December 2025
Quotes per day and their meanings
December 1 – “Where your focus goes, your energy flows.”
When you concentrate on your mistakes, your energy is consumed by negative thoughts. Stay positive on the court; your opponent will provide enough negativity with calls like “out,” “long,” “wide,” “fault,” etc.
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December 2 – “Don’t die wondering.”
Try all available items without cheating when playing a match. Don’t lose a match, wondering if you had only tried something else.
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December 3- “You cannot teach experience.”
When competing, the best lessons are often the experience you receive—the experience of an emotional “roller-coaster” ride, from total joy to total disappointment, the experience of handling defeat and success. We can discuss experience, but the best and most brutal teacher is experience.
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December 4- “Success comes in cans, not in cannot.”
In all competition, we must think about what we can do, not spend time thinking about what we cannot do.
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December 5- “Pressure is a privilege”- Billy Jean King
When you are in a pressure setting in a tennis match, it means you and your opponent have a good competitive match.
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December 8 – “Experience is growth.”
When competing or just living life, you will have good and bad experiences, learn from those experiences, and grow as a person or a competitor.
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December 9- “It’s more important to be a good person than a great competitor.”
Long after your competing days are over, you will still be a person, be a good person.
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December 10- “Life is like tennis: the person that serves well seldom loses”- Author unknown
Serve each other well.
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December 11- “Only they that can see the invisible can do the impossible.” - Frank L. Gaines
You can see your dreams, hopes, and desires and accomplish the impossible.
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December 12- “You only live once, but, you get to serve twice.”
Take a chance on your first serve; you get two chances to one ball in.
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December 15 – “With gratitude, optimism is sustainable.” - Michael J. Fox
We all need to find gratitude in all areas of our lives. Sometimes it is hard to do, but grateful people find it difficult not to have an optimistic outlook.
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December 16 – “Athletes, as with many people, fall into two motivational classes.”
Many athletes, like individuals, are propelled by two types of motivation: those earnestly pursuing success and those endeavoring to evade failure.
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December 17- “2 sayings that apply to all sports.”
I often reference the sayings "never change a winning game plan" and "always keep your opponent off balance," which seem contradictory. Altering a winning strategy feels like deviation. As a coach, I suggest sticking to the winning game plan for four out of five points and changing it for one to keep the element of surprise.
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December 18 – "Tennis & Life." - Curly Davis
The beginning is not what counts; it's the finish that truly matters.
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December 19 – “Learn from the past, look to the future, but live in the present.”
Living this way is excellent; learning from your mistakes and your opponent's is essential in tennis. Please focus on the upcoming point and its potential outcome, but engage with each point as it arrives. Remain in the present.
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December 22 –"I've never been defeated in a tennis match; there were many times when I just didn't discover the right strategy."
This implies that your opponent has a vulnerability; it's crucial to identify and leverage it before the match ends. Frequently, when queried, "What can you do better when you're losing?" the typical response is, "Play better." However, if that were possible, why not implement it from the beginning of the match? Why delay until you're at a disadvantage?
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December 23- “Never give your opponent any more information than they need.” - Curly Davis
Your opponent should only know whether the ball is in or out and the score. Providing additional information merely reveals your emotional state to them. This could bolster their confidence, especially if they sense your frustration. Ultimately, tennis can reveal your finest qualities or most significant weaknesses—it is your decision.
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December 24 – “I fear no one but respect everyone.” - Roger Federer
Often, we are encouraged to be confident, yet there is a fine line before it turns into cockiness. The key difference lies in that confidence involves respecting your opponent, whereas cockiness disregards that respect.
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December 25 – “The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.” – Novak Djokovic
The only person you can control is yourself and the effort you put in. Strive to compete with yourself, aiming to surpass your achievements from yesterday.
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December 26- “Sports teach you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you what it feels like to win and lose- it teaches you about life”
Billie Jean King Tennis is an excellent sport for learning to navigate life's emotions, including disappointments, joys, teamwork, and determination.
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December 29 – “Talk with your racket, play with your heart.”
The phrase "let your racket do the talking" is well-known, but your heart infuses your play with passion.
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December 30 – “The best item you can wear on the tennis court is a smile.”
Stepping onto the tennis court should feel like entering your "happy place." Engage in what you love and let it shine through with a smile!
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December 31- “Be proud but not satisfied…YET!”
Take pride in everything you've achieved this year, both in tennis and life. However, don't rest on your laurels; there is always room for more accomplishments because;
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“If you're breathin', there is a reason.”
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