My new tennis pro, Carlie!

Carlie started tennis lessons last week! She's been begging me to sign her up since she was in kindergarten and her school had a few instructors come to show the kids how to play one day. That was 2 years ago and she hasn't let up. She kept telling me "PLEASE put me in tennis lessons! I'm really good!". I finally gave in. I found a college student that plays on the local university's teams. Her name is Simona and she is from Bulgaria. The sad part is that she will be going back home in about a month when school lets out for the summer. She will be back in August but Carlie will have 3 months without any lessons :( Simona is very patient with Carlie and is very complimentary. She told me that she started playing tennis when she was 6 and that it took her 3 months to even be able to hit the ball. She was very impressed with the fact that Carlie was not only able to hit the ball, but she was able to run up to the ball and hit it, dribble the ball into the air on the racket, dribble the ball onto the ground with the racket, and she was able to do many other fun exercises that they practiced. Simona told me that Carlie holds the racket very naturally and doesn't have to keep being reminded to hold it properly. She seemed genuinely impressed with how quickly Carlie was learning the game! Carlie was just beaming with excitement and couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She's never been into soccer or tumbling/gymnastics near as much as this. Hopefully she will stay enthused with it!

Beginning of practice: Miss Simona first showing Carlie how to hold the racket

Hitting the balls back and forth over the net!