When I was younger, I wanted nothing more than to be a professional tennis player. It was my dream. I used to sit in front of the television and watch all the grand slams, marvelling at the players as they hit the ball back and forth like they weren’t even trying. My parents seemed to understand that this was what I wanted, so they got me into tennis from a young age.
I was very talented, and even as a child, I knew that I could make it to the big leagues. However, when I entered my teenage years and was starting to gear up for the professional circuit, injury struck. Now, I have been forced to abandon tennis and instead play on a table tennis table. Australia has so many amazing tennis players and lots of opportunities for success, so I had hoped that when I got over my injury I could get back into tennis. However, you don’t think about how unfit you become while you are sitting at home dealing with your injury. Even playing table tennis every day didn’t stop me from becoming unfit. I couldn’t go back to tennis just yet, nor could I go to the gym, however, I did want to work out as a first step.
My parents purchased some of the best home fitness equipment for beginners and set it up in our garage. I was very grateful for their support and thanked them profusely. I was eager to get my fitness levels back, so I worked out with that exercise equipment every day. At first, my progress was slow and I was frustrated that I could barely hold my tennis racquet properly. However, I worked on regaining my strength using simple beginner movements and slowly worked my way up to more difficult tasks. Meanwhile, I watched tennis on television every day so that I didn’t lose sight of my goal of becoming a professional player. I studied each racquet swing and ball hit and resolved to add the moves to my own game when I was back on the court.