August 23, 2016: Tennis Lesson

My last lesson with Margarita as she's moving away. It felt rushed, like we were cramming stuff in because the exam is next week. We did some rallies, but structured rallies. Forehands down the line, backhands to the opposite court, inside-out forehands. We mixed in some volleys and slices. I need to work on all strokes. On the volley, push the ball from the bottom! Always keep the racket up and be ready. I keep my arms too close to my body. We ended with serves. I was good from the mid-court, brutal from the baseline. The courts are too big. Toss Trophy Pose Accelerate Follow-Through I truly enjoyed my lessons but I have so much more work to do. I am not close to being able to play but I could rally. Now to find a new coach!

Lesson: August 17, 2016

After a quick warm up, we played the imitation game. It is much easier to play tennis without a ball! Forehands: keep the racquet up and make a "C" as you put top spin on the ball. Forehand slice: Bring the scissors together. I really need to work on this. I slice too much and I need to move the racquet more. Backhand slice: Bring the scissor apart. In some drills I learned that I should stop admiring my good shots and lamenting my bad ones. Just get ready for the next shot! I also learned to keep my racket up. Dropping it downs, means I have to bring it up. It slows everything down. Tennis is a fast, reactive sport. However, I need to slow down. Rushing produces errors. Learned a basic serve starting the toss. The toss is so important. I need to focus on it. A high toss allows for a long, full flowing serve.