The Saturday afternoon group had four girls; the instructor, Ron; and me. We began on the indoor court with foam Nerf-like oversized tennis balls. Learning to control the ball was a challenge, so this toddler toy did make things easier. Ron gave good individual attention after my left-handed handicap placed me in opposites to the rest of the girls. We learned forehand, backhand and basic serves. Follow through was another feat. I tended to stop the racket when I managed to make contact with the ball. Holding the tennis racket correctly was a key to success.

In between weekend sessions, Midtown offers tennis mixers that include refreshments and practice. There is a full gymnasium for exercise and state-of-the-art ball machines to play solo.

The following Saturday we graduated to medium-weight tennis balls. My favorite serve was an overhead called the "angel," with the racket in the back of the person like a halo.

By the third lesson we learned scoring and terms such as "love" and "deuce." A ball hit me square in the forehead and I turned as red as John McEnroe. "Show me you're ready" had a whole new meaning from Ron.

We moved up to regular tennis balls for the fourth and last class. My backhand had strengthened and I actually had some control over the ball. Practice didn't make perfect but did help me improve.

After finishing our last class, you could tell everyone bonded and we were offered to continue our tennis education—and I discovered that more schooling might benefit me. For example, I definitely need to work on my "hot dog," which is where a player hits the ball between their legs back to the net.

The great thing about these tennis courts is that they are indoors. With unpredictable weather, this gives Chicagoans an opportunity to play year round. Watch out, Serena Williams—here I come!

Memberships start at $101 a month and more information can be found at www.midtown.com .