Spring is a great time for sports.The weather is nice and the days are starting to get longer, which means it is the perfect time to play tennis. Tennis is the sport of kings and is a great way for athletes to cross train or just have fun.

There are many health reasons to play tennis. According to an article by Jack L. Groppel, Ph.D, on usta.com, “competitive tennis burns more calories than aerobics, inline skating, or cycling.”

Tennis also helps mental health, footwork, agility, balance, hand eye coordination, and pretty much everything else. An added bonus is that injury is fairly rare, especially at a recreational level.

Tennis is a great sport to pick up because you can play it for most of your life. Last time I played, there was a man that appeared to be in his 70s cruising around the court and smashing tennis balls on guys half his age.

JC’s own Ed Miller has been playing since his teen years. “I grew up in a family that played sports all the time, so [playing tennis] gave me not only appreciation of the game, which I still have today, but kept our family well-connected because that’s what we did when we would get together,” Miller said.

There are tennis courts all over that are free to the public. There is, of course, a set of five courts on the JC campus however these courts aren’t very good. The courts at C. Milton Wright and Harford Tech are better to play on.

On topic of courts, there are different surfaces you can play on. Most courts are “hard.” These are the easiest to maintain because they only have to be resurfaced every once in a while. However, they aren’t the best to play on. Har-Tru is a better surface to play on. Har-Tru is a type of clay surface. The courts are softer, you can slide on them, and the surface lends itself to slower, more defensive play. They are more comfortable to play on but are harder to find because they need to be constantly maintained. You usually find them at country and tennis clubs.

To play tennis, all you need  is a tennis racquet, which you can get for under $20 if you don’t want to get anything real great, some tennis balls, and a friend.

Justin Hawkins is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.