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Speaker 1: I'm just really excited about what sport is like, how

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Speaker 1: it's evolved, and that I get to kind of be

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Speaker 1: writing different chapters and help other people write theres.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, good afternoon, Good evening, Emily O Badi. Here

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Speaker 2: you are listening to episode three hundred and thirteen of Hurdle,

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Speaker 2: a wellness focused podcast where I talk to inspirational people

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Speaker 2: about everything from their highest hies and toughest moments to

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Speaker 2: essential tips on how to live a healthier, happier, more

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Speaker 2: motivated life.

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Speaker 3: We all go through our fair share of hurdles.

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Speaker 2: My goal through these discussions is to empower you to

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Speaker 2: better navigate yours and move with intention so that you

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Speaker 2: can stride towards your own big potential and of course

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Speaker 2: have some fun along the way.

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Speaker 3: For today's episode.

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Speaker 2: I am so amped to bring you my conversation with

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Speaker 2: Dana Matthewson. She stands as one of the most prominent

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Speaker 2: paralympians and professional wheelchair tennis players in US history period.

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Speaker 2: She is the first American woman to win a Grand

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Speaker 2: Slam title in wheelchair tennis and is currently a ranked

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Speaker 2: number one in the United States. Like many at Paralympians,

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Speaker 2: she is excitedly gearing up for this year's Games, which

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Speaker 2: start this Wednesday, August twenty eighth, and I have my

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Speaker 2: fingers crossed that I'm heading back to Paris on September first,

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Speaker 2: and hoping that I might be able to squeeze in

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Speaker 2: some time to watch her play. Dana's story is absolutely remarkable.

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Speaker 2: In today's episode, she talks to me about how she

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Speaker 2: was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition at the age

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Speaker 2: of eleven, which left her paralyzed from the waist down. Now,

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Speaker 2: it was her others, persistence and never ending support that

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Speaker 2: introduced her to wheelchair tennis at age thirteen, and that

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Speaker 2: is when everything changed.

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Speaker 3: In our convo today.

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Speaker 2: Dana talks to me about how wheelchair tennis became a

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Speaker 2: quick passion for her and helped her reclaim independence that

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Speaker 2: she lost when she was paralyzed. We talk about what

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Speaker 2: it was like for her to attend the University of

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Speaker 2: Arizona on an athletic scholarship, then moving to London for

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Speaker 2: a couple years to work on a degree in audiology,

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Speaker 2: and of course the transition to playing wheelchair tennis as

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Speaker 2: a professional.

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Speaker 3: Data gives us the.

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Speaker 2: Lowdown on what the sport requires, how it's different from

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Speaker 2: able bodied tennis and what she sees for the future

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Speaker 2: of this sport. As a reminder again, the Paralympics start

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Speaker 2: this Wednesday night and I personally cannot wait to watch

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Speaker 2: this woman do her thing. Make sure if you're not

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Speaker 2: yet following a law with Hurdle on Instagram, do it

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Speaker 2: right now. It's over at Hurdle podcast. I am over

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Speaker 2: at Emily a body and with that, let's get to it.

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Speaker 3: Let's get to hurdling today.

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Speaker 2: I am sitting down with the one and only Dana Matthewson.

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Speaker 2: She's the number one a female wheelchair tennis player in

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Speaker 2: the United States.

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Speaker 3: Does it ever get old hearing that data?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely not. It's something that you put a lot of

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Speaker 1: time and work into, and to be able to say

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Speaker 1: that you're the number one in anything that you put

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Speaker 1: a lot of blood, sweat and tears into feels incredible.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't get old ever.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't get old ever for some that are listening

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Speaker 2: to this right now, they may not even know that

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Speaker 2: wheelchair tennis exists. So talk to us a little bit

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Speaker 2: about when you first found out about wheelchair tennis and

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Speaker 2: if you were as enthusiastic about it then as you

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Speaker 2: are now definitely not. I, like you and many other

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Speaker 2: people probably when you initially heard about me, had never

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Speaker 2: heard of wheelchair tennis before.

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Speaker 1: I grew up, not a sheltered kid by any means,

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Speaker 1: But I think our country is so big that you

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Speaker 1: don't often run into different demographics all the time, if

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Speaker 1: that makes sense. And so I hadn't really met people

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Speaker 1: with disabilities that weren't also someone else's grandparent or someone

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Speaker 1: that was very sick. And it's sad that that was

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Speaker 1: my life that I hadn't seen that, but that was

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Speaker 1: the truth. And so after I got injured when I

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Speaker 1: was ten, I got a rare autoimmune disease called transverse

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Speaker 1: miilitis that caused me to go from being a very healthy,

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Speaker 1: able bodied kid to someone who was paralyzed and needed

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Speaker 1: a wheelchair two hours later. I had no idea what

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Speaker 1: wheelchair sports were. I had no interest in them. I

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Speaker 1: couldn't conceptualize what they would look like. If you can

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Speaker 1: imagine a ten year old being told they would play

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Speaker 1: sports in a wheelchair, and the only people in chairs

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Speaker 1: i'd seen were grandparents, I was like, well, how's that

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Speaker 1: going to work? Why would I do that? It seems

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Speaker 1: silly to me now because I've seen so many incredible

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Speaker 1: athletes with disabilities now, but at the time, I just

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Speaker 1: I wanted no part of it. My mom, luckily, was like,

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Speaker 1: do you know what you're going like? You're an active

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Speaker 1: kid before your injury, you're going to be an active

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Speaker 1: one after. And she signed me up for every camp

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Speaker 1: under the sun, regardless of me protesting. So there was rugby,

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Speaker 1: there was basketball, and then tennis, and tennis ended up

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Speaker 1: being the one that I just liked more than the others.

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Speaker 1: For those that don't know what wheelchair tennis would look like,

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Speaker 1: it's very similar to the able bodied game. The only

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Speaker 1: difference is that we get two bounces if we want

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Speaker 1: to use them, as long as the first bounce is

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Speaker 1: within the regulation court. So the net height is the

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Speaker 1: exact same. People always ask like, is it a shorter net,

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Speaker 1: is it a smaller court? It's not. All of that's

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Speaker 1: the exact same. The rackets we use are the same,

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Speaker 1: the balls that we use are the same, The scoring

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Speaker 1: is the exact same. The only difference is the bounce rule,

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Speaker 1: and you'll find that at the professional level a lot

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Speaker 1: of us don't use that second bounce anyway, because we

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Speaker 1: don't need it, or it gives your opponent too much time.

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Speaker 1: So it's really seamless between the able bodied and wheelchair

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Speaker 1: counterpart at the pro level, and I think that's such

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Speaker 1: a cool thing. The only difference is really that I'm

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Speaker 1: moving on wheels and they're moving on their feet.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that visual or that explanation that you shared about

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Speaker 2: how you were so resistant to play sports in a wheelchair,

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Speaker 2: that's entirely understandable, right, this complete change in your life

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Speaker 2: in such a short amount of time. Do you remember

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Speaker 2: how you felt when you started playing? Were you really

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Speaker 2: frustrated about the circumstance.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that. I there's a lot of ways

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Speaker 1: to break down. I think my emotional flow through that

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Speaker 1: time in my life. You have to remember I was

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Speaker 1: ten years old, right, and as you can think back

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Speaker 1: to like a teenage girl yourself when you're ten, you're

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Speaker 1: wanting to look like everybody else, and like if someone

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Speaker 1: buys a pair of jeans, you're like, I got to

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Speaker 1: have those jeans, Or like you know, someone starts wearing

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Speaker 1: their hair a certain way, you want to do that too.

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Speaker 1: And I think then for me to have something that

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Speaker 1: made me stick out so obviously that's dunk, you know,

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Speaker 1: like that's something that I couldn't conceal no matter what,

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Speaker 1: and that made fitting in feel like the most impossible thing.

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Speaker 1: And I was really lucky that I had really great

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Speaker 1: friends and I never I was never made to feel

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Speaker 1: ostracized or anything like that. But everyone internalizes their own

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Speaker 1: what they perceive as flaws, and I think for me

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Speaker 1: at that point, that was a massive one and it's

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Speaker 1: still one that I struggle with sometimes today. I'd be

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Speaker 1: lying if I told you I didn't. So that mentally

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Speaker 1: was the biggest hurdle was just being different from everybody.

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Speaker 1: But that was a big thing that attracted me to

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Speaker 1: adaptive or wheelchair sports was that I met so many

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Speaker 1: other people that were my age, or even adults or

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Speaker 1: paralympians or professional athletes that were just like me. And

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, where have these people been?

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Speaker 1: You know, like I met kids that were my age

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Speaker 1: that were you know, super active, super healthy, seemingly super

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Speaker 1: happy with their lives. And I was like, whoa, this

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Speaker 1: is so cool, because the thing that makes people so

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Speaker 1: happy in life, I think, is when you can meet

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Speaker 1: people that are like yourself and you feel like you're

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Speaker 1: part of a community, and because I felt kind of

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Speaker 1: in between communities at that point in my life, I

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Speaker 1: no longer could play soccer with my able bodied friends.

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Speaker 1: I then was searching for that new community and I

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Speaker 1: found that in sports, and that was really really important

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Speaker 1: for me finding my independence again, I think after my injury.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for sharing that and such a beautiful sentiment,

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Speaker 2: that concept that you were seeking for belonging right, and

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Speaker 2: we hear it all the time.

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Speaker 3: In order to be her, you need to see her.

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Speaker 2: And so for you at that age, you saw people

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Speaker 2: that you can identify with, and fast forward to now,

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Speaker 2: I'm sure there are so many young individuals who see

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Speaker 2: you at the top of this game and think to

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Speaker 2: themselves whether or not it's within tennis, Hey, this person

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Speaker 2: is doing great things.

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Speaker 3: That means that I can do them too.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know. When I first went to

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Speaker 1: that tennis camp, I remember seeing and meeting a woman

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Speaker 1: named Karen Korb and she was a Paralympic tennis player

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Speaker 1: and I just remember seeing her and I was like,

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Speaker 1: oh my gosh, she's like so fit, and she had

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Speaker 1: all these like necklaces and bangles on, and I was like,

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Speaker 1: she's so just like interesting looking and so cool, and

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Speaker 1: I was so intrigued by her, and I remember just

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Speaker 1: like wanting to listen and soak up everything she said

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Speaker 1: about what I should be doing on court and hearing

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Speaker 1: her stories about being on Team USA. And it's so

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Speaker 1: crazy to me that when I meet future players now,

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Speaker 1: they kind of talk about me the way that I

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Speaker 1: am talking to you about Karen, And it's a real

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Speaker 1: pinch me moment, and I think it's really humbling and

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Speaker 1: reminds you like wow, like I've it's like a full

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Speaker 1: circle moment, and that to me is like my favorite thing,

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Speaker 1: Like that never gets old.

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Speaker 3: It's so special.

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Speaker 2: And also, to go back to that conversation that you

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Speaker 2: started about navigating being an other or navigating that trauma,

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Speaker 2: it never really ends right. You can do all of

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Speaker 2: the work in the world, but you're still going to

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Speaker 2: have a gremlin, so to speak, that pops in every

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Speaker 2: once in a while and makes you remember that you

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Speaker 2: are different or you did go through X or Y.

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Speaker 2: I was on a podcast myself earlier today and we

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Speaker 2: talked about how as someone that went through a major

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Speaker 2: late loss at one point in my life, I still

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Speaker 2: navigate body dysmorphia despite doing so much work on that front,

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Speaker 2: right on wanting to feel good in my body and

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Speaker 2: embrace what it is that I have to offer and

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Speaker 2: how awesome that I am. But that doesn't mean that

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Speaker 2: you still don't struggle with those thoughts that you once

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Speaker 2: had as a younger version of yourself.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, I think that my struggles very much are tied

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Speaker 1: to the wheelchair or But it's always like a physical thing,

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Speaker 1: isn't it, most often because it's something that you feel

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Speaker 1: everybody looks at, even though they might not even notice it.

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Speaker 1: And yet for me, I always feel like, well, of

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Speaker 1: course people are looking at it, because of course they

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Speaker 1: are right. It's a wheelchair. It's the first thing you

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Speaker 1: see when I come into a room. And I definitely

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Speaker 1: have days where I'm very confident about it, and I'm

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Speaker 1: confident in who I am. And those are days when

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Speaker 1: I'm probably in my workspace quote unquote, so at the

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Speaker 1: tennis center at a tournament, where I know that I'm

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Speaker 1: in a community that knows who I am, knows what

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Speaker 1: I do. But a lot of times when I go

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Speaker 1: out of that world and i'm just even a grocery

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Speaker 1: store or I'm somewhere else, I know that I'm getting

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Speaker 1: stared at or I'm very different from people. They have

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Speaker 1: no idea that I'm actually an accomplished athlete, that I

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Speaker 1: have multiple degrees or things like that, and people don't

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Speaker 1: really understand that people with disabilities can actually achieve like that,

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Speaker 1: which really is an unfortunate mindset that I wish a

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Speaker 1: lot of people in our country didn't have. But that

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Speaker 1: is probably a big reminder to me, like I'm different,

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Speaker 1: and so that definitely can weigh on you. Luckily, you

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Speaker 1: have the days that are good that help outshine those

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Speaker 1: I think, if that makes sense. And yeah, it's kind

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Speaker 1: of like a badge that you have to wear for

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Speaker 1: the rest of your life, but it's not every day

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Speaker 1: and it's not all the time, and that's okay.

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Speaker 2: And I'd love to talk a little bit about the

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Speaker 2: topic of confidence, something that, like we said, is a

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Speaker 2: continuous work in progress for all of us, no matter

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Speaker 2: how strong you feel in your sense of self. For

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Speaker 2: those that are listening to this that may struggle a

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Speaker 2: little bit with their self confidence, what do you have

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Speaker 2: to say to them? How do you show up and

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Speaker 2: stand proud and tall as you are despite having to

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Speaker 2: navigate those difficult hurdles.

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Speaker 1: It's a really good question. I wish I had like

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Speaker 1: that formulaic answer of like this is how you have

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Speaker 1: to be confident. I think I've just always had the

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Speaker 1: mindset of just keep going. I know it sounds cliche,

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Speaker 1: kind of like definding nemo, just keep swimming type of attitude,

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Speaker 1: but it really is what you have to do. I

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Speaker 1: think that, you know, having such a major setback in

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Speaker 1: my life when I was such a young age, it

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Speaker 1: kind of teaches you and ingrains in you that, like

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Speaker 1: you literally like life's gonna throw punches at you and

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Speaker 1: you just have to keep going. And that in itself

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Speaker 1: can instill a sense of confidence in you that it's

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Speaker 1: like I'm gonna be okay. I'm just gonna keep going.

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Speaker 1: Everything's gonna be fine. And I think that can go

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Speaker 1: along with the confidence of how you portray yourself to

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Speaker 1: the world. Even if you don't feel good one day,

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Speaker 1: know that tomorrow might feel better, it might feel different.

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Speaker 1: And I think that a big thing that I try

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Speaker 1: to focus on is like, yeah, I might not be

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Speaker 1: truly happy with my lower half, but that doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: there's not a lot of things that I love about

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Speaker 1: my body. At the same time, And I think that

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Speaker 1: for everything that I might wish is different about what

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Speaker 1: happened to me with a disability. Look what it's done

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Speaker 1: for me. I'm talking to you right now doing a podcast.

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Speaker 1: I've represented my country, I travel the world, I play

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Speaker 1: a sport for a living. I would never do that

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Speaker 1: had I, you know, not sustained my injury. So I

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Speaker 1: think it's it's a matter of being a bulldog, you know,

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Speaker 1: keeping your head down, keep going, but then also being

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Speaker 1: able to reframe things and step back and see the

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Speaker 1: bigger picture, if that makes sense, and just knowing that

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Speaker 1: today doesn't dictate tomorrow.

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Speaker 2: Entirely makes sense. What a really awesome sentiment that you

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Speaker 2: shared there. To go back to your journey after you

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Speaker 2: started playing at age thirteen, forced by your mother, when

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Speaker 2: did it really feel like for you that wheelchair tennis

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Speaker 2: started to click. You mentioned dabbling in other sports as well,

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Speaker 2: so the wheelchair tennis was the thing that you were like, yep,

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Speaker 2: this is the one.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know. Again, I wish I had that

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Speaker 1: one moment where I was like, do you know what

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Speaker 1: it was? April twelfth, Like it was sun finding, Like

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I think I just remember having a

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Speaker 1: lot of fun out there, and there was a different

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Speaker 1: feeling I had with tennis than I ever had with

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Speaker 1: sports growing up. And I'm not sure if that's because

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Speaker 1: it was the first individual sport that I tried, so

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Speaker 1: it challenged me in ways that I hadn't been challenged

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Speaker 1: when I was a soccer player. Team sports are incredible.

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Speaker 1: I love them. I love being part of a team,

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Speaker 1: probably why I still love play doubles now. But there's

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Speaker 1: something different about tennis. When you're playing singles, like you

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Speaker 1: have to work hard. If you're having a bad day,

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Speaker 1: you can't pass the ball, you can't do you know

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Speaker 1: what I mean, Like that it's all on you and

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Speaker 1: there's a sort of pressure and also a sort of

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Speaker 1: like a dopamine hit that you get when you do

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Speaker 1: something right because you know it was you that did it.

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Speaker 1: And I think for some reason that became really addicting

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Speaker 1: for me with tennis, and I loved it. I loved

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Speaker 1: it required me to work hard, It required me to

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Speaker 1: show up every single day, and that when I did

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Speaker 1: something great, it was because I put that hard work

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Speaker 1: into it. And I think for that stage of my

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Speaker 1: life where everything felt kind of like up in the air.

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Speaker 1: To have something that was so governed by me probably

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Speaker 1: was what drew me towards it, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 1: And I still loved basketball, I loved rugby, I loved

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Speaker 1: all those sports. But tennis also offered me the ability

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Speaker 1: to travel and to meet tons of tons of different

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Speaker 1: people and then eventually led to me going to call

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Speaker 1: and all sorts of things like that. So I think

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Speaker 1: it just it had a lot more upsides, maybe in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, and then challenged me in ways that other

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Speaker 1: sports didn't. And I'm stubborn, so I like a challenge.

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Speaker 3: I can relate to you on that.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that sentiment of it was something that I

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Speaker 2: was in control of. It was my destiny, my faith

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Speaker 2: that was in my hands by how hard I worked

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Speaker 2: at this specific thing. If you think of that broadly

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Speaker 2: in the sense of your life outside of tennis, is

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Speaker 2: there anything else that you feel like you are in

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Speaker 2: pursuit of or that you really enjoy that falls into

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Speaker 2: that same category as something that you can really do

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Speaker 2: on your own.

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Speaker 1: That's a great question. I think. For a really long time,

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Speaker 1: all the way up into just about a year ago,

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Speaker 1: that was my academic career. I've always been a student.

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Speaker 1: I think my mom always instilled that, like school is

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Speaker 1: my job ever since I was a kid, And even

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Speaker 1: when I wanted to go pro in tennis, my mom

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Speaker 1: was like, no, you're finishing your degrees, and that's degrees plural.

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Speaker 1: She made me promise that I would go and get

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Speaker 1: my master's and my doctorate in audiology, and so I

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Speaker 1: always did that alongside of tennis, and so I didn't

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Speaker 1: really have any space to do anything else hobbywise, just

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Speaker 1: because if I wasn't playing tennis, I was studying or

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Speaker 1: I was writing papers. But I think both of those

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Speaker 1: things kind of fulfilled me in different ways. So like

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Speaker 1: when the tennis part of my brain was filled up,

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Speaker 1: I could put my head down and work hard and

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Speaker 1: fill up the academic side of me, if that made sense,

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Speaker 1: And I love that. As for now, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I think I put so much time and energy into

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Speaker 1: my tennis career that the rest I try to just relax.

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Speaker 1: I've not really done that for a big part of

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Speaker 1: my life, and so it's kind of like me just

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Speaker 1: appreciating being home or spending time with my husband or

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Speaker 1: my friends or my dog. But yeah, I would say

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Speaker 1: that for a big part of my life. It's just

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Speaker 1: always been school or sports that's been the major thing.

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Speaker 2: There's so much to double click on here, but the

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Speaker 2: first thing I want to double click on is that

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Speaker 2: concept of embracing the stillness. Is it something that's challenging

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Speaker 2: for you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely. I think I'm kind of a weird dichotomy

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Speaker 1: of someone that is very lazy but also feels the

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Speaker 1: need to be doing something. So I like, if people

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Speaker 1: are like, oh, what are your hobbies? Like, literally, the

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Speaker 1: first thing that comes to mind is like, doing nothing?

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Speaker 1: Like is that a hobby? Like? The older I get,

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Speaker 1: the more I think I've realized the importance of rest.

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Speaker 1: And I think that a lot of people think that, oh,

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Speaker 1: you're not being productive by resting, But I've kind of

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Speaker 1: learned that I am actually being productive by giving my

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Speaker 1: body a rest. That is something that is healthy for me.

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Speaker 1: If I do it every day for six days, maybe

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Speaker 1: that's not productive. But you know, when I'm on the

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Speaker 1: road for eight weeks at a time and then I

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Speaker 1: come home and have a few days of rest, that's healthy.

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Speaker 1: That's good for me, and I don't always have to

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Speaker 1: be searching for things to fill my time. It's been

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Speaker 1: difficult for me to do, but I've realized how good

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Speaker 1: it is for me, and hopefully I don't get too

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Speaker 1: good at realizing how good that is for me.

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Speaker 2: Hey, maybe it's about time you gave yourself a little

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Speaker 2: bit more rest. I also talked about and highlighted your

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Speaker 2: academic accomplishments, mentioning that doctorate in audiology. What encouraged you

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Speaker 2: or what was it about the field of audiology that

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Speaker 2: really sparked your interest?

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Speaker 1: Great question. So when I was going to college in Arizona,

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Speaker 1: I remember going by the Speech and Hearing Sciences building

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Speaker 1: and I saw I just saw a lot of people

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Speaker 1: that were going in and out. I was intrigued by

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Speaker 1: what it was called. I'd never heard of speech and

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Speaker 1: hearing sciences before. My mom is a physician and she

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Speaker 1: was there with me on my college tour, and I

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Speaker 1: just asked her, like, what is that? And she explained

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Speaker 1: it to me. And I initially was gravitating towards speech pathologies,

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Speaker 1: like a speech therapist for little kids. And I remember

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Speaker 1: just going through the motions take all the classes, and

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Speaker 1: audiology was the one that stuck out. I think that

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Speaker 1: I love that it's very puzzle based. I'm a very

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Speaker 1: problem solving based person, which very closely relates to tennis.

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Speaker 1: It's a game of chess. It's a game of problem solving,

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Speaker 1: constantly thinking of what you can do next and next moves.

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Speaker 1: And audiology is very similar, like if you were to

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Speaker 1: come in, I would test your hearing with certain tests

400
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Speaker 1: that would lead me to other tests which leads to

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Speaker 1: another one and another one until I ultimately get a diagnosis.

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Speaker 1: And every patient is different, but I can immediately help

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Speaker 1: you because of the results I get, and I liked that,

404
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Speaker 1: Whereas with speech pathology, you do do diagnoses with people,

405
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Speaker 1: but it's a longer term process, almost like physical therapy

406
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Speaker 1: to help someone, where someone has to go in day

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Speaker 1: in and day out. And I wanted that immediate help

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Speaker 1: of someone, and for whatever reason, that just really clicked.

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Speaker 1: And then being able to treat a human sense was

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Speaker 1: just wild to me. And yeah, I loved it.

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Speaker 3: And I loved it.

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Speaker 2: That's so awesome to hear in What a serendipitous moment

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Speaker 2: for you to not only see this building but then

414
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Speaker 2: ask questions. There's any amount of curiosity I would say

415
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Speaker 2: that's displayed by that story.

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Speaker 3: Do you feel like you are a curious person.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, probably too curious. I would say, I've always been

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Speaker 1: the kid, like you know that stage that little kids

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Speaker 1: go towards where when they're a kid, they're like why though, why, why? Why?

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Speaker 1: I was probably the most annoying toddler to my parents.

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Speaker 1: I am always asking why, Like if there's something that

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Speaker 1: I'm really interested in and someone tells me, no, I

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Speaker 1: need to understand the rationale behind it, or I'm not

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Speaker 1: good at accepting just flat reasons without explanations. I've always

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Speaker 1: been curious for answers. I've always like learning things. Again,

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Speaker 1: that's probably a big crossover with tennis. In sports in general,

427
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Speaker 1: you're constantly having to learn things to improve your skills.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, very curious person. Sometimes too curious, but I

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Speaker 1: think it's a good trait.

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Speaker 3: Too curious is interpretive.

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Speaker 2: I would say also that arguably that curiosity probably plays

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Speaker 2: to your favor within your training. No, because you want

433
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Speaker 2: to have the best understanding of not only what your

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Speaker 2: body is capable of, but what you can do to

435
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Speaker 2: perhaps get an edge or improve that capability.

436
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,960
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I think in my training I really like to

437
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:22,960
Speaker 1: try to ask questions like, oh, should I have done

438
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,640
Speaker 1: this instead? Would this work better? How can we design

439
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 1: a drill to practice this skill today? Everything's about self improvement,

440
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,160
Speaker 1: like you said, And if you keep doing the same thing,

441
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,399
Speaker 1: or you're not curious or wanting to ask questions, then

442
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:37,439
Speaker 1: you're not going to grow and you're not going to improve.

443
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 1: And I would be super bored, to be honest. So

444
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,239
Speaker 1: I think that it definitely ties into what I do

445
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 1: in training, and I think it's ultimately what makes me

446
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:46,879
Speaker 1: a better player.

447
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 3: I love that.

448
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,480
Speaker 2: Speaking of training, let's talk a little bit about training

449
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,640
Speaker 2: and how it does differ as a wheelchair based athlete

450
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 2: versus an able bodied athlete. When you think of a

451
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,879
Speaker 2: regular session, or if you could describe a regular session

452
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,640
Speaker 2: for us, when it comes to a typical day of training,

453
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,479
Speaker 2: what does that look like? What kind of exercises are

454
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 2: you doing in addition to playing on the court.

455
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 1: What's really cool about this is that it's really not

456
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 1: that different. I think that a lot of people are like, oh, well,

457
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,920
Speaker 1: you're probably just not really doing much in the gym

458
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,399
Speaker 1: because you can only focus on a couple muscle groups

459
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: and things like that. It's like, no, absolutely not. I

460
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,679
Speaker 1: train alongside Madison Keys and other players that you might know,

461
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,200
Speaker 1: and we all use the same gym, we use the

462
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 1: same tennis courts together, and I think that's such a

463
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,919
Speaker 1: cool thing that not many people know. But in terms

464
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 1: of my specific training, I have two days of lifting,

465
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,480
Speaker 1: and with those lifts, it's a lot of stuff that

466
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 1: you would probably imagine for upper body, like you know,

467
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:52,719
Speaker 1: bicep curls, tricep dips, bench stuff like that. But then

468
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 1: I also do have use of my legs to a degree,

469
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,440
Speaker 1: so they even have you doing squats like goblet squats,

470
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: which I remember when they first told me. I was like,

471
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,240
Speaker 1: you're joking, right, Like I use a wheelchair, and they're like, no,

472
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 1: if you have muscles that work, we're going to train them.

473
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,920
Speaker 1: So I actually do quite a fair amount of lower

474
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,280
Speaker 1: body stuff as well. Yeah, there's two days of weightlifting,

475
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,000
Speaker 1: there's two days of conditioning. So where an able bodied

476
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,960
Speaker 1: athlete might work on their footwork, I'm working on my

477
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,120
Speaker 1: chair skills, which is basically the same thing. So it's

478
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,439
Speaker 1: how you move around the court. The drills are more

479
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 1: or less the same. On an able bodied tennis court.

480
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,920
Speaker 1: You would call them spider drills, where people are running

481
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 1: back and forth with cones and you're trying to time

482
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,679
Speaker 1: them and I do the exact same drill. I'm just

483
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 1: doing it in a chair. There's a lot of parallels.

484
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 1: You just have to kind of transfer whatever you would

485
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 1: see on someone's feet to someone in a wheelchair. And

486
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,439
Speaker 1: there's obviously technique involved that I will be doing that

487
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 1: someone on their feet doesn't do. Like I don't do

488
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,920
Speaker 1: a split step, obviously that someone on their feet does,

489
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: but I do something else that's unique to wheelchair tennis.

490
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,919
Speaker 1: But there are a lot of parallels. And then the

491
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: other day of the week that I have is just

492
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,920
Speaker 1: like a circuit training thing that you might see at

493
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,439
Speaker 1: like a CrossFit gym where they're pulling sleds, throwing medicine balls,

494
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. And then I also train two

495
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: times a day on the tennis court, and that's working

496
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: on different skills. That's doing match play, that's you know,

497
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 1: just improving new skills or refining old ones. So it's

498
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,879
Speaker 1: very similar to what an able bodied athlete would do.

499
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: And the only difference is really if something involves their

500
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 1: footwork or jumping or something, I'm just doing something more

501
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 1: wheelchair based, if that makes sense. But the weight stuff

502
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: is almost all the same.

503
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 2: I have to giggle a little bit, because let's go

504
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 2: back to like four to seven minutes ago when you

505
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 2: were talking about the fact that, like, oh, I was

506
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 2: just playing tennis and studying for my doctorate, and so

507
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 2: I didn't have a lot of bobbies. And when you

508
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,399
Speaker 2: talk about all of the different things that go into

509
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,679
Speaker 2: you being your best version of yourself on the tennis

510
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 2: court and then also working on your doctor in naudiology,

511
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, light work, it's fine, it's absolutely I literally.

512
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 1: Had no time. I don't know how I met a

513
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:01,719
Speaker 1: guy got married to him. I really don't know how

514
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:02,320
Speaker 1: I had time.

515
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,640
Speaker 3: Well, now you're really rubbing it in for the rest

516
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:06,479
Speaker 3: of us here.

517
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:08,160
Speaker 1: Look, I haven't wait a long time.

518
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,640
Speaker 3: Data. I'm like, shoot, I'm just not drying hard enough,

519
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:12,240
Speaker 3: I guess.

520
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:16,480
Speaker 2: But I love this for you, and it really is

521
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,119
Speaker 2: exemplary when you detail the efforts and the intricacies of

522
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,199
Speaker 2: your training, how much, how much you're really dedicated to

523
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,399
Speaker 2: your sport, and you have been for quite some time.

524
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 2: You're gearing up for your third appearance on Team USA.

525
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,040
Speaker 2: How are you feeling in this moment heading into your

526
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 2: third Olympics.

527
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to be going to my third Paralympics.

528
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,800
Speaker 1: I think it's it's always an honor to be part

529
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 1: of Team Usay, it never gets old. I think looking

530
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 1: at everything that the Olympians are doing, seeing them go

531
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,679
Speaker 1: through team processing, a lot of Paralympians joke that the

532
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:51,880
Speaker 1: Olympics are almost like a test run that we get

533
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: to watch everything on TV and be like, oh, that's

534
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:55,439
Speaker 1: where I'm going to be here, or that's the outfit

535
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 1: that we get to wear. Oh, like you get to

536
00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 1: see it before you get to do it yourself. And

537
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,760
Speaker 1: I'm getting really excited. I think that getting to be

538
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 1: part of TMOSA is an honor and it's something that

539
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,159
Speaker 1: I could say I'm a seventeen time Paralympian and I

540
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 1: don't think that the honor of that would would go

541
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:15,920
Speaker 1: away at all. So I'm very.

542
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 2: Excited taking a break from today's episode to talk to

543
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,760
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544
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545
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546
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547
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548
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549
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550
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551
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,879
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552
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553
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,960
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554
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,320
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555
00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,280
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556
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,920
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557
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,200
Speaker 2: being hydrated is the thing that allows us and enables

558
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,520
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559
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560
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561
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562
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563
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564
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,120
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565
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,840
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566
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,600
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567
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568
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569
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570
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:48,560
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571
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,400
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572
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,960
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573
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574
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575
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,560
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576
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577
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 2: a new flavor today. To go back a little bit

578
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 2: to your training, I do want to talk about how

579
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 2: you take care of your hands.

580
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:23,959
Speaker 3: I feel like this might be a weird question, but

581
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 3: it has to be.

582
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 2: There has to be some sort of a routine or

583
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 2: some sort of maintenance that you do or exercise that

584
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 2: you do just specifically strengthen your hands. Because something that

585
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 2: a lot of people may not know, who aren't familiar

586
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 2: with watching wheelchair tennis is they might think that you're

587
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 2: putting your racket down and wheeling around, but a lot

588
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 2: of it is single hand.

589
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 1: Yes, everybody thinks that we put the racket down and

590
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 1: then like like on our lap and then push and

591
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,560
Speaker 1: then pick it up and hit the ball. And I'd

592
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: like to dispel any false beliefs about that that does

593
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,240
Speaker 1: not happen, especially on the pro side. There's just no

594
00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,960
Speaker 1: time to do that and it looks silly, let's be honest.

595
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,680
Speaker 1: So yeah, like I think that the main thing that

596
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 1: really just keeps my hands how they are is the

597
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,560
Speaker 1: fact that I do use a wheelchair in daily life

598
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,200
Speaker 1: as well. So I mean, I'm definitely never going to

599
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 1: be a hand model, let's be honest, the same way

600
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,560
Speaker 1: tennis player's feet they're not going to be foot models, right, Like,

601
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,480
Speaker 1: you've got a lot of blisters, you get callouses. My

602
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: hands are basically my feet in that way. So in

603
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 1: terms of maintenance, a lot of it is really I mean,

604
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 1: I was just putting lotion on like all the time.

605
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,040
Speaker 1: But then at the same time you want to have

606
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: callouses because that prevents blisters, So it really I don't

607
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 1: have like a set routine. It's an amazing question. I

608
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: bet people that want their hands to look nicer than

609
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: I do probably have like a nine step Korean skincare

610
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 1: routine and they do something really nice.

611
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 2: But are there certain strengthening exercises that you have to

612
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,479
Speaker 2: do specific to your hands?

613
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: Do you don't know? I think that a lot of

614
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 1: it really just goes with being a wheelchair user on

615
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,239
Speaker 1: a daily basis keeps your hand and strong. I do

616
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: notice that when I come back from having a break

617
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:06,040
Speaker 1: from training, that when I go back to play, my

618
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,280
Speaker 1: hands do get sore. So I know that those muscles

619
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: do like atrophy even just from not playing for maybe

620
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,080
Speaker 1: a week. But really a lot of it just gets

621
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:20,000
Speaker 1: built up by use. There are exercises that we do

622
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 1: in the gym that just strengthen your upper body that

623
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: maybe by nature of that strength in my hands. But

624
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 1: I actually don't have any exercises where I'm like gripping

625
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: that thing for hand strength or anything like that. I

626
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,800
Speaker 1: think it's all just kind of come naturally. It's a

627
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 1: really good question, though no one's ever asked me that

628
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 1: great question.

629
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 3: Thank you. It's just curiosity for curiosity's sake.

630
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,120
Speaker 2: On that note, I do want to then continue on

631
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 2: your journey now within tennis. You said that there wasn't

632
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,480
Speaker 2: one specific moment that you were like, light bulb, this

633
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:48,760
Speaker 2: is it.

634
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 3: This is for me.

635
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 2: But obviously you did fall into a rhythm in a

636
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,479
Speaker 2: pattern where you were excelling within your sport. You got

637
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 2: a scholarship in college and then went on to continue. Then,

638
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 2: as we know, to play professionally. Talk to me about

639
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 2: that inaugural professional season and how that really impacted you,

640
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 2: about your excitement and love for the game.

641
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, that that was one of the coolest seasons I

642
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: think of my career. I think because the reason why

643
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 1: I decided to go pro and take a leave of

644
00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,480
Speaker 1: absence from my studies at Arizona was because I wanted

645
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,280
Speaker 1: to try to qualify for my first games. So my

646
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 1: first games was in Rio twenty sixteen, and in tennis,

647
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:29,920
Speaker 1: the way that you qualify is that you have a

648
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,880
Speaker 1: whole year to do it, So that would have started

649
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: in springtime of twenty fifteen leading up to spring of

650
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,720
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, so I would have had that gap to qualify.

651
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,640
Speaker 1: And I remember coming back maybe at the end of

652
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,600
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, and I was telling people like, Yeah, I'm

653
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 1: gonna I'm going to qualify for a games, and they

654
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 1: were like, no, you're not, because prior to this, I

655
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 1: actually had taken a hiatus from tennis. I'm not sure

656
00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 1: if you knew that or not, but I that was

657
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 1: me coming back and I was like, I'm coming back.

658
00:32:57,880 --> 00:32:59,520
Speaker 1: I haven't played in three years. I'm going to qualify

659
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,600
Speaker 1: for a game and everyone's like you're crazy, like you

660
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: need to have some skills to do that, and I

661
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: was like stubborn. Me was like, hold my beer, I'm

662
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 1: going to do it. And so I took the leave

663
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 1: of absence. I started traveling. I played a bunch of tournaments,

664
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 1: and my goal at that time was just to get

665
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 1: into the top twenty four in the world so that

666
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 1: I could, you know, punch my ticket to the Games.

667
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,840
Speaker 1: I didn't care about winning every single tournament. I didn't

668
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,040
Speaker 1: care about getting a medal. Of course I would have

669
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 1: loved those things, but it was just about being on

670
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:32,480
Speaker 1: the team. And so that first season, I think I

671
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,560
Speaker 1: just really embraced tour life. I embraced seeing the world,

672
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 1: I embraced playing matches, I embraced all the new experiences

673
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,760
Speaker 1: that I had, and it was incredible. I think I

674
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 1: really got a taste for what tour life was like.

675
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:49,760
Speaker 1: That was the first time that I ever got to

676
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,200
Speaker 1: travel to Asia and compete that I did the whole

677
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: European summer, playing on clay, doing all of the different surfaces,

678
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 1: and it really solidified like I like this kind of

679
00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:07,239
Speaker 1: vagabondish type of lifestyle. I liked the competition day in

680
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 1: and day out. I loved it, and that kind of

681
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: just was like a snowball effect. Once I did qualify

682
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,319
Speaker 1: for the games, it was like, maybe I'm really good

683
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,359
Speaker 1: at this. Maybe I can stay doing this and then

684
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,800
Speaker 1: see what can happen, and then here.

685
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:21,799
Speaker 3: We are now, and then here we are now.

686
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 2: I know you mentioned playing in Asia and that I

687
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,360
Speaker 2: know that that's one of your favorite places to play.

688
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 2: What is it about playing over there that really makes

689
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:30,839
Speaker 2: you light up?

690
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:33,919
Speaker 1: It's a weird response, but I think I'm just really

691
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: type A and they love rules over there, so I

692
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:41,560
Speaker 1: love it. No, There's something about like the Japanese culture,

693
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 1: for example, they're so happy to share their culture with you,

694
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 1: Like it's not very often that you go to different

695
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,040
Speaker 1: countries and they're so excited to have you there, especially

696
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 1: as like you know the quote unquote American tourists. We're

697
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 1: usually spotted out a mile away and people like, oh,

698
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,680
Speaker 1: there's an American, do you know what I mean? Whereas

699
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 1: in Asia, Japan specifically, just for this example, they love

700
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:06,799
Speaker 1: it and they want to show you foods and they

701
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:09,360
Speaker 1: want to have you there, and everything runs on a

702
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 1: schedule and everything's clean like I've never seen in my

703
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 1: life someone here in America doing what people do there.

704
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:21,200
Speaker 1: For example, I was going through a park with my

705
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 1: husband and we noticed an elderly lady planting flowers in

706
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,200
Speaker 1: like a public park. You would never see someone do

707
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:29,799
Speaker 1: that in America if someone did that in like a

708
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,760
Speaker 1: public park, like, what are you doing? This isn't your home.

709
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 1: But they do that sort of thing over there because

710
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 1: they want to better their places for each other. And

711
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:41,120
Speaker 1: I think there's just something really beautiful about that, and

712
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,279
Speaker 1: so I find it really special when I'm over there.

713
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,479
Speaker 1: I'm also half Chinese, so maybe I just love being

714
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,359
Speaker 1: in Asia. Unfortunately I've never played in China. I would

715
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,319
Speaker 1: love too, we don't have any tournaments there, but I

716
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:53,239
Speaker 1: just like it over there.

717
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:56,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and that story is

718
00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 2: a great one. I really also appreciate the center and

719
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,560
Speaker 2: surrounding the opportunity that comes hand in hand with being

720
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,520
Speaker 2: able to play sport professionally. All of this travel really

721
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,880
Speaker 2: opening you up to some really stellar experiences. When we

722
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,280
Speaker 2: go back and talk about the training, we addressed the physical,

723
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,920
Speaker 2: but we haven't yet talked about the mental. You shared

724
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 2: a bit about the struggles that go hand in hand

725
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,879
Speaker 2: with regularly accepting the circumstance and admitting that although there

726
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,360
Speaker 2: can be at times things that you might want to change,

727
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,160
Speaker 2: you are in a place now where you can accept

728
00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 2: what is and stop being So, let's say, frustrated with

729
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,520
Speaker 2: what isn't talk to me about the mental side of

730
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,279
Speaker 2: things for you. Do you work with a sports psychologist?

731
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,200
Speaker 2: How do you train your brain to perform your best?

732
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,880
Speaker 1: Yeah? Great question, so definitely work with a sports psychologist.

733
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 1: Mental skills training is something that I wish I had

734
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,080
Speaker 1: come into earlier in my career, but it's something that

735
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 1: I've done ever since I moved here to Orlando to

736
00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,440
Speaker 1: train at the USTA, and I learned a lot. I

737
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,400
Speaker 1: know that people always talk about how your mentality plays

738
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,600
Speaker 1: such a big role in sports, but I think I

739
00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:11,239
Speaker 1: was too immature to understand or accept that. In the

740
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:13,719
Speaker 1: earlier part of my career. It was kind of like, yeah, well,

741
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,640
Speaker 1: my brain works fine, right, Like people told me I'm smart,

742
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,320
Speaker 1: so I'm fine. But obviously that's not the case, right everyone.

743
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,480
Speaker 1: It's like a muscle. Everyone needs to go to the

744
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:24,600
Speaker 1: gym to build up their muscles, and that your brain

745
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,160
Speaker 1: is no different. That was explained to me one of

746
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: the first times that I had a mental skills session,

747
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,879
Speaker 1: and it really resonated with me. I think that I've

748
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:36,239
Speaker 1: learned that there is a lot to be said about

749
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 1: how you speak to yourself, and that that can really

750
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 1: apply off the court as much as it does on.

751
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,360
Speaker 1: There were studies that found that players that win a

752
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:48,879
Speaker 1: lot of the time, like consistently win, so top five

753
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,960
Speaker 1: ranked players are the ones that actually say things to

754
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,200
Speaker 1: themselves like that's okay, great point. Doesn't matter that I

755
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:57,479
Speaker 1: lost that one. You did all the right things. Let's

756
00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:01,200
Speaker 1: do this for the next one, Like just constantly reinforcing

757
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:05,600
Speaker 1: themselves and kind of being that like cheerleader for themselves.

758
00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:08,319
Speaker 1: You have twenty five seconds in between every point, and

759
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,799
Speaker 1: you need to fill that with constructive thoughts. And I

760
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,520
Speaker 1: think that prior to working with a mental skills coach,

761
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,920
Speaker 1: a lot of my thoughts could be negative, like all

762
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 1: you saw, how did you miss that ball that was

763
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 1: so easy? Blah blah blah, And you don't feel like

764
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,560
Speaker 1: it affects your next point, but it does, And so

765
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 1: that was a big thing I learned. You also learn

766
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: a lot about creating routines for yourself, which I found

767
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:34,239
Speaker 1: really interesting. I don't know if you've watched a lot

768
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,719
Speaker 1: of tennis, but like everyone makes fun of Rafa and

769
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:40,880
Speaker 1: Nadal or share a Pova or different players for their

770
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,840
Speaker 1: routines that they do before they serve, like picking wedgies

771
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:45,960
Speaker 1: or always having to tuck hair behind their ears, or

772
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 1: wipe sweat even if there's no sweat, And I've learned

773
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,399
Speaker 1: that that's for a reason. It's not because someone has

774
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:56,040
Speaker 1: OCD or that they're neurotic. It's because you're trying to

775
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:58,720
Speaker 1: make every point feel the same, regardless of what country

776
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,960
Speaker 1: you're in, what court you're on, whether it's match point

777
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,960
Speaker 1: or whether it's the very first point of the match.

778
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 1: And that's something that's really helped me a lot. It

779
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 1: creates like routine and comfort in a very stressful environment.

780
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,520
Speaker 1: And I would have not learned any of that stuff

781
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:15,879
Speaker 1: without mental skills. And I still have a lot to learn,

782
00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 1: but it's definitely helped me a lot.

783
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,799
Speaker 2: Do people gatekeep their routines or are you allowed to

784
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:22,800
Speaker 2: talk about it openly?

785
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,360
Speaker 1: I think you really see people's routines just because a

786
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:29,719
Speaker 1: lot of them are very physical. So like a lot

787
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,000
Speaker 1: of people in tennis will go and wipe their face

788
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:36,000
Speaker 1: off with a towel after a bad point, or you know,

789
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,839
Speaker 1: you'll see people have to bounce the ball X number

790
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:42,279
Speaker 1: of times before they serve. My routine specifically is like

791
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,560
Speaker 1: I have to literally bounce the ball three times with

792
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:47,959
Speaker 1: a racket. Then if I go to lineup for a serve,

793
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:50,640
Speaker 1: I'm bouncing in another three times just in my hand,

794
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 1: and then I serve. And there's really no rhyme or

795
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:54,960
Speaker 1: reason for that. It just was like I like how

796
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,080
Speaker 1: that felt, and then it just became my routine. Yea, yeah, everyone.

797
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,719
Speaker 1: I don't think people really gatekeep what they do, but

798
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:04,399
Speaker 1: they probably gate keep what they say because it's all

799
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 1: just in their own head, right, And I think a

800
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 1: lot of us might feel weird if we were to

801
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 1: tell people like the kind of stuff we tell ourselves.

802
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:15,240
Speaker 1: But the best people I'm learning are ones that literally

803
00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:18,759
Speaker 1: just positively scream like great job, you're doing great, like

804
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: in their head over and over and over again.

805
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:22,880
Speaker 3: Are you telling me that you won't tell us what

806
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:24,200
Speaker 3: you're saying to yourself.

807
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 1: And no, I'll tell you. I literally just try to

808
00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 1: tell myself like great job, data, you're doing great, and

809
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,759
Speaker 1: sometimes I mouth it. You can see me do it,

810
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:34,759
Speaker 1: and that's not to say that I don't ever get frustrated.

811
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,480
Speaker 1: I think I've also learned that I have to allow

812
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:40,160
Speaker 1: myself the first three or four seconds to react to

813
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,719
Speaker 1: a point, whether that be excited or bad. I have

814
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:47,920
Speaker 1: no idea how some people can play Roger Federer, for instance,

815
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,600
Speaker 1: I know that he actually used to have some anger

816
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:54,120
Speaker 1: management issues earlier in his career if you ever watch those,

817
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:55,680
Speaker 1: and a lot of people are shocked to hear that

818
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 1: because when you watch him later, he's almost emotionless in

819
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:02,319
Speaker 1: between points, can't tell if he's winning or losing just

820
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,359
Speaker 1: by looking at him, and I personally can't do that.

821
00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: Like I if I've played a point that I thought

822
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:09,560
Speaker 1: was so good and that I lost it at the

823
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 1: very end, I have to have that split second where

824
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:18,400
Speaker 1: I'm like upset or reacting, and then I'm allowed to

825
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,840
Speaker 1: then go into my routines, think about what I'm going

826
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,799
Speaker 1: to do for the next point, reinforce my positivity or

827
00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 1: what have you. But everyone's different that way. Some people

828
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:31,279
Speaker 1: try not to feel negative at all. I personally have

829
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:33,279
Speaker 1: to for a split second just to get it out

830
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:37,000
Speaker 1: of my system. But that just goes to my personal routine,

831
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:38,000
Speaker 1: and everyone's different.

832
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:41,640
Speaker 2: Hey, it's understandable, right, you don't work hard, whether it

833
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,319
Speaker 2: be on or off the court, for things not to

834
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,520
Speaker 2: go as you'd hoped. Right, So when these instances happen

835
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,839
Speaker 2: that there is frustration and things don't show up or

836
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 2: pan out as you want them to, you own that

837
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,440
Speaker 2: moment and then you out of the opportunity to respond

838
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,440
Speaker 2: and decide what's best for you moving forward. And I

839
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:05,400
Speaker 2: think that that's a really beautiful lesson that is so applicable,

840
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,319
Speaker 2: like I said, off of the court, regardless of who

841
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,000
Speaker 2: you are, whether or not you played tennis.

842
00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,920
Speaker 1: Absolutely, yeah. I think there's so many metaphors that I've

843
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,560
Speaker 1: learned from tennis that apply to life, like what we've

844
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 1: kind of talked about already about like you know, keep

845
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 1: going the last point doesn't tactate the next one, And

846
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:25,120
Speaker 1: what we're talking about now is really no exception. There's

847
00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 1: so many metaphors with tennis that can help you do

848
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:29,680
Speaker 1: better in life. I can see why a lot of

849
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:33,000
Speaker 1: people sell a lot of books about mental skills with tennis,

850
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,120
Speaker 1: and everybody's buying them because it all applies.

851
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:38,160
Speaker 2: I see your mental wheels turning, Dan as like, okay,

852
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,000
Speaker 2: book author, Right, that's what I'm gonna do when I'm

853
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:46,680
Speaker 2: feeling exactly now. To go back to the mental skills training,

854
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:49,720
Speaker 2: we kind of like just about the things that you

855
00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:52,239
Speaker 2: you worked on or what really helped you, But for

856
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 2: the actual training itself, what does that look like in practice?

857
00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:01,160
Speaker 1: It can change depending on what we're working on. Sometimes

858
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,880
Speaker 1: it's literally me just talking to him the way that

859
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:08,600
Speaker 1: I would talk to a therapist, because sometimes if you're

860
00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:11,480
Speaker 1: stressed about something or whatever, if you just need to

861
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:13,919
Speaker 1: get that out, that will actually help you just perform better.

862
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:18,800
Speaker 1: So sometimes a training session is just talking. Other times

863
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:22,239
Speaker 1: it's unpacking a performance that I might have had, so

864
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: watching film and then unpacking things or remembering certain points

865
00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:29,360
Speaker 1: and going like, do you know what I think that

866
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:31,319
Speaker 1: here I was really nervous and this is what I

867
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:34,640
Speaker 1: did wrong. Or I'll tell him that I'm having a

868
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:37,920
Speaker 1: lot of trouble committing to a shot. I get nervous.

869
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,120
Speaker 1: My biggest thing that I struggle with is I'm more

870
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:44,719
Speaker 1: of an aggressive hitter, but that also for that to work,

871
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,800
Speaker 1: you need to have a lot of confidence in yourself

872
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:49,000
Speaker 1: to hit like that, right, Like, I'm not that person

873
00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,560
Speaker 1: that likes to just get balls back and run around

874
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:55,240
Speaker 1: and scramble, and so when I'm feeling nervous, I'm morphed

875
00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:57,600
Speaker 1: into that other type of player. But that's not where

876
00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:00,120
Speaker 1: I find a lot of success, and that can be

877
00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:04,040
Speaker 1: a really hard balancing act to manage. And so I've

878
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:06,200
Speaker 1: had a lot of talks with him about how do

879
00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:10,719
Speaker 1: I convince myself to be brave And a lot of

880
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:16,560
Speaker 1: that comes with visualizing. So sometimes I'll literally sit there

881
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:19,720
Speaker 1: with my eyes closed and he walks me through visualization.

882
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:23,520
Speaker 1: So he'll have me like picture a scene of a

883
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:26,359
Speaker 1: tennis court, a very specific memory of a court where

884
00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:29,399
Speaker 1: I can like literally feel like I'm there. Then we

885
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:33,920
Speaker 1: go through motions of either constructing points or how it

886
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:37,000
Speaker 1: feels to win points, how it you know, is there

887
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:39,920
Speaker 1: something that makes me feel powerful? What am I wearing

888
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,920
Speaker 1: that day? What color is it? You know, very detail

889
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:46,080
Speaker 1: oriented things. I'd say a big bulk of my training

890
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:50,319
Speaker 1: has been visualization based, just because that's that helps a

891
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:53,640
Speaker 1: lot with the feeling of confidence. But there's a lot

892
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,120
Speaker 1: of different things that we had to work on when

893
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,759
Speaker 1: I first started because I was so new. So, like

894
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 1: what you do in between points in terms of breathing,

895
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,680
Speaker 1: type of breathing, you need to be doing like there's

896
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:07,400
Speaker 1: belly breathing where you're a lot of times, if you

897
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,600
Speaker 1: were to breathe in deep right now, your stomach contracts

898
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,719
Speaker 1: in and a lot of times we actually want to

899
00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:16,879
Speaker 1: have the opposite, where you're filling up your belly outwards.

900
00:45:17,719 --> 00:45:20,560
Speaker 1: I don't remember why, but I remember that I had

901
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:24,480
Speaker 1: to learn what belly breathing was. I had to learn

902
00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:27,320
Speaker 1: different ways to do like box breathing where you're holding

903
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:30,160
Speaker 1: your breath for four, breathing in, breathing out, all of

904
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,280
Speaker 1: those different types of counts to relax myself. So I'd

905
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,200
Speaker 1: say there's been a lot of different things, but a

906
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:39,000
Speaker 1: lot of it for me personally, has been focused around

907
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:41,720
Speaker 1: the sense of confidence in how to keep myself being brave.

908
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love a box bruh first and foremost.

909
00:45:46,239 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 3: Secondly, I do I really do.

910
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,000
Speaker 2: I feel like it is one hundred percent my go

911
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:53,759
Speaker 2: to in any situation where something feels like it is

912
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:57,920
Speaker 2: beyond my control, I'll usually either repeat a mantra that

913
00:45:57,920 --> 00:45:59,920
Speaker 2: feels really good for me right now.

914
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,239
Speaker 3: I don't know where this came from.

915
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:05,360
Speaker 2: I had never used it before, but in a chaotic

916
00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:08,000
Speaker 2: time for me, in this moment, I say to myself

917
00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:10,080
Speaker 2: you are made for this moment, and it reminds me

918
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:13,640
Speaker 2: that I am capable of handling whatever chaos that is

919
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:14,520
Speaker 2: happening around me.

920
00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:16,640
Speaker 3: So I will lend it to you and everyone.

921
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:18,920
Speaker 1: I'm going to use that in Paris. I think I'm

922
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 1: made for this moment. No, No, I really love that

923
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:25,920
Speaker 1: because that goes with like a confident feeling right, like

924
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,399
Speaker 1: I'm made for this moment, right, And.

925
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:30,880
Speaker 2: Even when it feels like things are beyond your control,

926
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:33,000
Speaker 2: it's like, no, like I am made for this moment,

927
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:35,360
Speaker 2: Like I get to show up and decide what happens

928
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:38,040
Speaker 2: next or put my best foot forward and respond right.

929
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:41,319
Speaker 2: And so I either run into that affirmation at this

930
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:44,360
Speaker 2: point that's the one that's resonating with me, or I'll

931
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:47,320
Speaker 2: do at least like three to four rounds of box

932
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:50,840
Speaker 2: breath and it just helps you reset and remember, like

933
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:51,919
Speaker 2: who the hell you are?

934
00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 3: Right, It's like notally it is, I've got this.

935
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:58,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, yeah, You've already gone through mental skills training.

936
00:46:58,320 --> 00:46:59,479
Speaker 1: You're ready to be a tennis player.

937
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:01,120
Speaker 3: I think I'm to be at onnes Is Layer.

938
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,080
Speaker 2: I don't know how good I am with the racket,

939
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:05,960
Speaker 2: but I do make sure to go every year to

940
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,120
Speaker 2: the us open with my oldest and dearest friend.

941
00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:10,640
Speaker 1: Yes, amazing.

942
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,480
Speaker 2: Well, I love these mental training tricks, and I really

943
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:20,120
Speaker 2: resonate with this visualization tool. Something that I also use

944
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:23,480
Speaker 2: in addition to that visualization and what I mentioned about

945
00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:27,120
Speaker 2: the mantras is something called I am statements. So when

946
00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:31,120
Speaker 2: things feel that are beyond my control, I sit down

947
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:35,120
Speaker 2: and I, through visualization or actually seeing things in front

948
00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:38,120
Speaker 2: of me, write down facts that I know to be true.

949
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:40,560
Speaker 2: So right now, if I'm about to sit down with

950
00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:43,320
Speaker 2: you to record this podcast and I'm feeling really nervous

951
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:45,960
Speaker 2: or anxious about it because I'm such a fangirl, I

952
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,759
Speaker 2: can sit down and look at my notebook and write

953
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:52,080
Speaker 2: down things like I am a successful podcaster, I am

954
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:52,919
Speaker 2: good at what I do.

955
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:55,760
Speaker 3: I am someone who gets hired.

956
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:57,920
Speaker 2: Because I'm good at what I'm doing, Like things like

957
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:02,280
Speaker 2: that that are facts, and that helps kind of shove

958
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:06,600
Speaker 2: that imposter syndrome gremlin to the side that says I

959
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:08,799
Speaker 2: don't know if I can do this, and affirms that

960
00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:10,080
Speaker 2: not only can you do.

961
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:11,880
Speaker 3: That thing, but you can do it well.

962
00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:15,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. I think that that's something that

963
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:17,600
Speaker 1: I'm hearing this and I'm like, oh, I want to

964
00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:18,760
Speaker 1: do that. That's a great idea.

965
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:21,600
Speaker 2: This is the goal, right You and I are here

966
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,400
Speaker 2: for the betterment of all of the hurdlers that are

967
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:25,600
Speaker 2: listening to this conversation.

968
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:28,840
Speaker 1: It's great. No, I'm definitely going to take a page

969
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:31,279
Speaker 1: out of your book, so to speak, and do a

970
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:34,359
Speaker 1: little bit of that. On match days, I actually have

971
00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:37,160
Speaker 1: a little note card where I write down jobs for myself.

972
00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:41,200
Speaker 1: I'm very job oriented, so depending on who I'm playing,

973
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:44,160
Speaker 1: I'll have little list for myself, like three or four

974
00:48:44,239 --> 00:48:46,920
Speaker 1: jobs that I want to execute during the match. And

975
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:48,960
Speaker 1: some of those things are mental, and I think I'm

976
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:51,279
Speaker 1: going to add a couple things saying like I am

977
00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:54,440
Speaker 1: such and such or I'm made for this moment. I

978
00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:57,520
Speaker 1: love that. I'm going to write my note cards for sure.

979
00:48:57,800 --> 00:48:59,719
Speaker 3: I'm on team data. I'm here to help.

980
00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:03,920
Speaker 2: Someone comes to your Instagram page, they see the number

981
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:07,719
Speaker 2: one wheelchair based tennis player in the United States. You

982
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:10,640
Speaker 2: look in the mirror. What is it that you see

983
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:11,799
Speaker 2: looking back at you?

984
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:15,400
Speaker 1: Gosh, I don't know. I think if you if you

985
00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:19,120
Speaker 1: say that sentence before I look in the mirror, then

986
00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:22,799
Speaker 1: I see a tennis player. You know. I think I'm

987
00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:25,680
Speaker 1: someone that like anybody else looks in the mirror and

988
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:28,920
Speaker 1: probably initially sees a flaw that they don't like. So

989
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:31,719
Speaker 1: I think that it's it would be a good practice

990
00:49:31,719 --> 00:49:34,760
Speaker 1: for me to look in the mirror and say those affirmations,

991
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:37,080
Speaker 1: like I am the number one wilchair tennis player in

992
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,200
Speaker 1: the United States, I am number eight in the world,

993
00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:42,520
Speaker 1: I am a college graduate, I am X Y or Z.

994
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:46,120
Speaker 1: I think that it's definitely something that I carry proudly

995
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:48,279
Speaker 1: within myself. But do I look in a mirror and

996
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:50,960
Speaker 1: think that all the time? No, But I think that

997
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,719
Speaker 1: I would probably have more confidence if I did. I

998
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:56,600
Speaker 1: think that's a great I'm getting a lot of good

999
00:49:56,640 --> 00:49:58,440
Speaker 1: mental skills training from you.

1000
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:04,919
Speaker 2: We're giving everyone homework. Also, that's listening. Yes, you now

1001
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:08,920
Speaker 2: need to write down eight I am statements and practice

1002
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:12,440
Speaker 2: saying them in the mirror for at least one minute

1003
00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:13,440
Speaker 2: every morning.

1004
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:15,080
Speaker 1: It's your hurdle homework.

1005
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:17,279
Speaker 2: Your hurdle homework. Oh my god, it's going to be

1006
00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:21,080
Speaker 2: a new segment on the show. Just love that. We

1007
00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:23,640
Speaker 2: are coming to the end of our conversation today, which

1008
00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:25,920
Speaker 2: I have seriously so much enjoyed.

1009
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,120
Speaker 3: But before I let you go, I would be remiss

1010
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:30,200
Speaker 3: if I didn't ask you.

1011
00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:34,680
Speaker 2: Aside from the pending Paralympics on deck, what excites you

1012
00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:35,239
Speaker 2: right now?

1013
00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:39,080
Speaker 1: I think just being I mean I've been away for

1014
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:41,759
Speaker 1: the entire summer. I've been away for nine weeks, so

1015
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:44,720
Speaker 1: just being home right now excites me. I think getting

1016
00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:47,440
Speaker 1: to spend time with my husband really excites me. He

1017
00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:51,839
Speaker 1: is doing a medical residency up in Gainesville right now,

1018
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:54,400
Speaker 1: so we don't live together during the week, and so

1019
00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:56,200
Speaker 1: any time that I actually get to spend time with

1020
00:50:56,280 --> 00:51:00,000
Speaker 1: him is really exciting. Aside from that, I'm really excited

1021
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:03,160
Speaker 1: about just the growth of wheelchair tennis. I think that

1022
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:07,640
Speaker 1: I'm seeing so many cool things happening just within Orlando.

1023
00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:09,880
Speaker 1: Like we've got Maylee, who is a new up and

1024
00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:12,560
Speaker 1: comer player that has come out and is basically moving

1025
00:51:12,560 --> 00:51:14,720
Speaker 1: here very soon. She's going to be my doubles partner

1026
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:17,080
Speaker 1: in Paris, hopefully if she gets a wildcard, which we

1027
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:21,040
Speaker 1: should find out in a few days. So seeing things

1028
00:51:21,080 --> 00:51:22,720
Speaker 1: like that, like I used to be the only wheelchair

1029
00:51:22,840 --> 00:51:25,239
Speaker 1: tennis player here, She's coming now and I get to

1030
00:51:25,320 --> 00:51:27,359
Speaker 1: kind of have that full circle moment where I get

1031
00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:30,440
Speaker 1: to help coach her and you know, have training sessions

1032
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:33,040
Speaker 1: with her. Now We've got more and more of our

1033
00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:35,759
Speaker 1: junior boys coming in. It's a cool time. I think

1034
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:39,000
Speaker 1: that I'm just really excited about what sport is like,

1035
00:51:39,239 --> 00:51:41,279
Speaker 1: how it's evolved, and that I get to kind of

1036
00:51:41,680 --> 00:51:44,560
Speaker 1: be writing different chapters and help other people write there

1037
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:45,360
Speaker 1: as it's exciting.

1038
00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:49,359
Speaker 2: It's so special right now, Dana, you have an opportunity

1039
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:52,239
Speaker 2: to offer yourself a piece of advice looking back on

1040
00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:56,080
Speaker 2: that hurdle, the resistance that you felt of trying something new,

1041
00:51:56,160 --> 00:52:01,040
Speaker 2: of being forced into this wheelchair beyond your choice. You

1042
00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:04,080
Speaker 2: have an opportunity, knowing what you know now, to offer

1043
00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:06,520
Speaker 2: that younger self a piece of advice.

1044
00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:07,520
Speaker 3: What do you tell her?

1045
00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:11,600
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid of being different and try new things anyway,

1046
00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:13,000
Speaker 1: because you might fall in love with them.

1047
00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:17,279
Speaker 3: Try new things anyway. Dana Matthewson, I'm so amped for you.

1048
00:52:17,360 --> 00:52:20,319
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be cheering you on in Paris hopefully IRL.

1049
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:23,840
Speaker 2: For those that don't follow along with you just yet,

1050
00:52:23,880 --> 00:52:25,000
Speaker 2: how do they keep up with you?

1051
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:25,600
Speaker 3: On social?

1052
00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:29,240
Speaker 1: Search for me on all the different social channels. Everything

1053
00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:31,680
Speaker 1: is just under my name. Look for Dana Matthewson. But

1054
00:52:31,719 --> 00:52:34,480
Speaker 1: Matthewson's got one tea and you'll find me.

1055
00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:35,680
Speaker 3: And you'll find me.

1056
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:38,759
Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast,

1057
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:40,640
Speaker 2: Another Hurdle Conquered.

1058
00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:42,000
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.