After recovering from two back surgeries and depending on a walker, Caye Inglis now is winning medals for her tennis game

At 83, Caye Inglis leaps about the court, agile and aware, showing the form that won her a gold medal this fall in singles tennis at the World Senior Games.

Casual observers probably wouldn’t guess that just a few years ago Inglis was recovering from two back surgeries — or that she used a walker for a time to get around.

For some her age, it would have been the beginning of the end. But not for Inglis, who credits her physical comeback to diet, devotion to the mental game of tennis and meditation, prayer and positive visualization.

"I had to talk with myself when I had doubts, when I would say hey, why are you doing this, what are you trying to prove, are you really ready to do this?" says Inglis, a retired school principal living in Jacksonville. "My answer to myself was that I’m strong, agile and play as well as lots of people my age or older. Why shouldn’t I do well?"

Inglis cemented her accomplishments this fall with the gold and a doubles silver in the 80-84 age class at the Huntsman World Senior Games, an annual event in St. George, Utah, that draws nearly 8,000 seniors to compete in a variety of sports.

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It wasn’t the first trip to Utah for Inglis, who had won a silver and four bronze medals in tennis at the games in the late 1990s.

The gold she sought wasn’t to follow immediately. In 2001, Inglis underwent stress-related lower back surgery.Another surgery followed in 2002, and Inglis turned to the walker to help her get around during an arduous recovery that included physical and nutritional therapy.

In recovery she didn’t baby herself, but she did have to overcome a fear of falling by making sure she got her feet moving as quickly as her mind.

The positive strategy, augmented by a diet heavy on veggies and fruit and light on carbs, fat and meat, worked. So did the love and support of friends and family, chiefly David, 83, her husband of 62 years, with whom she daily meditates and listens to self-improvement tapes.

You might think opponents would go easy on an 83-year-old athlete, but Inglis, who started competitive tennis at 60, says no way.

"They don’t go easy on me and I don’t go easy on them," Inglis says. "I may not hit the ball as hard as they do, but I’ve got good strategy. I serve well, play deep to deep and net to net and let them make the mistakes.

"You watch the opponent first and the ball second," she adds. "That tells you what’s going to happen. Tennis is a thinking game — and that mental activity is a lot of how tennis helps keep you young."

Southern Oregon Tennis Club pro Gail Patton, 54, a teacher of Inglis, says tennis is an excellent "sport of a lifetime," as it provides a good cardiopulmonary workout, challenges muscles and bones (to prevent osteoporosis) and enforces a dynamic, focused mental game, as opposed to repetitive machine workouts.

"Caye and the other women also use tennis for the social aspect — having interaction with other people — and that’s big anti-aging medicine," Patton adds.

Frequent tennis partner Judy Mooster, 58, notes Inglis’ "fresh, positive spirit and excitement about life," adding that vigorous, challenging interaction with friends is vital.

"Tennis is a proven mental-physical strengthener that keeps you flexible," says Mooster. "It’s absolutely essential with age to keep working the muscular and skeletal systems and to keep the synapses firing."

"It’s about getting older, but not getting old," says Marge Holman, 72, of the tennis center’s staff. "I’m really impressed with her. She just lights up the room."

For Inglis, a positive outlook has been grounded for 15 years in the teachings of the United Church of Religious Science, practiced at the Center for Spiritual Living in Central Point.

"I knew I could rebuild my body," says Inglis. "The belief in yourself comes from relying on the one life that is in and through all creation and which, because it pervades all our cells, affirms that presence, creativity and strength."

Inglis estimates she’s able to beat half the younger women at SOTC.

The key, she says, is not playing to exercise. "If you do it to get exercise, you’ll get hurt. You play tennis to master the game. You exercise to play, not the other way around."

How long does Inglis intend to keep playing? She laughs.

"Till I can’t."

John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.

Many compete at World Senior Games

Nearly 8,000 athletes 50 and older competed in 92 events Oct. 4-16 at St. George, Utah. Competition included basketball, bowling, tennis, cycling, mountain biking, racquetball, road racing, softball, swimming, triathlon, volleyball, lawn bowling, square dancing, table tennis and track and field events. Horseshoes, bridge and golf also are in the lineup.

The games are hosted by the city of St. George and have been sponsored since 1989 by Jon M. Huntsman, chairman of the Utah-based Huntsman Corp., a chemical manufacturer.

Complete lists of medal winners should be available by mid month at www.seniorgames.net, a spokeswoman said.