Back on the Court
First day back and all I can say is WOW! What a great game! Who knew tennis could be so fun?
I have to be honest, though. I almost skipped the lesson all together. After a long day of work and an even longer bike ride home, I felt drinking a cold beer and relaxing on our new cushy couch sounded much better than 2 hours of swinging a racquet. My better half (and fellow TW employee) gave me the guilty look as I weighed the options … needless to say I put my beer back in the fridge and begrudgingly hopped in the car. At this point I had little ambition and pretty sour expectations for the evening.
Luckily this all changed once we stepped onto the court. Mark Boone, a TW clinic instructor, greeted us with a quick lesson on volleys. He is known for his quirky comments and helpful analogies, both of which lightened the mood, making for great atmosphere. Surprisingly things were going much better than I expected. I wasn’t nearly as incompetent as I thought I would be. I was hitting with the Wilson FX Four at this point. The racquet felt really light through my swing. Some of my returns were sailing out of control, while a number of them landed smoothly in the net. Mr. Boone coached me to slow down the speed of my swing and focus on the angle at which the ball made contact with the strings. Once I did this I was much more consistent with my shots. I still felt like I wasn’t “connecting” with the racquet in the way I was hoping to. Halfway through our lesson I changed to the Dunlop 4D 5-Fifty Lite. I’m not sure if I had just warmed up or what, but I really felt like I was instantly playing better. This was probably a culmination of several factors, but this racquet was definitely a better fit for me. I liked that I could actually feel the ball as it hit the strings. I knew instantly whether it would be a successful hit. This was a very satisfying feeling.
Before I knew it the night was growing cold, and it was time to head home. This had been a great couple of hours spent learning to love the game again. I had no idea how much fun it would be or how little embarrassment I would feel. Yes I hit several terrible shots, and yes I completely whiffed a number of balls, but all in all it was a wonderful night. I am so excited for my lesson with TW expert Chris Edwards tomorrow. I will report back next week with my progress, but until then, please feel free to offer up any tips or hints you might have.
Thanks for reading,
Hayley
