New #21: Racquetball

Racquetball is all about doing the things our mothers taught us not to: run around the house, scuff the floors and bounce balls off the ceiling and walls. This sport is awesome.

My friend Jessica offered to teach me how to play, and she was sweet enough to sneak me into her gym for my first game. We started off with the basics of the sport, which is kind of like tennis, or for the less athletic, ping pong. Except in this game, instead of hitting the ball over the net, you bounce it off the wall ... or ceiling, or floor - pretty much anything that it runs in to.

I was surprised hitting the ball the first time and seeing how far it can really fly. It's kind of like being in a life-sized pinball machine, with the ball zipping around the room and bouncing off anything it touches.

Soon I began learning the methods to the madness, including how to anticipate where the ball would bounce after hitting certain spots on the walls. But still, my general ungracefulness shined through. Trying to follow where the ball was bouncing probably made me look like a cat watching a moth flying around the house. Not very elegant, but at least it was effective - even if there were those time I would follow the ball, swing and completely miss.

Either way, I soon felt like a real racqueteer (I don't know if that's what they're called, but I like it). Our game was just like I'd seen it played on TV, with loud echos, shoes squeaking, balls slamming against the wall and us grunting like beefcakes. This sport really does bring out the man noises in you (or me, at least). But every now and then the girl would come squealing back, like when a surprise bounce of the ball would leave me throwing my hands in the air and daintily leaping away from it.

All in all, I love racquetball. Not only was it a great workout, but also a fabulous way to take out some stress. I may not have won any games (Jessica is a pretty awesome player - even when she's going easy on me), but that's OK. Being able to hit a ball as hard as I can against the wall is all the satisfaction I need.