Brownstown senior excelled in doubles play

October 2, 2018

Jackson Lahrman recalled that when he was in elementary school, he played football at Brownstown Central.

However, after several injuries, and he decided to make a change.

In his senior year at BCHS, Lahrman says switching to tennis is one of the best decisions he has made when it comes to athletics.

Lahrman began playing tennis as an eighth-grader.

“My brother (Lute) had played tennis so I picked it up in eighth grade,” Lahrman said. “My freshman year I played (junior varsity) doubles, sophomore I played No. 2 doubles, and junior and senior year I played one doubles. I’ve played with Gunnar (Zickler) all three years.”

Lahrman played on the right, and mostly at the baseline.

“I mostly played on the forehand side,” Lahrman said. “I ran down balls, and I have a stronger forehand, so I tried to set up to either hit winners on my forehand or make them move so they don’t have any control over the point. They set up Gunnar at the net for an easy put away.

“He’s stronger at the net and I’m usually stronger at the back.”

Lahrman said warm ups are important, for trying to figure out opponents’ weaknesses, and that practices are also crucial.

“We tried to play some matches in practice, but that’s where you get all your drills in,” he said. “You’ve got to work on your consistency, but you’ve got to not get worried in a match. You’ve got to make matches feel like practice, stay consistent. Never get up.”

On the schedule, Lahrman looked forward to home matches.

“I liked playing at home more,” Lahrman said. “We have our bleachers set up to where Gunnar and I get to have the bleachers on our side. We had a lot of fans watching us more. We like playing in a straight line where guys are not behind us or in front of us.”

In tennis, Lahrman feels the mental side of the sport is just as important as the physical skill set.

“Mental is at least half of it if not more,” Lahrman said. “You watch guys, they’ll have a double fault and they’ll get mad and have another one right after that. That could have been reduced to only one. You’ve got to stay happy and keep your head up, focus on what you’re doing, focus on the next point.”

The senior has enjoyed attending BCHS.

“I love (Brownstown Central),” Lahrman said. “We all like the teachers, and love the small community. Everybody knows everybody. All the teachers are good, the coaches are good. We all take care of each other.

“I’ll remember all the friends, all the coaches who are good friends. We’re all good with our coaches, and all the stressful nights we’ve had out here playing (tennis) with our buddies, just all the work we’ve put in and what we get out of it.”

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Name: Jackson Lahrman

High school: Brownstown Central

Parents: Marc and Angie Lahrman

Sibling: Lute

Sports: tennis 4 years

Athletic honors: all-conference, all-county, advanced in individual sectional in 2017

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