This has been a summer of tennis for Nigel, having been introduced to the sport by a suggestion from Mom at the beginning of the summer. Dad constructed a tee-ball tee last year, and he and Nigel have played with that a few times, but it was a bit hard for Nigel to make good contact with the ball, and the tee kept getting knocked over and had to be stood back up frequently. Mom had him try hitting tennis balls with a tennis racket, and Nigel found that to be much easier, hitting them very consistently.
Everyone had so much fun taking turns hitting tennis balls in the yard that Dad decided to start taking Nigel to a court to play on Sundays. They did this most Sundays through the summer, often taking Aunt Blaire with them. She would play opposite Dad, with Nigel in front of her. They modified the rules so that kids score a point just by hitting the ball, and score double points if they can return the ball over the net (regardless of where it lands). When Nigel would miss the ball, Blaire would often hit it back to Dad and a rally would start. (Dad always started things off by serving toward Nigel, who was standing in the middle of the court.) Sometimes Nigel and Blaire would score multiple points in one rally!
Toward the end of the summer, Grandpa came to play with Dad and Nigel, and Dad switched to Nigel's side of the court to play with him, Grandpa serving to the pair of them.
Another way Dad and Nigel would play was turned sideways on the court, with Dad on the same side of the net as Nigel, bouncing balls to him. Nigel would try to hit them back at Dad, often sending them either up a hill or right at him with "super speed"! They also tried taking turns hitting a ball off a practice wall alongside one of the courts. Nigel really seems to have a very good aptitude for the game, and everyone has been having a lot of fun with it.
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