For Powhatan High School tennis player Daniel Hart, his football lineman size is not as much about physical intimidation on the tennis court as it is about underestimation. At 5’10” and 240 pounds Hart is a lineman on the Powhatan football team but he is remarkably better accomplished as a tennis player.

Ranked as the number one singles player in the Southside District for the past two years, Hart feels his size gives him a big advantage over unsuspecting opponents.

“Players, particularly ones I never played before, think I’m slow. But I have developed very fast feet and have more endurance than most tennis players,” he said.

“Daniel is very consistent,” offered Coach John Dinardi. “He’s very aggressive and very tough, but an all around good guy,” he added.

Hart is also refreshingly candid. His outgoing personality, his modesty and his desire to do the right thing are the reasons his teammates elected him captain, according to his coach.

It would be easy to misdiagnose Hart’s aggressive attitude on the tennis court.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a temper,” he cautioned. “But I hate to lose and I’ll do anything I can,” short of cheating he was quick to add, “to win. If I can get in the other player’s head and set myself apart by being vocal, I will. And I will talk to myself to pump myself up”

Hart’s game is not the one of physical domination that his size would appear to dictate.

“It’s all about setting up the winning shot. I may be more power than finesse, but I compliment one with the other.” He is a bit of a chameleon off the court, noting that his greatest strength is his sense of humor. “I try not to take things too seriously,” he said “but I flip a switch when I’m on the court. Because I am so intense my opponent can’t use emotion to take me out of my own game.”

Asked to break down the attributes of a superior tennis player Hart nailed it. “Mental toughness! Even if all of the strokes are there, weak personalities break down easily.

But did his own aggressive nature ever prevent him from “moving on?”

Hart hemmed and hawed, then smiled.

“I have lost matches because my temper had gotten me in trouble,” he admitted. “But I tell myself, calm down. Get your head in the game.”

Hart, with his typical candor, admitted that he had not been the greatest student up until this year. His 2.7 GPA would not have impressed.

“But I woke up academically this year and pulled that up to about 3.7.”

He plans “to be playing tennis somewhere next year,” and is looking strongly at Shenandoah University.

In five years he can see himself in medical school, perhaps as an emergency room doctor.