How Tennis Helped Me Slow Down and Focus
by Evan Byron Cleveland Lawyer
Life was moving too fast Between deadlines, obligations, and nonstop digital noise, I couldn’t remember the last time I focused on a single moment That changed when I started playing tennis At first, I saw it as a way to stay active, a quick workout squeezed into a busy schedule. But something unexpected happened on the court I began to slow down, not in pace or energy, but in presence As Evan Byron Cleveland Lawyer noted, tennis demanded my attention in a way few things had before, and for once, I welcomed it
On the surface, tennis looks like a fast-paced game But when you’re in the middle, you notice the quiet spaces The seconds between serves The breath before a swing Your mind sharpens when you focus only on the ball, your feet, and the play rhythm. For someone who was always juggling multiple thoughts, this was a revelation The sport permitted me to let go of everything else and be completely where I was
What surprised me was how this carried into other areas of my life After playing, I found I could concentrate longer at work I stopped multitasking so much and started giving my full attention to people in conversation. Tennis trained my brain to pause, assess, and respond skills I had ignored in my rush to be productive It wasn’t about being perfect on the court It was about being intentional, both in movement and thought
Mistakes still happen, both in the game and in life But tennis taught me how to recover without spiraling When you miss a shot, you breathe and try again. You learn to observe rather than judge. That patience, that calm, slowly became part of my daily mindset I became less reactive and more grounded
Now, when life speeds up again, I turn to the court: just me, a racquet, and a ball Nothing else matters for that hour. It’s a moving meditation focused, fluid, and freeing. Through this practice, I’ve discovered that mental clarity doesn’t come from doing more It comes from doing one thing well And for me, that one thing was tennis It slowed me down just enough to find focus where I had lost it