Top Spin

The cold inconsistent wind was irritating her, blowing her long brown bangs into her eyes, swirling around her bare legs, and teasingly lifting her short blue skirt. Emma cursed her uniform under her breath. It was autumn and the temperature was dropping, even as the breeze swept golden brown leaves onto the court. Emma took a slow breath, knocking stray thoughts out of her tired head. Her eyes focused and landed on the small yellow ball in her hand. She forced herself to rest for a moment, not rush, visualize the two circular motions she was about to perform. If she could just picture it perfectly in her mind then her body would follow. The racket in her right hand dropped downwards and, as it began the upward swing, her knees started to bend. Her left hand lifted and the ball shot out of her hand straight up. Her right hand finished the arc of the first circle and smoothly transitioned into the second, dropping behind her back. Emma slowed as she waited for the ball to hang lightly in the air, having reached its highest point. It spun gently in the wind but luckily had not been pushed out of reach. Then Emma released all that energy, caught in the wound up spring of her body, as her legs straightened and her body turned to face her opponent, and her racket completed the second circle with incredible speed. The racket slammed into the ball flat and with a WHAM, the ball flew across the court into the service box and with its bounce skimmed low against the ground. There was no way anyone could return that. ?LET,? shouted her opponent. Emma cursed audibly, ignoring the disapproving grimace of her coach at the side of the court. How could she have hit the net for the third time? Was that even possible? It was the second serve of the breakpoint of the tiebreaker of two sets and all she had to do was hit one serve in, and it would be over. ?Go Emma,? called a high-pitched girly voice from behind her. Emma smiled as she identified her best friend from the crowd. Quite a few people were watching them because they were the last match still playing. Unfortunately, the majority of them were friends and coaches of the opposing team, and Emma hated being watched by people she didn?t know. Fed up with this game, Emma removed the tennis ball tucked in her spandex shorts under her skirt. She glared at the flouncing stuck-up girl opposing her. The girl couldn?t hit a ball right! All she did was lob the ball or slice it. Emma didn?t bother to think this time, and tossing the ball high up into the air, she let it collide with the downward swing of her racket a fraction too late. The ball slammed into the net. The opposing team burst into cheers, their stupid girl jumping in the air. Emma walked up to the net to shake her hand but the little brat had forgotten her manners and ran off the court. Depressed and exhausted, Emma picked up the tennis balls, zipped up her tennis racket, and walked off the court to be greeted by her teammates and coach. ?Good match, Emma,? said her team?s best player Karen. ?You played really ankara escort well against a hard opponent. Especially as a JV player in a Varsity match.? Emma smiled and thanked her. Varsity or whatever, she should?ve won. Her team circled her with consoling words. At least the team as a whole won. And that also meant Emma was one of the few players that lost her match. She was glad she was driving herself home instead of taking the bus, since all her teammates would want to celebrate their overall success.* As they were leaving, the coach pulled Emma aside. ?Emma, you played pretty well in this last match.? Emma?s coach was a tough teacher from her high school that used to play and teach tennis when she was younger. ?But I think you could?ve won too. I want you to start taking private lessons each week with a friend of mine. He?s a great coach and he?ll help you put more spin on your serve so you can serve consistently without hitting the net. Same with your forehand. You need to use more top-spin and learn how to use back-spin to keep the opponent guessing. Hitting everything hard and flat may help hit winners, but you need more consistency.? Her heart sinking, Emma agreed, and was handed the business card of her coach?s friend. To Emma, spin was the way bad players got away with weak shots. Now she would have to be taught how to do that? *** Jack was surprised when his friend Laura had asked him to teach one of her girls how to hit with more spin. It was unusual for a girl to have a habit of hitting too flat, purely because girls usually embrace the fact that spin allows them to make up for the fact they don?t have as much strength as guys. Perhaps she was a boyish, buff girl? But talking on the phone with Emma he had heard a soft, timid voice, and he was very curious to meet the girl. That Saturday as he wrapped up a lesson with one of the guys he taught, he noticed a thin figure approaching the court. Was this Emma? As she drew closer Jack realized she was strikingly attractive, her tennis dress showing off a feminine small waist and flared hips. She was perhaps five and a half feet tall, and her slim build supported a nice set of breasts, perhaps a size B. He couldn?t quite place her ethnicity or where she came from, but she had long black hair bound into a high ponytail, and a softly defined face with light brown eyes. ?Excuse me, are you Jack Berenguier?? she asked. ?Yes. You must be Emma,? said Jack reaching out a hand. ?It?s nice to meet you.? Emma gripped his hand lightly before quickly withdrawing her hand. Jack had a warm friendly smile, but Emma seemed rather nervous. That was not unusual though, since Jack was a big guy, with a muscular build and broad shoulders instead of the slim frame many tennis players had. ?It?s nice to meet you too. Um? You didn?t specify on the phone, but how long will this lesson be?? asked Emma politely as she took out her racket and laid her case on the bench by the court. Jack flipped open his phone and checked his calendar. ?Actually, you?re my ankara escort bayan last student today, so the lesson can go on as long as you?d like.? Bluntly Emma said, ?Okay, I was just wondering since I?d like to learn what I need to in just one lesson. Do you think that?ll be possible?? ?What, you already don?t like me that much?? exclaimed Jack, jokingly. Emma blushed, to Jack?s slight surprise. ?No,? she said, smiling for the first time. ?I just hate using spin, that?s all. I?d rather not spend weeks learning it.? ?Why don?t you like spin?? he asked. Emma seemed unwilling to answer. Jack quickly continued, ?Well I suppose you could learn how to hit a shot with spin in one lesson. But you wouldn?t learn how to really manipulate the spin in each shot without repeated practice. And at the end of this lesson,? he added, ?you won?t hate spin anymore.? Emma was content with the response, and they walked out onto the court to get started. First Jack wanted to get an idea of Emma?s range of shots. He asked her to hit back each ball without regard to aim as long as it went in. Emma was quick-footed and reached every ball he tossed to her, whether it was in the service box, at the baseline, or further back. He soon realized that Emma did not hit flat because she had a lot of strength, but instead because she would align herself with each ball and allow the torque of her body and swing to slam into the ball, increasing speed, and sending the ball flying back. What incredible power she would have if she used top spin. Not that she didn?t have quite a bit of top spin already. Jack guessed that Emma wasn?t aware at all that merely from hitting each ball from the bottom, giving her the most strength, she was spinning the ball upwards so it fell back in the court. She just didn?t apply any spin on purpose, so her shots were low to the ground, and those hit from close to the net tended to go out or in the net. After confirming that Emma indeed knew the principle of top spin (to hit from under the ball upwards so that it spins forwards), Jack started her on a series of challenges, such as hitting a low ball from the service line into a service box, or hitting a shot more than 10 feet above the net, but still landing in. Emma felt very silly trying to lob balls and hit them way up in the air. It was the sort of thing she had done when she had first started playing, at age 8. But Jack quickly showed her that lobs were worth it. He would hit a ball high up into the air and not only would it have the sun behind it, the ball would land directly on the baseline, and jump another 12 feet up! He explained that the ball would only jump so high if aided by top spin, since the ball would contact the ground, and keep spinning up and forwards. Such shots made it impossible for the opponent to hit the tennis ball back. Four hours passed with few breaks in between, as Emma did not tire easily. Jack was pleased to see that Emma had definitely begun applying more and more spin to her shots, and was even learning escort ankara very fast how different amounts could affect her placement. As they took a break, Emma grinned at him. She was no longer shy, having spent quite a bit of time angrily trying to hit him with tennis balls, since he gave himself as a target, and said to her ?I bet you can?t.? ?Are you starting to see how spin might be a good thing?? Jack asked. ?I dunno,? said Emma. ?I still feel spin is kinda... weak?? She looked at him tentatively. ?I mean, it?s what all the girls use.? Jack started to laugh. ?The top tennis players, male and female alike, all use top spin! You can?t hit hard and fast without it, otherwise your shots would all go out. You use spin naturally too, my dear, even if you?re not aware of it. Think about how much power you?d have if you could force the opponent to back up to the baseline because you hit it over their head, or bring them to the net because you drop shot them.? Emma still seemed a bit unconvinced. Jack had seen that she could hit with spin just fine, but it was going to be more about mentally convincing her that spin would give her more power. ?After you go home, watch some professional tennis matches on TV, okay? You?ll see that they all use spin.? Jack checked his watch as Emma nodded. It was getting late, already 6 o?clock, and the sun would be behind the mountains soon. ?I just have one last challenge for you for today.? Emma?s eyes lit up. Jack had thought at first she really was only playing tennis for the competitive side of it, hitting flat shots for the thrill of hitting winners, but he could see now that she actually played for herself, to challenge herself further. Once she got over this initial stubbornness towards spin he was sure she would enjoy learning new strokes. Hopefully with him, because he was rather starting to like her. Jack placed an empty soda can on the service line, and stood between it and the net. ?Hit a ball over my head and aim to hit the soda can,? he told Emma, ?If you can I?ll buy you a drink.? Such a projectile would require a perfect amount of spin. Emma dropped a ball and swung her racket without hesitation. ?Woo!? shouted Emma. The air was startled and took a moment before settling back into a blanket of calm. ?First try! And you said I couldn?t learn to use spin in one lesson.? She stuck her tongue out at Jack playfully, then ran to pick up the tennis balls. ?Lucky shot,? grumbled Jack, realizing suddenly that lately he had been lacking female company, and Emma?s playfulness was a welcome change. The sun cast out its blinding rays in a final good night call to earth?s creatures, and both Jack and Emma shaded their eyes as they left the court. The court they had been using was part of a fitness center which had a bar and restaurant at the side. Emma expressed her desire to quickly take a shower before he bought her a drink, so Jack waited for a little while before she reappeared. Emma had gotten changed into a casual skirt and a cute pink tank top, and Jack had to remind himself that this was a high school student, and it would be very inappropriate for him to make any advances. She was probably still a minor. She looked around 16. As he walked her to the restaurant, he attempted some small talk to figure out her age.