To my first tennis coaches, and my freshman English teacher. You all have helped me so much.

Aelin was so nervous. She was on her way to her first tennis lesson, but she knew nothing about the sport. Her mom said that it would be a lot of fun, but since her stomach felt like millions of butterflies were flapping in there, the last thing she could think of was fun.











As they pulled up to the glass doors of the tennis center, Mom said, “Don’t be nervous sweetie. I know you’ll do wonderful. Just go out there and do your best.”
“Do I have to go? I don’t know anything about playing tennis,” Aelin complained.
“That’s the best part. You get to try something new!", Mom exclaimed.







As Aelin was walking into the tennis center with her tennis racquet in hand, a young woman called out, "Welcome! You must be Aelin. My name is Miss Molly, and I will be your tennis coach today."






Welcome!
Miss Molly led Aelin onto the tennis court and said, "Today I will teach you some of the basics of tennis. Do you know what any of the lines on the court are called?"
"No, ma'am, I don't." Embarrassed, Aelin looked down to the ground with blushing cheeks.
"It's okay not to know any of this, Aelin. I will teach you all of the basic information that you need to know," Miss Molly assured.












Service Line
Baseline

Singles Sideline

Doubles Sideline



Center Service Line




"The lines on the court are called the Baseline, Service Line, Doubles Sideline, and Singles Sideline. The line going down the center of the court and connects to the service line is called the Center Service Line; you won't use this term as much as the others, though" Miss Molly explained.
"Wow! That is really cool. Do the boxes have any special names?" Aelin inquired.
"Great question, Aelin! The boxes do have names; the four smaller boxes are called the Service Boxes, the two long, vertical boxes are called the Doubles Alley, and the space between the Baseline and the Service Line is commonly known as 'No Man's Land'."
Smiling, Aelin asked,"Why is that space called 'No Man's Land'? That is such a weird name."




"No Man's Land"

Doubles Alley
Service Boxes








"That space is called 'No Man's Land' because that is part of the court that you don't want to be on. You are 'stuck' standing in that spot when you hit the ball because you won't have enough time to move backwards or forwards to hit your shot," Miss Molly said.

"You have been doing a wonderful job listening, Aelin," Miss Molly praised. "How would you like to learn about the different shots that are hit in tennis?"
"That sounds awesome. Let's do it!" Aelin exclaimed.
“Even though there are many shots, I am going to give you a little peek at what a serve, return, forehand, and backhand are,” Miss Molly stated. “Let’s start with the serve. A serve is the first shot anyone will hit to start a point. The ball will land in the service box facing diagonally to the player.”





“The return is the second shot that will be hit during a point, as long as the server does not miss. In order to get the point started, it is standard to hit the ball to the middle of the court.”






- Full access to our public library
- Save favorite books
- Interact with authors
To my first tennis coaches, and my freshman English teacher. You all have helped me so much.

Aelin was so nervous. She was on her way to her first tennis lesson, but she knew nothing about the sport. Her mom said that it would be a lot of fun, but since her stomach felt like millions of butterflies were flapping in there, the last thing she could think of was fun.











As they pulled up to the glass doors of the tennis center, Mom said, “Don’t be nervous sweetie. I know you’ll do wonderful. Just go out there and do your best.”
“Do I have to go? I don’t know anything about playing tennis,” Aelin complained.
“That’s the best part. You get to try something new!", Mom exclaimed.
- < BEGINNING
- END >
-
DOWNLOAD
-
LIKE
-
COMMENT()
-
SHARE
-
SAVE
-
BUY THIS BOOK
(from $5.79+) -
BUY THIS BOOK
(from $5.79+) - DOWNLOAD
- LIKE
- COMMENT ()
- SHARE
- SAVE
- Report
-
BUY
-
LIKE
-
COMMENT()
-
SHARE
- Excessive Violence
- Harassment
- Offensive Pictures
- Spelling & Grammar Errors
- Unfinished
- Other Problem
COMMENTS
Click 'X' to report any negative comments. Thanks!