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"You think I'm crazy?" asked Richard Bodian dressed all in white and waving a tennis racket on the side of the road and yelling at the stream of passing cars. "I am!" Bodian was advertising a free class for his new business through Cardio Tennis by standing on the intersection just outside of Greenwich Point and hoping passersby would take interest.
"I'm probably doing something nobody's ever done, not here anyway, not in Greenwich," said Bodian smiling and waving at a honking car. "They love it when you wave to them, it grabs their attention much better."
Originally a native of Windsor Locks, Bodian moved from Southern California to Greenwich earlier this year. He's been teaching tennis since the mid-1990s. After a 5-year stint in luxury car sales Bodian decided to get back to his tennis roots and his original business, Ace Tennisology.
"I have a couple of authorized facilities here that I can teach at, but it's hard to get into a club to teach," said Bodian. He refers to his class as a "stress buster"a high-energy version of cardio tennis with more tactical drilling and high-energy games. He says he's looking for more experienced tennis players for his class, but he's not looking to change anybody's strokes.
"It's more a way to get a good sweat up and practice what you already own. If somebody wants to compliment that and take a lesson I recommend that," he said.
Though he's using an unusual method to promote his business, Bodian said he thinks he's also promoting the game in general. "I am creating a lot of smiles from people, laughs, thumbs ups, honks, inquiries," he said. "I think most folks enjoy seeing me out there even if they are in town visiting, a resident, a tennis player or not."
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