By Eli Buenaventura
For Variety

UNDOUBTEDLY, you love tennis. You have played the game since you were 7 years old. Your goal is to be in a college team and eventually represent your country to international competitions. Lately, however, your goal is taking a beating. You joined the college team tryout twice, and twice you failed. You joined several USTA future players’ qualifying events and lost terribly in the first round in as many attempts. You are now torn between the choice of quitting the game and trying another sport. Before you make any move, consider these alternatives.
1.Reset your goals. Try the colleges or universities that are in the Division II or Division III tennis team categories. The competition level at Division I may be too much for your level, but it is good enough for Division II and III levels. Division I college team is dominated mostly with international ranked junior players and if you are not ranked, you don’t belong there. Although Division II and III college tennis teams are not as glamorous as the Division I college teams, the bottom line is you are there and playing the game you love so much.
2. Find time to regroup. Playing dedicated tennis for over 10 years is too much for any kid. Take a tennis break. Go on vacation. During your solitude, think tennis from a broader spectrum. View yourself from a distance. As the saying goes, get away from the forest so you can see the forest. You may be doing something that is hurting your game. The break may be a good opportunity to avoid that bad habit before it becomes embedded in your system.
3. Try a new location for new challenges. The place you are staying is probably not giving you enough competition that is needed to reach your goals. You may be the best player in your town, but the level of the players you are playing against is not pushing you to the hilt. Go to a place where the kind of competition you are looking for is available. This is not an easy thing to do. But it will surely help your game and your goal.
4. Review your social log sheet. You may be trying too much on social calls that left you lethargic to go to your practice sessions. Young players like to experience what it looks like to be drunk. They like to experience going home late They go to parties and have a lot of fun. Check out your social log sheet. The schedule may be too much and it is not healthy anymore to your game.
5. See a tennis doctor. Go for periodic check up regarding your overall game. See if your mental game is still sharp. Have him check your strokes production, footwork, equipment and physical fitness. To make sure you don’t miss anything, make a checklist of all the things you want your doctor to see. Whatever his findings and recommendations, follow them strictly to the letter.
6. Employ a part time coach. Summer is always the best time to prepare for college team tryouts. To optimize your preparation in time for the tryouts, convince your parents to hire a part time coach. With tennis professional supervising your training, you will know when to peak your training, including your food intake for the period. Hiring a coach is not a cheap alternative. But this will help you a lot. 7. Hang in there. It is very tough to overcome negative thoughts once they enter into your system. Losing matches after matches is too much for your positive side to handle. Hang in there. Don’t let negative cells enter into your system.
8. Spark your enthusiasm. Try to read books that tell stories of great athletes, focusing on how they had overcome adversities. Reinforce yourself with inspirational quotes to keep your positive side strong. Statements such as” your preparation today will be your performance tomorrow, if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail,” are good examples that you may want to paste on the wall of your room.
9. If you can’t beat them, join them. Try to mingle with better players, particularly those who are already in the college team. If you can befriend them, that would be much better. They may hit some balls against you. They may give tips on how you should approach college tennis the way they did. Remember you will learn from them, and they will not learn from you. So you should do what it takes them to like you.
10. You have a long way to go. As a teenager, you are very young to think about options. Give yourself a chance to succeed in a year or two. There are still plenty opportunities that await you. Sometimes success comes early. It may knock on your door when you are about to quit. Being young, you still have a long way to go.