I used to say that my purpose for being on my tennis league was to make people feel really good about their game. I was slow and erratic, although I had pretty good hand eye coordination and a wicked backhand and serve. However my game went, I had more fun than anyone else out on the courts. The social connection is just as much fun as the game. If you are willing to have fun and not get overly caught up in the competition (beat up yourself, your team mates, or your competition) you can do this well into old age and stay fit.
HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY:
There's lots of continuing ed courses all over the place including city rec centers, tennis centers, and junior colleges. These last eight weeks or so and are in groups. You can also take individual classes. Although these teach you the mechanics, you don't actually play any games so you don't learn the rules or etiquette. There's plenty of easy books out there and now you can find whatever you want on the Internet.
JOIN A LEAGUE:
Don't get stuck in the trap of lessons, lessons, lessons and more lessons. After about two series of lessons, you are ready for a league. Leagues have different levels, and obviously you will start in the beginner league. You don't have to be proficient to be at this level. League playing is where you will really progress. Since you are a baby player, you should join a city league for less than $40 for however many months the league season goes (which goes toward reserving courts). I was in the Carrollton league for five plus years (never did leave the beginner league) and we had people from their twenties to about 70. In order to progress, you have to play people better than yourself. This is why you don't want to get stuck in lessons without actual games. In lessons, you are competing against yourself. In leagues, you are competing against other people. It keeps you far more honest. In lessons, you are paying an instructor to tell you "Man, that was AWESOME," whereas, on a league, you might hear that and you know it's the truth. Or, on a league, you might hear dead silence or a sigh or a "Next time, try hitting to her backhand." You can always take lessons while playing on the league. You can also get your league members to take private lessons with you and split the cost. Now that's a blast.
Your first league should probably be a doubles league. This is less taxing to your body as you are only doing half the work, or maybe less. It's just as much fun and you will make lots of friends as you have four people for each match. Depending on the courts, that could be eight to twelve people running around in an evening.
BUYING A RACQUET:
There's a huge difference between an el cheapo $30 racquet and a $120 racquet. You might want to try out a few racquets at a tennis center and then find your favorite online and buy it (for half the price). I played with what felt like a caveman club for the first three years. When I finally decided to invest in a decent racquet, it truly transformed my game. It was like playing with a pencil, it was so light. But my gosh, I could hit the ball three times harder. I just wish I hadn't waited so long.
DEALING WITH THE WEATHER:
Our league played in the evening, and in Texas at 6:30 that was the peak of the heat in the summer. During this grueling months, you might want to take a break. The key is to dress as light as possible and drink a lot of water. In the winter, it was just the opposite. At 28 degrees, we would play with layers on to the point where we looked like Eskimos out there barely able to swing a racquet or run. I was a little afraid to take months off and leave the league short handed. The thing is, in the winter at least, you can always warm up by the end of the first set. With 100 degree heat, you simply have to take care of yourself by taking time off if necessary. Everybody gets that. The upside is, you will lose five pounds of water in a night!!
STAYING IN SHAPE:
I found the best cross training for tennis was yoga. Tennis involves a lot of quick reflexive movements from a standing position. Fast arm swings, fast sprinting, and your brain gets very quick at telling your body what to do before you've actually thought anything through. The ball is moving fast and you don't have time to consider choices. Your body just somehow gets there and does it's thing. Because of this, you can be in some pain and the adrenaline will allow you to tune it out. Once you've pulled a hamstring, it's always vulnerable to the next injury. For me, the only time my hamstring didn't hurt was during the game!! So I offset all this herky jerky exercise with stretching by teaching yoga. As you saw from my yoga post, that was several classes per week. All that stretching allowed me to keep up the tennis two nights a week. All the tennis was anaerobic and burned many more calories than the yoga.
My tennis girlfriends and I got together with our husbands and boyfriends for potlucks, weekend tennis camps, restaurants, and tennis socials. I watched their kids grow up. This is a great way to make longterm friendships with people who like to stay fit, are a little bit competitive, and know how to have a great time. Like golf, you don't have to be terribly athletic (you see old overweight people playing at both sports all the time!). Your lack of athleticism can always be offset by some sneaky killer shots that you've perfected over the years. Our seventy year old had arthritic knees. She was slow. But she placed her returns where you couldn't reach them every time (she had a smokin' shot to the sidelines) and therefore was a highly desirable partner! This is the one sport where practice and finesse almost always beat brute power. Just like in Toastmasters, you can't go by what a player looks like.
