I think I've played enough Mario Tennis to accurately explain how to play tennis.
April 21, 2046
Los Angeles, California, Earth
It's a casual Saturday morning in the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household. Sprig sat on the couch watching cartoon reruns with Sasha, Marcy and Polly played a game together on Marcy's old Switch, and Anne was searching for something important in the basement. She didn't say what she was looking for, but Sasha and Marcy had their suspicions. The twins, on the other hand, had no idea what was in store for them today.
Eventually Anne came up from the basement with a large misshapen bag, confirming what her wives expected. "Kids, guess what we're gonna do today!"
The twins looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't know," said Polly.
Anne was undeterred. "Come on, guess."
"It's got something to do with that bag," said Sprig, not wanting to have to guess.
"Well, yes. But what's in it?"
"A bunch of old stuff," said Polly.
Anne nodded. "Uh huh, but what's—"
"Just tell them, Anne," said Sasha, knowing this could go on forever.
Anne frowned for a second but ultimately agreed. "I am going to teach you…" She unzipped the bag and grabbed something within. "… how to play tennis!" She held up the tennis racket she grabbed.
Now the kids were more interested. They had some experience with tennis rackets thanks to exercises in PE class, but had never played an actual game. "That sounds like fun!" said Sprig.
"Yep! We've got all my old equipment to use. Cmon, let's go!" Anne was quickly out the front door, putting her old tennis stuff in the car.
Sasha turned off the TV and Marcy boxed up the remaining puzzle pieces as everyone got ready to leave.
"Wait a minute…" said Polly. "Mom, Mama, why weren't either of you surprised?"
"Your Mæ̀ might've mentioned a few times that she wanted to do this," said Marcy.
"When she says 'a few times', she means like a hundred times in the past week alone," added Sasha.
Marcy grinned. "Okay, she's really excited about this, but you should be too. It'll be fun!"
"Come on!" They heard Anne calling from outside.
"Alright, let's go," said Sasha.
Anne drove the family to the local sports complex, which had a few tennis courts. She pulled out everything from the bag: four rackets, an unopened tube of tennis balls, her old tennis shoes which surprisingly still fit, and one of these visor hats because lots of tennis players wear them. She took the balls out of the tube and handed each of her children a racket while taking one for herself.
"When's the last time you played tennis, Mæ̀?"
"Well…" said Anne, "I haven't been an actual active tennis player since high school, but I've played several games here and there over the years. It's good exercise."
"Exercise?" asks Polly, looking up at Sasha.
"Hey, don't look at me," the blonde said. "I don't play tennis. I've only ever served as a scorekeeper and accidental target during your Mæ̀'s practice."
"And I have even less experience," said Marcy. "I've played tennis video games like Mario Tennis Aces and Underwater Wimbledon and that's it. I'm too clumsy to play sports. But not you two kiddos. You'll do great!"
"Thanks, Mama," said Sprig.
"Yeah. Good encouragement, Mar-Mar," said Anne. Then she addressed the twins. "Anyway, you two know the basics of how the game is played but you don't know exactly how you're supposed to do that."
"Yeah," said Sprig.
"Pretty much," said Polly.
"Okay, the most important thing to learn is the stroke. The two main types are forehand and backhand." Anne demonstrated both forms and watched as Sprig and Polly copied the movements. "Both types of strokes are useful in different situations. It all depends on where you are in relation to the ball. Does everything make sense so far?"
The twins both nodded. "Yep," said Polly.
"Strokes are different from shots, which are what happens to the ball when you hit it. There are many different ways you can hit a tennis ball, and shots can be divided in a multitude of ways. The very first shot is the serve, where either you or your opponent tosses the ball up into the air and then hits it. If you hit it high and deep, it's a lob. If you hit it low, then it's a drop shot. A down-the-line-shot is hit straight in front of you, while a passing shot is deliberately hit far to the sides where your opponent can't reach it. If you let the ball bounce once before you hit it, that's a groundstroke. If you hit the ball before it hits the ground, then it's a volley. If you hit the ball quickly with the racket over your head, that's an overhead smash." Anne served a ball and hit it in a certain way to demonstrate each shot as she explained each type of shot. "There's always a right move to use at each time. And don't forget to stay mobile. You might have to run to get the ball."
She looked at the tube and realized she had used all the balls in the demonstration. "Sash, Mar-Mar, can you help me— what are you two doing?"
The whole time Anne was explaining how to play tennis, Sasha and Marcy played a game with the remaining racket: how many times can you bounce a ball on the racket before it falls? So far Sasha had the highest record with 26 but Marcy was close behind with 24.
"Nothing important," said Sasha.
"Just having some fun while you guys are doing your thing," added Marcy.
"Well can you help me out for a minute before you do more of that?" asked Anne.
"Sure." "Okay."
Anne decided to explain some more while Sasha and Marcy gathered the stray tennis balls. "When you score a point, you get a score of 15. Two points is 30, then three points is 40— I don't know why it's like that. Apparently it has something to do with clocks but then it should be 45, not 40. When you have 40 and your opponent has less than that, then you only need one more point to win. If both players have 40 points, that's called a deuce and you need to score two points in a row to win. And it has to be two in a row; if you get a point and your opponent gets one immediately afterward, then both cancel out and you're back to 40-40."
"And having no points is called 'love', right?" asked Sprig.
Anne nodded. "Yep. Once again, I'm not sure why. That's just the way it is."
Just then, Sasha and Marcy approached with the tennis balls and put them back in the tube. (They still kept the one they were playing with, though.)
"Here you go," said Sasha.
"Thank you," said Anne. "Typically, six games are played in a set, and there are three sets in a match, but don't worry about that right now. Today you're just gonna practice different shots. Is that okay?"
"Yep!" said the twins at the same time.
"Hmm… who will get the ball first?" Anne thought for a few seconds before she was struck with realization. "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100. Whoever guesses closer will start first."
"73," said Polly.
"39," said Sprig.
"26," said Anne as she handed Sprig a ball. "I picked that because that's how many years it's been since I saw your namesakes."
The twins had proud smiles on their faces before taking their places on opposite sides of the court.
"Go Sprig and Polly!" Marcy cheered.
And so the twins played, practicing what Anne taught them in a friendly unofficial game. It quickly became clear that Sprig was the better player of the two. That's not to say Polly's a bad player— she was actually doing quite well. It's just that Sprig was practically playing like a prodigy. He could probably even beat Anne, but they'd have to find out another day. After about fifteen minutes of practice, Anne decided it was time for a quick break.
Sasha handed the twins their water bottles. "Great work you two!" she said.
"Thanks, I was pretty good," said Polly who turned to look at her brother. "But you were better than good, Sprig! Got You're excellent!"
"Really?" asked Sprig. He hadn't really noticed that he was doing well. He was just having fun.
"Yeah! You're a natural!" said Marcy.
"I agree," said Anne. "You might be better than some of the players I competed with in high school." She wrapped Sprig in a big hug. "I'm so proud of you… and Polly. Also proud of Polly."
"It all felt so natural," said Sprig. "I think I might've found my true calling."
Translations: Mæ̀ (mom)
No, Underwater Wimbledon is not a real game. It would've been released sometime between now and 2046.
