My wife and I have some pretty interesting conversations.  She told me this story about eggs, oranges, and balls that one of her teacher friends told her.  I was blown away by the symbolism in this story and it is especially valuable in helping understand the value of a good coach-player relationship in developing tennis players.  I just had to share it and it goes like this…

When an egg falls on the ground it cracks and doesn’t get back up.  When an orange falls on the ground it bounces back a little, stays down, and bruises.  When a ball hits the ground it bounces back.  With a little push every time the ball will continue to bounce back.  Which do you want to be?  Do you want someone pushing you to bounce back and get better?

This little word picture explains perfectly the relationship between a player and coach.  There will be ups and downs in a junior tennis player’s career.  First, players need to learn the valuable life skill of resiliency to bounce back and “do the next right thing.”  Second with a steady but gentle push from a caring coach players will always be able to bounce back stronger.

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