“Mwwock!”
In an adrenaline surge, you gage the tiny ball coming towards you over the net. It skims the tape, nose-dives with topspin, skims the court surface and heads on a low straight line to your right. You have estimated where you can meet it waist high and about a foot out in front of you. You are moving to THAT spot.
In your mind, you are already there. Your body is slightly less convinced.
You fix your weight on your back foot and start a whip-chain that activates a series of arcs: your toes dig into the court to anchor your legs, your legs propel your hips, your hips rotate your back, your back whips your shoulder, your shoulder pulls your elbow, which in turn slingshots your wrist. You catch the ball on the rise and power through it, rolling your hands in rhythm to impart top-spin and driving it over the net.
There is a clean and self-satisfying “Mwwock” that reflects back down the same path that the power just moved up. It is felt first in the wrist, then the arm, then in the back, then in the hips, then in the legs, finally in the toes.
But the toes never really have the opportunity to savor the message – they’ve already focused on getting to that spot where you can catch the return shot on the rise, to power through it and drive it over the net.
“Mwwock!”
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jmac1949
Lisa Scroggins
jlsathre
toritto
Deborah Young
I am Stretch
Salon.com
Comments
My games are always so short.
Rated for tennis.
Gramps: Retrievers have a little too much saliva in their grip
ChrisB: I think you should be glad that it's tough to bust a car window with a tennis ball.
Cat: The score keeping is somewhat archaic... still better than bowling. The problem with you Canadians is that you're used to getting whacked upside the head with a hockey puck and going "...one..."
Thoth: I've been a lifelong fan but Andy Roddick brought me back to the game, simply because he just GOES for it. He exemplifies what I've described above.
Owl: I once played a raquetball match against the #1 rated woman player in California. She absolutely cleaned my clock. I don't recall that I even won a point...
Owl:
R
JohnB: Unfortunately, that shot was just a hair long...