A couple of years ago, a few of us played tennis on our own at a local court. We decided to revisit this sport with the help of a coach and make sure we could all be there this time. So we headed out to meet Craig Smith, director of TCU's Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center for a private lesson.
The facility is beautiful - built on what once was a city owned golf course. We first received our demo racquets (much lighter than the ones I remember my parents having when I was young) and then we headed down to a court. J had taken lessons when she was younger and the basics we covered came back quite naturally for her. Some of the footwork and follow-throughs took a bit of practice for the rest of us, but by the end of our lesson, we were doing pretty well.
We started off stationary, hitting forehands that Craig bounced to us from up close, then further and further out. Then he added in some footwork and we hit multiple shots, moving along the baseline.
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| J's smooth and accurate forehand shot |
Next, we moved to backhands. The motion is bit less natural but we started to pick it up after a few shots. Having two hands on the racquet helped me to remember that's what your "ready position" should be when holding the racquet in front of you, waiting for your opponent's next shot. That way you can transition easily to forehand or backhand.
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| L2 follows through on a backhand |
It was fun getting started with the basics from a very knowledgeable and fun coach. A few of us agreed this is something we plan to pursue, either in group lesson form and/or meeting up for a match from time to time.
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| Tennis complete! |
