More than twelve years ago, I was giving a tennis lesson to Khaki and we decided that the thrill of hitting a tennis ball should be captured by a special word.
We discussed that hitting the sweet spot provided a percussive feeling and sound and the word seemed to leap into our minds…
PACHUUUUNNNNGG!
Perfect.
The moment when the ball sizzles off your strings and you realize how much you love this game.
That has to be one of the main attractions to tennis…that feel, that sound, that joy from catching it just right in the sweet spot.
I watched some pickle ball (5 minutes) tonight and former tennis star Sam Querrey was playing doubles.
Truth be told, the points were not very compelling…a dink here, a dink there but no real athleticism on display. Don’t get me wrong…it’s a fine social activity that brings folks together.
Try as I might, finding a word to describe the non percussive sound of a shot or point led to a couple of words…plock or ploink seem close.
Give me PACHUUUUNNNNGG every time… Carlos and Iga any day over the plock of that other activity.
Lastly, as a tennis pro, I find it to be a sell out that The Tennis Channel has chosen to feature the plock or ploink match.
I really doubt that The Golf Channel will ever decide to cheapen their brand by airing frisbee golf but with flag football now an Olympic sport, nothing will surprise me.
Long live tennis!
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