Heading Home

I've been in California for the past few days visiting my in laws. It has been a beautiful, restful visit... But I head home in a few hours. I have to be home in time to get started on my summer tennis schedule. I have a big camp in League City tomorrow.

Monica, Connor, and Elijah are staying on and continuing their visit until June 10... That's right, I'll be separated from my family for almost a week and a half... I'm not looking forward to that one bit... I've never been separated from them for more than 24 hours and that was just one time...

Well, I'll definitely have time to get caught up on my blogging...

I've been enjoying the French Open every morning... And I'm fired up and eager to get on the court and practice. The only problem is that I still have a nagging little injury from the Corpus tournament last month, so I still need to take it easy for a while...

I suppose I should close here... More tonight after I get home...! Bye for now...

SC

Gotta Get In Shape...!

Tonight I ate my last bit of fast food for the summer. I absolutely have got to eat right this summer and shed my extra weight. I'm weighing in tomorrow morning and waging war on unhealthy habits. I'm going to be really disciplined about working out. My new nickname will be Captain Crunch. Not for the cereal, but for the amount of time I spend working my abs...!

I've got to get plenty of rest, too. so I'll close here... It's late for me and I want to get up early and start my day off in prayer and study... Bye for now....

Coach Sam

Four Days to Vacation...!

Here's a photo from this past weekend's Tennis Block Party held at Houston's Memorial Park. For more photos from this fun event click BLOCK PARTY.

I only have a few days until vacation time. You know I have rarely taken a true vacation in my entire life. Growing up, my family really could never afford a vacation. (We did take occasional day trips, though...).

I've been to the US Open numerous times and I suppose that should count as a vacation. I've been to Australia... That was definitely a vacation. And I went to Paris and the French Open in 2000. I'd consider that a vacation for sure...!

But, I haven't really done any thing non-tennis related since my honeymoon three years ago. Do honeymoons count as vacations...?

So, we fly out Friday evening. We are heading to California to visit Monica's parents. I've never spent extended time in California before. This will be a real treat for me. But I'll only be gone 5 days, then I have to get home to start my summer camps. Monica, Connor, and Elijah will stay up there an additional week....

It's going to be a little difficult to be away from the family for seven days... I'm sure I'll be on the phone a lot...!

Now, in the mean time between right this second and when we depart I have a bunch of loose ends to tie up so I'd better get busy. Bye for now....

Coach Sam

Heading Home...

Elijah and I enjoy the view from the back seat as we stopped for a break on our way home from the Corpus trip a few weeks ago...

Last night I had dinner with my good friend Eddie Clayworth. It was nice catching up on things. We reminisced about our trip to the 2000 French Open. -I can't believe that it's been 6 years since I've been to Paris....!

Today... It's my first non stressful day in a long time. I'm going to blog this morning, make some phone calls, work in the tennis shop, and just generally chill out. Monica and I are going to an awards ceremony at Connor's school this afternoon. Then I have a couple of private lessons and my Tennis Across America social tonight...

Tomorrow will be a fun day at Houston's Memorial Park Tennis Block Party. And Sunday will be a day of rest. Ahh... I'm really liking my life right now.

More later... SC

My Serve: A Critical Look...!

When I saw this photo Monica took of me at the Corpus tournament I just cringed. My first thought was I can't believe how big and heavy I look. It was my goal to get down below 200 pounds for that tournament and I fell short by about 20 pounds. So now my goal is to get down below 200 by the July tournament in San Antonio.

Next I noticed how my tossing arm has dropped down way too early in the stroke. This causes net mistakes and / or shallow serves. I've got to keep that arm up longer.

But there are some good things I'm doing... I've got good extension with my legs. Notice the heels off the ground as I'm stretching up to extend into the serve...? And, I'm noticeably leaning out into the serve. Actually I served very well over all for the tournament. I only failed to hold serve a few times in four matches, and I served very well in crucial third set tie-breakers...!

Yes, I'm really in to playing tournaments again. I'm pumped, excited, and ready to compete. I think I'm playing the best tennis of my life right now. I'm definitely at my toughest mentally, and I can hit any shot from any where in the court. The only limitation I have is my conditioning....!

My biggest enemy right now is my appetite...! But I'm going to overcome the knife and fork...! Monica and I have seven weeks until our next tournament. You're going to see big changes in my physique between now and then...!

Stay tuned for more tomorrow. Today is a pretty busy day for me. I have lessons in League City this afternoon and evening and quite a bit to do in the mean time before then so I need to close here. But tomorrow is the first Friday that I won't be teaching late in Clear Lake...! No traveling tomorrow... YEA...! And I'll have time to post more then... Bye for now. SC

The Lexington

This is the USS Lexington, a retired US Navy Aircraft Carrier. It is one of Corpus Christi's biggest tourist attractions. Ireally want to check it out next time we visit Corpus.

Speaking of Corpus, I still have a bunch of Photos to post from that trip so stay tuned the next few days....

By the way, that tournament really wore me out. I'm still a little sore from all my tennis matches and it's over a week past now... Man, I really need to get in better condition....

Today I absolutely must get a lot of marketing done... After I blog this morning it's all business after that. I'm on the court all afternoon. This is my last late day to teach on Wednesday. After today I'm making a commitment to become more active at my church on Wednesday evenings.

This month is winding down... We leave for California on May 26... That's less than 10 days away, now...! Woohoo...!

Well, I need to post in Connor's and Elijah's blogs too so I'll close here... More Later!

Coach Sam

Seeking God

Today's thought is taken from a Dr Charles Stanley Commentary that I found particularly meaningful. The topic is seeking God.

The rewards of pursuing God are great... Scripture tells us that '...They who seek the Lord shall not want of any good thing...' (Psalm 34:10) But we will not accidentally drift into a meaningful relationship with HIM. The key to that end is to act purposefully with that end in mind.

1 Chronicles 22:19 says 'Now set your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God.'

How then can we diligently pursue knowing Him better...?

Dr Stanley lists five ways to seek God. The first two are through scripture and prayer. Do you precede your scripture study with a prayer...? If not, you should get in the habit of asking God to help you know Him bettter. Ask Him to show You the Truth about Him that is contained in scripture. This is one prayer that God will always answer.

The other three ways that Dr Stanley lists regarding seeking God include Worship, books from great christian authors, and conversation with others.

These will all be discussed in tomorrow's commentary.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord, I do want to know You more. I seek You Lord. And I ask You to show me Your Truth. My life is in Your hands, Father. I give this day to You my King. With You by my side I have the confidence to face the world today, my Lord and Savior.

Father God, I do love You. And I pray this simple prayer to know You more in Jesus' name,

Amen.

Dear Readers Please Note: This commentary was accidentally posted to the wrong blog. To read part two of this series go to my prayer journal by clicking here. Thanks, Coach Sam

This Past Weekend...

It was a fabulous weekend. My tournament on Saturday went well. Mother's day was simply spectacular... And I'm looking forward to a great week and rest of the month. I have many, many great photos to publish and add to my web sites so I'll be busy pretty much the rest of the day working on those projects.

But what I need to do right now is check my email... I haven't checked it in 48 hours and I'm sure I'll have over 350 messages to attend to... So, I gotta go.

Bye for now...

Coach Sam

Corpus Trip

I took the family to Corpus Christi this past weekend. We played in a tennis tournament and did a little sight seeing. Here's a photo of the family at the Texas State Aquarium. There were lots of great exhibits. We especially enjoyed the dolfin pool.

More about the trip in the next few days... I've got a very tight schedule this morning trying to complete several projects. You can see more dolfin pics on http://connorcopeland.blogspot.com and http://elijahchadwell.blogspot.com

Wednesday: Big Office Day...

I have lots of stuff to do in the office today...! I'm at home for the next hour or so but then I'll be in the tennis shop stringing racquets, sending email correspondence, straightening up, and doing a little remodeling... By the way, the tennis shop is really starting to shape up... I need to post some photos of the progress soon....

I have lessons this afternoon from 4 to 8:30 PM. Monica is going in to Houston this morning to visit a friend and she's taking Elijah with her so I'll have an afternoon of clear focus on my tasks at hand. Today and Thursday will be busy, but Friday I can start to kick back for the weekend. I'm already looking forward to it...!

I'm really starting to have a life...! Yea...!

Cranking it out this week...!

This will be a short week for me... I'm playing in a tournament in Corpus Christi this weekend. We'll leave Friday morning for our trip so I'll only work Monday thru Thursday this week...

Every day up to Friday should be pretty full. But I am very much looking forward to relaxing at the end of the week. Today I have lessons from 8:30 to 10 AM... Then I'll be doing office work the rest of the day until I go back on th court at 5:30 PM... Then I'm on the court this evening until 8:30 PM....

My day is going full steam already... I awakened at 5:30 AM and blogged a little, then got Connor up and out the door for school... I cleaned out my car a little, took the trash out, blogged a little more, and through it all I've been doing laundry to help Monica get caught up on her stuff... I'm about to empty the dish washer before I head out the door for my morning tennis lessons....

Well... That's it for now... I'm going to post an Elijah picture for the day and then get to the courts...

More tomorrow... Coach Sam