If your backhand is one of your strengths, congratulations, and kindly choose an activity you consider a weakness for the purposes of this discussion. If, like many of us, you don’t smile and look forward to striking backhands with complete confidence, let’s talk about why, and whether it makes sense to change.
I met a senior player at the courts last night who was looking for other 3.5 players to hit with. He wasn’t interested in taking lessons, cited old dogs and new tricks, and dismissed the idea of change like most of us eventually do. He described how he just tried to keep his one handed backhands in the court well enough to work his way around to hitting forehands as often as possible.
When I asked him if he was interested in improving his backhand, maybe using two hands, he looked at me like I was suggesting a multilevel marketing scheme, or jumping off a tall building. And while it might seem strange to me, he wasn’t the one behaving unusually in our conversation.
Enjoying what we’re doing is a choice we get to make, and I’d hate to be the guy who tells anyone they need to change. But if I see someone doing something they’re not enjoying, I want to see if I can help. And backhands are such an easy target. If good backhands are like that wonderful local coffee shop that you’re always telling friends is better than Starbucks, limited backhands are like the giant chain’s stores: maybe not the best, certainly not the worst, and you see them everywhere you look.
Please don’t misunderstand. I regularly pay for my coffee with the Starbucks app on my phone. But when I find my way to a one of a kind local gem, I smile a little bigger as I enjoy the experience.
My backhand isn’t perfect, and I don’t always improve things I could be better at. I’m finding a balance between learning to improve what I’m most excited about, and making sure I appreciate everything else.
Give yourself permission to enjoy things just the way they are. If you want to improve how you perform anything, there’s probably someone who has already done it. Find out how, and do it yourself. Embrace the challenge.
And if you want help with your backhand, come see me.