A “Hackey Sack” is a standard item included in my annual “Ultimate Stocking Stuffer List for Tennis Players” post. This year’s description described it as “A small training device great for developing footwork. If you can successfully use one of these… I hate you.” Back in my junior playing days, Hackey Sacks frequently came out of bags during rain delays. That provided me with an avenue to put my footwork ineptitude on full display before my peers.
Last week I ran across a video of Andy Murray taken for a publicity feature at Wimbledon in 2014. It was dubbed the “Copa-uppy challenge,” a name derived from the apparent fact that in the UK this drill is called “Keepy-Uppy.” As if a contest run at the All England Club needs any more tennis relevance, the promotors substituted a tennis ball for the Hackey Sack.
Not surprisingly, hilarity ensued. However, the soccer… oops football, crazed Brits were pretty good at the drill. Andy Murray managed to keep the tennis ball in the air without using his hands a whopping 78 times. That was only good enough for second to commentator and hill honoree Tim Henman who registered a massive 92 kicks. Murray and Henman did better than a couple of football legends who also participated.
Seeing this challenge made me wonder why we even bothered with Hackey Sacks back in the day. Tennis balls are kind of ubiquitous in and around tennis venues. I did some personal play testing of Keepy-Uppy with a tennis ball while at my tournament last weekend. For me, it was more challenging than the Hackey Sack original variation, but I didn’t have one on hand for a true side-by-side comparison. Additionally, I am so epically bad at this skill I am probably not a credible source of evaluation.
Perhaps 2023 can be the year that I finally master Keepy-Uppy. In related news, I will probably start writing about hamstring injuries in late January. Perhaps it is optimistic for me to even make it that far.
- Celebs show epic keepy-up skills, BBC, July 7, 2014
