The Rhythm of a Ball

This week I tried something new.

I took my first tennis lesson and loved it. While I am a technically good mover, I have always struggled with hand-eye coordination. Initially, as we started practicing forehand, I was quickly brought back to high school gym class and the panic of a ball coming at me in baseball, dodgeball, basketball. So much of how I’ve chosen to move my body in my life - running, dance, yoga, Pilates, strength training - has been devoid of being in concert with an outside force that has momentum.

But I could feel myself getting better over the course of the hour, as I learned to grip my racket, position myself, guide my distance to the ball with my outstretched hand, and swing the racket through rather than across my body. The panic around the momentum and timing of hitting the ball started to dissipate and become an enticing challenge. It was a different way of being in the present - watching the ball to understand the rhythm and timing I would need to move with it.

For a lot of the last year I’ve felt out of step, like I’m dancing to a different rhythm than the one that’s playing in the events of my life. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but I have a feeling that practicing moving with this force I can’t control on the tennis court might be helpful for learning to move with the rhythm of my life.