That is right its time to get more of my chest about my life !!!
Like i said on the last one, to me even if this reaches just one person who understands and can help or even what i somehow say in this helps someone then its all good, i just like being able to be open, maybe i am to open that people do not want to hear or care but oh well that is life (:
So since i wrote the last ramblings a lot has changed in my life and some things are the same.
Lets start off with the positive things shall we (:
One of the things i have been working so hard on is getting faster, getting more stamina and stronger, in fact it will be a year in just over a week since i joined a gym, and i shall be writing a blog post about that fairly soon so keep a eye on it !!!
doing so much physical actives has really open many doors in my life, and since the break up with my ex at the start of 2016, i feel that i have become a much better person.
I often find myself sometimes a lost of a way to explain things which means i may often say examples of something i have watched in order to get a point across.
I used to be told i was being stupid but hey if that is how i best explain things then i will keep doing it silly or not (:
In the last week i have been super hooked on the flash, the modern take of it.
in fact the last few days i finished all of season 2... whoops (:
In that it kind of gave me even more new found strength and hidden messages that again hit my brain and made me think about my own life.
No matter how much i wish i could change the events that happened in my life, that often makes me think of the past makes me upset, it is that what makes me want to get faster and stronger.
Yes i miss the love of my life, if it was not for the case of being together for nearly 5 years then i would of got over it quicker but i choose to throw my life away and i live with that everyday knowing so.
That said, everything happens for a reason, its made me open my eyes in the world around us, its made me understand about myself, my issues my problems, where i need to improve and to build my life from having nothing to have things that i can call my own, my own actions.
I may have been in love, but that seemed to be all my life was all about, i had no friends, i was not apart of a community, and i was not physically fit, i let my life slip away because love was everything to me.
So yeah to maybe a lot of people i am just a weirdo, a creep etc, sitting around in places using internet, looking awarked, i may seem like a mad man from the way i act or the things i post about, but that is me and i would not change myself for anyone.
It has been such a bizarre path in life that seems to be getting more crazier in good ways and bad.
From going down the route of wanting to start a business up which i never had plans for in my life, to it not going the way i wanted it to.
To feeling so depressed in 2016 i would just go for walks taking photography and learning.
then that one moment in life i decide to put my skills to the test and help a local cause around town, kick started my life in so many directions.
So that is what i have been doing with more and more paths opening in my life.
I got the chance to network with a local music artist, on a wonderful day out, I have always dreamed meeting famous people, and never knew we had that in Grantham, its like i do what i do because i love being creative while helping out, i do not do anything special like a lot of photographers, video makers in the area and yet people have believed in me and given me chances in life i could only dream off.
Over the past 3 weeks i have had no major mental health problems.
there have been some events that have gone off like having a camera knocked out of my hand, which put me in a very depressed and anixous mood, i even had to get my friend to give me a lift to a shop to get some shopping that i was going to do later in the day anyway because, i was to shook up to leave the house.
I just put it past me as i knew i would be helping a local artist in the next day (:
I do not know why i have felt happy, i guess because of the good times that has been there.
Like working out with my friends at the gym has made me more happy, playing more tennis again has left me feeling good.
yet i do all those week by week anyway, i guess i cant complain lol.
Even the other night i had a very different experience at a local social meet i go to.
I dont know why but whenever there is a group of people even if its around 8 people, i never seem to be part of it, i say hi and a few other things but that is about it.
Whenever i am there though i seem to find that 1 person i can connect with, and spend most of the time talking to them and no one else.
Again i guess this is never a bad thing, some people are naturals at group talking and others find one person who they get on with.
It was a good night because like i have explained in so many post is we talked about mental health and counseling.
That this person i believe works with children with mental health problems but has also done work with adults as well.
I just talked like i had known that person for months, fully open, not just talking about mental health but my life, it was great that someone could understand what i was going through and could relate.
Saying that aniexty is something that can not really be seen, we all often wear a layer under us, we try to be confident because we do not want others putting us down, or sometimes not wanting to put what we are going through on others, not wanting to get help because of being scared to.
The outcome of the talk meant she has refereed me onto someone she knows who does consulting, working with people on many different issues in their life.
Since i am still waiting to be seen by the mental health services after waiting over 6 months since my last visit .
I am hoping that this will then open doors as i explained to the women who has refeered me that as well as my issues, i have exhausted all opitions in terms of getting help, with my dysprixa and dyslexic.
Which leads me onto what bad thoughts i am thinking off for my future.
I explained to the women about my housing suitation as well that i am still in a circle of temp housing, and i am worried that i will not have money to even go back into shared housing due to now making a life for myself.
in 2016 i had no gym membership, no tennis membership, no princess trust loan i am still paying back now, and of course no proper worries about internet.
so of course i could afford paying that more rent because i had no proper outgoings with being in the house 6 out of 7 days
I slowly started to bulid a life for myself but like with anything in life which i tried to not go by this for so long but then realised i was lieing to myself, which is money is key to do what you want in life.
Money is a huge factor in my life, because of what my hobbies are.
Anyone will know that if your hobby is anything media wise there is a price tag for it.
On top of that with my depression and aniexty my life sadly is my computer, my camera etc.
without them i would be lost, my life would mean nothing.
so when people say put money aside to secure a permanent place i can never do.
I have 30 pounds a month left after all bills have gone out.
When i say i have 64gb of internet to use and use it all people may go how????
Well for one i have no TV, and with no being social which again is never free even though people say talking is yet, but going for a meal out, even a drink is still a cost that people do not factor for.
For me when i am not out and about, doing physically sport, i want to relax and watch tv, so i pay for Netflix which means that uses data to stream the show.
on top of that people do not understand how much data uploading photography on a regular basis takes up.
prime example each photo i upload is around 30mb and on a typical month i upload over 200.
that is without factoring in having to upload on multiple social platforms of the same images.
so why do you not use public wifi ????
Cost is why !!!!
Nothing is ever free, we have a library with free wifi which is cool yes but not when you want to upload things, with a photo taking 10 mins to upload just one photo??? i am not joking.
which then the rest of the options cost, going to a pub to get a drink, wrong answer, most pubs connect to the cloud which is just as slow as library, if you find a pub that does not use the cloud, again it is normally slow, fast for browsing not for uploading, this is of course not counting for downloading shows on netfliex to watch at home when my data is running low.
One place i use to sit which was free wifi and really fast, has now slowed down to a snail or you can pay like on a train for faster speeds.
Why do you have a limited data device ???
Because i am in temp housing i am not allowed to install internet, so the only other way is to by a portable internet device and use it as a tether to my computer.
So you can imagine on a day out doing photography and video, and the video takes over 2 hours to upload, on a really good speed, how much it can cost with buying 2-3 drinks a week just to use internet.
which of course causes me worrys about securing a home, because either way i lose.
i do all i do because it fights the depression, even what i do the depression comes and goes but doing what i love just makes it that little easier.
what is the point having a roof under my head, if i have to stop going to the gym, stop helping my local community, with media because then that will just make me back to how i was, and i would not leave the house again.
it also worrys me that i got the money from the princes trust to have what i have now, nothing lasts forever, and once my computer or camera stops working i could not do what i love doing anyway, with no way out all to fund to replace them.
That is why i try so hard to push myself to keep learning, improving so that even if its for a few years i can have great memories, instead of just living in a rut going round in circles.
I have been told by so many people not to worry about going forward in life but to focus on the here and now which i try to do a lot, i dont plan a lot of things, i just let each day comes and see how it goes. however when you can not get the help you need after battling for it for nearly 2 years it does worry you.
what also worrys me is not having the fight to come out of my comfort zone, i am trying so hard to try new things but again i find myself either leaving or just not bothering to go.
There has been open mic nights that even if i do not go to take part, it would be nice to see what talent there is but i just cant force myself to meet new people because its out of my comfort zone.
with being brought up on technology that is my down fall to life, to me after playing sport etc i would rather spend 3-4 hours watching shows, then going out and having a social life, sad i know.
Only now and then do i manage to force myself to go to things but there still is so much i am missing out on because of my own issues.
It worrys me that holding a camera or talking about what i love can make me the most confident person ever, but take that away, and i go into a bubble, i become shy, anixous, i back away from things. i have become stronger physically but i feel in some parts i have become a lot weaker mentally.
Yes i am now able to do more things and i am more stable mentally on more days but again in my own mind due to my actions i also feel, i am losing the ability to be myself around others.
When i was with my ex, i never really worried about people around me because my attention was on her, her family, what we was doing at the time etc.
Now that i have had to bulid my life up for the first time being on my own from a point of having no friends and family i did not want to talk, i have had to learn the skills needed to cope.
It amazes me how much strength i really have inside me till needing to be unlocked, i have already shown how much i can pour myself into playing tennis, into running, the gym, i have shown that depsite being super active, while i was at school and college, how much more active and stronger i am now then i was back then.
I just wish so to speak i did not need a push or someone to hold my hand in order to take steps out of my comfort zone, i which that events that are free, like the open mic, and other things around Grantham, i could just stroll in and enjoy the night , but i do not see that ever being me, i am a nerd, i love tv shows, i love being creative, i love what i do to much to tear myself away.
I guess in a lot of ways, i look for praise because i never really had it growing up. not that i have shut my family out for very good reasons, i have my friends to believe in me, which again until this year i never had.
I always push myself sometimes a little to hard because i want to prove to all the people that picked on me in my life, who looked down on me, who think i am stupid that i am not, i may to things differently, a lot slower, but it works.
A prime example is tennis, i must have one of the most strangiest playing styles ever, which i keep trying to improve on, because it works for me, as soon as i try to things the normal ish way i cant play.
Again i think this is down to the way things do not communite from my brain to my body, that over time i just got used to, trained it and adapted my own way of doing things.
Weather its tennis, pool, gym, golf, or bowling i have never done things the way they should but i guess that makes me the person i am and should embrace it (:
Overall i look at my new life, and ok i have achieved a lot from a bad break up, from a point that it took me 7 months to snap myself out of not wanting to live to the person i am now.
All i see is not trying hard enough, its frustrating when you create a project in this case a video for an event, you have so many cool creative ideas, and then you get to the editing software and you spend more time researching how to do and getting angry because, A, your having a lot of problems doing it and B, you know you need to get it edited Asap because the longer it takes for people to see, the less interest it will get.
if you been to a event the last thing you want is for the video of the day to be put up 2 weeks even more later, so as much as you would like to spend lots of time with different cools ideas, sometimes the basic has to do.
I see that although i cover events, it only seems to be once in a while not because there is nothing to cover, but because i am not creating a networking basis outside of social media.
i see that on days where i am depressed, nothing i do gets me out of it, which means i go to my covers and just binge watch show, instead of doing something to help my community out, or better yet be social !!!!
In all honestly i wish so many things in my life were either fixed or helped, i wish i could go to a place to use internet fast without having to pay for it, yes i know that does not exisit lol
i wish that just for once i could catch a break, weather that is getting help with my learning difficulties or with my mental health, but most of all having the courage to start up conversations with people instead of always waiting for someone to say hi to me.
People can say to you, you just got to force yourself to do these things, but i have tried so many times, and i can honestly say that is not me and never will be, i do not have that drive, that confidence to, and i have tried to accept who i am and accept that although i wanting things in my life, i have to just wait for them or be happy with what i have.
So when people say talking about your problems is bad, or people may think you as a strange person and not want to talk to you, ??? they are right, but what you have to do is push the people away who do not believe in you, who choose to talk behind your back, who does not understand what you go through, and who would rather laugh at you for who you are because they think they are better then you !!!!!!!
find the people that matter to you, and keep finding more and more people and eventually you will bulid a network of people that can help you when you feel down to pick you back up again !!!
Thank you for reading yet another blog about my ramblings, i call it of a mad man, because i think thats what a lot of people think of me, or of those who suffer, and just want to express how they feel (:
The next blog post i promise will be a happy one and about my progress at the gym (:
Friday, 1 September 2017
Wednesday, 23 August 2017
A Insight into Mine & CJ Hatt"s Life !!!! | Daniel Marshall Adventures
As you might know from reading my other blog posts, I have started Branching out my Photography into the music scene.
In doing so has meant that i have managed to connect with local artists in real life and on social media sites.
Since seeing CJ Hatt the first time at The Castle Gate In Grantham, I have fell in love with his music and personality, and from then on i got to get a insight more and more into the chaps life.
Last week which was the week commencing 14-08-17 CJ has asked me if i wanted to come along to 2 Gigs he had going off, and if i wanted to bring my camera with me to do what i do best Taking photography and producing a video.
So Sunday arrived and our Journey starting, as we drove off from Grantham, for CJ's First Gig which was at a festival in Peterborough called randall rootz festival.
here is a small write up of what the Festival is about -
The Randall Rootz Festival was founded in 2007 in memory of Mark Randall - a passionate musician who was dedicated to supporting and promoting live music, organising events, and playing percussion.
We hope the Randall Rootz Festival will successfully continue the work Mark started and become a popular event on the festival calendar.you can read more about the festival from there website here - http://www.randallrootz.org
He explained about The Festival and how the chap who booked him, had never seen or heard his music before, and only booked CJ based on his reputation about what people said about his performances.
We got talking about a lot of things, events that he had been to, and little insights that unless you get a chance to talk to him for a while you would not know (:
CJ told me that because he had another event to go to straight after the festival that we need to park close, and sadly have no time to stuck around to talk to people, was the case of as soon as he finished get the gear packed away into the car and to make our way to the next event.
As we arrived it was really busy to park, we got there just after 1.30 PM and CJ had to be on at 2.30PM.
Now as a artist its not as simple as singing into a microphone or even strumming on a guitar and Job done, if you have events your going to that does not have a Pa System, speakers, lighting etc you have to buy it and take it with you to the event your going to.
I helped CJ get things from the car he needed, and we went into a section on the stage to put the equipment down, I noticed a really wonderful voice from Mark David Roberts and fell in love with his music. CJ showed me around the boat that was behind the stage which held a restaurant Upstairs i do believe and a bar downstairs. This is where we met the guy who booked CJ, and then off we went back to the stage.
I did not manage to take any pictures as i forgot to but i did manage to capture it on video, off benches and i think a tent towards the back of the festival, also there were these really odd stone seats which looked really cool, and you would expect them to be not great for sitting on but they were great !!!!
As you can see from the picture above of Mark David Roberts, playing whist CJ was talking to the sound guy about things, and i thought this would be a great shot to capture of them all (:
I noticed quite a few photographers, and did not want to miss out on the action of capturing the day as well, but with us being on a tight time i did not want to wander off to far in case CJ needed my help (:
Of course you have to make sure every time you go to a event to make sure the guitar and other bits of equipment are at the rights levels etc, before going on stage.
Choosing the right set list for each concert, gig, event you play is often the key to winning your fans hearts, one of the great things about music, is adding little tweaks to your voice, or to the instrument you are playing to make certain bits of that track sound amazing.
This was the case with his latest single Floating which i will leave links at the end where you can buy it !!!!
On his vocals there was some reverb and oh boy did it sound so freaking awesome.
much like when you hear songs recorded in a studio its just making small difference to an already talent and a great voice just that little more special, it was a powerful song, and i loved hearing it live !!!
I have in my mind what i want to create when it comes to putting the video Together of our adventure, inc looking into doing something with water or clouds when CJ sings Floating, but shall see when i start editing the video (:
I think CJ performed for about 40 Minutes and then we had to quickly get everything packed down and back in the car ready to travel to Stamford at the venue Mama Liz's
We had some more laughs in the car and one bit which i think was the most memorable insight into his life so far, was that he told me about His records he brought growing up, being brought by i think the owner of Oscars wine Bar In Grantham. which he put them all along the wall !!!
So next time i go in there, which i am hoping is in a few weeks due to a big night being put on for the DJ which is leaving, i will have to have a look and see if i can see the records.
I had never been to Stamford, i think maybe ages a go i was in a car being drove by it but i cant remember haha.
So as we drove Through the town to get to Mama Liz's it was cool to see all the buildings in this cool stone type thing, yes i am not good with words or describing stuff lol.
I liked the shapes and designs off the buildings although i think i would go a bit nuts if i lived there as I love colour on Buildings way to much (:
The picture above was took from Google as I could not get a distant shot.
As we Arrived we made a few trips from the car with the gear to the spot where CJ was going to play this time with it being a restaurant, it did not have any speakers etc which you do not expect it to.
Gear inc, 2 big speakers, lots cables, Extensions, and much more !!!
Again my camera failed me in getting any good shots of the place, but it was a unique place with pictures of Artists that had performed at the place, Reptiles on the way and other cool stuff.
He said to me in the car that at some places that he has been for a gig they have wanted some Irish and Caribbean songs which he struggles to play due to the syncopation between the beat and the vocals. he admitted himself that he judges his on work to a high standard and that he said i sounded awful because it was just so hard to sing to the tunes, i think when your very dedicated to what you do you will critique your own work because you wanna make sure when your booked to play the very best you can, it not only makes the owners and audience have a good time and give you good feedback but then can lead to word of mouth from people to land you other gigs !!!
While CJ was playing food for the people was being brought out and i was sat at a table with some people that had just got theirs and boy did it look and smell so good.
this was one of the menus i could find and i think they do other meals as well (:
You can see better quality images of my work at the links after this blog (:
While CJ was playing his set he made sure to ask for any song choices, and made sure to make jokes and communication to the audience, this then makes for a more Dynamic feel to the evening.
I am very bad at remembering details of things but halfway through his set, CJ was talking about how he got into music, and played a song from someone who Inspired him to learn to play.
You can really tell that every song CJ plays he plays with passion, his vocals are always outstanding, but on this one song it really went through my body, not from the guitar but his sheer powerful voice.
He mentioned to me after packing down that he really gave it his all, after singing and playing for a long time you know when your voice is at its best and he said to me that it felt right to play it.
I got the chance to hear Floating not once but twice in one day !!!
I loved the song but we both agreed that playing in different environments makes a huge difference to the way we hear music, we both agreed that although he played well, the way it sounded at the festival was so much better.
I mentioned to him about when i went to see him Busking in town, he was in a small archway In Grantham but the way the sound not only surrounded where he was but was able to boost it so that people at a far distance could hear it just as loud and it sounded perfection !!!
It really just amazes me even listing to music at home the differences from putting your phone into a cup and using that as a amp to make it louder, when your watching on your laptop in the kitchen how much louder it is to compared to watching it in your room !!! Sound really does confuse me sometimes haha ???
The whole time CJ was playing, I noticed some really cool shadows going off on the wall caused by the Led lights he carries around with him to most of the gigs he goes to.
This then caused some great photo chances to create some really cool stuff, sadly it did not quite go the way i wanted it to, but after posting it on Facebook CJ seemed to off liked it (:
So it was now time to finish and head back home or so i thought !!! MR CJ aka talk of the town haha.
When you love what you do, but also have always met people at other gigs or even people who have never heard you wants to speak to you, of course you stay to chat.
Overall CJ must of chatted to people for over a hour, I enjoyed what was being said, but at that point i was tired lol, I love days out but never been one for managing anything over 5 hours.
As we was leaving a staff came over and mentioned that everyone loved him playing, which that is what you want to come away feeling that you did a great job (:
On the way home, we had lots of different talks, I picked up what someone was saying to CJ about what brand his speakers were, and that his dad brought them ages a go, in a shop for only 20 pounds, they were unbranded as well and sounded amazing.
A true statement was made by him saying you do not need the most expensive gear in the world to make you sound great, because if your out of tune, and cant play, the speakers will only make that worse haha, or something along those lines !!!
We got talking about sometimes how people just think what you do in life is easy for example CJ was saying that he wanted to learn a song and took him 3 weeks to learn.
Which then got me chatting about my line of work that some people think its just a click of the camera and that is it.
As i started to explain about the editing how frustrating it can be to sit through the images and even when you start editing them, you start doubting your shot and wanting to go onto another one which may of the same thing but caught the light better, or the way the person was moving etc.
CJ already knew this as he commented about it at the same time i did haha.
As you can see from the picture above, this was a picture i posted with a write up over on my website which i hardly update... doh !!!.
It went into the different settings you can use on photoshop i will link to the post at the end (:
I then went onto why i wanted to start my own business and the trouble i have with Video production.
How after a days shooting, the work is not over, you have to import them into the project, think of how the video project is going to be, sometimes you cant follow a pattern off well if i have 18 clips it makes sense to put them in the order taken ??? Not always.
It all depends how you want the outcome of the video, For example if your making a video with hardly any talking, and your adding music to it,then you have to think which clips go best with it.
On top of that if you want to make the video into something that will be loved and shared more you have to think about motion graphics, and , ahh i could go on all day why video production is one of the hardest things to do media wise !!!
Its the main reason i have decided to upload the photography first, write this and then i can just foucs on the video.
Overall the day went down like a charm, the man is the same person weather you bump into him in town, or see him live at a event (:
It was a privilege to have a insight into his life, but to also help throughout the day, meet new people, hear great artists, and now help out with what i am doing now !!!
I am just so glad i started branching out into the music scene because its given me chances i could never dream off and then to top of the great day, you have this legend Share my post commenting about the day and a reply which goes like this.
Check out this write up and amazing photos taken by my good buddy Daniel Marshall after our gig trip yesterday! Dan has an amazing eye for taking great photos so if you want any photography for your event/gig/party or even just promo shots for your act then give him a shout, he's just starting out so his fees are very low currently but his skills are worth way more and with him now being the official CJ Hatt photographer that should be reference enough!
I could not believe what i was seeing when i read this, to me i am still learning, my photography is not the best in the world but in my own opinion i think what makes me stand out and why people believe in my work, is i try to help my local community a lot, i know what i am doing and have the creative vision of what i want to try and achieve, doesnt mean it always comes true but its there for when it goes right, i then know not only how to do the media things but also how to get the content out there as well (:
So if you have never heard of CJ Hatt then please check him out, may i add he was only at Glastonbury this year !!! pure talent from our little but creative town of Grantham, which is in Lincolnshire (:
Thank you for reading, please feel free to share this, and if your a local artist looking for some media coverage then please feel free to get in touch
Quote of the day When it comes to gear and equipment, it's not about size that matters If you don't hone your craft, the best kit in the world won't hide it.....
CJ Hatt links -
https://www.facebook.com/cjhattofficially
https://twitter.com/cjhattofficial
https://www.instagram.com/cjhattofficial/
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/floating-single/id1084007322
https://www.facebook.com/markdavid.roberts.14
My Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/dmpphotographyuk/
https://twitter.com/DanMediaP
https://twitter.com/DMPWORLDMUSIC
https://twitter.com/DanielMVlogs
https://www.instagram.com/dmpadventures/
http://dannytheexplorer.tumblr.com/
http://dmpuk.weebly.com/
Thursday, 17 August 2017
Grantham Tennis Club A year in the making !!! | Daniel Marshall Adventures
The last time i had took part in a project was when i was around 17-18 In Nottingham to learn how to play golf, i used to partake in sports nearly everyday but when i Moved to Grantham up until last year, I hardly did any sports and i struggled a lot to go for long walks.
here is a picture of young me trying to look cool haha,
While i was seeking help for my mental health issues. I came across a leaflet for a project lasting 12 weeks. This scheme was to teach people how to play tennis, help with their social skills, but the main objective was just to come down for 2 hours every week and have fun (:
For me this was something that i knew would be a test of my physical health, and a chance to do something i have always wanted to learn.
The only tennis i ever did was with someone and that was just hitting the ball any old how just to get the ball to the other person. There was no scoring to think about, positioning, heck I never did any serves, it was just the case of getting out for a hour every few weeks, and getting enjoyment out of it (:
As i arrived i was greeted by Dale, who with other staff from the club set the project up.
He had a chat with me, and asked a member of staff to give me a tour around the club.
I had seen the place for the outside many times in my travels around Grantham, but until i was shown around i never knew how much it had to offer like,
An amazing Cafe,with plenty of seats even sofas, with a great view of the indoor courts, great for watching people play,
I got to see the gym, which was top class, and even had a upstairs, which then leads through a door, onto the balcony, to watch tennis upstairs,
which you can then access
Exhale Therapy you will find a wide range of treatments offered by experienced professional therapists.
Whether you are looking for help with your injury, advice with your general wellbeing or wanting that special treat for yourself, you need look no further.
- Sports Massage
- Sports injury rehab and prevention – Taping
- Pregnancy and relaxation massage
- Deep tissue massage / Swedish massage
- Facials / Waxing / Nails and Calgel / Tints
- Holistic therapy – Reflexology / Aromatherapy / Basalt Hot Stones / Reiki
- Mindfulness
- Hypnotherapy
Also home to Blue owl Art -Is an art gallery based in Grantham which brings contemporary art and craft to Grantham Tennis Club
At the club, you also have a bar, A reception area, with staff always friendly, up for a chat, and a selection of different tennis Ratchets and balls to buy, as well as a huge ratchet with sticky notes, where you can post about something that inspires you about tennis.
The club also has, a clubhouse, 4 astro, 5 clay courts, and mini courts for juniors (:
I was amazed at the high standards of the place, and i was told that only a few years back, the club only had a few courts, as was not like the place you see here today, i am so glad the business has been able to expand and was able to put on the project which you will know how well the outcome of that was a little later on in this post (:
As the first session started, Dale explained how the project was going to work, with fresh fruit being served every week,
He mentioned that at the end of the course there would be a chance to win some awards, and your very own racket. At the end of the project would also be a Christmas meal where we could all enjoy a meal and a nice get together.
what we had learned from the first session was how to watch were the ball is going, by throwing and catching, may seem very basic skills to learn, and something that people may go, why would we need to do this rather then play tennis ???
A big part of tennis, is watching the ball, watching the other player, where that person is standing, if you can not keep up with the pace of the ball, you will find it hard to return a shot, if you can not see where the other player is standing, you can not make a judgement, of where you would like to place your shot to win the point.
like most things you see on TV, like bike racing, cars, football etc, you can not really grasp how fast things are moving in real life, what may seem really slow and easy to learn by watching it, does not mean it is the same when doing it in real life.
If a player is serving and gets a speed of over 100 MPH, on TV you think meh, that is nothing when in reality this is what your brain is thinking - watching the ball come at you with speed, where is it going to bounce, does it have spin on the ball, how am i going to return it, where do i want to return it, and so on, Serving is the most essential part of the game as it can really shake your confidence for the rest of the game.
so learning to watch and catch the ball, helps with your movement, positioning and vision of where the ball is going to go.
another part of good eye contact and learning how to hold a racket, is being able to bounce the ball on top of it while moving. After learning different skills, we then used soft balls, to work on hitting it to each other to get a rally going, hitting the ball in a straight line is no easy task, even with ultra soft balls, you have to learn to watch where the ball is going and make sure you have the right position of grip, and standing in the right direction to keep the rally going.
You then went further and further back which meant you now had to adjust your power to get it over the net, while at the same time keeping it mostly going straight to the other player.
Lastly we worked on backhands, and having a small match still with the soft balls, and just playing the point out.
I went away feeling great and happy, and wished the next session would come around sooner.
As the sessions progressed, we went from soft balls to proper ones, working on getting our feet moving and running for the ball to return it, as in tennis, you are allowed one bounce only, if the ball is played soft, low etc you can not expect it to come to you, this is where the cardio part of your game comes into play !!!
A series of deep feeds to the corners of the court was done so that you not only had to run to it but in that moment decide where you are going to hit it, what power, etc, both forehand and backhands are needed in your game, to not only get the ball over the net but to try and win the point.
We worked on net shots how best to return it, smashes, so if the ball is high in the air, you have to learn to make sure your body is sideways on, watching where the ball is going to land, and where you want to place the smash to make it harder for the other player to return it.
One of the best moments across the project, was a little fun game called botch.
you split into 2 teams on either side of the court, the idea is the coach will feed the ball to a player, and you play out the point, whoever goes for the ball and misses, is then out, you play until there is only one player left on one side of the court, and that person has to try and get the other remanding players out before they win the point and you lose.
Its fun because so many people on the court, sometimes you are unsure who is going to hit it, its fast paced and a barrel of laughs.
Going back to the start of blog where i mentioned about serves, In the 12 weeks we got taught about how important serves are, about the rules of the serves that you get 2 tries however if it clips the top of the net on your first serve, you still get 2 more serves, etc .To this day its something that i am learning because there are many different ways of how to position yourself, how high to throw the ball, varying your serves, from a fast serve to a soft one where it just goes over the net and can sometimes surprise the other player, you will find that a player who is naturally good at fast serves, will put a lot of pressure on the others game, not only that but if you can master the fast with the soft, it will put even more pressure on as, they will expect to be standing further back in order to return your fast serve but then have to rapidly run in to the net, making the player often make mistakes as they are not thinking of where the other player is, yet along what shot to play, other then just being able to get the ball over the net.
The thing with serving is your always trying to improve it, and can take years to get it to a really good standard, i will explain about how i have been developing my serve later on.
6 weeks into the course and it honestly just flew by, I was enjoying myself more and more, and making some good friends, everyone skills and understanding of the sport was coming along nicely and was amazed how good people were.
Now that we was halfway into the project, we started having more matches, singles and doubles, learning the positions in double matches, but also playing fun games like doubles champions, where the team that wins stays on as champions until someone beats you, and takes your place.
The coaches would often also join in, which brought the competitiveness out of me and loved it, i have always been able to play to my best, if i am trying to show my teacher that i can beat them (:
With only a few weeks left until the project finished, the advanced stuff was starting to be taught.
Like how to put spin on your serves, forehands, how to return a shot on the rise and fall.
More mini games like having 2 teams on either side of one half of the court, with cones on the other.
Using what you learned with serving, trying to knock over the other teams cones and at the end of say 5 Minutes the team with the less cones wins.
I could go into more detail about sessions but overall, there was never a dull moment, the coaches were always up for a laugh and a banter, they trained you hard but fair making sure you was ok, telling you to take breaks to get a drink if you needed it and making sure everyone was coping with what was being taught.
From when i first started till now i was made into a much better tennis player, it took me weeks just to be able to get a serve over, and now i am working on improving my serve all the time.
I had no idea to start with about thinking tactical about tennis, even though there is so much to think about, i guess like with most things in life, it was hard to learn but at the same time it was just very chilled out and fun, and that was the key element, going away from the session, having learned something, being able to get exercise and feeling good and happy, hence the project name of feeling good.
It was now the end of the project, and time for the Christmas meal, the last session was made just to have a lot of laughs before getting changed for the meal.
Lovely festive table was laid out, the week before we gave the club our choice of the meats we liked,so that on the day the staff knew who was having what.
Coaches and staff were there to offer awards, for attendance, best forehand, best dressed etc.
I got 2 awards, one for a speech i did, i thought it would be nice to thank all the staff for their hard work, to mention how much i enjoyed the project and other things,
the other award was for attending every session.
Like with 99 percent of things i do in life, i always make sure to get there early but to also never miss anything either.
I really enjoyed the night, and was over the moon to be holding my own racket, that i did a video about how i felt the project went but also photography of the awards i got (:
It was mentioned at the meal that the session would continue a few weeks later but a fee of a few pounds would be needed, which was fair due to the time and effort the staff but into the project in the first place, and it was good that they wanted to keep it going.
I was very excited as the last thing i wanted to do was to stop playing tennis after learning so much.
At the sessions carried on i arranged with a friend, to meet half a hour before the session to have a quick hit, as we both loved tennis so much.
One person who i got on very well with could not make it to the sessions due to him being in sleaford and getting a job,which was a shame as he was a amazing player.
within a month of the sessions starting,again we played even more matches, and got working on improving all of our skills,whilst learning a few different things.
This was also the time i decided, that i had fount something that not only was the place that made me the happiest but something i enjoyed more and more, so i joined the club.
I was told about the socials which ran Monday and Friday 10-12, a place where members of the club, could come along to have some friendly game of doubles and be social.
This was my first step at seeing what my skills were like in a proper doubles match, and playing with members that had been playing tennis for a very long time.
For the first few socials i was very anxious, and was making a lot of mistakes, i was also not used to the level of players skills, and just took time to adapt myself.
I made it my goal to still go to the sessions, but to play at socials and arrange with my friend once a week to have a hit as well.
Now that i had learned everything about tennis up to this point, it was just finding my rhythm, I was good at serving with some cheeky soft serves close to the net, but i was having the problem off the percentage of them going in.
I could do some really epic serves but most of the time i would be double faulting, something you can not afford to do if you was playing in a competition.
I got a lot of tips for the players, about trying to throw the ball higher, and also when you start getting into a stage where you can do that, start watching where your hitting the ball when it comes back down.
at i mentioned above the serving is one of the hardest parts in the game, its not as simply as chucking it up and hitting it.
At the same time, if you focus all your attention on the serve your brain wont have time to get back into the game and watch where the other player has returned your serve to, so you have to think about so much at once when playing tennis.
In February 2017 The club was looking for members to put their names down to be part of a team to enter the swimmarthon over at the meres leisure center, i wrote a post about the experience so i wont go into a lot of detail.
All i can say is, it really tested my stamina and push my limits, it was great to be a part of a team, to represent the tennis club and have fun.
As April hit Talks of another Project for the club was under going, which gave exciting opportunities.
Dale had asked me, if i would like to Join him, on Gravity Fm our local Radio station, to talk about how the project has helped me but to also promote Feeling Good again,
12 more funded weeks were going to be on offer, which was great as i wanted to see even more talent come to the club !!!
I could not ever imagine being on the radio, a very new aspect to my life was starting as the following week, Thanks to connections from the club, Me, Dale, and James Prior one of the coaches at the club, got the chance to speak about the project again this time with a bigger audience across Lincolnshire, at BBC Radio Lincolnshire.
It was a really fun Day out as we went in the car and had lots of chats about a lot of things, I got to see parts of Lincolnshire i had never shown going by, and Dale even stopped for me to do some photography of a amazing looking Building.
melvyn prior, was the host interviewing us, Dale and James spoke about How the project went, and even i got a chance to speak about mental health and how much the club had changed my life.
Which was true, i still suffer with mental health, but being at the tennis club makes life that little bit easier, i feel happy, and had made me into the person i am today (:
Links to the interview will be at the end of this post (:
Being a part of the club, only made me a more confident person, but also more dedicated to get stronger an faster, which lead me to take part in the coach to 5k course ran by Grantham Running Club !!!!
Who connected with the tennis club in order to hold the sessions there, even if the manager of the club got involved in this project which was amazing to see, how well businesses work Together (:
I had written many posts about the running club, so i will not say anymore about it, otherwise i will be going off topic onto what this post it about hehe.
With doing so much physical sport, Injuries can often come into play, a month into doing the running alongside tennis i picked up my first minor leg problem.
my whole left leg, was very painful to walk on, which meant i had to take my first week of tennis since i started playing, and miss 2 sessions of the running club.
When you love being outdoors but also have a strong love for the things you do, it can be so frustrating not being able to do them, it is always best though not to push through it and to take the rest your body is telling you otherwise you will end up doing more harm then good (:
As with times i had struggle in life with my mental health i came back stronger then ever.
I had made a plan that every time i would go to the social games, i would get there a hour early to warm up my serves and other parts of my game, this often lead to meeting more people anyway, due to most people at the club who took part in the social getting there at least half a hour before it starts to do the same thing.
I find the socials always a laugh, pulling off shots that i never know how thats possible, and to this day i have connected with so many people, that everyone just makes me feel so welcome.
I think in a week, as well as the Project every Wednesday, i must play tennis 3-4 times a week.
I am able to play tennis more and more because of the club putting on more socials days,
I think around may time it was announced that a social would start on Saturday and i tell you what its gone down so well, to the point there are more players then courts sometimes haha.
My next steps Towards progressing my skills, was playing at competition level.
So i decided to ask if i could be put down in a team for the club.
Which would play matches across other tennis courts across Lincolnshire but also on their home ground at the club.
Fate had called as a chap who was part of my team for the swim marthon was set to be my partner going into my first doubles match.
A fee of course had to be paid, in order to play as well as bringing something to eat so everyone who was playing could sit down after, talk to each other and enjoy some food (:
In life you have Ups and down, which can often happen in playing sports at a competitive level, not matter how much you enjoy the sport you are playing there are times when you question not playing ever again.
It was my toughest test one of which, impacted my mental health a lot, as from playing so well in the socials, i suddenly forgot everything i had learned and could not play making me get more frustrated at myself, and well my game only getting worse and worse.
I ended up for days tearing myself up of this, because the matches lasted for 3 hours, on a normal day i would be physically fit to manage it but at such a competitive level it drained me.
I was in pain physically and mentally for days, and never wanted to pick up a racket again !!!
Luckily The members and staff from the club even my friend all showed me support, talked some sense into me and a week later, had a new mind set of not giving up and trying harder then i ever had done.
The Blue owl art was holding a exhibition of work being on offer to public to buy, so i decided to pop along to have a look around.
You can tell by now how much i love tennis when i am there for this even and i am more drawn to watching the tennis that was happening indoors !!!! (:
It was a hour of Intense Cardio, lead by the amazing talented coach Lewis Rae, who also took the sessions for the feeling good project.
In life when you make a decision you stick with it so that is what i did, i went down after the session had finished to have a work with him about it, and by next week i was partaking.
This saw how keen i really was to amp up my skills, my game, my fitness levels and so much more.
I came away feeling super happy, and had some really good practice as deep forehands, backhands, running to the net to get drop shots and doing a fun mini game which got everyone laughing (:
A few weeks later i saw the same chap for the 3rd time who was my partner for the doubles matches.
He had managed to get some funding from a local church, to offer the feeling club memebers a feast of pure yummy treats, scones with jam, teas and coffees, huge strawberries, chocolates and so much more, it was a great afternoon and instead of being healthy i decided just to aim to eat the chocolates hehe what can i say i have a sweet tooth (:
Just over a month a go members of the feeling good project got the chance to be in a picture,
as well as kids who were learning how to play tennis, as the club had won a award for their Disability Program of the Year Awards for the Midlands.
The club has a lot of talent coming through at the moment and has a wonderful Program to help people who need to use a wheelchair to be able to still play tennis and you know what do not let the fact that they have to use one fool you, some amazing players competing at a very high level, that will give anyone a hard test to beat them in a match (:
When i am not playing tennis its just nice to head to the club for afternoon to watch people play. One afternoon i was just in shock to see kids around the age of 10 play out of this world, I believe there was Regional championships taking place and wow, it put me to shame, to see these kids making it look so easy why us adults have to work harder and harder just to play the shots they were haha (: Again this made me want to train ever harder, in all aspects my game and my fitness. One weekend i had played the best tennis ever because i had a lot of adrenaline rush running through me, due to doing Park run at Rutland water in the morning, and then for some reason decided i was not tired and wanting to play in the social.
which leads into the last few weeks which is August. A flyer was on the desk at the club about a closed Tournament just for the club members, you could participate in doubles, singes, novice doubles and many others. One of the coaches mentioned i should enter the doubles, and bring along one of the members from the project, The thing with me is i love playing at the social a lot, and can play great shots but learning where to stand, and be able to communite with your partner was something i lacked a lot of, i much preferred playing singles, although you have to run for every ball, its much more fast paced and suits my playing style, so that is what i decided to enter.
This was another chance to see how much my skills had come along, i made the decision to stop going to the running club for the next few weeks so i could focus on training for the competition ahead. One day while i was at the club, a friend pointed a chap to my direction who talked to me for about half a hour who was helping me with getting a better serve in, it was nice to see members of the club just taking their time out to help others (: These tips improved the percentage of my serves and i was really happy, i tested this is the social games and really worked, and had some great games.
Then yet again, as you work harder and harder in life to try and better yourself things do not seem to go right, I changed nothing with my serve because, it was working for me, but for some reason 90 percent of my first serves were not going over the net and my second serves rate was rapidly getting worse as well.
The more i focused on fixing what was wrong the worse my game got. This was now worrying me for the big games ahead, on the day of the matches, i had a hour practice with a friend and played a hour of social my game was great but again my serve was not improving. In the competition in my opinion i played against to of the best the club has, Rob, who works at the club, and Tim who is one of the receptionists, both players played top class, both plays had really fast serves that put my whole game under pressure, making me make silly mistakes and running for every ball.
It was fun to play in the matches as it push my limits, it helped me learn how to read their serves. To start with i struggle to even return a serve but after losing a few games i got used to the pace. After playing my first match with rob, i got chance to have a hit with Tim, that is when my game completely fell apart. He has the fastest serve i have ever seen, and for some reason my whole body was shaking, my feet heavy and i could not run as fast towards the ball as i normally had. yes the last competition i entered affected the way i felt, but even in those games i was not shaking. It could have been many things, such as the weather as it was over 20 degrees and anytime it is i struggle to cope, could even be the fast serves that messed with my head, who knows all i knew is that i was struggling more and more. Overall i was happy that i gave it a go, i still have a lot to learn and train for and i am ready to keep pushing myself and to keep improving. The club is still searching for more funding in order to help with putting on more projects so that more people can get out, join in, have fun and learn to play tennis (: So why has Grantham tennis club changed my life so much??? If it was not for the amazing staff and members of the club making me feel welcome i would not have been able to come more out of my shell and starting building my life up, thanks to them, i had more drive in my life, to learn about photography, to start covering events and helping my local community, they gave me the drive, to get stronger, faster and even if its only for a few hours a day to help my overall mental health !!!!
I would love to be able to expand the sports i do, like getting into football again, playing badminton as i used to play it every week in Nottingham, when i had finished school and i would say i was really good at it, would be nice to see Lincolnshire get funding for sports of all ages, this again would improve your overall mental health (: So what are my next steps with tennis? Well i am going to keep training off course, and enter more competitions, the more you enter the more you will get used to the level of play. work on my social skills more because although i get on well with people from the club, my heart is focused so much on playing tennis that i often do not stop to chat with people .
It would be cool, to be able to promote the club some more, by going on the radio, and helping them with finding funding to continue the project. Someday i would like to learn about coaching, so that i help be a part of the club and teach people tennis (:
Thank you all for reading my Journey of my tennis career, its been a long read i know but i hope you have some understand of how learning tennis can help you in life and why the community of Grantham is a rare place because i have never had such a loving caring and supportive group of people in my life like Grantham has provided !!!!!!!
Want to find out more !!!! then look below and have a nice day (: Grantham tennis club Interview -
Full Voice Interview
https://soundcloud.com/dmpworldmusic/bbc-radio-lincolnshire-interview-grantham-tennis-club
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