🎾 Started playing tennis late in life, harder than it looks on TV

I started tennis 4 months ago, at 35. A friend kept pushing me until I gave in. For years I watched matches on TV and thought, how hard can it be. Very hard, it turns out. In my first lesson I missed the ball more often than I hit it. The coach just smiled and said, "everyone starts like this, madam, keep your eye on the ball." What nobody tells you is how much running there is. Tiny steps, left, right, back again. My legs hurt for 3 days after the first week and I walked down stairs sideways. The racket feels heavy at first, then it feels like part of your arm, then heavy again. Wrist pain in my second month made me take 10 days off, and I hated every single one of them. The coach says adults pick up instructions faster than kids but our bodies lag behind. So my head knows exactly what to do and my feet disagree completely. Right now I can get the ball over the net maybe 7 times out of 10. Serving is another story. I toss the ball and then forget what happens next. The funny part is how much of it happens in your head. You miss an easy one, and the next 3 shots are ruined because you're still annoyed about the first. I never noticed that on TV, those players look calm on every single point. I'm still waiting for the click. The coach says it's coming, and I'm choosing to believe her.

Slow down more than you think. I booked 3 lessons a week and my shoulder was sore by week 3. My physio said I was swinging too hard and trying to fix everything at once. Now it's 2 lessons a week and I work on one thing per session. Slower, but I'm still playing, which is more than I can say for the first plan.

The mental side surprised me more than the physical part ever did, missing an easy shot in front of people rattles you in a way that practicing alone against a wall never quite prepares you for beforehand.

Started at thirty two myself and the footwork took embarrassingly long to properly click, my brain understood exactly where to move well before my legs ever cooperated with any of it. Coach kept telling me the racket work comes second, positioning comes first, took roughly four full months before that advice started making practical sense during a real rally against another player.