Why Play Tennis?

Late last year someone from the Philippines sent me a friend request on my public Facebook account. I usually accept most people that want to be friends with me from there because that account was created mainly for blog promotions and many other online ads. The more friends I have, the more people get to see the ads.

I happened to be online at that time when I received his request. After accepting it, he messaged thanking me and asked what my sport was. I considered fishing to be a sport so that’s what I answered. He then said, why don’t you try playing tennis. It is winter here in Minnesota so it would be very cold to play tennis outside and the court would have been covered with snow by now, I answered. I did not think that I could play tennis indoors at that time.

Fun and a Good Workout

I brushed off the idea of playing tennis until one day I asked my hubby if he ever played tennis before. I was surprised when he said: yeah, it is fun and a good workout. He even played in a tennis league during his younger years. When he said playing tennis was fun, right away, I decided I wanted to give it a try as soon as this spring season.  The first thing that my husband told me was that I needed to find a playmate because he could not play with me. He has been having problems with his legs recently and cannot run anymore.

I got on Facebook again and messaged a friend asking her if she knows someone that plays tennis in town. Unfortunately, she did not know of anyone and asked me, why? I said, I wanted to play tennis and am looking for a playmate. She said, she wanted to play tennis too but doesn’t have a partner. So I said we could be partners and she gladly accepted it.

Since then, I have been anxious to get out and get our tennis sessions started. I’ve even been on a tennis coach website to get some tips and tricks to get me started.  My hubby thinks that I will do well at it because I am quick but I have a long way to go before I will be able to beat him even though he is partly crippled.

Health Benefits

I need to look for my hubby’s racket in the attic before I start shopping for tennis accessories. He is sure that he still has a good racket stashed somewhere.

I have been doing research about tennis lately and all of its health benefits. According to the USTA website, tennis is one of the best sports to play for exercise. People who play tennis three hours per week cut their risk of death in half. That reason alone is very encouraging for me to want to play tennis. Since playing tennis requires alertness and tactical thinking, it generates new connections between nerves in the brain and therefore it promotes a lifetime of continuous brain development.  That is according to the scientists at the University of Illinois who was quoted in the article. I also found out that tennis also outperforms golf, inline skating and most other sports in developing positive personality characteristics. That is according to Dr. Jim Gavin, author of The Exercise Habit.

I want to be physically fit and I find playing tennis to be a really good way to do it. Though I do Zumba and yoga on a regular basis, tennis offers many other physical and psychological advantages.