The Finer Art of the High Five

The high five is defined by wikipedia as "a celebratory hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand, about head high, and push, slide or slap the flat of their palm and hand against the palm and flat hand of their partner."

When you go to do a high five, you want to make solid contact with the person that you're high-fiving.

Two of my friends were giggling about the fact that they did a half-assed high five on the tennis court during a match last night. Apparently instead of making actual contact with each other, they only hit half of their hands.

It got me to thinking. No one actually plans to miss a high five. We all go for the solid high five that makes a loud slapping noise. You want to make it with authority.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always turn out that way and a miss or a near miss happens.

I hate it when that happens.

This is universal. It's happened to everyone. Yeah. I'm talking to you, dear reader. You know it. And after you missed or had a near miss, you may be kind of embarrassed.

You may ask for a re-do if you just can't let the crappy high five go.

Or you may do like my friends and pretend that you meant to do the near missed high five and act like you had planned to do a "high 2.5" as Donna and Cindy now refer to it.

Getting the high five right is uber important to the psyche of a player during a match (or any game really). It's a way of keeping the positive energy going on your court. A way to show solidarity to the opposing team. Especially if you do a really *good* high five.

But of course, I'm referring to doubles and not singles. People will look at you like you have two heads if you high five yourself in a singles match.

Of course, that is also a strategy. Distract them by acting all crazy.

But as I said, high FIVING (not 2.5'ing) is important in doubles play. You want to get it right so Cindy and Donna said that they need to add a drill on the proper technique of the high five so they're prepared next time.

It's all about the timing and that needs to be practiced! I think a lot about strategy and practicing shots in tennis. I really never considered practicing the high five but I will totally do it now!

If you decide to really put your all into perfecting the art of the high five, you may want to check out this article on how to do it properly. Learning how to do a proper high five will reduce the risk of injuries too!

Of course, there is a National High Five Day to celebrate this all important part of sports. It's celebrated on the third Thursday of April of each year. Now there's a holiday I can totally buy a Hallmark card for!

And I give my friends a big high five for having an awesome sense of humor. Because that is funny stuff. If you can't laugh at your missed high fives, everyone else will. :p