Eiichiro tries a tennis school because he needs exercise and discovers how much there is to learn. Lacking the physical advantages of more experienced juniors, he relies on observation, analysis and ball control. His organised approach to study becomes a way into a demanding new sport.
The players around him already compete seriously, so keeping careful records is useful only if he can turn them into decisions during a match. His early task is to make accuracy and a plan compensate for physical disadvantages, rather than wait for those disadvantages to disappear.
Takuma Egawa is already an experienced player at the school. His serve gives Eiichiro a concrete target: return just one ball out of fifty. The racket and ball in Takuma’s hands are ordinary equipment, but to the newcomer they represent skills he has not yet learnt to read; his notes have to meet an opponent’s actual delivery.