Driving to improve themselves by working on the little things and having fun, the boys tennis team believes growth is just around the corner
“We just have fun on the courts, and we think that winning or losing is second to having fun,” freshman Brett Goodman said.
Being a freshman, Goodman believes that getting to know a lot more upperclassmen has helped him get better as a young player.
“I haven’t changed much as a player but being on a team setting I have gotten better by working with other people and being on a team is just a lot more fun than playing alone,” Goodman said.
On the court’s isn’t the only place where the team gets rowdy. The team’s bus rides are where the team gets really close.
“On our bus rides to matches we bring a speaker and we all pick songs to listen to and it gets really fun,” sophomore Kevin Koerner said.
Having an even balance of upperclassmen and underclassmen on the team has gotten the seniors hopeful that the team is moving into a bright future. But some upperclassmen realize there is a ways to go.
“Our underclassmen are still growing as high school tennis players,” junior Jake Liebman said.
Liebman also believes that as a team, losing can be the best learning and bonding experience.
“When we lose we have to find small victories for ourselves, such as not doing many push ups in practice, which is a good bonding moment,” Liebman said.
As an upperclassmen, Liebman believes that he has helped the team by winning and giving the team a humorous setting on the courts.
“I think that I help the team a lot because I have been winning a lot, even in doubles with my partner Charlie Mosley we have been winning a lot,” Liebman said.
As an individual player Liebman believes he helps the team by controlling himself.
“I try to control my hits by trying to not hit the ball out, I try to keep the ball on the court, and I try to let the other team mess up so I get easy points,” Liebman said.
Liebman also believes that focusing on how the team will do in competition is better than focusing on the opponent.
“We have tried to get rid of all the small mistakes that we make and we just try to beat teams by letting them beat themselves,” Liebman said.
Koerner believes that the coaches help to fix the small mistakes.
“Coach is always watching us play, and when coach is watching you want to do your best and get better,” Koerner said. “I have practiced and coach has helped me have get better with my serve and I have been able to hit the ball harder lately”.
Senior Noah Grossman also believes that the coach is always giving good hints to make his players better.
“Coach will make a day of practice that focuses on a specific skill, when practice serving he would evaluate everyone and tell them what was wrong and he tell us how to fix it,” Grossman said.
Grossman thinks that as a senior he has been getting the most out of his last year playing school tennis.
“During a Saturday tournament which was in Columbia, we went out to lunch and had a good time and we also just had a really good time warming up with each other,” Grossman said.
Grossman also has taken his tennis career very seriously by working hard in the off season and putting his mind in the right place to compete.
“I think I have gotten a lot better by just playing with different types of people who have different playing styles,” Grossman said. “It makes me work on different things throughout my game, and coming into the season with private lessons have helped me because my strokes are a lot stronger and I just have had a different state of mind.”