In late 2009, I created Lui Tennis to provide a coaching service that is underpinned by a belief that learning how to play tennis is not just about learning a new sport, it is about learning life lessons.
I coach players of all abilities and all ages. While the goal is to develop all areas of their tennis development, I believe it is far more important for them to develop as a person first and foremost. It is important to me that life lessons are learnt through tennis and through the sharing of experiences.
Whether you are the most talented athlete or most uncoordinated, I don’t care. Without respect and manners between the coach and student, there is no foundation for a coach-student relationship to work upon. Money would be better spent elsewhere.
If you are a serious tennis player with dreams of playing professional tennis, my advice to you is to understand wholeheartedly that ultimately the chances of any player, even the gifted ones, making it to the professional level and making enough money for a living, is tiny. Millions of people play tennis but only the Top 100 can actually make a living out of it! How’s that for a low percentage????
The chances of a player hitting the pro ranks is so minuscule so it is crucial to develop life skills that will benefit the player both in their tennis AND life journeys!
Tennis is a fantastic sport through which to learn these life skills – resilience, persistence, critical thinking, ability to withstand pressure, fairness, good sportsmanship, and an appreciation of the fact that to be able to play tennis is a huge privilege in itself.
My favourite player and who I consider to be the greatest of all time, Roger Federer once said: “It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.”
Federer echoes the sentiments and humbleness of the true great champions of the past, Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Pete Sampras.
To learn tennis is to learn about life.