Essay --

The Society of Tennis Tennis is the world’s fastest growing sport today for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is the variety of opponents one can face. In examining the game of tennis, most players can be categorized into one of four groups, the talented, the rabbits, the pushers, and the blasters. These different players make the game different each time one plays. This changes each match for the better, or for the worse. The Talent is a player who is able to adapt his game to give him the best advantage against any opponent, in any weather condition, whenever needed. He can drop shot, blast, â€Å"thread the needle†, find weaknesses, and reflex volley. This player will find what works best and dismantle the game. The talent will exhaust almost any player. At the highest levels, the talent may choose to play directly into his opponent’s strength. Bill Tilden was notorious for this tactic. When asked why he attacked the other players’ strengths, his answer was, â€Å"That way, once I’ve broken him down, all he has to fall back on are his weaknesses.† The talent tends to be able to change strategies and tactics in the blink of an eye. He may, within a set, even within a point, switch from one pattern to another to keep the opponent off balance no matter the situation. The Rabbit is quick and tireless. He believes he can return any ball and becomes a â€Å"human backboard.† This player relies on his opponent’s misses, rather than on any â€Å"money shot† of his own. His strength is that while retrieving, they keep the opponent pinned to his/her own baseline. The rabbit has consistent depth and uniformly steady pace on his strokes. He just doesn’t seem to work the corners or angles the way most baseliners do. If one is playing the baseline game ... ...y of a rabbit, but the inconsistency of the pusher. Every once in a while, a seemingly lazy player could walk onto the court and instantly become one of the talented. The other talented would work out off-season, practice off season. But this kid refuses to put forth the effort. He just doesn’t understand where he really belongs on the court. The talented are players who exude confidence. They have finesse, power, speed, and strategy. They compare to the well-rounded, athletic, and social A-student. On the other hand, the rabbits strive to be talented and model the talented’s behavior yet don’t quite reach that goal. The pushers would like to be accepted but don’t want to put forth the effort to raise his game. The blaster resembles the athletes in the school who force bluster their way through the school. These people are accepted due to their immense power.