Hands up who used to play tennis as a kid?
Hands up who have been thinking about getting some friends together for a knockabout?
Well think no longer and JUST DO IT.
You have no excuses, especially as Nike and the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) recently launched Tennis Tuesdays across London.
Warming up before being let loose with a racket.
Offering exclusive women-only tennis evenings every week (it started in May), select venues will offer coaching as well as fun match play. I popped down Burgess Park Tennis Centre to test out my ball thwacking skills.
My last memory of playing tennis was at school – and it wasn’t a great one – I do believe I was getting beaten in doubles to a rival school. However, I do have fond memories of tennis – the social aspect is great fun and I loved the satisfying thumps when you hit the ball well. Even better is scoring the perfect shot.
Getting ready for a killer backhand. Maybe.
I turned up to the launch of Tennis Tuesdays excited and raring to go. And whilst I’m not usually a fan of segregated nights I was secretly pleased that there weren’t any guys allowed; the last time I faced a guy across the net, I seemed to spend 90% of my time ducking under suspiciously-hit face-height shots.
We started with a vigorous warm up (lots of hot-stepping) followed by a series of warm-up exercises. Even though we were using squishy balls, I must have been using a dodgy tennis racket as several of my balls bounced well outside the lines… Depending on the skill level of the group, different games were played – especially ones that encouraged movement as well as technique. From across all the courts you could hear laughter, excited shouting and the slapping sound of high-fives as points were scored.
Judging by mine and everyone else’s broad smiles and rosy cheeks, the first of many Tennis Tuesdays had gone down a treat.
Come on girls, when are we heading down?
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