The non-dominant cure by Parin

The non-dominant cure by Parin - February 2026 Scholarship Essay

Last year, I was horrendous at tennis. I couldn’t serve, I couldn’t volley, and I couldn’t even throw a ball upwards without it moving to the right 5 feet. When I asked my brother why all of these things were happening, he said it was because of my hand-eye coordination. I’ve never been able to catch a ball, which might be why I didn’t go into football. After he told me that, I looked up methods for fixing my hand-eye coordination, but none of them worked. Then, I had to go to my last resort, my stepmother.
Imagine the most passive-aggressive, nicest stepmother in the world, then imagine her with Indian remedies that could “cure cancer.” That’s the embodiment of my stepmother. I asked her, “Do you have anything to improve hand-eye coordination?” Her response changed my entire tennis career. She told me to use my left hand more. She said she used to be the same way, but 5 years ago she started doing little things with her left hand. She brushed her teeth with her left hand, scanned groceries with it, and even grabbed items with it. She said, "Anything you can use your left hand with, use it."
After that, I tried it. I brushed my teeth with my left hand, I grabbed water with it, and even drove with it. After a while, my coordination got better. I was able to play tennis better, I could serve better, volley better, and when I throw a ball up, it comes straight back down. As of today, I moved up to varsity and play first in boys' doubles. I have a great kick serve, really good groundstroke, and still suck at volleys. When I look back at what helped me get to this point, I know that the small habit of using my left hand has changed my tennis career, and maybe even my life, forever.