Tennis as therapy

In our latest podcast episode, my friend and doubles partner, Daniel Rutkowski and I talk about competitive play and using tennis as therapy.

This shorter podcast will be up tonight at 8 pm CET on the Tennisnerd YouTube channel. But you can already listen to it on audio platforms like Spotify, Apple, Google and the embedded player below. You can check out older Tennisnerd podcast episodes on our podcast page.

Daniel Rutkowski was a strong junior player who left the sport for years and then came back to compete in the German club league and various open tournaments. He has recently spent two months in Marbella, Spain, where we practiced a lot and won a doubles ITF Masters title together. In the meantime, he also picked up two singles titles.

Why the topic: Tennis as therapy

Competitive play can drive many tennis lovers away from the sport. The mental pressure involved in tennis matches is a lot to deal with for all ages and levels of play. In this episode we discuss topics such as match tightness, negative self-talk, changing patterns, and dealing with pushers, etc.

Being a late starter in tennis, I have struggled to get used to competing. It is slowly getting better, but it has taken a lot of work and disappointments on my part. However, it has also taught me a lot about self-reflection and how to use the learnings I acquire on the tennis court to develop resilience, also outside the court.

I hope you can get inspired by our conversation to compete more or to dive further into what you can learn from the beautiful but challenging game of tennis.

Let me know about your own experience in tennis competitions below!