I'm sore

This past Saturday, one of our "dog-walking-friends," invited me to her health club for "tips" with the tennis pro. I used to play tennis every day when I was in high school. I played a whole bunch when I was a grad-student, though Arizona's a really HOT place to play tennis. When I lived in Gettysburg, PA, I played quite a bit with the Gettysburg Review folks. In the winters, we'd convert the basketball gym into a tennis court with a roll-away volleyball net. After I moved to Utica, I stopped. I guess I got lazy about it . . . you know, moving to a new area, trying to find hitting partners, etc.. I tried to find hitting partners when I first got into town, but then it became evident that no one on faculty played. So, I gave up.

Recently, I got bit by the tennis bug. When we were in Paris, I tried to get tickets to see the French Open and got as far as the gate. Now Wimbledon's on television and I've been watching the matches. I've been driving out to the courts and practicing serves. I'm glad that I can still hit a serve, though it's pretty much the only shot I have left. It's funny, but it's one of the harder shots to execute after time off and yet it's giving me no trouble. The problem now is my groundstrokes are bloody awful. I've been spraying balls all over the courts. There's a hitting wall on one of the courts and I've been trying to hit against the thing. I'll be doing fine for a little while, then frame a shot and spray a ball over the fence. It's all quite humiliating.

Anyway, our friend scheduled lessons with a tennis pro at her club and the DUDE had me running all over the court. I think he thought I was younger than I looked. Let me tell you, I was sucking wind after twenty minutes. He did mention that he could tell I used to play a lot, and that made me feel better about my game.

So, if I've been away from blogging, it's partically because I'm trying to salvage my tennis game. Maybe I'll see you guys on the courts?