This morning I played tennis with three 60+ year-old ladies. I was a sub, since their fourth is vacationing in New Zealand. The lady who invited me said that they were excited to have someone young enough to run and "go-pher" all the balls. That would be me.
Today I learned a lot about playing tennis with seniors. First, call the lines LOUDLY, as they don't hear well. Second, they sure like to lob. It reminds me of when my friends and I play "around the world" to warm up. :) It's more effective to start out in the back of the court and move your way in. The game becomes more about strategy and ball placement. My partner told me they play it like a chess match. Finally, be patient and allow for health-related ailments. My partner has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), so she wouldn't serve and got easily winded. Fine with me. I got extra practice with my serves. Another lady had a bout of allergic eczema all over her hands. It was almost totally cleared up, but she still had some trouble feeling the ball, making her ball toss inconsistent. It sometimes took her five tosses before she served the ball.
During our set, a couple of older fellas (about the same age) came up and wanted to rotate in. They were kind of rude, which we didn't appreciate. So, after we finished our set, we rotated them in and consequently squashed them.
I'm glad I like tennis and golf. I hope I'll still be playing forty years from now.
2 comments:
wow amysan, that's cool that you play tennis with seniors. way to go! take it easy on them though...DN
I had to laugh when I read this post. In the club I joined in London, most of the "social" players were 50+. They were deadly accurate w/lovely touch shots...if you were unfortunate enough to hit it w/in their strike zone. Otherwise, it was often similar to playing w/statues.
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