Learning to play

Not sure why I would think of this except that I was watching some of the U.S. Open and since I used to play a lot of tennis …

Most kids grab a ball and just go play, shoot a few baskets. Or they start throwing around a baseball, somebody grabs a bat and then they have the makings of a pick-up game.

When I was ten, I found a tennis racket at someone’s house. I had never played and didn’t have the first idea what to do. I asked if I could borrow it and the people said, yes.

But instead of going to a court and hitting against a wall or something, I got a book. It was the rules of tennis. I learned about scoring, deuces, ads, let serves – all that stuff. Most people would hit the ball around somewhat and then perhaps start thinking about the rules.

But not me. By the time I hit the court for the first time, I knew everything there was to know about the rules and was ready to drive everybody crazy.

I did go on to play and actually got pretty good but I think I peaked in my early 20s. I got smarter but slower and lost my drive or something in my 40s.

If my 50+ year-old knees could take it, I’d love to get back out on the court and try again. One of my very much younger daughters wants to play so I need to find a court out in the boondocks where we live and see if she has what it takes.