Second Serve Tennis

Finding Flow

• Second Serve with Carolyn Roach & Erin Conigliaro • Episode 306

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Do you find flow on the tennis court?

Eric, the 4.5 singles national champion, is back to discuss finding flow and what he loves about the game of tennis!

Eric is from Long Island New York. He currently plays in leagues, and trains in Naples, FL for most of the year, while living in Northern NJ during late Spring/Summer. He returned to competitive recreational tennis after a 35-year hiatus.

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Carolyn:

Hi, this is Carolyn and I'm here with Erin. And this is our last episode with Eric, who was the 55 plus 4-5 singles national champion. In previous episodes, he discussed how tennis helped save his life and his perspective playing leagues versus tournaments. So if you haven't listened, we hope you go back and check them out. But here is part three. What do you do to stay in flow? Because you mentioned that you get in this flow state. What do you do because I need it?

Eric:

Well, I mean, maybe that's a whole other topic for a podcast. You know what I mean? But uh, but let me give you my uh uh my uh my thoughts on it, which works for me. And I've I've I've trialed it and I'm still still working on it. But you know, obviously you can start off with the breathing is like a huge component to it. And and and you've got to uh I find that the rhythms or the routines that you have almost like set the pace in which you're which you're thinking around the point. So I I it seems kind of a um like you see a lot of the professionals have towels, okay, uh, on the sides, and they're always going to their towel, and you think, are they always like going there to, you know, because they're they're sweaty or whatever. And the answer is no. That they're not always going there because they may all they may be sweaty, but they're going there because the towel is a place to go to reset. And so I think for anyone who's starting to like think about, well, first off, have a place you can go to reset on the court, create a space. And for me, it's it's almost easier when I'm serving because I I um when I'm playing, I want to have all three balls on my side of the court for one. You know, I hold all three. I just like you know, I mean I want to make sure that the the ball, the third that ball that I'm not gonna use is in on the cert right by my towel. And I slow down to just make sure everything is set up and there, and then I start the point. Um, so so for me, slowing down, breathing, having these areas where you can go to reset. Um, you can reset with your towel, you can reset. Sometimes I play outside in some gorgeous places. So I reset by just looking at something beautiful in the sky. And just something that just is another trigger, uh, you know, sometimes there's a word, the word I I used when I was in nationals that was hard for me sometimes. You're losing your flow. I I had a my sister who was super helpful. She came out and was supporting me, and she's you know, she saw me in the first round of the match, and I was getting a little flustered, and she's like, You need you need a word to just kind of reset yourself. And so we just said, Hey, the word is blueberry. And I grew up on I grew up on blueberry lane, and you know, I I you know I grew up uh uh on 10 blueberry lanes, so then all of a sudden I was in a difficult situation in a court and to just slow myself down and get back into my floor. I'm like, wow, there's blue skies everywhere. The court is number 10, which is the the the house that I was on. I said blueberry to myself, and all of a sudden, bam, I was like it's looked like a light went off. So it it really, you know, the mental side of tennis is uh is huge uh for for keeping your flow. Um and you, you know, whether it's breathing or these other rhythms uh are are very helpful. Now, and and that's you know, if you're playing a three-set match and it goes really, really long, it gets harder and harder over time. But I think the the key to all of it is your breath. Um just just keep watch watch your breathing and watch your pace and don't be rushing. You know, you just gotta slow yourself down to be you know present, to be ready in in the in you know, because for whatever's coming up, because if you're rushing, uh again, uh everything's happening so fast, you can miss those opportunities.

Carolyn:

Carolyn.

Erin:

Carolyn, you need a word.

Carolyn:

I need a word, and I need how do you breathe? Well, you keep bringing up your breath. What do you mean by that?

Eric:

Um, well, uh, you know, there's things, whether it be through just I I mean, some people are, you know, between nose and a palette or whatever. I just just try to make sure that there's a nice, you know, a couple of breaths that really have circulated through my body that I kind of feel like, okay, there is one, two, three, or something like that before a return, or you know, even when I get to it serve, you know, there's something in there that I feel like it is circulated through me. Okay. And it's maybe it's at least three breaths. Nice, nice breaths. That's all it is. It's just uh, you know, it's it's like a yoga thing. Probably if you want to learn more about your uh breathing, then take a yoga class. It's all about breathing. And it's sometimes it's hard because like you know, sometimes your opponent is wants to play faster than you. And I think that's the interesting part about the dynamic is that both players have to be ready. So, like, okay, you know, assuming that we're not going to go through a major time, you know, uh thing, but uh uh, you know, between points, and particularly when it's a really long rally, you know, give yourself the space, allow yourself the space to go to a place on the court to reset. And in that place, give yourself that five seconds. Five seconds, how wonderful that is to reset in five seconds or ten seconds, and then come back and do the best you can in the next point.

Carolyn:

That's great. That's great. So a word, Erin, we need a word and I need to breathe.

Erin:

We need a word and breathe. I know. I I actually feel calm talking to you. I'm like, why can't why can't I feel I need to feel this way on the court? But can he be my doubles partner?

Eric:

Sure, sure. Come down at come down to our training camp in uh in in Naples.

Erin:

Do you find sandbaggers at four five?

Carolyn:

Uh because we have lots at our level at the USTA National Championship.

Eric:

Well, I I I think it uh I don't know. I I I don't I don't I don't think I didn't see any sandbaggers at 4-5. Oh, that's great. But I do see that 4-0's and three fives, that's where it's that's where I can think there's a lot more.

Erin:

Because they're trying to keep the ratings low.

Eric:

Because because at at 4-5 and 5-0, it's either you're there or you're not. Yeah. Okay. I think that, you know, and so I I I was to be honest, when I was on my return to to to tennis, I mean, they're like, look, you have when I I self-rated, you know, I just came back. I put my first, I go back and get my USTA membership. Okay, well, what are you? Oh well. Two five. I think I'm a I think I'm a I think I'm a four-five, but you have you're not proven because we don't see you anywhere on the court. So they put me at a four-o. Yeah, you know, just because you're, you know, because that's the self-rating, you know. And I'm like, well, I'm and so I'm like, well, I'm not gonna play in the four-os, I'm gonna play in the four fives, even though I was kind of just just little. You start up your thing and you say, Did you ever play before? Yes, but you know, right.

Erin:

You answer the questions and you were rated a 4-0.

Eric:

Yeah. And then eventually I had to go through the self-rating, and eventually I get to the point where now you're rated 4-5 competition, 4-5 C.

Erin:

Right.

Eric:

Because now you're you've you've played in four or five tournaments and you've proven yourself as a four-five. You know, and so now my goal is to get to a five-o C.

Erin:

Did you get bumped mid-year at all? Even though you were rated as a 4-0, because USTA let you rate yourself and TRP 4-0. Did you play enough where you proved, I guess was a good enough word for it, that you were a 4-5? And so did did you notice that you bumped, got bumped mid like during the year, or did it come out the next year during ratings? It came out that it came out the next year. So you didn't get three strikes against you basically at 4-0.

Eric:

Okay. I just tried to um once I just I signed up for four or five tournaments and tried to just get into it and just say, well, I've just got to prove myself by winning as much as I can at the four or five level. Yeah. And and a different mix of tournaments. Yeah. And so that's opposite of what most people do.

Erin:

You know, so but and then and and usually they're a four-five, rated as a three-five, and then they try to stick in that three-five area and just rock it, you know.

Eric:

I mean, the one thing I would say about four-fives, it's it's great. Like if I mean, maybe someday I would coach um what it would be something next I would think about. But I find I met a lot of in the four or five tournament, a lot of folks I was playing with are full-time tennis pros.

Carolyn:

Ah, yeah. Oh, interesting.

Eric:

Full-time. I mean, so in the turn in the draw, yeah. Okay, yeah, like who you're playing. I mean, like the the one of the uh some of the people I play at that's that's what they do. I mean, if they're from Texas or Florida or whatever, what do you do for a living? Oh, I'm a full-time pro. Now, I'm teaching all the time, okay, but I'm four or five. Now, you know, to me, it's like, you know, uh, and I'm not a full-time tennis player. So it's like it's a little different. Same thing for when you go into uh some of the nine-o tournaments, um, some of the local pros will come in who are I think very good, and they'll get a you know, like a 4-0 player and a 5-0 player and say, hey, we're 9-0 doubles. So I see that a lot. And it just is down to like, okay, well then I don't know, you have to fight fire with fire. You know what I mean? We have you need to just know who you're playing with and just uh just be ready for that.

Erin:

Yep. Is there anything that you can think of that we missed?

Eric:

No, I mean, I think it's look, I think it's uh it's great. I mean, I think it's tennis is a journey and everyone has their story on what they're doing, why they're doing it. Why do you play tennis? It's your to your point of like, well, why would you play single? It's hard, it's like intense, and I don't know. Why why do you why do you do it? Yeah. In my distractions from tennis, one of them is golf. I love golf. And golf is like so enormously difficult to play. Right. Really hard. But then that the the the the beauty of golf is the fact that it's so hard. Right. You know, yeah. And when you find out that you're like, wait a second, this is so crazy hard. And I love being out here, and then you're starting to do things that are like really, really hard, and you're and you're just you're just in the moment doing them, is uh, I find peace in in that, you know. Now I don't just like my my my my golf game, I don't always like hit the greatest shots all the time, and uh you know, but when you get the one shot, it's just special. And sometimes when you get these great tennis experiences, like I'm gonna try it again, you know, and keep coming back.

Erin:

And the privilege of knowing that you have years ahead of you to continue to get better. That's what I like because every time I'm on a court, I'm like, I learned something. I I might have been frustrated, I might have been whatever, but I feel like I'm lucky to be out there and I know that I have so much more to learn. Like I barely scratched the surface after, you know, for me, 12 years. Barely scratched the surface.

Eric:

Yeah. I mean, I I think one of the things it's like a humbling experience for me. I feel like it's been like a humbling experience uh coming back onto the court. Yeah, I thought, like, man, I kind of knew how to play tennis. And then coming back, it's like, oh, okay, this is hard. And then, and then just realizing how wonderful the sport is on so many levels, and then learning, like, okay, hey, I still have things to do and um how to how to do it and how to work with people around me to make that happen. It's that, you know, the social aspect is not just the the coaching and the stuff like that, but the people around you who are also trying to get better. And somehow this sport is so beautiful that it it it kind of pulls out, it it just inspires people to be their their best. Yes, you know, and try to be your best, or just I'm just gonna just give it a little bit more today or try something new or do something, you know. And um, so I I come from uh you know being humbled and just just super grateful and appreciative for you know where I'm at now and just having uh met all these wonderful people along my along the way.

Carolyn:

I love that. Me too. We really appreciate Eric coming on the podcast. If anyone listening has any other tips for getting in a flow state while playing tennis, please let us know because I am definitely not in it. You can message us on our website, which is SecondServe Podcast.com. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.