How Tennis Shaped Me Essay

One of my favorite activities is tennis, a sport I have played for the majority of my life. My father is a phenomenal tennis player, so I played tennis from a young age with him. Tennis is important to me, being my main sport and the only one that I excel at. Also, playing tennis gives me euphoria, and it motivates me to play tennis. It seems as if I was made to play tennis. Tennis is an inseparable part of me, and I am proud of it. And no matter how you look at it, tennis has a significant role in shaping me into the person I am today.
Playing tennis shaped me by helping me develop three things: sportsmanship, grit, and a passion. Sportsmanship was an ethos I lacked for a significant part of my life. Before I started playing tennis, with people other than my father, I abhorred losing to anyone in any way. I would lie, cheat, and be a rude competitor in general. And when I lost, I would become a great example of a “sore loser”. But when I started playing tennis matches, I realized that such behavior was futile and that I was a fool. So I stopped being such an ignoramus and worked tirelessly to advance as a player and sportsman. Looking back, if I had started playing tennis any later, my habit of being a “sore loser”
Grit is essential for any tennis player. Grit keeps players from quitting, from giving up, no matter what comes their way. Grit keeps the player from forfeiting a match, no matter how unlikely it is for them to win. Grit is something that developed within me as I played tennis. When I first joined a team, I realized that I was a bit behind everyone who was in my age group. So I set surpassing every single one of them as my goal. And this determination to surpass people who were ahead of me cultivated my grit. My grit developed as I went to an increasing amount of practices and matches. Even if I was losing, I would grit my teeth and try my best. Little by little, my grit grew into what it is