Week 6 reminded me that tennis really is a game of highs, lows, progress… and apparently discovering muscles I didn’t know existed.
Wednesday’s social tennis session wasn’t my greatest. There were lots of singles games and, to be fair, I actually started well—winning my first two games. After that though, I don’t think I won another one all evening!
Tennis has a funny way of humbling you very quickly. But I’m learning not to get too caught up in results and instead look for the positives. And there definitely were some. My serve felt much better this week—something I’ve been working really on—and I even got a few compliments on it, which felt good. Better still, I managed to return some of our coach Andy’s serves, which previously might have just flown past me while I admired them.
I also realised something important this week: sometimes life follows you onto the court whether you want it to or not. Distractions, stress, overthinking—it all creeps in and affects your game. Tennis demands so much focus mentally, and I’m starting to understand how important it is to leave the outside world outside the gate for a couple of hours.
Friday’s coaching session brought a completely different kind of enjoyment because my husband finally came along to try this tennis world I’ve been banging on about for the last year. I think he quite enjoyed himself… although I suspect he’s still recovering from how much harder tennis is than it looks! I’m fairly sure he’ll be back at some point.
During the session we worked on creating spin by striking the ball from a different angle. It felt strange at first, but also really exciting—like unlocking another level of tennis. I love those moments where you realise there are still so many different shots and techniques to learn. Slowly but surely, the tennis repertoire is growing.
Then came cardio tennis…I’m still recovering! In fact, multiple people at work have asked me today if I’m injured. One person kindly informed me I was “walking like John Wayne,” which probably tells you everything you need to know about the session. Clearly we used a muscle group that had been quietly dormant for several decades.
Was it painful? Yes. Will I go back? Absolutely!
Because somehow, no matter how frustrating, exhausting, or physically questionable tennis leaves me feeling, I still come away smiling every single time.