August 10, 2023

? A single ball during practice on the tennis court unfolds into a journey of mindset transformation and unveils profound lessons for success in business and in life.

Tennis brings me joy, fitness, and a place to practice and channel my competitive spirit and learn about life and business. I bring my rackets everywhere.

During a trip to Monaco, I scheduled a lesson at the Monte-Carlo Country Club (MCCC). Court nine sits at the top of a hill, looking down into the famous Monte-Carlo Bay sprinkled with super yachts on the Mediterranean Sea. I strolled up the hill with excitement. I knew some of MCCC’s history and its importance in the lore of the professional tennis circuit. To be there filled my soul with joy.

I had a one-hour ‘hit’ lesson with Guillaume and learned he played for the Monegasque Davis Cup team. He was also one of Monaco’s 5,000 or so actual Monegasque citizens. As we warmed up, I asked him about his ‘tennis’ story, always a great point of departure for learning.

We moved to our respective baselines to begin hitting groundstrokes. This is always a telling moment for me and the pro. The pro can size me up and I get a chance to set the tone for our time together.

I noticed something very different this time. Typically, the pro will have a basket of balls with them. Guillaume had one ball. One.

We began to rally, and within a minute or so, I dumped the ball into the net. This is when the pro usually reaches into the basket of balls and continues with the rally. But there was only one ball. I hustled up to the net, picked up the ball, ran back to the baseline, and started to rally again. This pattern repeated for 15 minutes, with the rallies lasting longer each time.

When we took our first break, I couldn’t resist asking Guillaume why we were only using one ball. He answered, “As an American, you’re familiar with baseball, no?” I responded with an affirmative nod. He continued, “This is not batting practice.”

I love training with new coaches because each location and coaching style provides a unique approach. I’d never come across this method. We continued to drill cross-court forehands, then cross-court backhands, and at the 45-minute mark, we took another break.

He told me that when he was a junior tennis player growing up in Monte Carlo, he had the privilege of training with Bjorn Borg and that Bjorn warmed up with only one ball. Bjorn told him that using just one ball creates a mindset of scarcity, and in that mindset, we must learn to appreciate and cherish what we have to work with.

If you’re constantly mishitting balls during training and there’s always another one ready, it’s likely that once you compete in a match, you’ll have a false sense of dependence on that next ball. You’ll lose the point, the game, and ultimately the match.

This awareness and appreciation got me thinking about other areas of my life where I take things for granted – moments I assume I will have enough resources to accomplish my goals. I hope you find inspiration from this, as well.