September 8, 2014
Wendy took this picture as we were standing on the beach watching the sun set. What an amazing and inspiring view! After a crazy busy and great summer, getting away with Wendy to recharge and renew my spirit and energies is exactly what I needed. We have had an incredible time together. One of the highlights for us was being with her parents and siblings as her mom and dad celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! The love and affection they have for one another is inspiring. They talked, both tearing up, about the day they met, the song that was playing, and how they still get up and dance with each other whenever it comes on the radio.
Wendy and I have also been able to play a lot of tennis. Traveling around the country and participating in various tennis clinics has been a great way for us to see what is going on in the world of tennis. The more places we play tennis at the more we are humbled about what we have created with the RJ TENNIS BOOT CAMP program. We participated in a highly touted clinic in California, and both of us were so bored we actually couldn’t wait for it to end. And Wendy never wants to leave a tennis court!
I have been working on some new formats for Live Ball, which I will implement on some of the courts when I return to coaching next week. It will be more challenging, create more diverse shot patterns, and move faster. I am going to add the swing volley to the warm-up sequence in each class. I know for many of you this will be a new shot, but, if we do it over and over again, every warm-up, every class, it will soon become a shot you can use in your matches. And, unless you have an injury or other issue, there will be no escaping the obstacle course behind the baseline! As Wendy and I talked about after we played tennis and then pushed ourselves for 90 minutes on cardio equipment at the gym, “sometimes you have to do what you hate, to become better at what you love.” That could sum up the Extreme Boot Camp.
“Sometimes you have to do what you hate, to be good at what you love.”
Staying in the best shape you can will add years to your tennis playing life, as well as help prevent some common tennis injuries. Being fitter, means being faster, which translates into having that all important set-up time when you run down a ball. Look at the bottom of your tennis shoes next time you’re ready to replace them. They should be worn out only on the balls of your feet!
From the beginning I have worked hard to build a world class tennis program where you would feel exhilarated and challenged and where your tennis game would actually improve. I worked to create a program where you would hit a lot of tennis balls and work to lose your doubts and fears on the court. You have heard me yell, “HIT THE BALL!” We can learn to rein in power once we have it. It is hard to go from timid shot-making in tennis clinics, to great hitting with pace in a match. In the RJT clinics we work to get you to face that ball head on. So, lose the doubt, lose the fear, acquire belief!
I am here to serve you. I will do whatever I can to help make each RJT clinic a great experience for you. It is my desire for you to have a great time for an hour and a half at each RJT clinic, and feel like you truly pushed yourself to play harder and tried to play to the best of your abilities.
