I really love to play tennis. However, it is one sport that is not easy to play by yourself unless you buy a tennis ball machine. So that is exactly what I did.
Before I bought it, however, I wanted to get some idea on how heavy it was as I was not sure what thirty pounds would feel like. They told me it was like lifting a small TV so I thought I could handle that. Well, when I first picked it up, it seemed to weigh a lot more than a small TV but I managed. I charged it up according to the instructions and was all ready to play the next day.
On its first play day, it was difficult to find a court as it was a very busy Sunday but I managed to get one next to four guys. I set it up per directions, filled it up with about fifty balls, turned it on and ran to the other side of the court so I could start hitting the balls the machine was sending to me. I guess I didn’t set it up quite right as the balls started shooting up over to the next court showering total strangers with balls. I ran as quickly as I could to turn the machine off and then proceeded to reset it so the balls wouldn’t come out so high. When I turned the machine back on, I quickly ran to the other side of the court to be ready to hit the balls. To my dismay, the balls were now just dribbling out of the machine so I had obviously overcompensated on my new settings.
I could see across the way that the court with the four guys playing beside me were getting a great kick out of this comedy show I was providing for them. It took a while before I finally got the settings right but then I finally did it. I turned it on and ran across the court so I could start hitting the balls. I think I really set it appropriately this time as it was sending the balls and also oscillating back and forth just as if I was playing against a real player. Unfortunately, with all the time I took in adjusting the
settings, the ball machine ran out of juice so I ended up having to go home before I really played at all.
I did try playing with the machine after that now that I had the correct settings. Families would come walking by and the kids would ask their parents to buy them one. I was almost tempted to sell it but thought I would get good use out of it.
Needless to say, there is no substitute for a real person. When you make a commitment to meet someone for a tennis game, you have to show up or the other person would get upset that you cancelled your plans. It’s that added incentive to get out and go. The biggest problem I had with the tennis ball machine was that if I made a date to play tennis with it and I later cancelled because I got lazy, the tennis ball machine didn’t feel bad or anything??? I needed the added feature of instilling guilt.
TIP: There is no substitute for a person even when you have a well running tennis ball machine.
Lessons from the Tennis Court
RHG Magazine & TV Guide TM - Summer 2018 © All rights reserved.
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