This week felt like a real mix of progress, frustration, and those little moments that remind me why I keep coming back to tennis.
I carried on with social tennis and had a particularly fun session playing doubles with another left-hander. At one point, there were three lefties on court at the same time—which felt quite rare and slightly chaotic in the best way! It definitely made positioning and angles a bit more interesting.
I also had the chance to play some singles with Brandon, one of the coaches. He did forget to ask me what my favourite thing from the week was (which has become a bit of a running thing!), but we made up for it with plenty of banter on court.
Going into this week, I really wanted to focus on consistency—hitting the ball cleanly, keeping rallies going, and most importantly… trying to relax. Although, anyone watching might think I have some serious anger to release with how hard I try to hit the ball at times! It’s definitely a work in progress—learning that not every shot needs to be a winner.
I came away from one session feeling a bit frustrated. I realised I don’t yet have much variety in my shots, and something didn’t feel quite right with my grip. You start to notice what other players can do—those lovely slices, controlled volleys—and it’s hard not to feel a little envious. But I suppose that’s part of improving, noticing the gaps and working on them.
Tennis really is an up-and-down game. I only managed an hour on Wednesday, and I wonder if I tried to cram too much into a short space of time. Sometimes less really is more.
Thursday was a much-needed reset. Back to a ladies session, seeing some familiar faces I hadn’t seen in a while, and playing in the sunshine—it instantly lifted everything.
The session focused on directional shots, which was exactly what I needed. Up until recently, my approach has been more “hit and hope,” so being able to start placing the ball where I actually intend it to go feels like a big step forward.
There were only a few of us, which meant some really valuable one-to-one time with Andy. I knew straight away what I wanted to work on—volleys. I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Why were they constantly drifting out, even when I wasn’t hitting them hard?
Turns out… I was probably doing too much.
One of the biggest takeaways? You don’t actually need to swing your racket much at all when volleying. It’s more about positioning, control, and a simple, compact movement. As we practised, it almost felt like learning a dance routine at one point—step, split, position. Safe to say there were a few laughs along the way.
Before long, all of us were working on volleys together, and it was great to then put it into practice during some doubles play. It’s starting to make more sense now—slowly!
I’m still riding that wave of loving tennis, even with the frustrating moments thrown in. Each session feels like another piece of the puzzle.
And next week… I can’t wait to get back to cardio tennis. Funny how that’s now something I look forward to!