Ok- you may have linked to this page from
the "On the Road" page. There, I spoke of my search for a
place to practice for a few hours and the couple of hours it took me to
actually find the place! I'm not complaining, though. It was
because of my search that I got to see more than just the road to and
from my work-site... I had a great time and good work-outs at the Sierra
Vista Jr High courts but once the sun went down, I had no place to go
burn off all that energy (yeah, right!- it's more like all the calories
from breakfast and lunch!). The hotel's amenities included a pool, spa
and a basketball back-board set at the end of a paddle-tennis court
which I decided to check out. How'd I know it was paddle-tennis? Well,
it was about 1/2 the size of a normal court, for one- and I asked the
help! I had my paddles and my last Wilson with me and just started
bouncing the ball around the paddle-tennis court, trying to imagine what
strokes one would use for the serve and volleying during a game. What
the hey, I tried an overhand serve which landed just long for a fault
and took the ball into a bouncy net on the other side of the court.
Intrigued and on the other side, I served the ball at the net a pretty
good one and... the net slowly bounced the ball back at me- and that
started a cycle of serving and volleying that lasted a good 20 minutes!
The net was bouncy but delayed the ball just enough for one to set up
for the next stroke though kills didn't work quite so well. What did
work well were shots from around the 3 foot line to overheads and always
that slight delay where one could set up the footwork and practice one's
stroke. One of the cool things about this set-up was that it required
very little room due to the way the net absorbed the ball's speed. No
matter how hard I hit it, it always came back a "plum."
Me thinks one of these gizmo's would be great in a back yard! As
an aside, I would have loved to try paddle-tennis that evening- I
was joined by another guy who said he'd play- but during my practice, I
hit the ball over the 10 foot net, lost it in some bushes. I looked for
it a few times to no avail, so we gave up. Of course, I found it
very easily the next morning- after checking out from the hotel! Next
time!
Below are pics I took of the practice nets set-up (there
was one on either side of the paddle-tennis court) and of the
paddle-tennis courts themselves. I gotta try that sport! If anyone knows
of public paddle-tennis courts close to the Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale
area, drop me a line by clicking the spinning envelope link below?
Thanks! 
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