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Community is King

Tennis communities are the people that surround you on and off the court, holding tennis as a common interest. A positive community can work wonders on the overall progression of players though negative communities can have detrimental ramifications.

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Times of Struggle

Communities are vital as you may go fast alone but you go far together. Holding responsibilities for each other shapes values and atmosphere that can be established and created on and off the tennis court. In this instance everyone involved enjoys what they do and are built up together by one another. If someone is struggling the very nature of the community is to help them and guide them on a journey to success. Sure you may enjoy solitude though in times of toughness a hard blow can be lightened when helped by others. When we are battling against elements, others can build as up as much as we can. It is a sign of tremendous strength to lean on others when suffering.

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Times of Joy

Times of struggles are tough, though times of joy are wonderful and should also be shared. If you win a tennis tournament or you are just feeling great, you should feel free to share this. As optimism is a wonderful tool to bring happiness into other peoples' lives. We build each other up and sharpen the ability of each others game like iron. The very fact that iron sharpens iron shows that one tennis players sharpens another, (this is such a positive element to a good tennis community).

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Play to Your Strengths

Everyone has different talents on and off the court and it is important to play to your strengths. As much as it is important to build on weakness, I would say more emphasis should be put on solidifying strengths. Not just on an individual level but for the good of the tennis community. One player may need to improve their serve, while the other may need to improve their return of serve. I hope you can see how we can help each other grow as tennis players in a joint effort to reach their goals.

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Psychological Benefits of Tennis

Tennis provides numerous social and mental health benefits. It also requires that you learn and adapt to etiquette, treating others with respect. In addition, it promotes feelings of relaxation and calmness. Producing a combination of the following; self- confidence, decreased stress, better moods, decreased depression and increased mental health in addition to all of the physical benefits expected from sport. This sense of calmness is then amplified with the enjoyment and experience with others in the community.

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I hope this helps begin to explain the importance of being a part of a good tennis community that has an overall healthy atmosphere.

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Many thanks,

Liam Fitzgerald.