Roland was a successful real estate developer and part time tennis player.
He played weekly matches against his neighbor and was routinely beaten by lopsided scores.
Standing six foot five, this gentle giant had two tennis liabilities that gave his opponent a decided edge. Roland had extremely large feet and slow twitch muscles….not exactly conducive to conducive to covering a singles court efficiently.
He called on a Monday morning to inquire if he could meet for a Tuesday noon tennis lesson. When he arrived, he looked a bit downcast and related that his friend had beaten him on Saturday by a score of 6-0, 6-0. We began by assessing his strengths which included a powerful serve and an intimidating presence at net.
In time, we added a reliable spin serve and an underspin backhand so he could get to the net and use his height for volleys and overhead. Six weeks into his series of lessons, Roland said he was now taking a few games from his ‘smug’ neighbor.
He then made quite a remarkable offer.
Roland said that if we could get him to a point where he could best his nemesis, he would reward this very young pro with $1,000.00. Two months later, he arrived for his lesson with a huge grin on his face. He’d beaten this fella 6-2,6-3 and felt like he now had his number.
Now it was the coach’s turn to smile. Roland reached into his wallet and counted out ten one hundred dollar bills which he presented to the Afro haired pro. I can close my eyes and see us celebrating on court 4 at Racquet World.
What a terrific fella!
Roland passed away seven years ago and I’ll always remember the gentle giant with the big heart and the sly grin after he conquered this pesky neighbor.
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