Saturday, August 20
Tennis bumper
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.
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.
4 Comments:
Yes. Go for the hard-to-find practice wall at YCK sports hall.
Surely no one there. But its best to go with a partner observant enough to tell you what's wrong with your swing and experienced enough to help you improve your swing.
As with most sports, performance is positively correlated with effort. Most amateurs are amateurs because they want to be amateurs. They're too lazy to analyze their game, too half-hearted to run full speed to get to the ball, too bochap to do a proper, consistent swing, too shy to shout "Urh" when they hit the ball, .. in short they feel that as amateurs, they should behave amateurishly and not exhibit the kind of determination and grit shown by players at the pro level.
Pros on the other hand were amateurs who took practice seriously, who analyzed their games to raise it to another level, who anticipated and ran to the ball, even if their legs ached, and who tried to hit the ball with the sweetest swing every single time.
So practice hard. Learn continuously from criticisms. Replay lost games in your head and improve on your weaknesses. Watch tapes of world class tennis pros playing. Formulate strategies customized to your physical and your style.
It'll all be worth it when you hear that satisfying 'pong' sound and whack the ball to the exact spot you wanted it to hit, scoring yet another point over your determined but outplayed opponent.
Oh, I've hurt myself in so many ways while playing tennis..I have battle scars! It'll make you tougher!
hey girl, so when are we going for a game of tennis?? me very very long never play liao...
You know, I am available in the evenings and there are courts at Evans Road (old SMU) ...
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