They say it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to master a sport or craft. With 12 years of tennis under her belt and a practice schedule of up to 18 hours of playing per week, Lucy Ann Taffner is well on her way.
Taffner, a 15-year-old sophomore at Steinert High School, has been playing tennis since the age of 3. She initially started at Nassau Tennis Club, and has practiced at Princeton Racquet Club and Mercer County Tennis Center. She is the only person in her family to have ever played the sport.
“My parents were looking for something to do with me, but not too ‘contact sport’, so they looked into tennis, and that’s how it all started,” she said.
Taffner has been in an autism program her whole academic life. Whenever things get difficult or frustrating in school, tennis is the outlet where she feels truly talented.
“Lucy Ann played tennis before she even spoke a word,” said Jennifer Taffner, Lucy Ann’s mother. “She was delayed in speaking. She really didn’t speak until she was like almost 5-years old. I used to take her out and play tennis with her, and the kid loved playing tennis. I would tell her, ‘Don’t focus on your disability, focus on what you’re good at.’ And that’s what we always did. Like she says: ‘When I’m on the court, it’s not about my disability, it’s about the tennis.’”
Taffner has been a member of the USTA since she was 7-years old. She still regularly plays tournaments on weekends so it doesn’t conflict with her practices or matches for the Spartans. In mid-September, she was ranked No. 2 for girls 16 and under in the New Jersey district of the Middle States division, and No. 3 for girls 18 and under. Once or twice a week, she goes straight from varsity practice to Advantage Tennis in West Windsor, where she is a part of the Elite Training Academy. There, she trains privately with Martín Alund, who reached a ranking of 84 in the world in 2013 and only trains the top five players at Advantage.
Taffner is the only player on the Steinert team to be returning to varsity; last year’s team was comprised of her and six seniors, all of whom have now graduated. She is also one of two players this year that currently plays tennis outside of high school. Coach James Riese, who is in his second year of leading the girls’ tennis team, emphasizes the importance of players that practice all year round.
“That’s what I try and stress, that you’re not going to get better in the couple weeks of the summer that we have here and a very short season,” he said.
Taffner’s dedication is perhaps proved by what she and her mother did during her second semester of freshman year. Taffner and Jennifer stayed in a travel trailer in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina from January to June so Taffner could attend Van Der Meer Tennis Academy, which has several top 100 players, including John Isner, that can be listed as its alumni. She was home-schooled during this time so she could attend the full-day program, which has a training schedule of 29 hours of tennis per week. She loved the experience so much that Riese was concerned over whether she would return to Steinert or stay in South Carolina.
“Actually, I wasn’t sure if she was coming back after she was home-schooled and I was kind of worried about that,” Riese said.
“Oh, I was coming back, don’t worry,” Taffner said with a grin.
“Once I got the email from her mom, I was like, ‘All right, sweet,’” he said while making a fist pump.
Riese believes Taffner’s dedication comes from her passion for the sport.
“She loves it,” he said. “She wants to get better. That’s why she’s doing it, otherwise I don’t think she would do it. It’s good to have someone with tournament experience on your team, because you know you can put her out on the court against whoever and you know she’s going to go out there and there’s a good chance she’s going to come away with a win, even against a tougher opponent.”
Taffner hopes her team will make it to both States and the MCT this year. She is especially adamant about playing at the county tournament because she missed it last year due to an injury. During a match against a player from Stuart Country Day School, Taffner slipped on some leaves on the court and stretched out her tendon. She lost the match and was not able to play for two weeks.
As a sophomore in the first singles position and with an injury in her recent history, Taffner explains she does sometimes feel pressure, especially during a particularly challenging match. She has a simple strategy of dealing with the stress.
“I think about going out there, playing my game, and whatever the score is, it’s the score,” Taffner said. “If I give my percent and do what my potential is, I can go out doing my best, and I can feel confident.”
“She just takes her deep breaths and realizes she’s going to play her game and control what she can control, and she’s going to play well,” Riese said.
He said that if Taffner keeps herself calm, she can focus on doing her best and potentially securing a win for the Spartans.
Even with her long hours of practices and matches, Taffner finds time to relax by spending time with her dogs Skippy and Pepper, a border collie poodle mix and a dachshund poodle mix, at the dog park in Mercer County Park. She hopes to play tennis in college and after, and she plans on being a tennis coach when she is finished with school.
As for now, Taffner can be found working on her overhead, which she claims is her weakness, and perfecting the spin on her lefty serve, which gives her an advantage over right-handed players.
“She loves it,” Jennifer said. “You either love it or you don’t.”
It’s clear where Taffner stands.
Steinert High girls’ tennis first singles player Lucy Ann Taffner practices her serve Sept. 14, 2016. (Photo by Karolina Zachor.),
