Living Life by Design

I’ve been playing tennis for over 40 years. I loved the game from the first time I held a racquet. Throughout the years I’ve strived to become a better player. I’ve taken lessons from world renowned coaches, read books by tennis experts and watched countless videos by Rick Macci and Patrick Mouratoglou. I have always sought out “expert” advice.

I played college tennis for the University of California, Riverside. We were a strong division II school and played practice matches against prominent division I schools. My last year playing for the school our team finished 7th in the nation.

In Redlands, there was a division III school that had a reputation of being a tennis powerhouse. Jim Verdieck was the head coach. His team won 12 of 13 NAIA titles, starting in the mid 1960’s. Many division II and division I teams would travel to Redlands to play a practice match against the Bulldogs. Most would leave in defeat. 

Coach Verdieck taught percentage tennis. When you played a Bulldog, you knew exactly what to expect…a dog fight. Verdieck would train his players to always play “percentage tennis.” No taking unnecessary chances. During difficult or grueling matches, his players would be tested (tempted as all players are) to do the wrong thing…to try and end a point too soon, or make a flashy shot. Verdieck taught his players to trust the process (his percentage process) and more times then not they would win the match. Each time they did this, they became better, stronger  players. 

I’ve heard it said that a faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted. Sooner or later all of us will play our own match (life) and go through times of testing. In these times, the challenge is to stay faithful to God – not to harden our hearts but to keep them soft and tender towards God – to keep on trusting in spite of all the difficulties and challenges to our faith. When we do this, we become better, stronger Christians.

Verdieck was the winningest tennis coach in history. His players trusted him and the process. He produced champions. As Christian’s, we are to trust Christ and his process…reading the Bible. By doing this, He can make us champions too.