Regular (dream) Wellingtonista tennis doubles partner Daniela Hantuchova demonstrates the correct attire for our weekly Sunday morning hit around. Picture courtsey of Vedia at Flickr.

Hataitai Park, a brilliant sunny day, and the gentle thwack and thwock of tennis balls interspersed with the birdsong coming from the surrounding trees, provides the perfect soundtrack for the weekly doubles match.

For some people at least. Others, it would seem, require the latest and greatest hip-hop beats to be played at top volume from their SUV parked beside the nearby netball court to truly create the correct playing atmosphere. Not that we have anything against Missy, Kanye, Fiddy et. al., it’s just that we prefer to hear them in the comfort of our own home, when we choose to listen, and not as an enforced exercise while we’re trying to impress the people on the court next to us with the speed of our ever-improving service. It’s just distracting, isn’t it?