Calm on the court

Had a good outing on the tennis court this morning. Was playing with someone I usually beat, and I beat him. Much more importantly, I stuck to my basic game plan of placing the ball and letting him make mistakes, as opposed to trying to transform into a hitter of lots of winners just because I had the upper hand. So I basically didn't think a lot, and therefore didn't make a lot of mistakes. And I got a lot of exercise.

I also concentrated on consistently praising him whenever he hit a good shot. That just feels right. If I do these basic things whenever I play, I enjoy myself.

One other thing. I often lose track of the score. Sometimes I want to upbraid myself for this, but really it is just symptomatic of staying in the point, and not caring about the score. Each instance of hitting the ball should be just what it is, rather than a big moral drama. Though I can imagine annoying whomever I am playing with because I have to keep asking about the score.