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Lesson 5
Changing Grips
The break lasted longer than expected, but it was an important one for it taught Yotsuba a few things about life. Izumi's story of how she became a tennis player after what she went through in her teenage years was also fascinating to hear.
"Well then," Izumi picked up her tennis racket and smiled at her, "I think this break has gone on long enough, don't you think? Shall we continue?"
Yotsuba laughed and jumped to her feet, "Yes, please!"
She picked up her racket and followed Izumi to the tennis court. Izumi first got Yotsuba back into the rhythm by having her hit some more forehand shot and then switching to the two-handed back swing. After she was satisfied when Yotsuba's progress she decided to go into the next lesson.
"So now you've done both the forehand and the backhand," she said proudly, "You've done a really good job for a beginner so far. I'm very impressed. Now let's take it one step further. From here I want you to alternate between using forehands and backhands. The thing about this is that you shouldn't use the same grip all the time because you'll end up getting too used to it, otherwise it'll cause problems for you when you have to change grips. You always have to hit your shots with the correct grip. Forehand has to be hit with the forehand grip, backhand has to be hit with the backhand grip. First, set yourself in the middle of the baseline."
Yotsuba nodded and placed herself at the middle of the baseline.
"Do you know what the ready position is in tennis? Let me show you," she stood beside Yotsuba and showed her, "Bend your knees like this and hold your racket in front of you like this. Make sure your dominant hand is below your non-dominant one," she waited until Yotsuba was in the correct position, "This is basically an athletic position where you're waiting for the incoming ball, especially when receiving a serve. Here you will figure out whether you prefer a forehand grip or a backhand grip. As you gain experience, you'll discover which one works for your game more. But before we get into that, I want to teach you the sequence of the strokes."
Then stepped forward to where she was standing in front of Yotsuba.
"When you're waiting like this you're going to be looking at the other side, just like you did in badminton. You're going to be watching which side the ball is coming from. For example, if the ball is coming to your forehand side you're going to turn. Like this," Izumi moved her upper body to the right while keeping her feet firmly planted on the surface, "You see? Now you try it."
Yotsuba copied her movement.
"Good. Now the reason why is because you run normal to the ball in case it's coming to the corner of the court, otherwise you'll be going sideways which can throw you off balance. Now, when you turn you will also be changing your grip. You do this at the same time you're turning. The best way to do this is by placing your left at the throat of the racket, like this," Izumi moved her left hand to where she indicated, "Watch how I use this hand to turn the racket. See? Now you try it. Make sure that as you turn your upper body you're changing your grip at the time."
Yotsuba did as she was told, slowly at first then more quickly.
"Now you don't have to loosen your fingers when you do this. Just ease your grip enough to allow your other hand to turn it. You want to feel it turning in your hand so that you know which grip you're using for your next shot. Simply put, turn the body, change the grip. Turn the body, change the grip. Alright, now I'm going to toss you some balls."
She tossed one ball to where Yotsuba had to move in order to reach it. She made her swing, albeit a little awkwardly.
"Don't worry, just try again. Remember, turn the body, change the grip."
She tossed another ball and Yotsuba hit it again, this time a little better. She encouraged her to keep going and tossed another ball. Every swing Yotsuba made she got better and better. After a dozen more balls she was able to hit them correctly.
"Very good, Yotsuba. Now let's concentrate on the backhand," Izumi placed herself beside Yotsuba again, "The key to performing a successful backhand is that you want your body to be sideways, like this," she showed Yotsuba by placing her left foot behind her right foot, "The reason why you do this is because you want to generate power into your swing. If your stance is too open you won't be able to generate that power and the ball will hit the net, or you might hit the ball in the wrong spot and it goes flying in a different direction. So remember, when you make your backhand swing you want to be sideways. Alright? Let's try it."
Izumi started tossing balls again. Yotsuba managed to hit the first few but she kept forgetting to change stance. When she finally made her adjustment she actually missed the next ball by a mile, making them both laugh. Afterwards she was able to hit correctly. Izumi tossed a dozen more balls before she was satisfied.
"Alright, now we're going to alternate between swings. I want you to hit one forehand and then one backhand, then another forehand, then another backhand, and so on and so forth. I also want you to move toward the ball before you make your swing, just like I instructed. More importantly, remember to turn the body and to change the grip. After you make your swing return to the middle of the baseline so you can receive the next one. Okay?"
Yotsuba bobbed her head eagerly and took the ready position. Izumi placed herself to where she was facing her and knelt. Then she took out a ball from the basket and tossed it to her left.
"Forehand."
Yotsuba moved, turned her body, and adjusted her grip. She made her swing and the ball connected with the distinctive pop.
"Good. Return to the middle, change your grip," Izumi tossed another ball, this time to her right, "Backhand."
Yotsuba succeeded yet again.
"Good," Izumi nodded in approval, "Return to the middle, adjust your grip. Forehand."
Pop.
"Backhand."
Pop.
"Forehand."
Pop.
"Backhand."
Pop.
After a dozen more balls, Izumi stopped it there and stood back up.
"Very good, Yotsuba. For a beginner I feel like your strokes are very nice. Sometimes when you start from scratch you can build the right mechanics right away and you don't have to change any bad muscle memory. I'm glad to see how quickly you've adapted so far from your days in badminton."
"Thank you!" Yotsuba was happy to hear it.
Lesson 6
Serve
"Now how about the serve?" Izumi said next, "Do you know how to serve in tennis?"
Yotsuba nodded "It's the same as badminton, except you're doing an overhead swing instead of a underhand one," she pointed to the other side of the court, "You have to send the ball to that side of the court."
"You have to aim it to that side of the court," corrected Izumi, "In that box over there. That's why they call the serve box. The ball has to bounce in that area. Let's see if you hit one in that area."
She had Yotsuba stand next to the ball cart and stepped back to watch. Yotsuba took out a ball, tossed it into the air, and swung. The ball went sailing to the court right beside them. Yotsuba looked back at her and grinned nervously.
"Try it again," Izumi kept herself from laughing.
But after a few more balls Yotsuba wasn't able to hit them anywhere near where she was supposed. She wasn't swinging too hard either, but the balls kept sailing on her.
"Okay," Izumi went to her side, "The first thing you're doing wrong is that you're facing the court. You're used to doing that way because that's how you serve in badminton. That won't work in tennis because you're not hitting a birdie that instantly drops to the ground once it loses its momentum. You're hitting a ball that can bounce very high, and you're using a racket that is much more powerful than the rackets you used in badminton. In tennis you want to be sideways, like this" she then took out a ball, "Let me show you again what the serve should look like."
Yotsuba stepped and Izumi took her place. The girl watched as Izumi bounced the ball a few times. Then she looked to where she wanted it to land. She tossed up the ball and swung her racket. The ball landed perfectly on the opponent's serve box, right where it should be.
She turned around to face Yotsuba, "The next thing about the serve is that you have to serve using the backhand grip. You remember what it is?"
Yotsuba showed her.
"Good, now let go of your left hand," Izumi took hold of Yotsuba's racket and lifted it, with Yotsuba still holding on, "You're going to hold your racket up in what's called the trophy position. It's called this because on almost every trophy there's a person who's always standing and holding their racket up like this. Now, keep your racket there and don't move it," she took out a ball, "You're going to take the ball and hold it like this," she turned her wrist to where the ball was pointing up and held it just below her hip, "Then you're going to toss it up like this."
She tossed the ball into the air and caught it on the way down, then placed it to where it was floating just above her head.
"This is the contact point of when you hit it. Understand? Let's try it."
Yotsuba followed her instructions and tossed the ball. On her first attempt the ball sailed away from her and she had to scramble to catch it before it rolled away. On her second attempt she managed to hit it inside the court, but it didn't land on the opposite side.
"You're bending your knees," Izumi pointed out, "You don't need to do that. Keep your legs straight. Let me show you again."
She demonstrated her serve again to show her how it was done. Yotsuba tried again. This time it landed on the opposite side of the opponent's court but not in the serve box.
"Not bad. Try to have your racket a little more in front and it'll be even better. Let's try again."
Yotsuba hit another one but with the same result. Then she made too big of a swing and the ball sailed on her.
"Don't make a full swing," Izumi reminded, "Use a half swing. Remember, trophy position," the next swing she missed, "You tossed it a little too far that time. Toss the ball directly above you and wait for it to come down before you make your swing. Remember, the contact point is just above your head."
After a few more tries Yotsuba was finally able to serve it in the correct spot. She hit a dozen more balls that ended with mixed results but showed that she was getting better and better.
"Whew!" she blew out her breath, "That's was harder than I thought."
Izumi smiled, "It'll get easier with practice."
Lesson 7
Volleying
"So now you've done everything that can be done at the baseline for a beginner," Izumi pointed to the net, "Now let's go over playing at the net. More specifically, volleying and the overhead swing."
She had Yotsuba come to the net while she took the ball cart and went to the other side.
"Now, do you know what a volley is?" she asked.
Yotsuba nodded slightly, "You're basically hitting the ball back while it's in the air. Just like you do in volleyball."
"Yes and no. I mentioned earlier that in both volleyball and badminton the ball or birdie cannot touch the surface, whereas in tennis you're allowed one bounce. We call that a ground stroke. However, you can also hit in midair. That's what we call a volley. It is similar to volleyball, but it's done close to the net. I'm going to teach you how. Stand right in the middle here, close to the net, and I'll feed you some balls. You don't have to swing at them. Just let them bounce off the strings. Okay? here we go."
Izumi began hitting balls as gently as she could towards Yotsuba. The balls that came to her right side she was able to hit back easily. But when the balls came to her left she kept having trouble. The balls would either drop right away without even crossing over the net or they would go flying in a different direction. It didn't take long for Izumi to figure out why.
"You're actually doing really good volleys," she said as she approached Yotsuba, "You're doing everything right so far, at least when the balls are coming to your right side. On your left? Not so much. It's because you keep doing what's called the windshield wiper," Izumi moved her racket back and forth to demonstrate, "The first thing about volleys is that they cannot be hit with a forehand grip. Do you remember the backhand grip that we used earlier?"
Yotsuba showed her.
"That's called the Continental Grip. The great thing about this grip is that you're going to be using this for your two-handed backhand, your volleys, overheads, and any other kind of specialty shots you'll be using for your game. The only time you'll change your grip is for the forehand. For the volleys it's very important that you use the Continental Grip," she took hold of Yotsuba's racket again and moved to the right, "When the ball comes on this side you're basically going to deflect it back, which is why I said let it bounce off the strings instead of swinging. If you try swinging at the ball while you're this close to the net you will lose control and the ball will go out of bounds. Now..."
She moved the racket to the left side, turning Yotsuba's body with it.
"When it comes to the backhand you're going to be using the other side of the racket. This is usually done with one hand since it extends your reach but for now we'll just stick with two hands to make it easier. So remember..." she moved the racket back and forth to help Yotsuba understand, "when the ball comes over to your right you use this side of the racket, and on the left you use the other side. Now I'm going to feed you some more balls and you're just going to sent right back into my hands. Remember to deflect it. Don't use any force. Okay? Get into the ready position."
She tossed one ball over the net and Yotsuba deflected it back.
"Now what I like you to do is to set the racket right away, that way we don't have to do it at the ready position," she came back over and took hold of the racket again, moving to Yotsuba's side, "Keep your elbow in front like this and keep the racket a little in front like this."
She stepped back and tossed the ball again and Yotsuba deflected it back correctly. Izumi tossed a few more times, watching the girl's movements. Then she noticed something.
"You're doing something most beginners have a tendency to do. You're straightening the arm. When you do that it becomes more difficult to deflect the ball, especially when it's further away. So keep the arm bent but keep the elbow in front of the body."
She reached over and moved Yotsuba's arm to the correct position then went back to tossing balls over to her.
"Don't change your grip!" she warned when she saw the racket turn in Yotsuba's hand, "Go to the Continental one that I showed you."
Yotsuba was surprised by how observant Izumi was. She certainly noticed everything. After a dozen more forehand volleys Izumi decided to switch it up.
"Now for the backhand. Remember what I showed you? Keep the same grip and keep your elbow in front. Don't turn your body too much. Do a quarter turn, not a half one. Stay a little more open. Alright, hit them back to me," one ball later, "Don't snap the wrist. If you do the ball will go crooked and lose all its momentum. Keep your racket straight as you deflect the ball back."
The next dozen balls were better than expected, but it was clear Yotsuba needed more practice. Especially on the backhand volley.
"You can see how directional control is very important when it comes to volleying," she said, "As you as keep the racket straight, the ball will go straight."
"And if I want it to go in a different direction?" asked Yotsuba.
"That's when you break the wrist. You do that by extending the wrist backwards. On the left side it'll be your hand, or the right side it'll be your right hand. Let's practice a little more with the left hand."
A dozen balls later Yotsuba had improved significantly.
"Now let's alternate between forehand and backhand. For the ready position lower your upper body down slightly," Izumi showed her and Yotsuba followed, "bend your knees a little, and stand slightly on your toes. You want your weight forward. It's important to be ready right away when it comes to playing at the net because the ball is coming to you much quicker than it would at the baseline. So you're not going to have a lot of time to decide what shot to make. It'll be more like a reaction. Alright, one forehand, one backhand. Here we go."
Lesson 8
Overhead Swing
Izumi glanced at her watch. She originally planned to teach Yotsuba more advanced lessons about volleying but the conversation they had earlier during their break took much longer than expected. The sun was now starting to go down and Yotsuba had to go home soon. It was probably better to leave things as they were for now, but there were two more lesson she wanted to give before Yotsuba left.
"Very good job on the volley," she said after they were finished, "Now, what do you do when someone gives you a high ball? Since you played badminton you should know the answer to this."
It only took a moment for Yotsuba to answer.
"A smash?" she said.
"Correct. In tennis it's called an overhead, but it's basically the same thing. Do you remember how to perform a smash?"
Yotsuba thought back to her badminton days and it came back to her. Izumi watched as the girl set her feet, lifted her racket to the trophy position, then raised her hand to the sky. Then she shifted toward the net and swung with a downward stroke.
"Like that," she said.
"That's correct," Izumi nodded, "Notice that it's very similar to a tennis serve. You're basically using the same stance. Just like in badminton you're hitting the ball as hard as you into the opponent's side. The only difference is that you're swinging with a downward stroke. The goal is to hit it the ball hard enough so that not only does it bounce very high it also makes it impossible for your opponent to return. However, I don't want you swinging as hard as you can. For now you're just going to make an easy overhead swing at the ball. Let's hit a few."
Izumi took the ball cart and went to the baseline. From there she began hitting balls high into the air. Yotsuba was able to hit some back to her side, but there were some that went straight into the net. It didn't take long for Izumi to figure out why and after the last ball she went to the net.
"You're making the mistake of thinking that you're hitting a birdie and not a tennis ball. You're opening up a bit too early and holding the racket like this," she demonstrated by showing that Yotsuba was holding the racket almost flat against her shoulder and not upright towards the sky, "Keep your racket in the trophy position and wait for the ball to come to you. I know it may feel a little weird, but you have to do this in order to generate power into your stroke, just like you would do with a serve. Let's try again."
A few balls later Yotsuba was doing correctly.
"Good! Much better. Let's hit a few more. Don't swing to hard now, okay?"
Lesson 8
Wall Training
"The last lesson I will give you today is the tennis wall."
"Tennis Wall?" Yotsuba raised her eyebrows, "What's that?"
Izumi pointed behind her, "See those concrete walls over there? The ones that look like a row of jagged teeth? Let's go there and I'll show you."
Yotsuba followed her teacher over to the wall, which did look like a row of jagged teeth. Now that she thought about it she did remember seeing something like this back at school when she was on the track. She didn't know that they were used for tennis.
"Now," Izumi tossed her ball once they reached the wall, "Hit a few forehands against the wall. Let's see how you do."
Yotsuba looked at her in confusion before looking at the wall. With a shrug she let the ball bounce and struck it with a forehand swing. The ball came back to her left and she had to switch to a two handed backhand. The next two were forehand swings, but with each swing the ball kept coming back quicker than she expected. She missed the last and when it came back it went toward Izumi instead who caught it with her bare hand.
"Not bad," she said, "You took to the wall easier than I expected. Others would have a difficult time. In this case, the problem you're having right now is feeding the ball. What you want to do on the feed is to very gently hit the ball off the bounce. Observe."
She began to demonstrate by letting the ball bounce and then hitting hit with a gentle forehand swing.
"Let the ball bounce. Hit it very gently," she continued to instruct as the ball went back and forth, "As you start to rally back and forth to yourself you want to minimize the take back. I saw as I was watching that you were taking the racket too far back. Don't do that. You have to keep control of the ball as much as you can. Watch how I make my swings. As the ball's coming back I'm not taking my racket too far back. Just as much as I need to."
Yotsuba watched in fascination. Izumi made it look so easy! What did she expect from a former professional tennis player.
"Now, as your confidence grows," Izumi quickened the pace, "you can start hitting it harder and harder. Eventually you can hit on the wall like this!" she struck the ball as hard as she could, "You can completely rip the ball once you, but it'll take some time. For now, I just want you to hit at a slow and gentle pace," she caught the ball and tossed back to Yotsuba, "Alright, give it a shot."
Yotsuba did her best to follow her example. Izumi watched closely again. She was still taking the racket too far back, but she was hitting it consistently.
"Minimize the take back, maximize the finished," she reminded.
However, Yotsuba was htting it too gently and the girl had to inch closer and closer to the wall. Eventually she adjusted and she was able to hit it more effectively.
"Okay," Izumi caught the ball again, "One thing that is crucial when it comes to the wall, and tennis in general, is the footwork. Now I know I haven't shown you anything when it comes to footwork in tennis but since you played badminton you should be able to adapt fairly easily. The thing to remember is that the ball is not going to be super accurate when it comes back to you," she demonstrated again, "When I hit a little bit off I have to move my feet and find the ball. I have to adjust to the ball that's going all over the place. Your opponents will try to push you around by doing something like this. The key is to not be stationary and planted in one spot. You want to keep moving. Stay on your toes. Try again."
She tossed the ball back to Yotsuba and she tried again. This time she moved her feet, but every time she hit the ball it kept going higher and higher against. Eventually it struck the very top of the wall and it came back in a long wide arc. Yotsuba jumped in order to receive it but missed and almost fell on her bottom.
Izumi chuckled and caught the ball again when it came to her.
"Don't be embarrassed," she said, "This always happens when practicing against the wall for the first time. When the ball starts going high it turns into a nightmare. You often have back up in order to receive it. Once it starts going high the best thing to do is to stop and start over. Don't try to rally it, there's no point. Just catch it and start over," she tossed the ball back again, "Try to keep it as low as possible."
She watched as Yotsuba started again. This time she was doing correctly.
"Good... and finish... nice! Keep going... nice... excellent!" she kept instructing and encouraging, "Nice and gentle... footwork... good job. Keep it going."
After a dozen more strikes she caught the ball again.
"Well done, Yotsuba. You're still taking the racket back a bit too much but with practice you'll get better," she nodded in approval, "Now let's try backhands. To start with you're basically doing the same thing," she demonstrated again by doing the two-handed backhand swing, "Small take back, full finish. Then once you're confident enough you can start increasing the pace and hitting a little more harder. Want to see a real hard one?"
Izumi swung with all her might, grunting a little. The ball came off the strings with a really loud pop and shot like a bullet into the wall.
"Whoa," Yotsuba's eyes went wide.
"One day you'll be able to hit it like that," Izumi tossed the ball to her again, "Now you try it."
Yotsuba started out okay but Izumi soon saw that she was swinging to gently and was struggling to get to the ball in time.
"It's much harder with the backhand, isn't it?" she said, "Just keep practicing. You'll get there. Try again, only this time try to hit five good backhands. If you have to use a forehand that's find, but I want you to be able to hit backhands effectively."
Yotsuba started again. She managed to hit one but on the next one she hit way into the air and it bounced off the chain link fence up above.
"Now what happened there is what we call a racket face. Basically you went on the back foot and your racket opened up," she showed her leaning back on one foot and having her racket face upwards, "As a result the ball shot way up. Avoid that by positioning yourself behind the ball so you don't feel like you're falling backwards. Let's try again."
Yotsuba tried it for the third time and succeeded in hitting five backhands without having to use a forehand. She was still hitting them a bit high, but Izumi was satisfied that she got the general idea.
"Now let's try alternating between the two. Hit the ball first with a forehand, then backhand.
She hit the ball against the wall again to demonstrate.
"Forehand."
Pop.
"Backhand."
Pop.
"Forehand."
Pop.
"Backhand."
She caught the ball and tossed it back to Yotsuba.
"Let's see if you can get five of each, okay?"
On her first attempt Yotsuba had trouble alternating between swings. Then she hit another one too high and she had to start over again.
"Keep trying," Izumi encouraged, "Remember to move your feet."
It took several attempts, but Yotsuba got better each time. She wasn't able to get five each, but she was able to get five in a row. Izumi was satisfied with that and decided to leave it there.
"So what do you think about playing against the wall?" she asked.
"It's..." Yotsuba laughed a little and shrugged, "Good, I guess. It seems like a good exercise."
"Indeed it is," Izumi grinned, "It's a good cardiovascular exercise and it's something you can do by yourself. If you can't practice on the court you can practice on the wall, or any wall you can find. At the very least you'll get a good exercise, but it can also help with your footwork and all your shots. Now, the last thing I'll teach you for today are volleys on the wall. I could teach you serves as well but I don't think you're ready for that yet, so for today we'll stick with volleys. Let's move closer to the wall."
They moved closer until they were face to face with the wall. Then she had Yotsuba stand on her right.
"Now, the thing about volleying on the wall is that they're much more difficult to hit back. You might think they're easier since you're much closer, but it's actually the exact opposite. With ground strokes you have time to set up your next shot. Not the case with volleys. The ball is coming to you much quicker, and if both players are playing close to the net then your shots are going to be more like reactions rather than actual shots. Now, come and stand on my right."
Yotsuba moved to where she indicated.
"Now, watch my racket. What you want to do is that instead of keeping it straight like we do with ground strokes, open the racket a little instead. The reason why is that you don't want to play the ball too low otherwise you'll end up hitting too many low volleys," she starting hitting the ball to demonstrate, then showed Yotsuba how it was really done, "When you volley against the wall you want your racket a little higher and you want to hit gently like this. Get nice and high and just let it bounce off your strings. It'll be easier to control. Once you're comfortable hitting it this way you can start speeding it up a bit and you can start hitting the ball a bit lower. Watch how calm my racket is and how smooth my arm movements are. I'm just deflecting the ball back into play. Think you can do that?"
"Yeah!" Yotsuba eagerly bobbed her head.
"Alright," Izumi tossed the ball to her, "Try it. Use the Continental Grip and make a nice soft high feed."
But on her first attempt Yotsuba hit the ball too gently, causing the ball to fall straight to the ground after bouncing off the wall too low.
"Remember, we want to put the ball higher," Izumi reminded, "If you put it there it's going to make it impossible to receive but it's just too low. Aim higher by opening the face of your racket."
Yotsuba tried again. Same result.
"Still too low," Izumi took the ball and demonstrated again using one of the side walls, "Watch my racket again. See how it's open? That's how you send the ball up, and it gives you sufficient time to be able to get it back and forth. If you get it low it's going to cut the rally short. Try again. Open your racket."
This time Yotsuba hit with the racket face up, but Izumi soon found that there was one other problem.
"Okay, remember our volley lesson earlier? You want to keep your elbow out front and tucked into your torso. Don't hold your arm out straight otherwise the racket will be too stiff and the ball will just drop."
Yotsuba corrected, but then there was another problem.
"You're not holding your ground. Don't feel bad, though. This is very common with beginners. They tend to start turning away from the ball when doing wall practice, thinking that the ball is going to attack them or something. The best thing to avoid that is to simply hold your ground and not let the ball play you. Watch," Izumi started hitting the ball again and as it bounced back she remained where she was, "See? I'm holding my ground by keeping my feet planted firmly on the ground. I'm not letting the ball play me by not backing up or turning away. That's all you have to do, okay? Try it again."
By following her example Yotsuba finally managed to hit four against the wall before it dropped.
"Better. Not great, but better. Let's see if you can hit ten in a row.
Yotsuba started again.
"One... two... three... keep your arm tucked and not stiff... four... five, keep going... six... seven... eight... nine... ten! Good job, Yotsuba. Still a bit rough but you'll get there."
"Whew!" Yotsuba wiped her brow, "That was harder than I thought."
"Just keep practicing. It'll get easier."
Then Yotsuba asked, "Do you also do backhand volleys on the wall?"
"Yes, but we'll leave that alone for now. However, since you asked I'll go ahead and show you so you have an idea."
She hadn Yotsuba stand behind her while she took the ball one last time.
"Remember back in our volley lesson you were doing that windshield wiper thing? Again, that's what you want to avoid. When it comes to the backhand volley against you're doing the same as you were with the forehand volley," she started hitting the ball, "Open the racket, keep your arms in front, and just put it a little higher. Also, when you do this be sure to freeze the racket. Don't let it move around too much. Once you're confident enough you can start doing it one handed instead of two. This is actually really great on the wall because it will help build the forearm stability. You can build the muscles of both your forearm and your hand so that it is more stable. Then you can alternate like this," she started switching back and forth, "Forehand. Backhand. Forehand. Backhand. Want to try it?"
Yotsuba bobbed her head and tried to do it herself. She managed to get eight hits, mostly backhands, before the ball landed on the ground.
"Not bad, Yotsuba. Very good," she glanced at her watch again, "I'm afraid we're going to have to end it there for today."
"Ah," Yotsuba tried to hide her disappointment, which made Izumi smile.
"I'll be happy to give you more lessons, but I won't be available for the next few days. I have some old friends coming over and I'll be occupied for the time being. Plus, you get other things to worry about. Remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Yotsuba grimaced.
"Give me a hand packing things up."
After everything was put away they went back inside the house, but when Yotsuba tried to give the red and black racket to Izumi she waved it away.
"That's yours to keep," she said, "It belongs to you."
Yotsuba looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she meant.
But before she could say anything Izumi said, "However, I don't want you taking full swings with that racket. You'll end up hurting your arm if you do. If you want to continue taking tennis lessons I strongly suggest getting a newer and lighter racket, along with some appropriate apparel and shoes."
Then she paused and raised a finger before going walking over to a desk. From there she took out a notepad and a pen. She wrote something down and handed the sheet to Yotsuba.
"That mall you and your sisters like to go to, there's a tennis shop there that's owned by a friend of mine," she looked at the clock, "He usually closes early on Wednesday. I'll give him a call and let him know you're coming. He can help you find a racket that suits you perfectly as a beginner who's learning."
Yotsuba looked at the note that told her the name of the tennis shop.
"Oh, I know where this is. We pass by it all the time," then she said, "But I don't have much money right now."
"Not to worry," Izumi went to her purse and pulled out twenty thousand yen.
""Oh, no!" Yotsuba gasped and held up her hands, "I can't take your money!"
"Take it, I insist," Izumi handed it to her, "The reason why I taught you wall training is so you can practice by yourself. Use the money to buy your gear and keep the rest. And you don't worry about paying me back. I got plenty more of it."
Yotsuba reluctantly took the money. She looked at it for a while before she looked up at Izumi and bowed
"Th-Thank you. For teaching me," she said.
"Anytime," Izumi placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be in touch."