Tennis 網球

上麵這張照片(taken at CCRC)沒有小孩，this is done on purpose. 這個是從樓上的bar/restaurant 拍過去的。我的兩個小孩開始打網球有一年左右, 她倆都有進步：從一開始完全是新手到現在可以和同級別的小朋友打幾個回合了。想到我自己真正開始打網球還是來美國以後，讀研究生時跟同學打了一下。97,98,99年美國打網球的地方跟國內相比簡直是天壤之別。我當時在羅拉的沃爾瑪買了個威爾森Wilson 鋁合金的網球拍。後來工作後在聖路易斯的Sports Authority （S A）買了個同牌的碳素纖維的拍子。SA 好像在2008年的金融危機中倒閉了。我自己大概有十幾年沒有打網球。記得06年在Woodsmill 的tennis club 周五晚上跟朋友打過球：慶祝過cardinals 那年拿到world series 的冠軍。再之後就是去年開始跟家人，孩子打了。我估計我會很快打不過她們了：因為她們在進步，我在原地踏步再加上年齡在那裏。我也是在過去一年中意識到小孩們打球不容易。有一次在CCRC看到兩個高中男生打得虎虎有生氣：我估計他倆可能在本州高中生裏麵是高手了。今天是星期天下午，我看老大打球，教練我估計是大學生（年輕人），他玩一個輕吊，一個高中男生（我女兒的搭檔）跑過去，失去平衡，摔倒在地，眼鏡掉地，肩膀也好像也摔痛。我的太太最近跟拉肚高中校隊的小姑娘學網球。據她說，校隊不好進。後來我想想其實做好每一件事都不容易。但是反過來說，進不了校隊，爬不上常青藤（或相當的學校）也沒啥。因為我自己就沒有做到這些：and I don’t think my life is less meaningful due to that [捂臉][呲牙]

This reminds me of a related topic: Micro Managers And Micro Management.

If you have Netflix sub, you may want to check out the new movie "No Hard Feelings" too (featuring former American sweet heart Jennifer Lawrence): it touched the topic of "helicopter" parents and parenting.

Last but not least, Ladue repeats Class 2 girls team tennis state title; John Burroughs reaches Class 3 final

PS: I realized the different color for different levels of tennis clinics is in a way very similar to the level in Suzuki violin lessons. Many other programs, from academics to sports, have this progress indicator and it's a very useful tool to motivate people to learn and to progress. Tae Kwon Do is a good example. Duolingo is another excellent example of this (the founder of Duolingo explained it in a Ted Talk). I think many Credit Card Rewards programs are modeled after this idea too. Just think of miles, points, and elite status vs the streak, the points, and all the stuff in the Roblox games: my 9-year-old just showed me all the "houses" she has in the Adopt Me, and she bought a bed and customized the color on the spot yesterday evening

PS 2: in last few years I noticed the pickle ball is taking off in the US. This is both in terms of popularity and the professional leagues. A new playing place is going to pop up at olivette. The CCRC seems also allocated more spaces to the pickleball. It’s hard to imagine only a few years ago it was really just a niche sport that I saw some older folks play at the JCC basketball court on Saturday mornings.

(Update 19-Nov-2023) STLToday: Girls tennis spotlight: Lafayette's Amber Yin aims for state title in her only season. Something new to me: so I just learned some players don't necessarily join the high school varsity team so that they can get better score in the college recruiting. Quote - “I wanted to focus on getting some positive results for college recruiting and I think that worked out well,” Yin said.

Lafayette's Yin makes one season of tennis count by winning state singles championship

This reminded me in the past, some figure skating kids (who are very good) do homeschool so that they can have 4 to 5 hours ice time everyday, also to be closer to their coaches. And recently I learned violinist (high school kids) do homeschool too. In a way those kids decided their professions, and I think I can understand the sacrifice here.