At weekends, I walk the dog of a friend of mine. We go for a good long walk, lasting a couple of hours. It’s the same old route, as we like to see how the vegetation changes, and find out how the smells differ from week to week. That’s talking for the dog, of course. As we walk over Wooburn Common we pass the tennis club. The tennis club has four courts backing onto the Common, and they have been in use since February. February was mild, in these parts, and though the players at that time tended to be bundled up in puffa-jackets and the like, they were still playing tennis. The weather has been up and down, but generally dry and mild. This weekend it moved into top gear and it was hot. Hot hot hot.
It struck me that for months the main tennis-players have been groups of women, sometimes with children, but mostly mature ladies, “of a certain age”. Now that the sun has come out, the only people on the courts are men.
So, I am wondering, have the women decided that it is too hot for tennis, and declined, leaving the courts free for the men, or have the men decided that now the weather is good, they’ll get out there early, and steal a march on the women?
You didn’t mention what time of day you were walking the dog. The women might be getting in a game if they were stay at home Moms and the kids were at school. The men might work shiftwork and finally decided to play tennis.
As a child, I played tennis, badmiton too. When I was in my 20’s and 30’s, I played racquetball a lot. I blew my left knee out twice and quit playing. I’ve since had two left knee surgeries. I loved racquetball. If I’m in a Y or another sports building and I hear the “Twap” of a racquetball, I will stop what I am doing to watch the game. I don’t cry but I want to.
And I thought this was going to be a thread about Andy Roddick exiting the French in the first round. . .
It was the shoulders for me, although volleyball was my main passion and raquetball the second. The quickness of raquetball is something I never really experienced in another game.
We saw mostly women, usually getting lessons, on our daily walk past the courts, till a few weeks ago. Now it’s a real mix, including families and seniors. Soon the only folks left will be fairly young, since they’re the only ones who can handle the summer heat in these parts.
I used to work with a bloke who was a professional footballer until he busted his knee. Lovely fellow, but it still rankled, up until his retirement.
It’s always the afternoon, although the time varies, and it’s always Saturday or Sunday. I’m generally passing the courts between half-past two and half-past three, and on the way back, between half-past three and half-past four.
My son, who is an avid gamer, found Mario-tennis so easy he decided he wanted to play tennis. Actually getting on a court and swinging a raquet around came as a very nasty shock. We managed to persuade him to try Badminton instead, and he’s pretty good at that, now, ten years later. My wife is tolerably good at tennis. I am deplorable. At tennis, too.
There ain’t many of them SAHMs, unless they are VERY elderly gravidas.
