FROM PLAYER TO TEACHER:How to get through rainy days on the job
By Ryan Borucki
Summer is the time tennis professionals make the majority of their money. The days are long and hot, but it’s all worth that extra buck. And we all know that when October arrives, we'll be wishing for that same summer day when lunch wasn’t an option and the ladies never left the courts.
With that in mind, the only thing worse than a slow day is a rainy day. I’m not talking about a day full of thunderstorms and monsoons when you stay in bed. I’m talking about the days it sprinkles and you’re stuck in the office, canceling lessons five minutes before they are scheduled and twiddling your thumbs.
These are the days that severely drain a pro, whether you are burnt out or ready and waiting to take the court. There is nothing like losing $200 worth of lessons while standing guard in a pro shop that has characteristics of a ghost town.
So how can you pass time while trapped in the office?
The obvious move is to bank your weekly phone calls and unstrung racquets until the rain shows. However, often the phone calls can’t wait that long and some of those eager members need their racquets on specific days.
The next option is to catch up on billing and inventory. Everyone loves to avoid these two chores, but, once again, they typically are only done on certain days.
A third option is to plan upcoming events. Even tournaments and mixers can use some tweaking as they creep closer on our schedule.
While these options are practical options to handle rainy days at the office, the most interesting and exciting way--that I have never ever done myself--is to add some wagers to the work day.
Play a couple of hands of Texas Hold’em to see who goes home early, while your co-workers stay at work making those rain-out calls. Or try a simple draw of the cards, leaving the staffer with the low card to do inventory or vacuum the pro shop while you check Weather.com, among other less strenuous tasks.
Whatever your pick, I hope if these choices could add a little flavor to those dreary days...because we all know work is more tolerable when a little play is involved.
Summer is the time tennis professionals make the majority of their money. The days are long and hot, but it’s all worth that extra buck. And we all know that when October arrives, we'll be wishing for that same summer day when lunch wasn’t an option and the ladies never left the courts.
With that in mind, the only thing worse than a slow day is a rainy day. I’m not talking about a day full of thunderstorms and monsoons when you stay in bed. I’m talking about the days it sprinkles and you’re stuck in the office, canceling lessons five minutes before they are scheduled and twiddling your thumbs.
These are the days that severely drain a pro, whether you are burnt out or ready and waiting to take the court. There is nothing like losing $200 worth of lessons while standing guard in a pro shop that has characteristics of a ghost town.
So how can you pass time while trapped in the office?
The obvious move is to bank your weekly phone calls and unstrung racquets until the rain shows. However, often the phone calls can’t wait that long and some of those eager members need their racquets on specific days.
The next option is to catch up on billing and inventory. Everyone loves to avoid these two chores, but, once again, they typically are only done on certain days.
A third option is to plan upcoming events. Even tournaments and mixers can use some tweaking as they creep closer on our schedule.
While these options are practical options to handle rainy days at the office, the most interesting and exciting way--that I have never ever done myself--is to add some wagers to the work day.
Play a couple of hands of Texas Hold’em to see who goes home early, while your co-workers stay at work making those rain-out calls. Or try a simple draw of the cards, leaving the staffer with the low card to do inventory or vacuum the pro shop while you check Weather.com, among other less strenuous tasks.
Whatever your pick, I hope if these choices could add a little flavor to those dreary days...because we all know work is more tolerable when a little play is involved.
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