Here is a great poem about tennis and a commentary by the poet, Robert Pinsky, the US Poet Laureate. I copied it from the web and paste it here for your pleasure. Its seems at the time he wrote it he was becoming a more thoughtful player and starting to look at the geometry of the tennis court in relation to strategy. Enjoy it, as its got some invaluable insight from one of the great poets of the world. I think you can learn and remember something from his wisdom. His picture is to the side.
ROBERT PINSKY: At this time of year maybe even more than usual, grown-ups play games like golf and tennis. Often we give ourselves instructive advice about the games, sometimes with crazy metaphors like "imagine the ball as a loaf of bread. You hitting every slice."
In the days when I was really obsessed with tennis, I wrote a poem about the game. And the poem turns out to be largely about advice. It's in iambic pentameter. This is from the section called "Strategy":
Hit to the weakness. All things being equal,
Hit crosscourt rather than down the line, because
If you hit crosscourt back to him, then he
Can only hit back toward you (crosscourt)
Or parallel to you (down the line) but never
Away from you, the way that you can hit
Away from him if he hits down the line.
Besides, the net is lowest in the middle,
The court itself is longest corner-to-corner,
So that a crosscourt stroke is the most secure,
And that should be your plan, the plan you need
For winning . . .
And here is the final section, "Winning":
Call questionable balls his way, not yours:
You lose the point but have your concentration,
The grail of self-respect. Wear white. Mind losing.
Walk, never run, between points: it will save
Your breath, and hypnotize him, and he may think
That you are tired, until your terrible
Swift sword amazes him. By understanding
Your body, you will conquer your fatigue.
By understanding your desire to win
And all your other desirs, you will conquer
Discouragement. And you will conquer distraction
By understanding the world, and all its parts.
And since its Saturday night and such always makes me think or feel jazz, i'll put up a great video of the giants of jazz playing 'Hot House.' Charlie Parker on Alto Sax, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and Buddy Rich on drums. Its great to see Charlie play as there aren't too many videos of him. He is the godfather of Jazz, no questions asked. Play the music and read the poem together. Poetry and Jazz like peanut butter and jelly.
