Accolades Go a Long Way

It's amazing to me how much verbal accolades mean to our hearts and mental game.

When I play scotch doubles, my boyfriend says out loud "good shot" when I make a good shot, and do so in return when he makes great shots.

A verbal pat on the back pumps up my confidence.  And let's me know I am shooting well for our 2-person team.

A few months ago, my boyfriend had to work on a day there was a scotch doubles tournament. I called a mutual friend to see if he would like to play with me, so I could try and make some extra cash.  He said yes right away and I felt pretty sporty he said yes automatically, lol.

My b/f said he'd be crazy not to play with me, haha.

The Guy and I ended up winning the tournament, but I didn't feel as "special" as when Brian I win it.

This Guy said only two times at the beginning of the tourney, "good shot."  After that, he never said anything; never complimented me or said one word after awesome shots. And I admit to whoever might be reading this, that I came with some REALLY fantastic shots a few times that deserved recognition (as stupid as that sounds).

I would get all pumped up after some of my pretty phenomenal shots, and yet.... he wouldn't say A WORD to me, or about the shot. 

Other teams were complimenting each other, as they should.  It's a normal thing to do, right?

Well, it actually started to bother me.  I didn't understand why he wouldn't comment anymore. It seemed obvious to me that you compliment each other when you come with a really good shot. I still said "good shot" to him after his good shots, because I was impressed or thankful. But then it became awkward because he had stopped with his verbal accolades.

Now, I'm not saying he should have complimented every single one of my shots, but I do think it's politically correct to commend someone every once in a while when a shot is pretty awesome.  So, when it didn't happen anymore, I was bummed, for lack of a better word.


I really enjoy playing with my b/f, Brian, SO much better. We pump each other up; and that's key to playing doubles well and having good fun while kicking butt!