Ode to Tennis

You will burst out laughing when you read Ode to Tennis, a small gift book for tennis players. The delightful rhyming poem highlights the joy and frustrations during a tennis lesson.

At the start of the lesson, the player is on fire as her balls effortlessly fly across the net and drop into the court.

I whip it, I flip it,
The ball flies deep with spin.
No doubt Rafael Nadal
Is my identical twin.

Her tennis instructor gives her pointers and provides advice from The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey. The delightful illustrations by Mario Barrera capture the euphoria and struggles of players who take up the game of tennis later in life. This small gift book reminds us that tennis is a game of many brilliant strokes followed by a few boneheaded ones.