Tennis, Anyone?

Tennis. A fantastic full-body workout, with a cute skirt! You can become one of the millions upon millions of people that are out there on the tennis court. Here are some reasons that you should head out to the courts right now!

You don't have to be in super-incredible shape to get started. I know how it seems, looking at the Williams Sisters or Maria Sharipova, but you can get into that kind of shape if you take up tennis along with your personal training workouts and cardio. It is a fun way to lose weight and spend a sunday morning. I've put together a tennis group with some other girls I work out at the Positively Fit gym with, and we made a rule that if you lose the point, you have to do lunges around the court. It's competitive and lots of fun! Win or Lose, we have a great time.

You can play year round. In Southern California we have great weather, and if it rained the night before, you can brush off the courts anyway. You can also look into indoor courts in your local area, and get your game on!

Learning to play is relatively easy. Grab a friend with a little experience and a lot of patience, someone who won't mind chasing down the balls you hit into the other courts. If you have never held a racquet you can start out by hitting a tennis ball against a wall or your garage door, and many high schools have open racquetball courts that you can use for solo practice. Once you've hit some balls and have a feel for it, sign up for a group tennis clinic. You can take a class with other adults at your skill level and get some valuable pointers.

Unless you are really serious about taking up the sport, wait to purchase your racquet. Even if you are serious, you should go to your local tennis pro shop and "demo" a racquet. This means that they will give you a few racquets to test out for a small fee, and if you buy a racquet from them they will put that money toward your purchase. If you aren't sure how serious you are going to be about tennis, see about borrowing a racquet from a friend until you decide how into the sport you are.

When you're on the court with other tennis rookies, don't worry so much about playing the points, just try and get a good rally going and have fun! The rules will come later.

Be eXcellent!

Ms. X