Social tennis on The Domain: Part One

The Domain is an oasis of green in the middle of central Hobart. An area of native plants and animals hiding a few tennis courts. Geoff the Eastern Rosella watches me as I walk to the tennis court. 

Geoff likes watching. Hiding in the foliage. Not getting involved. Splashes of red and blue but most of his feathers help him blend in.

When he is not helping me play better tennis he forages in the trees and shrubs and on the ground for nectar, fruit, berries, seeds and if he is lucky insects.

I approach the tennis courts. Two people loiter, bounce balls, stretch their legs and swing racquets. I am number three. We all look up the hill. Peering for number four. Who will it be? We watch the fourth person walk down the hill and enter the tennis courts.

We all wear different clothes. Colourful. Flexible. Neat and tidy. Sunglasses, caps. Water bottles in our bags.

We now have the magic number. Which is four. Let’s start. We have a few decisions to make. I let others decide who is playing with and against whom?  I don’t really care who I am playing with or against. I need both a partner and opponents.

I wait for others to decide. What the teams are. And who is serving and from what end. We then all stand on the court in our positions; say good game and play tennis.

My aim is not to win. My aim is to be nice and relaxed; loose; in the mood; nicely balanced; hitting good shots.

My aim is for everybody on the court to be playing well. For everybody to be nice and relaxed and hitting good shots.

The ball lands between me and my partner. We both hesitate. Then we both go for it. Then we both laugh and both agree to talk.

The wind is strong. Changes the shots at both ends. Time to live in the moment.

There is a moment when the ball hits the top of the net and rolls along the net. The ball appears to tease us.  Then decides who will win the point and who will lose.

More people arrive and more courts waken.

Bounce thump followed by bounce thump. The players talk.

“I thought it was going out. It dropped in.”

“The sun got in my eyes.”

“That was a funny bounce. The ball hit the tape.”

Between points we glance up at the clouds surrounding The Mountain. Where is the wind coming from? Is it going to rain?

The tennis ball heads towards my left. I move my arms and legs and hit a backhand shot into the net. Geoff the Green Rosella says the bleeding obvious.

Geoff: You should move your feet before moving your arm.

I nod in agreement. I always seem to know what to do after I should have done it.

Geoff shakes his head and says: Lack of footwork. How many times do you have to be told?

I think about my feet. Must move my feet; get comfortable and nicely balanced; swing easily and gracefully and hit the ball. Win a few points. Lose a few but who cares. I am now moving nicely. Nice and relaxed. Not stressed. I find the ball coming off my racquet a lot better. It is now going where I envisage. I begin instinctively hopping and skipping around the court and playing well.

Geoff nods in approval. Then he flies away. Geoff has done his job. He imagines more seeds over that way. Or maybe even an unlucky caterpillar.

Our first set finishes with a shaking of racquets then talk. Should we go for revenge or change partners?

After more tennis we shake our racquets again then gravitate towards morning tea.

We sit and talk.

I ask one lady about her sons: What are they doing nowadays? Where are they working?

She tells me about her sons. I enjoy listening to tales of their work, their lives and their future.

I ask another lady: How is your week going?

She tells me: Busy week. Had to look after my grandkids. They have been sick.

Another man tells me about the traffic. He then tells me about his dog. Yesterday he took his dog for a walk and they met a badly behaved owner with his dog.

I hear talk about the vaccine.  

But not as often as talk about grandkids.

A lady stands and reads out the roster after the break. She says who my partner will be, who we will play against and on which court. Somebody has to think about how to play with me. Others have to think about how to beat me. Where to hit the ball. Deep or short. Fast or slow. High or low. Spinning or not.

I love the idea of randomly playing with anybody. Not only playing with my mates. Accepting everybody and anybody.