Cello practices haven't been going well.
Lately, Irina has been focusing on the quality of the sound I produce, but no matter how I tried, my right wrist always ended up in great pain from the pressure applied onto the cello strings. So as soon as I walked into her home today, I said, "Irina, this isn't working. I have too much pain every time I play." As usual, she leaned back against her chair, nodded her head a few times, and uttered, "uh huh, uh huh."
Like I said before, every time I learned something about playing the cello, it seemed that that principle could be applied to tennis, to work, to any aspect of my life. Today was no exception.
Producing a good sound from the cello doesn't result from pressing down onto the strings - Irina told me. What is important is to feel the vibration of the strings transmitted through the bow to my fingers. Only when I solidly feel the vibrations will I produce good sound. No force, no tension, no pain. I tried it, and it immediately worked. Irina's reaction: "Perfecto!"
On my drive home (in my new but now dirty Volvo C30), I couldn't help but wonder whether this concept translates to tennis - perhaps the key to a solid stroke is to feel the contact of the ball with the strings on the racquet. This contact creates vibrations of the strings which are then transmitted to my hand. Just like playing the cello.
Since I have this self-diagnosed, self-exaggerated ADHD, my mind wandered toward the myriad of other things I do. The feel and contact that I was starting to appreciate sounded a bit like something we discussed in my improvisation class last year - to be in the moment. It was then that I had this enlightened shiver up my spine.
Could it be that the process and principle of success is the same in everything I do in life? Somehow, I need to learn to feel through my fingers the vibrations of the cello string and the tennis ball, just like I need to learn to see and hear the people in my life, to solidly feel and appreciate my interactions with them.
I can tell you now that it won't be easy. A lot of old, bad habits will have to be unlearned. But I have to try.
How else am I going to perform the Vivaldi Concerto at the cello recital in January?
