learn to play tennis

So I missed 3 tennis lessons do to a hectic renovation (had to move everything out the house and into boxes in a storage pod. so they could finish the wood floors in my house).

The other reason would be pure laziness. I live in Miami and Ive been playing every Sat on an outside court at 2:30 arguably the hottest hour of the day. Its quite tiring.

This Saturday I called my instructor and went though. It was great. According to him I played my best yet and this despite a derth of practice. My backhand is very strong but my forehand needs work. Still trying to get a strong consistent serve down. Joined a tennis forum to help.

I’ve only played tennis a few times, and even though I wasn’t exactly good, I loved it. I’d really like to improve enough that I could play on the tennis team next year at school. I’m thinking of asking about taking lessons.

Its really easy and fun :D, but the tennis club its a little bit expensive.

My Monday evening lesson was fairly good. We worked on our volley shots, and on serving some more. I totally suck at serving, but my volley is really strong.

The Wednesday evening lesson was really strong. I felt on the ball (pun intended) for all but the last ten minutes or so, when the 95+ temps finally wore me out. We did some more volleying and rallied quite a bit. We’re also learning the basics of how to play doubles (with one player up at the net and the other behind). Most of it is pretty intuitive to me, but it’s hard when your partner isn’t quite sure where they need to be.

I also talked to some of the girls in the class who said they want to take the next class up. We have to get the instructor’s permission to advance, though, so we’ll see how that goes!

Ok. I missed last lesson because I was out of town for my cousin’s grad party.

I’ve been practicing at a middle school up the street from my house. I go there after work and hit against the wall till the sun goes down.

I’ve figured out how to give the ball a little topspin They say this is the sceret to keeping it in the court. Air pressure exerted on the ball from above causes it to fall just before it goes out of bounds.

Ive also discovered what low-to-high swing is. For the life of me I just couldnt figure it out. I had a mental block. Now I see though and its really very simple.

My forehand is much better after practicing twice one hour each time. Im now confident that with some work I could be good at this so its worth continuing.
Im also happy to say I dont think I’ll scare off my instructor with my suckiness again.

Ive already started inviting more senior players than myself to a future a** kicking

Serving! I’m glad we finally got to serving, mostly because I felt like I was missing out on an important part of the game. My serve is pretty good so far, although I can’t toss the ball correctly to save my soul. After six or seven tosses I actually get one that is hittable, and I’m able to do pretty well. This lesson was the first to make me sore!

Okay, first an incredibly embarrassing story that I must share. I was walking while texting (never a good combination) on my way to my lesson when WHAM. I walked smack into the sides of the bleachers that face the courts. Want to talk embarrassing! People saw and laughed and I am covered in bruises today. Sigh…

Okay, onto the lesson. I was a little out of sorts from the bleacher crashing, but the lesson went well. It was extremely hot (95+) but I think I’m getting better. I’m more confident with my backhand and I’m keeping the ball on the court more often than not when I return it.

Next week we tackle serving, and I hope I won’t be tackling any bleachers.

mikala and I went to the courts and played for two hours! we both suck alot, but we decided to play every week so maybe we’ll get better!

bombed unfortunately. I wonder if tennis is gonna be one of those things Im innately bad at or if I just need practice.

Anyway, my instructor cut the lesson short 10 minutes because I was hitting so badly and he was hot and tired (He’d hosted a tennis tournie- so he’d been out in the sun 4 hrs already).

On the up side he only charged me $30 and offered to regrip my racket for free.

I’m sorta discouraged. Teach tells me I better practice between my once a week lessons or I’ll never improve but with current “skill” level I’m almost embarrassed to attempt this anywhere public.

Maybe I’ll get one of those ball machines.

Lesson #2 was a success. I am glad that I’m not completely inept at this game! I think I’m somewhere in the top of the class, although I really need to work on my control. If the game was called “Accidentally Hit The Ball Really Far” I would be amazing. But most of the time I hit it and it goes somewhere on the other side of the court, which seems like a good start.

We’ve worked on our forehands and backhands mostly. My forehand is pretty strong, and every once in a while my backhand feels like I think it should.

On Saturday, my friend Carolyn (who is taking the class with me) and I are going to the park for some outside-of-class practice. I’m really looking forward to it!