#so. yeah I'm like. beginner level. 🙈

[running-in-the-dark]

okay, I bought pretty sock yarn, and I have decided this is the year I'm going to finish knitting my first (and second) sock - I have started about five times but always gave up.

does anyone have a good, easy, beginner sock knitting pattern? ideally toe-up, I think? I know I've tried like three different ones but they were all confusing 🙈

[adore-gregor]

Seeing your posts really motivates me to try taking up tennis 😊😊 But the truth is, it's a bit intimidating for me. I have no idea where I'm supposed to start. I'm also not a very athletic person either :( And I don't know if I can afford private "lessons" with a tennis coach. Can you tell me about your own experience with taking up tennis? And some basic first things to know? Like do i have to sign up for a club? How do i find one? Do i need to buy my own equipment and such?

This makes me so happy to hear! 😁😊

I get that, but i feel like trying sth. for the first time is intimidating for everyone. :)

Well I don't think that's a problem when you just start playing tennis as a beginner. At first the bigger challenge will be to be able to hit the ball accross the net with some control a couple of times, rather than your endurance. Rallies won't last long and with most beginners their shots are still slow, therefore it won't be that taxing. :) I'd say by improving your tennis skills and simply playing so will your fitness level. But you could also go running or do something on the side like biking to help with that if you want to.

Also let me tell you I even have some teammates who are not that athletic who play in the league so it's really not that much of a problem. In tennis it's a lot about how well you can move the ball to make your opponent run more, so if you have the skill you often can get away with it. Of course it's more difficult against someone very athletic and fast but for the start definitely not an issue and definetly not if you just play for fun. 🙈

A private coach is very recommendable but not necessarily a must. You could also ask some higher level tennis players who play for a club/compete, if you know any, if they could teach you for free as they usually have good technique and hopefully are also alright at teaching.

I would also be happy to help with that but i'm just assuming you probably live somewhere far away so.😅 I mean it's definetly helpful to get the technique right from the beginning but you also learn from playing or instruction videos can be helpful too ig.

My experience:

I started playing when I was 14 years old, with coaching lessons right away. I got into the sport as a friend of mine played and at first we always used to play in the garden without a net 😆 and yeah i found it fun so I gave it a go. I joined the club in my town (the only one) as there was no other and no free option. About two year after I was invited in the women's team as they thought I was somewhat talented ig and by now I have been playing tennis for almost 10 years and i'm competing for my club.

And yeah my parents payed for my lessons as I was still very young back then. That my mom also picked up tennis shortly after certainly helped with her supporting my love for the sport. She is actually good at tennis herself and also plays for the team, she also always gets quite a few points of me, which many of my other teammates can't. My dad also played tennis.😄

But yeah I finance my private lessons partly with my own money from summer jobs and my parents support. The coach I regulary play with charges 20€ an hour and another coach who trained us as a team 40€. The 2nd one is like a really well known and highly valued one in my area and trained with some atp players when he was younger, so like a really good player but didn't quite cut it to become pro. So yeah it isn't cheap.

But what I would advice take group lessons, it's much more affordable as the price is split. So I would recommend this to save money.😊

I usually have team training once a week for the most part of the year and I used to take individual lessons once a week on top of that. But not right now because i'm busy.

Regarding clubs: it's helpful to meet people to play with because it can be difficult to find someone. Also it's much cheaper to pay a yearly fee for a club if you pay regulary than pay extra each time. But if you live in a city there might be free courts, idk this is at least the case where i live and maybe also some networks for tennis players to connect, i think there are apps for that. You can find clubs on the internet.

Equipment: you can rent but again buying is cheaper in the long term. But ofc if you know someone you could also borrow equipment. With rackets I would recommend buying them somewhere you can first try them and with knowledgable consultants. So they can recommend you the right racket because tbh i don't even know see through all the technical aspects of a tennis racket.😅 It's the most expensive piece of equipment and it would suck to get it wrong, some rackets could even lead to overuse pain if they're too heavy for example.

Just some general advice:

Most important is to enjoy playing.^^

I would recommend you to also play matches early on, just for fun. It helps you improve a lot and get used to the nerves of competing. (if you ever want to try that) I wish I had done it way sooner.😅

You will loose a lot at first, I also did but don't let it discourage you. 😇 Tennis is a sport where differences in skill are very clearly visible. Focus more on the improvements you can see in yourself. Results will catch up at some point.

Hope this is helpful and feel free to ask if you have any more questions 🤗🤗 and i hope I didn't discourage you in any way because tennis is a beautiful sport 😉