I’m an avid tennis player and play in a very competitive and organized nationwide league that’s run by the United States Tennis Association. The league is divided into 17 sections throughout the country and each section is divided into regions. Each region has a number of teams at each skill level that compete throughout the year for a spot at their sectional tournament. The winner of each section then advances to a national tournament.

I belong to the Eastern section, which consists of 6 regions including all of New York state and the northern portion of New Jersey. This past season, my team won our region, and for the first time, I had the chance to play in a sectional tournament this past weekend. In addition to having a great time, the weekend was an excellent representation of the value that competing can provide.

I’ve been a competitive athlete throughout most of my life, and to this day, it continues to be an important source of fulfillment for me. The following are 5 of the more significant reasons why I think competition adds value to my life and why it can add value to yours as well.

Competition Builds Motivation

Although winning isn’t everything, it’s certainly nice and is one of the primary objectives of competing. The desire to win often inspires a unique and intense source of motivation to improve your abilities. In regard to sports, most elite and professional athletes would have never achieved their level of ability without the desire that motivated them to practice and train regularly. This type of drive applies to anything in life and is often what separates the people who’ve achieved impressive goals from those who haven’t.

I regularly work at improving my tennis game, but recently increased my training efforts for this past weekend’s tournament. Having added incentive like this is likely to make you work harder towards your goals and will greatly increase your chances of achieving them.

Competition is an Opportunity to Challenge Yourself

I get a lot of satisfaction from intense physical and mental challenges. I find it to be invigorating and have plenty of opportunity to engage in such challenges through tennis, especially through my participation in such a competitive league.

At the sectional tournament this past weekend, I played 5 matches in 3 days. The competition was very tough and I lost the first 4. After each match, I became more disappointed and fatigued, but also more determined. Winning the 5th match was extremely satisfying and the high level of competition I encountered throughout the tournament will undoubtedly increase my inspiration to improve. Outside of such a competitive atmosphere, it’s highly unlikely that I would have had this experience and gained the resulting inspiration.

Competition is Expression of Passion and a Source of Fulfillment

Many of us have at least one favorite activity that we’re passionate about. Competition can bring the enjoyment of such an activity to a new level. One of the most exciting things in life is having a significant goal to chase aggressively. This sense of engagement that competition can promote is often referred to as “the process” and is often a very enjoyable and fulfilling experience.

Andre Agassi is well known among serious tennis fans for saying that his love for the sport is fueled by the process of becoming the best player he can be. In order to be successful, most athletes, including tennis players, must be physically fit, mentally tough, strategical, and obviously, highly skilled at the mechanics of their sport. The increased emphasis that competition puts on these attributes makes them even more enjoyable to improve upon and makes the resulting progress more fulfilling. Although tennis is only one of my several passions, it has never failed to provide me with challenging goals to chase.

Competition Adds Excitement to Exercising

A lack of sufficient physical activity is a common problem for many people, even those who occasionally participate in recreational sports. Participating in an organized league will likely encourage you to spend more time doing an activity that you already enjoy, and as such, will result in you being more physically active. In addition, the competition may inspire you work on your fitness which will improve your performance, health, and resistance to pain and injury all at once.

Competition Builds Friendship

Participating in competition usually involves being a member of a team and will likely introduce you to new people who share your interest. Furthermore, the sense of struggle and challenge that is often a part of competition tends to promote bonding between teammates. In some cases, such as my trip to the sectional tournament, competing can create fun travel opportunities which will likely strengthen friendships among teammates even further. Many of the friendships I enjoy today are a direct result of my involvement with competitive tennis.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.

In 2005, Rafael Nadal became the world’s second highest ranked tennis player, but was a far way behind the number one player, Roger Federer. Despite Nadal’s incredible dedication and work ethic, few people believed that he’d ever catch Federer who many consider to be the greatest player of all time and was completely dominating tennis at the time. However, with a lot of grit, determination, and hard work, Nadal consistently continued to improve his game, and in August of 2008, gained the number one ranking. It was a dream come true and was an amazing accomplishment considering the odds that were stacked against him.

Rafael Nadal’s Change of Fortune

Nadal’s claim to fame is his dominance on clay which is a slower court surface that suits his persistent, steady, and tireless style of play extremely well. In fact, he won the French Open, one of the 4 most important tournaments on the tennis calendar, 4 years in a row. By winning the 2009 French Open, he would surpass Bjorn Borg and be the only player to ever win the French Open for 5 consecutive years. As one of the most highly accomplished players of all time on clay, it almost seemed gauranteed that he’d do it, but he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t even make the quarterfinals.

Nadal trains harder and longer than just about any of his peers, and because of his style of play, he also runs a lot more during his matches. All professional tennis players put a tremendous amount of wear and tear on their bodies, but with Nadal’s practice habits and style of play, he incurs even more. The fact that he can work so hard without completely exhausting himself is a testament to his incredible capacity. However, his knees have proven to not be quite as resilient.

A Minor Setback with a Significant Cost

Prior to his French Open loss, Rafael Nadal’s knees had already been causing him problems for several years. Although there may be many contributing factors, his intense work ethic and physical style of play are undoubtedly two of them. During the French Open, his knee pain worsened and was likely a significant factor in his early loss. More importantly, it forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon and give up his chance to defend the title.

The grass surface of the Wimbledon courts are often the most challenging for a player like Nadal, but last year, he shocked the world by not only improving his game to play well on it, but also by beating Roger Federer for the title. This win is especially noteworthy because grass is Federer’s best surface and he dominates on it just like Nadal dominates on clay. It was also a major part of what eventually enabled Nadal to surpass Federer in the rankings, and by missing Wimbledon, he lost the number one ranking that he worked so hard for.

Why Your Health is Important to Your Goals in Life

Although we can only speculate that Rafael Nadal’s extremely intense work ethic and physical style of play were a major factor in missing Wimbledon and losing the number one ranking, we can still learn from his misfortune. Ideally, we should all have a strong vision of what we’d like to accomplish in life, and for most of us, making this vision a reality requires years of dedication. By pushing ourselves too hard or not supporting our mental and physical health, we’ll have less chance of achieving our goals and enjoying the fulfillment that it can provide.

If you have any ambition for living a fulfilling and rewarding life, you owe it to yourself to maximize the effectiveness and the resulting reward of your efforts by living a healthy lifestyle. Imagine how Rafael Nadal must have felt watching Wimbledon from home as his number one ranking slipped away. Now put yourself in that situation and imagine how you’d feel if any one of today’s many common health conditions get in your way of experiencing a fulfilling and rewarding life. You have the power to minimize the chance of this happening. Take advantage of it!

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.

The three primary reasons for the popularity of cardiovascular exercise are health, weight loss, and athletic conditioning. Each of these goals have unique characteristics that make cardiovascular exercise a questionable choice for achieving them.

A Matter of Energy Production

There are two primary energy systems that support the demands of physical activity. They are the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. The anaerobic energy system is able to produce energy quickly, but can only do so for a short period of time. In contrast, the aerobic energy system produces energy at a slower pace, but can sustain production for an extended length of time.

A short burst of intense activity, such as a sprint, will get most of it’s support from the anaerobic energy system while a long jog or walk will only be supported by the aerobic energy system. Because intense activities typically exceed the capabilities of the anaerobic energy system, they often require support from the aerobic energy system as well. However, this doesn’t apply in reverse. Mild to moderate activity never requires support from the anaerobic energy system.

Intense activity trains both the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems while mild or moderate activity only trains the aerobic energy system. This is an important concept to keep in mind throughout the rest of the article.

Exercising for a Healthy Heart

Most people know that aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular health and helps to prevent heart disease. However, many people engage in an excessive amount of cardiovascular exercise that promotes cellular damage and can actually increase the risk of heart disease. In contrast, anaerobic exercise is much more time efficient. It only requires 5 to 10 minutes to complete a thorough workout and is much less likely to promote excessive exercising.

The Twisted Fate of a Marathon Runner

Regardless of the type, exercise is just one small aspect of the healthy lifestyle that plays a much larger role in minimizing the risk of heart disease. The famous American marathon runner Alberto Salazar is an eye opening example of this. He had a heart attack at the age of 49, just one year after running the New York City Marathon. At the time, he was still running regularly and was following a low fat diet.

While most people would blame his heart attack on genetics, I have a much different perspective to share. While genetics may increase the susceptibility of a heart attack, lifestyle factors are still most likely to make the susceptibility a reality.

Excessive exercise causes significant cellular damage, even within arteries. To repair this damage, the body requires a good supply of high quality protein and fat. Yes, I said fat! Alberto Salazar clearly put a tremendous amount of wear and tear on his body during his lifetime. However, by following a low fat diet, he was depriving himself of the nutrients necessary for repair. And because cholesterol plays an important role in the repair of cell damage, the cholesterol lowering medication he was taking may very well have worsened the problem.

High blood pressure is another symptom of the oxidative damage that can result from excessive exercise, and at the time of his heart attack, Salazar happened to be taking blood pressure medication as well. This is a strong indication that his doctors were merely chasing symptoms instead of addressing the the oxidative damage caused by his extremely active lifestyle and the low fat diet that was unable to support it.

In short, don’t make the mistake of thinking that cardiovascular exercise, or any exercise for that matter, will compensate for unhealthy habits. A well rounded healthy lifestyle is always a requirement for optimal health, and this applies to the prevention of heart disease as well.

Continuity Matters Most

In regard to anaerobic versus aerobic exercise, some may argue that one is more beneficial than the other, but the bottom line is that they both can improve your health. The most important aspect of an exercise program is adhering to it, so choose a form of exercise that you enjoy and are likely to stick with long term.

Exercising for Weight Loss

Even though people don’t become overweight because of an exercise deficiency, weight loss is probably the most common reason why people exercise. Despite poor diet being the most significant cause of weight gain, most people address it by going on an exhausting and time consuming calorie burning crusade to prevent their poor diet from increasing their waist size.

As with cardiovascular health, there’s a lot more to weight loss than exercising and burning calories. In fact, if your lifestyle, diet, and health are in order, you can lose all the weight you need to with only a minimal amount of exercise.

Contrary to what most people think, weight gain is not a problem based strictly on calorie consumption. It’s more about quality. Most people simply have far too much sugar and refined carbohydrate in their diet. While some people need more carbohydrates than others, nobody needs the excessive amount that is typical in the modern diet. Furthermore, excessive consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates is also a serious health risk.

Cleaning up your diet is the most effective and healthy way to control your weight and should take priority over exercise. You can learn more about a healthy diet by reading my article about Metabolic Typing.

Burning Calories and Fat Outside of the Gym

Although a healthy lifestyle is by far the most significant aspect of weight loss, exercise can certainly make it easier. The type of exercise you choose can make a significant difference as well. Most people become a slave to calorie burning and spend hours on cardio machines. Not only can this be mind numbingly boring and a major investment of time, but it also puts significant wear and tear on your body. By doing this, you’re basically trading time and health for burned calories and it doesn’t have to be this way.

Intense anaerobic activity stimulates a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). In simple terms, after you’ve stopped exercising, the body continues to sustain an elevated level of metabolic activity that can last up to a few days. Even after just 5 minutes of intense training, you’ll continue burning calories and fat for hours which can have a significant impact on your weight loss. This effect is unique to intense activity and is not stimulated by the mild or moderate exercise that most people engage in.

Lose Fat, Not Muscle

Most people who want to lose weight also want to look good. Muscle looks good, skin and bones doesn’t. Slaving a way on a cardio machine is likely to result in the breakdown of muscle tissue to help meet the excessive energy demands you’re imposing.

Would you rather look like a sprinter or a distance runner?

Exercising for Athletic Conditioning

Athletic performance is probably where the difference between anaerobic and aerobic training has the most significant impact.

Common sense dictates that most of your training should closely resemble competition. For this to happen, it’s essential to understand the energy demands of your sport. Sprinting is obviously an anaerobic sport while distance running or cycling are obviously aerobic or endurance sports. But what about most of the other sports that fall somewhere in between? When making this assessment, most people place too much importance on the duration of competition and failing to realize that the duration of actual activity represents less than half of this time.

A Case Study: Tennis

Tennis is an excellent example of a sport with energy requirements that aren’t so obvious. For a recreational player, a typical match lasts between 1 and 2 hours. Although uncommon, a long match might last up to 3 hours. Professional tennis matches are about the same with the exception of men’s grand slam matches which require winning at least 3 sets instead of 2. Some of the longest grand slam matches have gone well beyond 4 hours, but this is rare.

4 hours is a long time to be playing tennis! Even under the conditions of a short 2 hour match, it’s easy to consider tennis as an aerobic sport. Let’s look at some statistics to make a better judgement.

2009 Australian Open Semifinals

While watching this year’s Australian Open final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, which you can read more about here, the announcers discussed some interesting statistics that compared the energy expenditures of these two players during their semifinal matches.

Rafael Nadal probably runs and hits more balls than any other player on tour. If there’s a player that could justify tennis being an aerobic sport, it would be him. Furthermore, his semifinal match was the longest match in Australian Open history!

According to these statistics, Nadal ran 2.13 miles in 5 hours and 14 minutes. This is basically as much as a tennis player will ever run in a single match. To put this in perspective, a good runner can run this distance in just 10 minutes! Aerobic endurance sports are characterized by moderately intense activity that’s sustained continuously for a long period of time. Suggesting that 10 minutes is a long period of time is quite a stretch.

Now consider that Federer ran only 0.93 miles in his match, and his 2 hour match is far more typical than Nadal’s 5 hour match. A good runner can cover this distance in about 5 minutes. That’s certainly not a long period of time.

Length of Actual Play

Here are a few more statistics to consider that further support the argument of tennis not being an endurance sport. The following two matches confirm that the actual amount of time the players are actually playing is significantly less than the entire match duration.

1993 French Open final between Jim Courier and Sergei Bruguera:
Duration of match: 3 hours and 59 minutes
Duration of actual play: 15 minutes

1992 Wimbledon final between Andre Agassi and Goran Ivanisevic
Duration of match: 2 hours and 50 minutes
Duration of actual play: 34 minutes

The short duration of actual playing time is even more significant when you consider the fact that these were both 5 set matches.

Tennis is Explosive

In contrast to an aerobic endurance sport, anaerobic sports are characterized by quick explosive movements. Even the more defensive players put a tremendous amount of energy and explosiveness into most of their shots. And regardless of playing style, they have to be extremely quick and explosive off their feet just to get to the opponent’s shot.

The quick and explosive movements required in tennis have no resemblance to the moderate and continuous movement that characterize most endurance sports. Despite this, many tennis players train as if they’re an endurance athlete. As I said earlier, it makes most sense to train the way you compete, and tennis players certainly can’t rely on a casual jog to get to their opponent’s next shot!

Don’t Train to be Slow

Muscle is composed of three different types of fibers: fast twitch, slow twitch, and intermediate. Fast twitch fibers are the ones that facilitate the explosive and powerful movements that are required in sports like tennis. An individual’s composition of muscle fiber is determined by genetics, and as you would guess, the most explosive athletes are genetically gifted with a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers.

However, it’s important to realize that the function of intermediate fibers can adapt and more closely resemble either of the other two fiber types. For obvious reasons, it’s in the best interest of a tennis player to have as much fast twitch capability as possible. Endurance training encourages the intermediate fibers to transition more toward slow twitch, and in effect, reduces an athlete’s capacity to be explosive. As such, a tennis player that trains for endurance is also training to become slower and less powerful!

Tennis Players Also Need Endurance

Although sports like tennis rely heavily on power and quickness, many people will argue that endurance is still important. This is absolutely true, but you don’t need to train specifically for endurance to achieve it!

As I said in the beginning of this article, if you train the anaerobic energy system properly, it will have a carry over effect that will train the aerobic energy system as well. Research shows that high intensity interval training produces an increase in aerobic capacity that is comparable the effects of endurance training. But unlike endurance training, interval training also improves anaerobic capacity, saves a lot of time and energy, reduces the amount of wear and tear on the athlete, and avoids the risk of provoking intermediate muscle fibers to transition toward slow twitch behavior.

What Exactly is High Intensity Interval Training?

High intensity interval training is nothing more than multiple short bursts of intense activity that are alternated with rest periods. For example, you can run on a treadmill near top speed for 30 seconds, rest for 2 minutes, and repeat this for a total of 5 to 10 times. You can also use a stationary bike, an elliptical machine, or even better, you can run on a track or a football field. Regardless of the activity, it’s the high intensity and short duration that’s important.

Because everyone recovers from each interval at a different rate, using a heart rate monitor will make it much easier to establish ideal rest periods. An insufficient rest period will reduce your capacity for the next interval while an excessive rest period will reduce the stimulus of the training. Either effect is undesirable and using a heart rate monitor can prevent both of them. As a general guideline, you can start with a rest period that lasts until your heart rate drops to 120 or 125 and make adjustments as you see fit.

For athletes, another way to increase the effectiveness of interval training is to incorporate sport specific movements into the intervals. For example, Tennis requires a lot of direction change and sophisticated footwork. Incorporating these movements into the intervals will save time and energy by training movement and conditioning at the same time.

Getting Started With Interval Training

Intensity is a relative term. Some people are highly conditioned and can sprint at full speed without any problems while others become heavily winded after walking up a flight of stairs. Likewise, a simple warm up routine for an elite athlete may be the equivalent of an intense workout for someone who is sedentary.

If you’re already active, particularly if you’re an athlete, you’ll know you’re doing interval training correctly when you’re hunched over and gasping for air. Interval training may not consume much time, but if done properly, it’s hard work!

If you’re out of shape, don’t overdo it! You can still benefit from interval training without the risk of hurting yourself. As I said, intensity is relative. Start out with a level of intensity that is challenging for you. Perhaps that means 30 seconds of brisk jogging or climbing a few flights of steps. You can increase the intensity gradually as you become more comfortable with your capabilities.

With proper respect given to an individuals capacity for intensity, interval training is something that can benefit anyone regardless of age or ability. If you’re unsure of how to incorporate it into your lifestyle in a way that promotes health and is safe for your current level of fitness, I highly recommend reading PACE: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution by Dr. Al Sears.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.

2008: The Season of Questions

In 2008, Roger was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, the runner up at the French Open, the runner up at Wimbledon, and the winner of the U.S. Open. For any other player, this would’ve been a dream season, but for Roger, it was substandard.

This time last year, Roger had just been upset in the semifinals of the Australian Open by Novak Djokovich. This was the first time in 11 grand slams, or nearly 3 years, that Roger Federer wouldn’t be playing in the finals. Talk immediately began to circulate through the tennis world suggesting that Roger was officially past his prime.

Some time later, information was released that helped to explain Roger’s early loss. He was sick with mononucleosis which can cause severe fatigue and take quite a while to recover from. In retrospect, it’s amazing that he got as far as the semifinals.

Despite the unfortunate start to the year, Roger later played an epic Wimbledon final against Rafael Nadal. Although Wimbledon is historically Roger’s best tournament, and although he failed to win his sixth consecutive title, it’s regarded by many as the best tennis match of all time. It was simply unbelievable.

Following the devastating Wimbledon loss, Roger collected himself and finished the year on a positive note by winning the U.S. Open. But overall, it was a lackluster year for Roger and much of the tennis world was still casting doubt and asking questions.

To this day, I continue to wonder if his illness affected his entire year, and if perhaps it’s affecting him still. But as I’ll explain, mononucleosis isn’t to blame. it’s the stress and physical demands of his lifestyle that compromised his immunity and made him susceptible to it.

However, it would be naive to not give due credit to the amazing improvements of Rafael Nadal and incredible new talents such as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Regardless of Roger’s health, perhaps the rest of the pack is simply gaining ground.

Mononucleosis, Epstein-Barr, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Mononucleosis is often caused by the common Epstein-Barr virus. In the United States, 95% of adults have this virus, and most are infected with it at birth or shortly after. The Epstein-Barr virus rarely causes problems when the infection occurs at a young age, but for someone with compromised immunity that’s infected later in life, mononucleosis often develops as it did with Roger.

An interesting thing about Epstein-Barr virus is that it’s frequently associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The virus doesn’t cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome directly, but because the immune system is weakened, the virus is allowed to flourish. I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome several years ago, and when tested, my Epstein-Barr numbers were through the roof.

The key point here is that weakened immunity can allow something as simple as a common virus to destroy your health. The most common cause of weakened immunity is a lifestyle characterized by poor nutrition, excessive stress, and inadequate rest.

The Demanding Life of a Pro Tennis Player

For nearly eleven months of the year, pro tennis players uproot themselves every week and travel all over the world, live out of a suitcase, and rely on restaurants for their meals. Going through airports, flying in planes, living in hotel rooms, and acclimating to new environments are significant sources of stress. It’s also very difficult to follow a healthy diet when you rely on restaurants.

While Roger Federer is a multimillionaire that can afford to alleviate some of this stress by traveling in style, the pro tennis tour is a grueling schedule even for him.

There’s also the mental stress of trying to perform your best and meet expectations. While Roger certainly doesn’t have to worry about winning matches to pay his bills, he’s faced with the expectations of being the greatest player ever. He’s been breaking records for years, but is on the cusp of breaking the most significant record in tennis and has to deal with hoards of reporters questioning his every move. I think it’s safe to say that he has a few things on his mind!

Even without the travel and pressure, tennis is an extremely physically demanding sport. You may not realize this if you’re not a serious player, but the amount of explosiveness, power, and energy required to move around the court quickly enough to keep up with the pace of the opponent’s shots is astounding. Professional tennis players spend hours doing this nearly every day of the year and add to it with intense fitness training. All of this strenuous physical activity is an extreme burden on the body and significantly magnifies the need for quality nutrition and adequate rest.

While pro tennis players are pushing their physical limits on a daily basis, they are hard pressed to get the recovery they need with all the travel and stress they are exposed to. And to make it worse, many of them compound the problem by engaging in unhealthy habits. Although I don’t know the intricacies of Roger’s lifestyle, I strongly suspect the rigors of pro tennis made him vulnerable to mononucleosis and that he could have avoided it with a few lifestyle improvements.

2009 Australian Open Final

I had hoped Roger would get some much needed rest over the off season, get back into his routine of training in Dubai, start 2009 with a vengeance, and win the Australian Open. Although he had a bit of a hiccup in the fourth round against Tomas Berdych, he absolutely smoked Del Potro in the quarters and easily beat Roddick in the semis. Things were looking good!

However, this final was a bit different than the 13 others he’s already won. With a win, he’d tie Pete Sampras for winning the most grand slam titles and would further validate himself as the best ever. It was also only the second grand slam in nearly 5 years that he wasn’t ranked as the world’s top player. Needless to say, the pressure was on!

Having to face Rafael Nadal undoubtedly increased the pressure tenfold. This is the guy that stole his number one ranking, the only player to ever beat him in a grand slam final, and one of a select few to have a winning record against him. By just the second game, the match was already full of intensity and showing signs of being another epic like the 2008 Wimbledon final. But to the dismay of much of the tennis world, Federer lost in a tough 5 set battle and crumbled under the pressure during the final set.

What Went Wrong?

Like many, I’ve been wondering since last year’s Australian Open why Federer lost his strangle hold on men’s tennis. Is it his health? The pressure? Has Rafael Nadal simply gotten too good? Or is it all of the above? Throughout the tournament, particularly in the final, he appeared to be fresh and was making strong replies on shots that most players wouldn’t even get to. Based on this, his fitness, health and training no longer seem to be a problem.

However, a few things that really stood out to me were his demeanor, his poor conversion on big points, and in direct contrast, Nadal’s ability to consistently play the big points well. Although Federer is one of the most stoic athletes I’ve ever seen, more than anything, it was his demeanor that really struck me. Particularly in the fifth and final set, the immense pressure he was putting on himself and his resulting frustration and gut wrenching sadness were all very palpable, even through television. Very much like last year’s Wimbledon final, it was painful to watch.

More than anything else, I think it’s the pressure of being the game’s all time best that’s keeping him from consistently making the big shots that are necessary to beat Nadal. Furthermore, it seems to be detracting from his enjoyment of the game, and in my opinion, this is by far the most disappointing aspect of it all.

What You Can Learn From Roger

Although it’s not good to dwell on the past, sometimes it’s hard not to. With Roger Federer being one grand slam title away from Pete Samrpas’ record, what might he think if he doesn’t break it? Will he dwell on the opportunity he missed at the 2008 Australian Open because of his illness? Does he have thoughts about his illness contributing to his loss at Wimbledon? Will he be antagonized by the thought of his unfortunate 2008 season keeping him from breaking tennis’ most significant record? How would he feel knowing his illness was preventable? And what kind of memories might he be left with if he spends the later years of his career distraught over the pressure he’s putting on himself?

Lifestyle and Perspective

Although the focus of this article has been pro tennis, what’s at stake here is far more important than athletic significance. It’s your vitality, longevity, and well being. While you’re probably not traveling across the world week after week, living out of a suitcase, or enduring the physical demands of a professional athlete, there’s a good chance that you’re under a lot of stress, not eating as well as you could be, and not getting enough sleep. In today’s fast paced society, there are very few people that can’t identify with at least one of these problems. If you’re one of them, the burden you’re putting on your body is of similar significance to that of a professional athlete.

Since you’re not contending to be the greatest tennis player of all time, you’re probably wondering what the big deal is, right? Take a look at the people around you. Problems like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and autoimmune disease are more prominent than ever and they’re all preventable. If your unhealthy habits lead to one of these problems, will you be left with regret and wonder how much better life would be if you did things differently?

In addition to the fast paced and unhealthy lifestyle many of us live, we also put a lot of pressure on ourselves just like Federer. But instead of it being about rewriting tennis history, it might have to do with a career, a material item, or even a hobby. It’s easy to focus so deeply on something you want that your life becomes imbalanced and you begin to lose sight of more important things like your family, your friends, and your health. The pain I see in Federer’s face when he loses grand slam finals to Rafael Nadal is indicative of this narrow focus that is perhaps too intense.

In regards to your life, is there anything that you’re focusing on so intently that you no longer enjoy it and are causing yourself a great deal of stress? And is it also detracting from other important areas of your life?

Live Like a World Class Athlete

For a world class athlete like Roger Federer, the smallest deficiency in health or mental perspective can have a significant impact and be the only difference between success and failure. But this applies to life just as much as it applies to sports. Everyone wants happiness, but happiness is difficult to achieve without good health and good perspective. As such, live your life with the mentality of a world class athlete and regard your health and mental strength as factors that are highly essential to achieving your goals.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.

10. You can play tennis year round. The fact that it’s winter and there’s snow on the ground doesn’t mean you can’t play tennis. Although you have to pay for it, indoor tennis is becoming more and more popular and gives you the opportunity to play all year even if you live in a climate that has cold winters. Playing year round simply isn’t an option for most other sports.

9. Tennis is both an individual sport and a team sport. Some people prefer to be in full control and don’t want to depend on teammates. Others enjoy having a teammate to share the challenge with, and some prefer a mix. Because tennis can be played as singles or doubles, the choice is yours.

8. Tennis is inexpensive. It doesn’t cost much for a tennis racket and nearly all towns and cities have public tennis courts that you can play on for free. Of course it can get expensive if you join exclusive country clubs, buy high end equipment, and take lessons every week, but absolutely none of this is required. Popular sports like golf and skiing require costly equipment and expensive lift tickets or green fees.

7. Tennis is excellent exercise. Interval training is a great way to enjoy the benefits of exercise, and tennis is a long series of many small sprint intervals.

6. Tennis can provide serious competition even as an adult. Some people are very competitive and need an outlet for it. With most sports, serious competition ends after high school or college, but with tennis, you can compete far into your old age. Most cities have organized leagues and I play in a few of them myself. I’ve traveled all over the country to play in sectional, regional, and national league tournaments and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

5. Tennis provides camaraderie. It’s amazing how many new friend’s I’ve made as a result of playing tennis. Between functions, events, and leagues, it is very easy to meet new people.

4. Tennis is an outlet for athleticism. Although you don’t need much athletic ability to enjoy tennis, the higher levels of the game certainly require it. Advanced tennis is a very physically demanding activity that requires a lot of skill. If you enjoy putting your athletic ability to the test, tennis is a great way to do it.

3. Tennis is mentally challenging. Some sports don’t require much thinking and can get pretty boring as a result. While you can play tennis mindlessly if you wish, there is also a great deal of room for strategy. In fact, many people compare the strategic aspects of tennis to chess. It’s a great way to challenge both your physical and mental abilities at the same time.

2. Tennis is a lifelong sport. Many sports are too dangerous or demanding to play after your twenties or thirties but you can play tennis as long as you’re able to walk and move your arm. You may not be able to hit some of the exciting shots you hit in your younger days, but that’s certainly better than not being able to play at all!

Finally, the best reason in my opinion to play tennis is:

1. The pursuit. Tennis is such a complex game that there’s always room for improvement. Finding ways to get better at something, particularly something you enjoy, adds a lot of excitement to your life. With tennis, there’s always something to work on or something new to learn. Whether it’s your fitness, your technique, or your strategy, there are plenty of challenges to chase after.

So what are you waiting for? Give tennis a try and you just may find yourself with a new hobby and some extra excitement to look forward to.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.