From Layups to Aces: How I Mastered the Basics of Basketball and Tennis

Our basketball adventure was sparked because I played with some friends at church camp, and I did not make one basket. I couldn't believe it...I couldn't even get the ball to hit the rim. I couldn't even shoot it more than a couple feet. It was pretty intense (if you can tell) and I needed help, lol. As it would happen, my husband loves basketball and was more than happy to take me out to the court (after we got a new ball - turns out some are for inside courts only, who knew, lol!) and coach me. After lots of practice (we went at least weekly, sometimes more, for about six months), I can now hit free throws, make baskets from all the way around the key, and even score some three pointers! Now, I'm working on doing the walk-and-dribble-between-my-legs thing because I think it looks cool, lol!

Come visit and play with us!

Prepping for a shot:

...and score (yes, that's really a three-pointer I made)!

After a few weeks of only playing basketball, I mentioned to my husband (aka coach) we should play tennis some time. He played competitively in high school - and I played for fun, but nothing serious. We pulled out his old rackets, but the handles were decomposing and needed re-wrapped. I didn't even know that was a thing, but it made a huge difference (in gripping and in stuff dropping in my eyes every time I swung). We found the grip tape at a local sporting goods store and my husband was able to re-wrap them easily.

Did I mention we also had to get new tennis balls?

Here I am in the background, swinging the racket so fast you can't even see it (lol):

We have played some sets, but want to do a full match sometime soon. We'll have to block off some time to do that this spring!

Pictured above: one of my hubby's old rackets we re-taped the handle on (made such a huge difference), me in my favorite court shoe and tennis skirt - I tried on lots of skirts before I picked this one!

Other sports we've tried recently: