hit

haley offered to teach me tennis. i hadn't so much as picked up a racket since high school until a few days ago, but i'm always game for something new. especially if i can call it exercise. (eventually maybe cardio, for now mostly squats.) so i said, 'sure, lead the way.'

okay, i admit, exercise isn't the only reason. the promise of cute skirts, haley flexing across the net and the one-on-one nature of the sport appealed to me too. and did i mention the cute skirts? plus, i think the sounds of tennis are really soothing. much better than the tinny dance music my gym plays.

so, off to the court we went. there's a treasure of a court right in reynoldstown. hidden from the street by a long driveway, nestled in between an open-air gymnasium (really) and playground. the treasure is that it's right around the corner with no neighboring courts and it feels very private. (this is important to the beginning tennis player.) my only complaint is that it was mistakenly positioned east-west, meaning someone has the sun in their eyes most of the time. and there's a tree, albeit a beautiful tree, with branches hanging into the court. but, all in all, still a treasure of a court.

haley lays down the first rule: observe and don't judge.

and then she asks me 'how's your coordination?' umm. (that's a judgment, right?)

but wait, tennis is starting to sound like something i've heard before...or maybe something i need to hear now, again.

no judgments.
accept and embrace the process. just make observations. let things be and don't assign a label to them. like todd's pre-pubescent mood swings. or my precarious job situation.

get floppy.
relax. let go of the tension in my arm. in my body. in my head. in the pit of my stomach.

follow through.
guide the ball where you want it. flow through the motion. flow through the swing. through the responsibilities. through the pressures. through the stresses. immerse in the flow.

put your body into it.
turn at the hips. less muscle, more momentum. move toward the ball. toward the desire. toward the need. keep moving.

and it started to come together for me...

bounce. hit.
if i miss this ball, i'll get another one.
bounce. hit.
if i don't say the right thing to todd's angst this time, i'll get another chance.
bounce. hit.
if i don't get this position, i'll get a better one.

in the end i'll bounce. and then i'll hit. and when i do, i'll win.

d: perfect form in the bounce, hit.
b: growth and improvement, physically and mentally.
g: patience of a saint. (haley's, not mine.)