Parsa’s Picks: How Tennis Teaches Skills Beyond The Court

Tennis is the sport of a lifetime, and we see that manifested throughout the lives of so many people, especially here in our local community. The lessons learned and skills developed from being a tennis player can stay with you throughout your life and have benefits no matter what field you enter into professionally.

Parsa Samii was a high-level junior tennis player from Long Island who went on to play collegiate tennis at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Samii became a high-performance tennis coach before entering the real estate business, and is now a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson and a Member of the Compass Sports & Entertainment Division.

Long Island Tennis Magazine spoke with Parsa about his tennis background, what he does for a living, and how the former has helped him succeed in the latter.

LITM: Talk about your tennis background. Where did you play as a junior growing up, what that experience was like and did you play in high school/college?

I actually started playing tennis pretty late, at the age of 13. I started at Port Washington Tennis Academy which at the time was where all the best players in New York  trained at. It was on the heels of the Harry Hopman era there, and it was just a mecca for tennis. It was an incredible place; between the chocolate chip cookies and milk that were always there, and the chess games that were played between practices, and what felt like an unlimited amount of open court time and people to play with, many of whom were following and pursuing a passion just like you were. It was an incredible way to grow up. I was more of a basketball player initially, and so I was a bit behind when I got into tennis, but I was very competitive. I really just enjoyed the struggles, to be honest with you; the suffering that I went through because of that and wanting to be the best. Being years behind my competitors was something that I still value and cherish to this day, and the lessons that I’ve learned that I continue to lean on and use in my business today.

High school tennis and college tennis was interesting because it helped me get that team experience. You are still competitive and fight for your position with your teammate, but then the next day, you play a match against a different school, and now you’re brothers again. And so it’s an interesting arena to be in going back and forth between competing with each other and then grouping together to defeat an opponent. So there’s a lot to that.  And the same thing happened really in college. You know, all of it was rooted in passion and desire to continue to improve at something that was really difficult. I can’t say that at the time it was the most fun thing in the world because of that tension, but reflecting back on it, they were the best years of my life and some of the best moments of my life. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

LITM: What did being a competitive junior tennis player teach you about yourself?

Everything. I attribute my fitness level, my physicality, my mentality and my emotional intelligence largely in part to the years I spent playing junior tennis. At a young age, you’re forced to reflect and see how you can improve. You’re forced to deal with your emotions, and in order to perform at a higher level, you have to tackle all of these adversities that arise that you normally don’t deal with as a kid. Whether it’s anger, frustration, success or improvement, each and every day has its own challenge, and to learn to overcome those challenges and to live in the moment are some of the greatest tools that were learned through experience as a junior tennis player. And there is a lot of virtue in the experience. Without living it, I couldn’t really own it. And I think that’s a really important gift.

LITM: What lessons or like skills did you take from tennis? 

A great question. I would say almost everything, but the major one is to have the sense of never quitting. I don’t even think it’s in my blood to quit at something, and a large part of that is because of these initial struggles in tennis. It’s a funny sport in that even if you play well and do the right things, you can still lose. You have to be able to reflect on it, make sure that you did what you needed to do in order to be successful, and be able to reflect and pivot for next time. Either the quality of the shots that you were hitting, or the tactics that you were playing, weren’t exactly where they needed to be, despite your physical level being there. And so what that means is that you have to get back to the practice court the next day and keep getting improving. Also on a more macro level tennis taught me that you could do a lot of the right things, and it could still not work out for you. What you really need to do is pick yourself back up, get back to work, do what you know is going to get you to the end goal, and continue to do the best you can to eventually get the result to go the way you want it to go.

LITM: How have those lessons helped you in the business and real estate arena?

To be honest with you, being a player then being a coach, and then moving into a completely different industry, I had no fear, and I think that is probably the greatest gift that tennis gave me. I feel like I failed at every level, and as funny as that sounds to say, it’s actually given me a ton of strength, because I approached real estate with that same mentality. I had already failed so many times that when people would tell me that real estate is a failure type of arena, and most people don’t make it, it did not deter me. I said, ‘Alright, cool. I don’t care. I’m just going to keep doing what I do. I’m going to keep doing the things that I know will make me successful which are my daily habits and due diligence every single day for every piece of business that I have. And I promise you, I will turn around more than the average agent does.  The data shows that for the last 2/3 years I’ve been the number one agent on Long Island by sales volume, and that’s strictly because of the work that I do on a daily basis, and that comes from all the habits I built on the tennis court.  Its just like hitting forehands and backhands every day whether I felt like it or not. Go out, set your daily goal and work hard to improve a little bit every day.

LITM: What makes tennis the ideal sport for people of all ages to play? What do you love most about it, and why is it great for someone who requires a work-life balance?

Tennis is a sport where you’re challenged in so many different aspects like the physical test of movements on the court and hand-eye coordination, mental aspects like tactics and strategy and of course the emotional control required to compete and deal with pressure.

All of these traits that tennis require, no matter stage of life or your level, make it a challenge in almost every aspect. What I find amazing is the simple act of playing utilizes so many tools that humans possess and it doesn’t have to be a competitive match to get the workout, just hitting back and forth makes use of all of it.

I would love to play more, but as of now I try to play once a week when I’m healthy, and it’s a great outlet. Just this morning, I warmed up with my buddy and we hit back-and-forth for five straight minutes. It was the quietest my mind has been in a week since the previous time I played with him, and it’s truly a remarkable gift that tennis has given me. When I get to step on a court, I get to lock life out and just focus on feeling the ball, feeling my body and feeling my breath. Being able to just take a step back and reflect is what makes tennis truly a gift for me. Unfortunately, schedules get very busy, especially with a family and young children, but I do try to make a point to play as much as I can. I also get on the court with my kids to teach them twice a week too which is amazing to be able to pass on life skills while on the tennis court.

Tennis has so many levels that it can be difficult to start but, what makes it a unique is that there is always a level for you. What I love the most about tennis is pretty simple. It’s the crack of the ball, it’s the hitting of the strings, it’s the silence that it creates; it’s a space that nobody can enter in my mind. It’s me, the ball and the opponent across the net, and really nothing else. It is one of the more simple things in life, at least for me. And the objective is to hit the ball over the net and inside the lines, and to do better than the person across the way. When I look at it like that, it’s a refresher. Every single time I step on the court, I come back and I’m in a much better mindset and ready to tackle the day. I have always appreciated that and will continue to for the rest of my life.