Saved By Tennis: Retirement and Ageing Retirement and Ageing

Saved By Tennis is a love letter to tennis written by Lawrence Greene, a retired university professor who took up tennis from scratch when he was 70-years-old. After spinal surgery for a compressed nerve in his back when he was 70 he was no long able to go on long jogs three times a week and found that he had a huge amount of time on his hands. After consulting with his neurosurgeon he decided to learn to play tennis. This memoir describes the challenges he faced in learning to play a completely new sport as a 70-year-old. This experience led him to reflect on the importance of having several hobbies or avocations in hand when you retire, a topic which he discusses at the beginning of the book.The book relates the author’s experiences at his local Lawn Tennis Club, first in a beginner’s class and then in an over-45s group. He then tells about playing singles friendlies, his participation in the Club’s competitive singles ladder, and his travails in trying to improve his net play in doubles.The book is a personal memoir, not a guide to playing tennis. It is an easy read that attempts to inject an element of humour throughout. It should be of interest to tennis players and anyone thinking about learning to play tennis in their 60s or 70s, or coaches and counsellors advising people in that age range about learning to play tennis or any new sport.