God On the Tennis Courts
Game.
Set.
Scripture.
Tennis and the Bible make a winning team. If you love both, join me as we examine how they complement each other in daily life.
Game. Set. Scripture. Grab you racket and favorite Bible and "game on."
God is everywhere, of course, so let's find Him in sports like tennis. Why? Simply because it demonstrates, quite literally, that not only can He be found but what it means when we find Him. So, let's see some examples.
Good And Plenty
I find myself in a lot of bad places on the tennis courts. Double faults. Overheads into the net. Practices that do not translate into game play. And being at the bad end of match point, love-40. Can a Biblical perspective on life help to cope with the bad...
Golden Talent
(Image of gold Roman coins) We find a huge range of talent on the tennis courts, as in any sport. This was vividly brought to mind watching college-level players compete. No way would I ever come close to what I witnessed. Even more, one of the players was a female...
Do You Trust Your Second Serve?
Your first serve is your aggressive serve. You use it to go on offense and, with a bit of skill and luck, you ace your opponent. But the first serve doesn't always go in. Your second serve is your trusted serve. Use it to stay in the game after the first serve fails....
Are You Prepared?
How prepared are you for your next game? Another way to ask this question is how seriously do you take winning and losing? Preparation takes many forms. Do you stretch your muscles? What is your strategy? How well do you know the style of your double’s partner?...
There’s So Much We Don’t Know
The two-sided, beauty-and-the-beast nature of tennis is the depth of the game, the exquisite nuances to learn, and the frustration of knowing how much we don't know. Above, you see the tennis books in my library. These don't even come close to all the videos I've...
Never Too Old Or Too Late
This is Phillip Allman, 99 at the time this photo was taken in 2022, and hailed as possibly the world's oldest tennis player. He reminds me of the title of a book in my tennis library, Never Too Old to Play Tennis by Mansfield Latimer. There's a comforting thought to...
Losing Ugly Is Not Final
I started playing tennis 6 years ago which means I’ve had 6 years to lose ugly. And what I’ve learned is that there are many, many ways to lose ugly. If I’m lucky I win ugly. But at least it’s a win. (To paraphrase Shakespeare, A win by any other name…). My...
Choose The Right Partner
We choose many partners in life, e.g., spouse and business. there should be one partner in all relationships: God.
Practice
You can’t improve without practice. I actually enjoy practice as much as playing. Even just hitting the ball feels good, whether alone, with a ball machine, or with a practice partner. Of course, the type of practice is important and distinguishes itself from mere...
Between The Lines
Tennis is played between the lines. Keep the ball within the lines and you are in pretty good shape (except for hitting the net!). Think of tennis as a game of boundaries. “Between the lines” is also an interesting framework with which to compare the Old and New...