Tennis bumper

In one freak move, I bumped my knees and twisted my ankle during tennis practice yesterday.

I must have been too jumpy, literally, when I fell while trying to hit the ball. Coach made me rest at the side bench (woot ! no need to retrieve balls ! ), where I watched him bounce the balls to the girls to test their forehands.

I must have watched at least six of them had their go. It turned out to be quite an experience of some sort. It was one of the few times when I actually learnt something while doing nothing.

As I sat on my ass while the rest of them tried to strike the balls over the net as successfully as they could, I saw an assortment of awkward beginners’ moves that were, well, too obvious not to be noticed (by a spectator).

Coaches and teachers must have had it hard, when students just don’t get it, even after all the repeated instructions. I caught myself grimacing at the recurring mistakes and thinking, did I twist my shoulders like that too ? Or swing my bat like I was handling a 10-pound sack of rice ? Darn, no wonder I was not hitting the balls right !

Before my practice, I suggested to Dee (who hadn’t touched tennis for quite a while), booking a court and practicing a couple of rounds.

He looked me, horrified, and exclaimed how one of the most painful things in the world (of sports) was to watch amateur players (like us) on the court. I laughed. After the injury time-out at the bench, I had to agree with that.

I’m gonna book a practice wall instead.