Marcus received a totem tennis set for Christmas, and he has been getting a lot of use out of it. It's jostling for space with the trampoline and the swingset in the usable half of the back lawn. To be fair to Marcus I should have a picture here of him using it. I took these while Michael played with Elf - it's an unusual pleasure to see him playing a ball game.
Marcus prefers to play solo, and he is quite a natural in the way he addresses the ball, bends the knees for a low shot etc. Elf showed him how to properly play a backhand. He rejected her advice outright, and continued holding the racket inside-out to hit the ball backhand. Over time he worked it out for himself and now he is biffing the ball back and forth very well. I was so impressed that this afternoon I asked him if he would like to take the yellow bats down to the proper tennis court, and have a hit. We had a few good rallies, and I think he could follow in his great-grandma Lucy's footsteps as a champion. Grandma Lucy played with the great Adrian Quist, originator of the Dunlop Volley sandshoe. To quote Jack Kramer, "He had a dink backhand that was better for doubles than singles, and he had a classical forehand drive with a natural sink." I will have to do some research to work out what this actually means.
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