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How To Find Your Sweet Spot

My son and I have been playing tennis together this summer.  He's thirteen years old, so the fact that he still wants to hang out with me is enough to make me take up almost any sport he'd suggest doing together, but luckily I actually enjoy tennis.  I'm not a sporty-spice kind of gal (and he IS a sporty guy), so thank heavens for his patience while I ramp up my game to his level.  I have taken lessons a couple of times in my life, but I'm still very much a beginner, so I've been busy refreshing my memory on all the tips I was given from tennis pros during those long-ago lessons. 

Finding the 'Sweet Spot'

They talk about hitting the ball from the 'sweet spot' on your racket.  Intuitively I know what this means, but just for curiosity's sake, I did a quick Google search to find out if there was any more to it than that.  On About.com, Jeff Cooper wrote a blurb on what the 'sweet spot' is.  He writes:  

"Every racquet has three different sweet spots, but in a general sense, the sweet spot is the area of the string bed that produces the best combination of feel and power. The most powerful spot on the string bed is that with the greatest coefficient of restitution. The one with least vibration is found at the node of the first harmonic. The one with least shock is found at the center of percussion."

WHAT?!? 

'Coefficient of restitution'?  'Node of the first harmonic'?  'Center of percussion'?   

In a TENNIS RACKET??! 

Instantly I felt like I was in way over my head, but I read on to find out what the heck he was talking about.  As I read through his definitions, I began - as I seem to do with everything - to consider how these lessons from the land of tennis lingo might prove useful for finding your own 'sweet spot' in life.  You know: the place where you feel like you're exactly where you are meant to be; living fully, vibrantly, sweetly. 

Here's my short summary of Mr. Cooper's definitions of these three areas, so we can look at them in the context of finding your life's 'sweet spot': 

1) Coefficient of restitution = the spot where your ball rebounds with the most speed

2) Node of the first harmonic = the spot where the least amount of uncomfortable vibration happens on impact with the ball

3) Center of percussion = the spot where the ball produces minimal initial shock to your hand 

As a tennis player, you'd probably develop a preference for hitting the ball from one of these spots over the others.  You'd hit from whichever spot feels best to you, depending on what you want to accomplish with the shot.  Similarly, when it comes to creating change in our lives, individuals would conceivably prefer different types of change over others.  We might look for change that: 

1) provides the fastest results; or

2) results in the least amount of discomfort; or 

3) minimizes the amount of shock to our system. 

Take a career change, for example:  The 'fastest results' might some from buying or taking over management of an already-existing business, whose reputation is well-established and whose track record is proven.  Jump in, turn the key, and off you go.  Alternately, a change that inflicts the 'least amount of discomfort' might come from starting a new career that we already have lots of experience with, such as when we turn a long-time hobby into a business.  Our learning curve is not as steep, and we'd likely settle in with less discomfort than if we were starting something brand-spanking-new to us.  Lastly, a career change that 'minimizes that amount of shock to our system' might be when we decide to move horizontally in our career, perhaps doing the same kind of work in the same industry, but for a different company.  

Each of these types of career change has different advantages and different challenges.  Depending on your personality, your risk tolerance and other lifestyle considerations, it's conceivable that one type of change would be more appealing to certain people than others. Like anything in life, the key is finding the change that suits you best.  Any kind of change can be challenging, but when you are clear on your long-term vision and your values, the (comparatively) short-term discomfort that comes with change becomes much more tolerable. 

In the end, the type of change that's most palatable to you comes back to Mr. Cooper's opening definition:  just as it is on your tennis racket, YOUR 'sweet spot' is the area '…that produces the best combination of feel and power'.  What makes me feel good and strong in my life may be very different from what makes you feel good and feel strong.  Take the time to consider how you feel in certain circumstances, and what kinds of things make you feel the way you want to feel in your life.  And then keep playing your game.  Keep practicing and honing your skills.  That's how to start feeling the love…and soon the advantage will be all yours.

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©2023 by Kelly Wagner

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