Racquetball

Every once in a while Reid gets on a racquetball kick. He's a pretty dedicated racquetball player, but only sporatically.

So throughout our married life, Andrew has joined Reid in playing racquetball. They'll go quite regularly for a few weeks and then things will get busy and they won't go anymore. Often these kicks are spurred on by a visit from the Claypools.

Since they recently moved back to Orem for the summer it seems as though raquetball season has picked up again. This time I was invited along. It's the first time I've ever been invited.

I've been wanting to learn how to play because Andrew really likes playing and I was happy to have the opportunity to learn. Until I hit a few balls, that is.

The scrawny little stick I call my arm is so sore.

I played badminton in middle school and a bit in high school. I wasn't bad, either--I have a silver medal from a regional tournament. And badminton isn't wimpy for all of you snickering out there. It is an olympic sport, after all. Racquetball is not.

However, I dfound racquetball a little more physically challenging. Perhaps scary is the word I'm looking for. That ball just wizzes around and bounces off the ceiling, the walls, the racquets. I couldn't keep track of who was supposed to hit it when. And I spent a lot of time cowering in a corner trying to escape it. When I did hit the ball it never went as far as I wanted it to go, or even in the direction I was hoping for.

My arm just doesn't pack a lot of punch.

Badminton is much more my style. It's a little more graceful. I can leap in the air and barely tap the birdie and it will go soaring over onto my opponents side of the court. Very simple.

Who decided that you should share the court with your opponent? Obviously Mr. Sobek, but really was it that good of an idea? He based raquetball off of handball, squash, and tennis. And that's all well and fine, but did he ever wonder why tennis players are separated by a net?

Usually when you give someone a blunt object to hit things with you give them some space. It makes sense to have two people armed and dangerous if they're on the same side, working together, coreographing their every move. But to place enemies on the same side of a court with a metal racquet...I just don't see the logic. Perhaps that's why they encourage safety goggles.

I still plan to play again, though. I have to get good enough to be challenging for Andrew. We played two matches against each other. The scores were 15:2 and 15:1. He totally skunked me.

My only consolation is that it was my first time playing. And that he played against Casey and totally lost.

I'm not sure I'll ever get very good though. I'm not sure I was built for this sport. As Brother Elder said,

"What are you? 93 pounds, 6.5 foot frame?"

That's about right. I'm very aerodynamic. I can swim. I can run. I can dance. I can play badminton. Anything else is a little out of my legue. We'll see if racquetball and I will get along.