Tennis with my coworker today out in Chofu. The weather is starting to warm and although I thought it was going to be chilly out there, a few minutes of running around proved that the temperature was just right. My serve was very rusty, but the ground strokes came back to me quite quickly.
Playing tennis is my form of zen. When I’m out on the court I think about nothing but the game in front of me. That kind of clarity and reduction of distractions is something hard to come by and I hope that I can get back out on the court again soon. Looking back on the several hours on the court, I only have positive thoughts. In Oberlin I equated time on a court as a given as there were never any lines or fees. Whether it was the high school’s courts or the college’s, when you wanted to play tennis — and it was iced over — you could. Fortunately my coworker lives outside of downtown Tokyo which means that the prices come down a bit. 35 minutes by train and I can be somewhere where you only pay 2,000 yen for 2 hours of court time. Even if you play singles that works out to 1,000 a person which is a helluvalot better than the 4,000 or so that you have to pay for the courts closer to where I live.
The surface is an interesting mixture of sand and astro turf and they call it an omni court here in Japan. A quick search also reveals that this surface is one found in the States too. Since it the surface is sprinkled with sand it makes for a clay-like experience, although I’ve never played on clay, with the ability to slip and slide as you dash across the court.
I’m gratefull to my coworker for getting me out and onto the court and will be looking to getting out there again soon.