🌬️ Learning to Breathe
“Tati, breathe…”
That is what my tennis coach often reminds me. When I concentrate, I hold my breath. Not exactly a winning tactic.
When I step onto a tennis court, I carry more than my racket. I carry the mental load of parenting and life. It feels like my brain might explode with ticker tape: to-dos, conversations, worries, all unspooling at once.
Then my very calm, very cool Tahitian coach brings me back.
“Focus on the ball, Tati,” he says. He calls me aunty — I like to think it is a term of endearment, but suspect it is also a gentle nod to the fact I’m not twenty anymore.
“Really look at it. Find the branding.”
It is not a complex instruction, but it is hard to follow.
When I manage to pause the noise, breathe, and actually watch the ball, everything shifts. I hit cleaner (most of the time), and even when my heart rate is high, I feel calm.
👀 Facing Forward
As I run back to the baseline, red-faced from interval training, he shouts again:
“Always face front, Tati.”
It is easier to turn and run with your back to the net. But then how can you see what is coming next?
It is a powerful reminder. Not just in tennis. In life. Face front. Be ready for what is ahead, not stuck in what is behind.
🙏 Letting Go of Sorry
I also have a reputation for saying sorry, even when it is not my fault. My coach noticed this quickly. Every time I said sorry after a missed shot, he made me do ten squats.
Let’s just say I stopped apologising quickly.
I am learning to let go of the miss and move on to the next shot. Progress is not about perfection but about what I do next. As Federer once talked about “forgetting mistakes quickly and moving on,” it reminds me that slipping up is part of moving forward.
🎾 What Tennis Continues to Teach Me
Focus matters. You cannot hit what you are not looking at.
Breathe. Holding your breath is not helpful. It only triggers fight-or-flight. In a modern world full of noise and pressure, sometimes the reminder is simply this: breathe.
Face forward. Life is coming whether you are ready or not. Best to be looking ahead.
Let it go. Missed shots happen. Apologising for existing does not help. Move on.
One ball, one shot. Focus on one thing, and take the next best action.
💡Beyond the Court
These lessons are not only for tennis. They are for meetings, deadlines, parenting, leadership, and the moments when everything feels urgent at once.
I am still learning to breathe, to face forward, to stop apologising. But I am getting better at showing up for the moment I am actually in.
Because even with all the reminders, forgetting will happen. And when I forget, I try to come back.
🌬️ One breath.
🎾 One ball.
✨ One shot.
💭 Over to you: which lesson do you need most right now?
