My first stab at tennis.
I found a tennis racket at Good Will for only $2.50, and I bought a can of balls at Walgreen's. So I headed over to the Golden Gate courts, where there's a couple of practice walls.
At the wall I noticed that too often, I hit the balls over the fence. I kept at it for a while, and though it was fun, someone started practicing next to me and since I have so little control over the ball, I decided to leave him in peace.
The next morning I met with one of my new partners, Trish. We decided to practice hitting the ball back and forth without worrying about keeping score. It was a blast, and a few times we were able to keep the ball going back and forth for a while, which felt great!
Both of us tend to hit the ball too high and too far, so this weekend, when I'm meeting Joel for some practice, my goal is to think about where I intend the ball to go after I hit it, and to visually focus on the ball and my racket.
I love tennis!
At the wall I noticed that too often, I hit the balls over the fence. I kept at it for a while, and though it was fun, someone started practicing next to me and since I have so little control over the ball, I decided to leave him in peace.
The next morning I met with one of my new partners, Trish. We decided to practice hitting the ball back and forth without worrying about keeping score. It was a blast, and a few times we were able to keep the ball going back and forth for a while, which felt great!
Both of us tend to hit the ball too high and too far, so this weekend, when I'm meeting Joel for some practice, my goal is to think about where I intend the ball to go after I hit it, and to visually focus on the ball and my racket.
I love tennis!
Comment
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Comment by Priya Talwar on June 4, 2009 at 11:44pm -
Hi Ingrid,
Hope you read this soon:)..I have just started playing tennis and am really looking to play and practice with someone. I live in pac heights and golden gate court is pretty close. We can also do the alamo square tennis courts. Hit me up if you are interested.
Cheers!
Priyanka
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Comment by Priya Talwar on June 4, 2009 at 11:43pm
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Hi Ingrid,
Hope you read this soon:)..I have just started playing tennis and am really looking to play and practice with someone. I live in pac heights and golden gate court is pretty close. We can also do the alamo square tennis courts. Hit me up if you are interested.
Cheers!
Priyanka
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Comment by Ingrid on December 9, 2008 at 12:58pm -
Hi, Joel! I haven't been getting any practice in, and I suspect that's how the month of December will go - everyone's busy, even me! But for Christmas, I'm thinking about getting myself some tennis lessons. And in January I'm going to try again with the tennis networking. Let me know if you'd like to meet up then!
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Comment by joel on December 4, 2008 at 6:26pm -
Happy Holidays! I seen the spambot too! I am one of the flakers who did not call and I owe you some fun on the court! Or at least a flake on me.... but I am willing to try it again.... In anycase how is your controlof the ball coming along ? Are you still using arm primarily or do you have a full body swing into your tennis control ?
Kind Regards,
Joel =)
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Comment by David Patterson on November 19, 2008 at 8:53pm -
You have a better start than me. I started out with an old wooden racket in my dad's field hitting acorns... but then I discovered rocks. After hitting the rocks for a while I broke my dad's strings. He didn't get mad, he just bought a new NON-wooden racket from Wal-Mart and let me play on the real courts.
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Comment by Ingrid on November 16, 2008 at 10:03am
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Chris:
Thanks! I'll check out the groups. How neat. . .
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Comment by Chris on November 16, 2008 at 2:54am -
Ingrid~i am so happy for you, to have found this amazing sport. it is just fun fun fun.
you know you can also join the groups here too, you will find more people that way in your area.
Bay Area Baseliners
Mid-Peninsula Tennis
chris =)
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Comment by Dale Yarbrough on November 15, 2008 at 2:08pm -
You are more than welcome. I wouldn't be concerned about spelling among tennis players. It reminds me of something Chet Akins (one of the all-time great guitarist) once said when he was named head of RCA records. A reported ask if he could read music and he said: "Yes but it don't hurt my playin' none." I know you'll have many happy days on the court.
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Comment by Ingrid on November 15, 2008 at 12:43pm
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Thanks, Dale! I did choose a racquet with an oversized head because I figured I'd miss fewer shots if I had more area to work with. I am still a little sore from my game on Thursday, so I figure the exercise is going to be really great for me. And thanks for naming the parts for me and for (unintentionally) helping me to spell "racquet" correctly - I didn't think "racket" was correct, but "raquet" didn't look right, either ; ).
I have nothing but patience, and thanks to sites like this one, I feel like I'm able to meet other people who will be patient with me. I'm excited about this new pastime, and I'm grateful for the tips!
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Comment by Dale Yarbrough on November 15, 2008 at 11:03am
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Hi Ingrid,
Great to have a fellow tennis traveler. You have taken the first step to a life time of great fun and physical fitness. I'm not going to try an teach you tennis with written instructions because they hardly ever work.
For one thing, the written word can be misunderstood and there is no way to help you correct a mistake without seeing what you are doing. I first thing I teach my students is racquet anatomy so that they understand what I'm talking about when I tell them to open the face or move their grip. I think that's important. The head of the racquet is the part that the strings are attached to and the strings then become the face. Going down from the head is the throat (that area between the head and the grip). Continuing down from the throat is the handle covered with a grip of some type, either leather or some synethic leather material. A
the end of the racquet handle is, you guess it, the butt. You will notice that the handle has eight sides: 2 vertical sides, 2 horizonal sides and 4 beveled sides. This makes finding a particular grip (handplacement on the handle) a little easier and allow for more hand comfort and ball control on your strokes.
On a basic forehand backhand stroke the face of the racquet should be perpendicular to the surface of the court. That allows for the maximum amount of string surface for contact with the ball. Since you gave no indication of the head size, I would suggest that you look into getting an oversized racquet, that is, one with a large head. Oversized racquets are more forgiving and you can mishit a shot and still get a fairly good shot.
Most of all, remember that tennis is a patience game and requires hitting millions of balls in order to get some mastery of a stroke. Also, never beat up on yourself for missing a shot. You are only human and you'll do much better keeping a positive frame of mind. Sampras learned that lesson and said it best: there is the game, the heart and the mind. One last thing, relax on the court. Hope this was of some help and let me know how you're doing. If I can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to let me know.
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