Real Tennis
This afternoon I played Real Tennis for the first time. It was simply awesome. One of the most fun games I've ever played.
I think one of the reasons it so appealed to me was that it was the closest real sport has ever come to a Bellamy Sport. It's a game made up to suit the environment, with added special rules here and there just to make things that little more complex.
I was invited by a Andrew - a friend who is a member of the Hobart Real Tennis Club. We played doubles with Andrew's friends Nick (also a member) and Joe who, like me, had never played before.
What can I say? The game is so obscure and different, but yet so cunningly tactical once you know what you're doing (and that takes some time). And it's all about the chases.
Nick and Andrew have been playing for about five years, so generally when the ball was hit hard in my direction from either of them (we switched the teams around between sets), the chances of me successfully returning the ball weren't good.
But thankfully they took pity on us poor real tennis noobs, and we had a blast. So much so that we're all going back for another hit next weekend.
I think one of the reasons it so appealed to me was that it was the closest real sport has ever come to a Bellamy Sport. It's a game made up to suit the environment, with added special rules here and there just to make things that little more complex.
I was invited by a Andrew - a friend who is a member of the Hobart Real Tennis Club. We played doubles with Andrew's friends Nick (also a member) and Joe who, like me, had never played before.
What can I say? The game is so obscure and different, but yet so cunningly tactical once you know what you're doing (and that takes some time). And it's all about the chases.
Nick and Andrew have been playing for about five years, so generally when the ball was hit hard in my direction from either of them (we switched the teams around between sets), the chances of me successfully returning the ball weren't good.
But thankfully they took pity on us poor real tennis noobs, and we had a blast. So much so that we're all going back for another hit next weekend.