Every Tennis Drill In New York Sucks

Under a white bubble surrounded by a chain link fence are the red clay courts at Sutton East. Perfect for anyone who has dreamt of playing at Roland Garros. I signed up for the ‘drill and play,’ which is one hour of each. I selected a mid-day time slot, curious to see who else had time to play two hours of tennis in the middle of the day. Once the drill began, all illusions of playing on Philippe Chatrier faded and it was painfully clear I was beneath the Queensboro Bridge. The drill was mostly mom types whose chic outfits belied the truth that they had picked up tennis…yesterday? I like Adidas by Stella McCartney as much as the next guy but you shouldn’t wear a dress if you don’t know what topspin is. There were a lot of oversized racquets and tennis elbow braces. A lot of orthopedic looking shoes dyed orange by the clay. Don’t wear white to Sutton East.  

The group was large and they split us on to two courts for the drill hour. It was fast paced and conventional. The pro was better than I am - sadly not a given because I really think I could have taken both BumbleBees in straight sets. Everyone took it seriously and there was no chit chat. It didn’t seem like anyone in the drill knew each other or that the pros knew more than one or two players personally. The live ball drills were torturous because there was no semblance of a rally. The pros made doubles teams based on what they had seen during drill and we rotated partners after sets. I John McEnroe-d - i.e. won no matter what partner I was saddled with. 

[Photo via Sutton East Tennis]