Mar 6, 2015

Love all!

Everyone knows I'm the sort of cat who would far rather look like this:
than this.
so no one is more surprised than I that I've taken up tennis!! I do admit that 'dragged into' is probably a far more appropriate phrase than 'taken up' but  nevertheless, I'm really starting to love it.

My twin boys began playing two years ago and invariably they were looking for someone to have a hit with so I decided to dust off my skills. I'd played tennis at high school so I was pretty confident that I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself, but oh how wrong I was!

The first difference was the racquets. When I was twelve we played with racquets that looked like this: 
now it's all graphite and heads with special weights. The fact you can get pink ones nowadays made me very happy. :) 

The shoes too are completely different too. Goodness knows how we managed, but we used to play in soft soled sand shoes like these:
Now it's all about the cushioning and the arch support and the 'side-to-side traction'. And you can get them in pink too!
The biggest change, though, is in the way tennis is actually played. When I was at high school we were told to play across the ball, so often you'd be side side on as you played your shot.

Now, you're supposed to approach every shot front on with an 'open stance' to give you more power and control.

The upshot of all of this is that I seem to have a lot of very expensive gear and absolutely no ability to get the ball over the net any more.  Luckily for me, a number of my girlfriends are in the same situation so it's down to the tennis club for us, having lessons and a whole lot of laughs.  Who said you couldn't teach an old cat new tricks!

Have you learned a new skill recently or revisited an old one?


9 comments:

  1. I *think* I loathe tennis, Barb...but if it included lessons with a bunch of girlfriends and a coffee and doughnut afterwards I might in fact come to love it. ;-) Good on you for getting out there and giving it a go -- would love to see you in all of your pink gear. :-)

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    1. Michelle, I did contemplate posting a picture of me in my pink gear but I'm afraid I'm all about the daggy shorts and the oversized t-shirt. I also must confess that we often have a gin at the end of our evening lesson and the catch-up with girlfriends is priceless. I don't think any of us are making much progress but we're having a lot of fun doing it!

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  2. wow, you are working perfectly on this blog, just loving it Lost and found

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  3. Barb, I love the look of a well-played tennis lobby! But my hand-eye co-ordination was never any good with the tennis racket and ball... though come to think of it I wasn't too bad at badminton but the racket for that is so much lighter.

    I've learned to crochet fairly recently. No great talent for it, I confess, but I'm enjoying what I've done immensely.

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    1. Oh, I LOVE crocheting, Sharon! My grandmother taught me many years ago but when my own girls asked me to teach them I'd forgotten how! Thank goodness for Youtube! One of my girls crochets flower petals around buttons and then put them on wire and they look incredible. I wonder what you've been making.

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  4. I like tennis, though I have zero talent in that area. Loving the pink shoes and racquet detail!

    I'm joining a beach volley ball team here soon, which should be fun. Haven't played volley ball since high school so I'm sure it'll be painful for the first few weeks but great to be getting some exercise that doesn't involve a smelly gym!

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    1. Beach volleyball sounds amazing, Stefanie! I envy the way those girls seem to be able to throw themselves around the court. Being vertically challenged, I was always useless at volleyball but love to watch it. Good luck for your first game!

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  5. I love playing tennis, Barb. Although I am only very average at it.

    Hmmm, new skills. I took up running again about three years ago. I used to cross country run as a kid and hadn't done it in ????? years, but now am back and I love it.

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    1. Oh, Jen, I've tried to love running, I really have. I like the IDEA of it, but about five minutes in I'm always wondering what the hell I was thinking. Maybe if they made some pretty pink running shoes....

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