Lauren Starts Tennis

Towards the end of the school year, when the weather was warming up, Lauren began asking if we would sign her up for tennis lessons.  I did a quick search of the area and did not really find anything for her age group, but then our neighbor told us about the classes at the Freedom Aquatic Center.  It sounded perfect for Lauren, so we signed her up.

She began going once a week, for an hour each session.  The sessions were 6 weeks long and we figured that would be a good way to see if Lauren really liked the sport or not.

During her first session, they did not have enough kids signed up for her age group, so we put her in the 9-13 year old session.  She was by far the tiniest girl out there but she tried so hard and managed to keep up with the beginner big kids.

For the next few sessions, enough kids signed up that she was back in the correct age group.  She has gotten a lot better from her first lesson.  She now has a one handed forehand, a two handed backhand, and she really loves to volley the ball.  They are working on bouncing and hitting the ball to start a point (haven't quite gotten to the skill level to learn a serve), and Lauren loves the drills that require her to shuffle sideways, while hitting the ball.  But her most favorite part of the lesson is always the warm up and any running they do to at the beginning.  Who is this kid?!?!  =)

Time will tell if Lauren decides to stick with tennis or not.  This fall, these particular lessons fall on the same night as her hockey practice, so we will need to find a different tennis program for her to try.  The one we found seems to be a little more serious and does not start until October, so we will let her decide at that time.