On November 28th, 2011 during a pre-match warm up, I tweaked my right forearm while hitting a backhand stroke. At the time, I didn’t think much of it—although I continued to feel pain on and off throughout the three-set tennis match.
When I returned home that evening, I took a couple of Advil and figured I’d be fine the next day. Last November, I was playing 2-3 times per week. Had you told me then that I wouldn’t pick up a racquet until January 23rd, I’d have said you were nuts.
But the pain persisted. It was so bad that I began to favor my left hand when opening doors and reaching for mildly heavy objects. After seeing an orthopedic surgeon, I was diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis—the medical term for tennis elbow. I’m currently receiving physical therapy, taking anti-inflammatory meds, and wearing one of those forearm support straps that older players wear. {Insert audible sigh here.}
Now, you may not be all that interested in tennis. Perhaps there is another hobby or interest that consumes you? For me, it’s tennis. And the thought of being sidelined for weeks or months with a protracted case of tendonitis was genuinely depressing.
So when my physical therapist said, “Steve, I have an idea that will get you back on the court playing at a high level with less pain. Do you want to hear it?” I said, “Absolutely! What is it?”
What he said next made me cringe: “Learn to hit two-handed strokes on both (forehand and backhand) sides.”
“Are you crazy?” I said. “I’m 45. Learning two-handed strokes at this late stage would be like learning to play left-handed—especially on the backhand side.”
He said, “Well, the decision’s yours but if you want to continue to hit the ball hard, then you need to find a way to take pressure off your right forearm. Otherwise, this may be one of those nagging injuries that will continue to interfere with your quality of tennis and life.”
Five days later, I scheduled a lesson with tennis pro, Scott Ford to begin the daunting and uncomfortable process of developing two-handed strokes.
This experience illustrates how pain (physical or emotional) can force us out of our comfort zones (e.g., my one-handed strokes that I’ve been hitting since I was 10 years old) to pursue our potentials—which are usually found in less familiar places.
And while it’s too early to write the end of this story, after two lessons with Scott, I can tell you with certainty that the next chapter in my tennis history is going to be a whole lot more interesting than the last one.
How have you used a painful circumstance in your life as a catalyst to realize your own potential, personally or professionally?
