tennis – Damocles' Journal

Tennis has consumed my life.

I’m down to 84kgs, which means I have lost 3 kgs in 2 months.

This is amazing progress, something I didn’t realise until I typed it out. It’s also gone to show the lengths I’ve taken to commit to this fitness journey.

There are now way more positive routines that I’ve instilled into my daily life.

Immediately after lunch, I like to go for a walk at the office. It’s nothing punishing, just a 30-minute walk at a leisurely pace but it’s enough to keep my legs moving and chipping away at the 10K daily milestone. Averaging around 3-4 thousand steps, up a small hill that just challenges me slightly, it’s the perfect way to shake off the rust of sitting down for 3 hours and get myself moving again.

I like the walk, not only because it gets me away from the office and the stress, but also because it’s nice to breathe the external air and suffer the weather conditions.

Rain, Sun, Wind … I just grit my teeth and get through it because not moving would be worse.

My meals have also shrunk down, to try and accommodate the general rule of outputting more than inputting. But like any part of going on an exercise plan, dieting is the worst part of it all.

I’ve relapsed a little bit here and there. Inhaled a bag of crisps, ate with my eyes over fresh hot chips and downed a bag of Natural Confectionary candy …. but overall I’ve been trying to hold steady. These relapses only happen once a week and I’m trying to not cave or at the very least not eat the whole damn thing in one sitting.

But I know that dieting is the critical key to lose weight. If I continue to eat the same way with the same bad habits and poor choices in food, no amount of tennis, gym and walking is going to help.

So, I’m sticking to my strict, lean meal prep. And to be honest, the scale is reflecting that discipline. Which is a huge relief.

Because if I’ve been angry, frustrated and moody over my stomach rumbling, it better be for something.

But onto more positive news, another really healthy routine is going to the gym with my girlfriend regularly now. It’s been an amazing story to see my girlfriend, who was never an athlete really push herself in the gym and on the tennis courts. Her enthusiasm and infectious need to move motivates me to always push myself as well.

Whilst I keep telling her that her coordination is actually quite good, she doesn’t believe me. So sweetheart, if you are reading this, this is in writing …. your coordination and athleticism are actually there, they’re just a bit rusty and we just need to dig a tiny bit more to get it out of you!

But my primary method to losing weight, is tennis.

Back then, I thought if I played tennis, I would lean myself down to a worthy go-karting weight. It actually worked. I got to my leanest at 74kgs.

And now, when I think about it …. I actually lost interest in racing (due to exorbitant costs) and became a lot more engaged in tennis.

Tennis, even at a recreational level, is still incredibly demanding. I will probably create a separate post on tennis in an IMPACT series, but it tests me like no other sports does.

It also exposes my weak mental side. The side that will relapse because its thinking too much about hot chips. The side that is a little bit lazy and complains when the going gets tough.

When I’m gassed from serving 4x double faults in a row and need to put that failure of a game aside and focus on breaking my opponent’s serve …. the stress is almost insurmountable. I need to believe in my own game; trust my tennis brain will make good IQ plays and not fear the next service game.

It exposes me in the worst way possible, destroying my confidence and yet somehow also restoring it at the same time.

To be honest, the mental aspect of tennis is really the most intriguing part to me. For me, performing at my highest level (which isn’t that good), in spite of the burning heat, the stress of the game and the sheer gladiatorial element is what is going to strengthen my resolve, my mental acumen and my ability to think under immense pressure.

It’s the ultimate way of syncing my physical body to my mental will and desire.

I hope all this development will equate to me being able to lose even more weight and become ever more trim.

Until the next update ….

~Damocles.

*Roger Federer …. forever my inspiration for sport fashion and elegant athleticism*

It’s time to get serious about fitness.

I have all the tools at my disposal to get fit. There is the gym membership that I rarely use, the sports equipment, the weather and even the supportive partner.

I’m currently a very unfit 87kgs.

The goal is to slim all the way down to 74kgs, when I was at my peak before the era of 30 began.

I’ve tried this before, last year, where I wrote almost weekly trackers, but it didn’t work.

This time though, there is a big difference. My partner is coming along for the fitness journey. This is a game-changer, because I spend so much time with her, that I often forget to monitor my calorie intake.

But we’ve established a different weekly schedule now. She is just as determined as I am to lose weight, and while that is enough for her, for me, it’s about maintaining my athleticism.

I know that I have athletic ability. I feel like I move smoother than a lot of other people, especially when I compare myself to my friends. But at my age, I can see that is starting to slip. I can’t rely on my glory days, my innate abilities anymore.

It’s gotten rusty. I can feel my body not behaving smoothly when I vault things or execute safety rolls.

And this has thrown me for a panic.

A panic that can only be resolved with …. more sports.

I am already obsessed with baseball. The goal is to try-out for my local team in March and really see if all my effort into practising on my own has paid off. I’m excited as traditionally I have only ever committed to solo sports in the past.

This will be my first real foray into a team setting and I’m curious to see if I can make new friends and enjoy something bigger than myself.

I have everything I need to start. A helmet, a bat, a glove and even cleats. It’s time to see this equipment be put to good use.

The next sport I need to dust off, is tennis.

Tennis, in my opinion, is one of the greatest sports to get fit. It strengthens your arm muscles, tones you down with its cardio, and it forces you to be mentally fit to play at a high level through very stressful situations.

It’s technically demanding, requiring you to be accurate yet softly-strong. You can’t just smash a tennis ball and expect it to land in the court. The court is simultaneously too big and too small. Too big to cover with your tired legs and yet too small when you want to ace a winner down the line.

The entire concept behind tennis, hitting it with enough power to get it past your opponent, whilst respecting the line is just amazing. You really need to master top-spin to properly play the game and any self-respecting tennis addict can see straight away when a person just picked up a racquet, versus a person who plays frequently. Add on top of that, the burning heat of the sun, your desperate need to defend your opponent’s shots and you will never find a game more demanding, more taxing and just downright gladiatorial in nature.

It is brilliant and I fell in love with it during Covid. I love playing against the wall and I’ve recently picked up my racquet, got it restrung and am now realising just how poor my conditioning is, after taking nearly a year’s break.

If baseball is going to be a twice a week exercise, one for practice days, the other for competition, tennis will be also twice a week. Once against the wall, and another against a friend.

Tennis will improve my hand-eye coordination, overall cardio and lean me down in the best of ways.

But there is still one final sport that I’m going to share with my partner.

Golf.

Low-impact, technically demanding and very frustrating.

Luckily for me, there is a tiny bit of cross-over between baseball and golf. Even tennis assists me somewhat. Because thanks to those other two sports, I’m very used to gathering power from my hips.

Golf all comes down to the swing.

Well … not exactly. You need to make sure the club face is aimed the right way, accurate gauge distances, ensure you can clear obstacles, read the wind and understand the limits of your abilities.

So no, it’s not exactly simple nor easy. It’s actually very difficult to consistently hit a tiny ball a long way.

Especially when the ball sometimes has a mind of it’s own.

But I’m slowly improving. I’m learning to relax, to not be so anxious when I square up to hit the ball. I’m actually starting to appreciate how therapeutic golf is. It lets you dissociate from the world for a solid 3 hours. There is nothing to do, except focus on hitting the ball towards the hole, appreciate the nice scenery around you and actually just switch off for a bit.

What’s more, you’re walking the entire way, gathering around 8000 steps per 9 holes and it’s as low-impact an exercise can get.

Yes, it’s expensive, yes, it’s definitely harder than it looks, but that is the beauty of golf. It’s all about you. Can you sink a ball into a hole, in as few hits as possible.

I’ve fallen in love with a golf a bit. Especially when I know from personal experience, how fun golf can be and what a beautiful distraction it is. When my dad was going through a rough time, I remember explicitly taking him out for 9 holes and it definitely helped him.

For 3 hours, he didn’t think about any of his problems. For 3 hours, his sole focus was to get the ball in the hole.

That is the gift of golf that I find incredibly meaningful. Yes it’s not going to help me lose weight faster (only dieting can) but golf is fun, it gets me out of the house and I’m genuinely excited when I get to go out on the course.

It also helps that my partner shares this new obsession/hobby with me and we can have a chill date that actually helps us move together. So yes, this sport has been nothing but generous with its ability to get closer to the people I love.

So those are the three sports that I plan on investing in for this year. And when the weather turns bad, it’s time to hit the gym and keep those gains going.

As a quite aside, if I had to name the athletes that inspired me to chase these sports …. it would be Shohei Ohtani of the LA Dodgers for Baseball, Roger Federer in 2017 for Tennis and Bryson DeChambeau for Golf, as well Tiger Woods of course.

But the point here is … if I track my calories right, and exercise as much as I do ….

Hopefully by May 2026, I can report happier news. I really hope there will be a 7 in front of my weight.

Until then, expect fortnightly progress reports.

~ Damocles.

Tag: tennis

2 Months into the 2026 Fitness Journey

2026 Fitness Journey