The Time I Learned to Play Tennis

I will never forget the time I learned how to play tennis. This experience distinctly stands out to me because of how awful I was at first, and how humorous it was to those around me. My boyfriend, Campbell, was on the Men's tennis team here at the University of Georgia, and for the longest time wanted me to learn so that we could start playing together. Throughout high school I played nearly every sport possible, however, tennis was completely new to me. One Saturday last Spring I finally got the courage to play with him. We went to the University's tennis complex, which in itself was intimidating enough. He started my lesson by showing me how to hold and swing the racket. He taught me the basics, such as my forehand, backhand, and how to move well around the court. Once I started to grasp the basics we slowly started hitting the ball back and forth. He took it very easy with me, and at first I seemed to be getting the hang of it and doing well for a beginner. However, I quickly started to fall apart, and the ball seemed to go anywhere but where I intended. I became frustrated as I began launching every single ball into the stadium, and our game of tennis spiraled into a softball game. The frustration only worsened as a few of his teammates showed up to watch and I became extremely embarrassed. Even though I was somewhat of a poor sport, Campbell was extremely patient and tried starting back from the basics again. This really helped and I was able to make some improvements. After a short session of light hitting, we decided to table our tennis date and try again another day. Since my first lesson, Campbell has given me a few more, and I'm slowly becoming more comfortable playing with him. Tennis can be a very hard sport to learn and can take a lot of practice to even become decent at. Knowing this now, I am not so easily frustrated, and instead have a great time playing and learning the game!