January 19, 2007

Next Stop, Wimbledon

More than one year after making a resolution to return to the tennis courts, I finally picked up my racket and played a full set of tennis. Last year's rain and travel in the first part of the year prevented me from joining the Golden Gate Tennis club; the latter part of the year, I was too busy to do much but work. This year promises to be different: next stop, Wimbledon. And by Wimbledon, I really mean the concrete court in the Richmond district with weeds to add the semblance of a lawn court. (Golden Gate Park courts charge money, those fascist bastards!)

All joking aside, yesterday was a pretty brutal outing. Not only was I winded after only 30 minutes of play (thanks to a holiday break with zero exercise), but all my equipment was also in a horrible state of disarray. My racket has not been restrung in years; my tennis shoes are covered in paint (don't ask); and several of the tennis balls we were using were flatter than ... well, let's just say they were pretty flat. Putting aside all the technical difficulties, we still managed a decent game (where decent is defined as some serves actually making it over the net). I'm going to try to continue playing at least weekly to build up my skills again, and then if (and that's a big if) that happens, I'm going to invest in equipment. So the only question that really remains is: who wants to beat me at tennis in the next few weeks? I promise I'll lose and you'll feel better about yourself. Please?