Late to the Ball

Late to the Ball - Age. Learn. Fight.  Love.  Play Tennis.  Win., by Gerald Marzorati, Scribner 2016

There's nothing like tennis to make a person feel dumb, old, broken, shamed, clutsy.  But it is, as Marzorati proved at age 60, addictive.  There's also nothing less satisfying than hitting a good ball.  Moving, seeing, registering and making the feet do what the brain wants, is for me, the last challenge toward getting back to the game I love.  And that's where Marzorati's long list of experiences - training, failing, trying again - is reinforcement.  

Starting tennis in late middle age, when muscles shrink, sleeps really counts and friends and relatives are leaving us in greater numbers, certainly takes longer than learning tennis in childhood.  But late-starters do in fact hold a few precious advantages - will-power and focus, for one.  My old tennis partner Annie said 90% of winning is in the brain.  And credit cards are another, because tennis is not cheap.  Trainers, coaches, court time, even medical repairs cost money!  But hey, what's there to spend it on anyway at this point?

So Marzorati has his epiphany and starts his journey to national ranking.  Phew!  Hiring a coach much younger than he, Kirill, a Russian athlete, Marzorati starts his book with learning to play on grass, the most difficult, slippery and fast surface.  His next coach, a well-known player named Bob Litwin, despite two hip surgeries and an odd gait, showed Marzorati how far he was from even dreaming of  a higher tennis level. Negativity was taking hold and Litwin identified it clearly.  

But of course Marzorati persisted, picking up training and anti-aging exercises that sharpened his game while it lengthened his staying power.  He worked on individual strokes and putting together a game strategy.  He returned to the grass at Forest Hills, and continued to rack up competitive wins on the senior circuit.  By the last chapter of his book, the contrast between wishing for a new life and building one are clear.  No one particular source gifted Marzorati with a detailed map; along the way he apparently met some very special people, and found a few valuable pieces of research to support his work.  But there was no formula for building his game as he tuned and built up his body.  Readers will be pleased, as I was, to learn that this complicated journey is indeed possible; there may be more breaks along the way, but Marzorati proves that it can be done.