time for summer tennis leagues again and that old familiar tightening of the sphincter as I try and eek out a win over a slightly superior opponent.  Nothing like feeling the rubber hitting the road.

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So... you've tried to pare the distractions away, focus on the thing at hand, keep positive, and keep plugging away and it still doesn't work.  Now what?

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So how does he do it?  Or, how does the team that he inspires do it?  It is a good question.  Divine intervention?  Should we go there?  But then again, we may not have to.  Maybe in his way, he is a very useful illustration of some basic truths.

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I played a lot of tennis, and basketball and done my fair share of running, swimming, and weight room work in my 50 some years and have enjoyed them all immensely.  However, the last several years have been more difficult.  I stopped playing basketball in my early 40s and even though I do all sorts of things to prevent it, tennis often causes me a lot of pain.  It doesn't make me stop but it is something that I deal with if I want to keep playing.  And the type of pain I'm talking about isn't 'ouch my knee hurts' type of pain but more like a chronic low level hum of moving ache that makes it hard to walk down steps or stand up or run or whatever.  I control it with massive doses of stretching, trigger point therapy, and if all else fails a touch of ibuprofen.  I take that as simply a condition of playing the game at my age.  

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Don't misunderstand me.  He had a neurological problem for sure.  What I am wondering after listening to his symptoms is if he actually had a concussion or something else.  Let me explain.

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This is a topic which I have great focus on right now because I'm right in the middle of one.  I stopped playing tennis for a month and a half because of a hamstring tear and though I am back physically, my game is not.  Oh, I'm playing competently enough but all I am doing is taking my opponent into the third set and losing close and late.  I can't seem to make those magic plays which put you over the top when you need them.  Since we're starting the league playoffs soon, I'm hoping to find something... like now.

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So... what happens when a player in a game all of a sudden can't do what seems natural to them which would be to play the game?  They do the same stuff with the same motions and with the same thoughts as last week when they were king of the world and how their end of the dance turns out totally differently?  Instead of that nice forehand cross court put away, I end up with a shot that is out by 6 inches.  That is a very disconcerting moment, let me tell you, and you start fishing for answers.

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