As an antidote to an intensive day of mock examinations, the Sixth Form visited Hampton Court Palace today, home to one of the few Real Tennis Courts in the country, to receive an introductory masterclass from the resident professional, Nick Wood.
It was soon abundantly clear that droopy net aside, Real Tennis bares little resemblance to its cousin, Lawn Tennis. For a start the court is housed in a substantial chamber, with high ceilings, netted 'galleries' around 2 sides and a series of strange numbered lines drawn on the floor. We could have spent our hour simply learning the floor plan but Nick soon had us wielding our asymmetrical old-fashioned wooden rackets at the heavy, rather misshapen hand-stitched balls and before long whoops of delight were ringing round the galleries as balls were dispatched with glee along the Penthouses, into the Grille and with any luck, into the Dedans (visit
www.royaltenniscourt.com for further explanations!)
Why the Sport Of Kings? Legend has it that the sport was originally played by monks with bare hands, originally in France. Later, rackets were introduced and Henry V was the first English monarch to show interest in the game. It remained a favourite pastime for later kings, with Henry VIII being especially gifted. Rumour has it that Anne Boleyn was watching a game when she arrested.
Dare I say it, but this less than sporty group of students, really enjoyed their first taste of Real Tennis and when Nick happened to drop the fact that in his opinion we were better than the Yr13s he coaches from some serious St Catherine's rivals, have we now found the Sport For Our Queens??!
Dare I say it, but this less than sporty group of students, really enjoyed their first taste of Real Tennis and when Nick happened to drop the fact that in his opinion we were better than the Yr13s he coaches from some serious St Catherine's rivals, have we now found the Sport For Our Queens??!