Each person responds to different motivators. Before Sunshine's first tennis lesson, I told her that if she practiced really hard and did well, she could play tennis on tv one day. She straightened up a bit, smirked and asked, "Will you watch me on tv?" I replied, "Of course!" She started to skip onto the court and said, "Let's do this!"
While we call The Little Master our "401K Plan," Sunshine is our sports meal ticket. She's got excellent coordination, amazing balance, super speed, and a laser rocket arm. And honestly, Sunshine has grit. That girl has an iron will and never, ever lets herself down. If she wants something, no amount of pain will get in her way. She reminds me of a crazy football player, like Junior Seau - no injury or threat of lifelong paralysis would keep her off the field. Grit. If that girl had a mom who could push, she would go far. =)
We thought tennis would be the perfect sport for Sunshine because she's got great aim and just loves cute outfits. Plus, her mom is NO soccer mom and is NOT going to two practices each week AND a game on the weekend for a little kid. No. Uh, No. So she signed up for tennis! It's supposed to be a group class, but her coach said that most people don't sign up during the winter. So, Sunshine has her own personal tennis pro giving her private instruction. It sounds so much more expensive than it actually is. Love it. But really, she's going to learn so much of the basics before the class fills up with four other little kids. It's super.
She runs drills, practices her form, and hits balls for 45 minutes a week, while wearing pink clothes and using a pink racket. Her coach calls her the Pink Panther. She loves it.
Here she is navigating the lines of the court with her racket in ready position. In this shot, she's running backwards from the net.
Running movement drills. He wants her to eventually learn how to do it while holding her racket in front of her in ready position.
Awesome! Can I just say...tennis is the best sport ever (I was on the tennis team in High School and loved it!)...I am so impressed that she already plays...it took me awhile to learn and I was much older!...and to have her own personal coach...bonus!! I can't believe it is warm enough to play tennis outside...we live in a frigid tundra right now, so I forget that it's not like that everywhere:) BTW, do you have Maggie's e-mail. We are in the same ward again...fun! You should e-mail her...its MaggieWalker555@hotmail.com. She also has a blog (it's listed on my blog "Jordan and Maggie Walker":)
ReplyDeletei love that she has the coach all to herself and that he actually has her running drills. hilarious.
ReplyDeleteFaye - She worked HARD. It was so cute. He had her do some with hula hoops, too.
ReplyDeleteJulie - It was sooooo nice this past weekend. She's had her lessons cancelled for the past three weeks because it was too windy or cold, but nothing like where you live! Thanks for her Maggie's contact info! I emailed her today!