Turning myself around in 2 years, Interviews and helping out, Grantham Tennis Club Journey

In This post i will be explaining that everything happends for a reason, and how Tennis has transform me as a person. I will also be explaining about some amazing opportunities I have experienced all thanks to the club. To start things off I wanted to Highlight straight away being part of a LTA Video about

Diversity & Inclusion Case Study which you can see below, For some reason The video is not showing up as a video screen on here, so to view copy and paste link (:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERUbeiq8FsY&feature=youtu.be I will explain more about it later on but wanted the video to be the first thing people see as it highlights the club and the community around it !!! So what got me into Tennis ???? In 2016 i was battling through life issues mostly caused by my own actions, I had really bad Depression and Anxiety. For the first time in my life i had to really learn what Adulthood was all about, i had no friends and month after month waiting to get support from the mental health services.

I used to just sit in pubs having a drink, using Internet to keep my mind busy

I thought it would be a good idea at the time to try and start my own business up, but everyday was a challenge just to get out of bed and make the most of the day and felt my life was not really going anywhere. Although i waited so long in order to get Help, i will always live by everything happends for a reason, The choices we make will always create endless paths, some bad some good, some paths may lead to bad to start with or not the path you thought would happen but in time the path you chosen shows you into a new life. if it was not for waiting for that path i would not have seen a leaflet which would lead me to the Feeling good Project and to where i am in life now.

This is a photo of myself and a few wonderful members of that project- The only experience playing tennis was hitting the ball back and forward with someone and never knew how much goes into the sport and how fun it can really be. I loved sports ever since i left school, i went to my Local leisure centre 3-4 times a week, playing basketball, Football, and even badminton. As i grew up i seemed to cut all sports out of my life, I became very unfit so i was happy to not only come across a sport i liked but a scheme that would turn my life around.

Dale who set up the Feeling good Project made, everyone feel welcome, and had an awesome turnout for the start of the project. I never had Great confidence around groups, so for me this was a challenge i needed to face, the first few weeks while learning the Ins and outs of the sport, i was very focused on having fun on the court. I hardly talked and kept myself to myself by choice.

It seemed that the more i focused trying to control my mental health and having the strength to really learn something i could enjoy, made my tennis skills improve at a very fast rate. The sessions always seemed to fly, and i always wished the next week could come sooner so i could be active and learn more tennis. in just 12 weeks i had started to turn my life around, i became more confident, stronger, faster and was really enjoying the sport.

2017 started and i was even more determined to have Tennis as my new home and take my skills to the next level. So i did my Joining the club as a member this meant i was no longer confined to playing just once a week i could now play In socials that happened 3 times a week and if i wanted to use the courts to practice i could do. Pic below is not me

For me Tennis was now becoming a massive part of my life, i hated being in my room for hours at a time and the more active i became the more i just wanted to be running and learning. When you find something that helps with your depression, you have the urge to want to do well within the chosen thing that is helping you. So most days i got to the club half a hour to a hour before social starts. I knew my Natural strength, was running and forehands so i mostly worked on serving. even in 2019 i still do this not so much with my serving now but i always work on improving becoming better, knowing my weakness and turning them into strengths.

I had so much dedication to the sport that some amazing players started to help me improve and also loved whenever i was about of the social because i brought a lot of laughs and myself to the group. each member brought something to my experiences in the social that made me want to improve more but most importantly they brought a new side out of me, i was happy, my real life issues did not exist while playing and is the only place in the world where i have the most fun.

2017 was a year of many challenges and was a year where my strength came out and opened my world to new experiences As well as Training at the gym, and playing tennis i was apart of the Grantham Running club. although i am no longer a part of it and do not do running it was a big part of my life at the time. Running improved my fitness i challenged myself to run 5k even though at times i really struggled but overall it improved my fitness, i only stepped away as it was to taxing on my body to be doing so much. Tennis was my big passion and got plenty of cardio from it anyway so decided to focus more on the things i loved. The Tennis club could see The benefits of how the sport was helping, so asked if i could help share my experiences, as a new feeling good project was being set up. I also wanted to help promote the club as they had done so much for me. 2017 was shaping my future in ways i never could dream of, as i went to BBC Radio Lincolnshire with Dale and the wonderful James prior to share my story.

Towards the end of the year some coaches were having an assessment for their level 5 Tennis qualification. This was some else that made 2017 a good year as they needed people to teach, so that they could get practice for their real test, a few weeks later. This meant in a sense free coaching to learn from the top coaches and improve my game even more which it did !!!

In over a year i had gone from poor fitness to working most days on tennis and even matching someone of the top social players that had been playing for years, all thanks to the club seeing my potential. I used all my strength from trying to turn my life around and because of that i had come across something i could be really great at.

The only knock i had from that year was trying to be to confident in my profession of tennis and challenged myself to play in a doubles match for one of the teams at the club. It was my first test and because i was not used to it and had only played the sport for fun, it shook me and not only could i not play how i knew i could but it affected my mental health. it wasnt the fact of winning or losing as im happy losing if it had been a great match to play. For me i was not happy with my own performance and thought i had put so much effort in for nothing. it knocked my confidence for a few weeks but i soon bounced back more willing to improve then ever. The more i played the more people i met and the more memories i created !!! (:

2018 !!! if 2017 taught me that tennis was the way to go then i never expected some big things by the end of the year and how much in one year i went from playing at social level to being told i should play in a team.

I was now happy with my fitness level, my mental health at this point was a lot better controlled and throughout the year i started to learn from playing to playing tactical tennis. Hitting a ball back and forth can be enjoyable but there is no learning in that, if you come away from the court everytime feeling they are so much better i can never play at that level, then you really need to start to think about strengths and weakness and instead of turning up to hit it back and forth, start learning how to change my shots to have a better game and come away feeling happier. I knew starting the year that if i wanted to play at a higher level i needed to start getting coaching sessions.

Tennis went from something i could only do once a week and the main reason of going was to help my mental health to something i could potentially play for in a team. At this point i watched many tennis matches on YouTube and for months was obsessed with learning roger federer one hand backhand winners

I was now playing tennis in 3 socials a week, the feeling projects on Wednesdays and starting to go to coaching sessions with a wonderful group 1 hour a week before the social on Saturdays.

Summer time around June -July became the best months of my life thanks to many of the Clubs members. First off Paul singleton The wonderful chap in Blue. He started to help me with adapting my serve with more slice as well as throwing the ball higher for improved percentages of serves in. many Saturdays the wheelchair group would join social and had a blast, they really made you around the court and was amazing to learn from. I made many awesome friends from the socials, Inc Neil who often runs the socials help with pairing people for the socials and being a great person to talk to about life issues. Every week i was playing better and better, one of my all time memories which sounds funnier in the moment. this was a match with a chap who has just a competitive streak as i do but also is so down to earth and if i had to pick one person who truly brought the best out of my tennis it would be Nigel Fathers. Prefect weather around

I had already played a string of epic matches and was really happy. i was playing with Ian, one other person and Nigel. there was an epic rally with drop shots and shots from both Nigel and myself that we both thought how on earth you reach that. we all laughter and tears from the point when someone from one of the courts needed more tennis balls. For about a minute the tennis balls went back and forth at the back of the court as no one had enough and because when i am in tears from laughter it takes so long for me to stop, so if something else makes me laugh, gosh most of the members after the match even said to me ive never seen you that happy Daniel (: It was times like that, where it was like floating peacefully on a cloud, i could be the most depressed person at home, panicking about life but when im playing tennis i am truly happy, since being a part of the club i have never tried to be anything more then myself and treating each game as a laugh while wanting to play my best.

One thing lead to another after that, Lincolnshire tennis came down to put a video Together about the club in terms of how much the club involved people from all backgrounds. around this time i had already been back on the radio as BBC Radio Lincolnshire had come to the club to do a 3 hour segment on the youth development and projects going on at the club. Being on The radio was one thing but i was now given a chance to be a part of a video for the club.

its amazing how much life can change when you find a place that working hard at tennis and creating memories never feels like work because everytime i am at the club i am greeted by such an increasingly expanding club with an awesome community.

So much to fit into this blog its crazy !!!! before i carry on with the video interview. around summer time again, i opened up to playing even more tennis and wanting to keep playing at a higher level. so a group of members have a whats app group where they ask if anyone wants a hit and they arrange doubles and singles with other members. So as well as all the tennis i was doing, Friday night was a great and cheap night of tennis. Indoors from 8-10pm only 3.50 !!! you could not play pool for that. This suited me as i played my best indoors and i got to learn some experience playing with some of the members who were playing for teams.

On the same day as The LTA coming to do a video, it was the start of a massive Project for the club which i think went above and beyond, not only the turnout but how successful it was going to be. This was Tennis why not at 65, a Free Tennis project much like the one that helped me be where i am today aimed at people around 65, to help them meet new people and maybe find something new they would enjoy. over 50 people turned up for the session and because the club was expecting a high amount due to the interest of the project, i was asked as well as a few members if they could help assist the coaches with the sessions. This project was 24 weeks long and every week saw the same numbers turn up to enjoy the sport. I wanted to help as the club had done so much for my life to be where it was now but i also wanted to help teach others and help them improve as i did enjoy the coaching aspect. Over the weeks this wonderful group has grown on me and its been a joy to see how spirited and shocked to see some great talent still at their age. This was then tieing into looking forward for my future to being a tennis coach. and plans were put into place for the start of this year to do just that and pass my level 1 assisting with coaches course.

On January 5th 2019 i had my first full day of coaching experience. myself and 20 others inc some of the already hard working staff at the club wanted to aim to start the journey on what it meant to be a coach. To my worst nightmare i had come down with cold in a bad way, i had extreme luck in 2018 which lead me to enjoy so much of it, but at the start of the year for weeks i had massive coughing fits and my strength zapped. it made recovering harder due to the fact that i was expecting a lot of the session writing or watching videos, and in fact 80 percent of the session was running about, learning different warm up games, activities, how to adjust the sessions if you had to adapt for people in wheelchairs who had learning difficulties and much more it was very physical and practical based. Although i struggled through the day as it was 9am to 4 and the same the next day, i had a blast i was so lucky to feel less neverous because of already knowing the staff who were on the course as well. Sam burke had the most amazing personality ever and she was the one teaching us alongside another chap. she made sure everyone was having fun whilst teaching us on the go and making the day not feel like a chore or a test but a fun place to learn. we had a massive booklet to fill out before our assessment on the 3rd February. On that day we learned a few bits leaning onto level 2, some recaps and then it was time to be assessed. This involved, setting up equipment suitable for the age range given to each pairing, which for myself and melanie was based on tots. The task had to cover warm ups, activities and games. we were marked on confidence, voice being able to sound excited and loud enough so that the people who were pretending to be tots for the our assessment could underdstand us clearly. Marks were given for also demonstrating well and helping the tots through the process but the main point making it super fun. I was really neverous on the first time i had to do it on the first day but be time in got to the day of the assessment i was confident and did great and passed (:

This was all thanks to the members that helped me and of course the wonderful coaches that have had experienced the course itself from when they did their level 1 and really helped me with bits i struggled with.

I am now in the process of helping with other projects coming up this year and aiming in the next few years to become a paid tennis coach. 2018 had opened many doors in life and showed me how much tennis means to me and how even though i want to improve i must not lose the sight of what the sport is about the enjoyment of it. much like the pic above its about letting your hair down and laughing with truly wise and great tennis players.

I think heading into this year that sight got a little away from me, the positive was getting a better insight into becoming a coach.

The negative was from my own performance playing, at the moment i have let my fitness slide and my mental health has also slid a little. towards the end of 2018 i got the chance to do more level 5 coaching experience as a player for free as well as taking a 4 week forehand course, for months after i became obsessed with being better rather then enjoying it. This meant that when it came to showing what i have learned with opportunistic chances like playing in a league and playing against better players i fell apart and almost wanted to give tennis in. Thanks to the members though and the coaches being there for me and giving advice i am now focusing more on playing just on social days until i feel ready for the next step as a tennis player. Its been an out of this world experience for me over the last 2 years and it has been hard battling with my depression as even things like tennis sometimes cant help, but overall i have tried to change as a person and i may not be the most fittest person or the best tennis player but i have a huge passion for improving and never giving up !!! I hope this year i can improve as a tennis player and be more help as a coach moving forward for the club (: