01
Stop one
Qasr Al Hosn
Head Junior 19 Paw Patrol Tennis Racquet: I remember this as one watchtower and a very good reason. Eighteenth century, the oldest stone building in the city, and it was never built to impress anybody — it was built to guard a well of fresh water on this island. Everything follows from that well: the tribe settled, the fort grew around it, the ruling family lived inside, and the city eventually grew around the fort. The wealth arrived much later and made a great deal of noise about itself. But look: the city still stands exactly where the water was. Quieter then. Better stars, obviously.
02
Stop two
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Head Junior 19 Paw Patrol Tennis Racquet: Completed in 2007 — practically this morning. Eighty-two domes, and inside, a single hand-knotted carpet among the largest ever made, tied by many hundreds of craftswomen. Hundreds of pairs of hands, millions of knots, and not one of them identifiable afterwards, which I have always thought is the real monument in the building. Sheikh Zayed himself is buried in the grounds. Zayed. It holds tens of thousands of people and it is quietest at dawn — go then; I always did. And no, before you ask, the light has not improved since. Same dawn. Rather more phones.
04
Stop four
Abu Dhabi Corniche and the Heritage Village breakwater
Head Junior 19 Paw Patrol Tennis Racquet: Look across the water. That reconstructed village of palm-frond houses and a wind tower shows how this coast lived before oil: pearl diving. Men went out for months and dived on a single breath, dozens of times a day, and the whole economy of these islands rested on it — I watched the boats go, and it was not romantic, whatever anyone tells you now. Then in the 1930s cultured pearls arrived from elsewhere and the market collapsed almost completely. Hardship followed, and decades later, oil. Two total reversals inside one lifetime. The sea gives, the sea stops giving. The Corniche is long. Walk it.
Sit. Stay. Gooood swing! Welcome to my beginner class, where every pup — I mean, every player — starts somewhere, and the Head Junior 19 Paw Patrol is the perfect first leash on the game.
It's a 19-inch racquet built for the very smallest players, roughly ages two to four: an ultra-light aluminum frame that tiny arms can actually lift and swing, a wide, forgiving head so the ball finds the strings even on wobbly first tries, and — the part that gets tails wagging — the Paw Patrol pups right there on the frame. It comes ready to play, no assembly, no fuss.
My training philosophy in one line: make the first swing fun, and they'll fetch the tennis habit for life.
For our first field trip, we're going somewhere every good pup dreams of: Abu Dhabi, home of Paw Patrol's own theme park on Yas Island — yes, really, the pups have a headquarters there.
But the city's full-grown wonders are the real curriculum: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with its 82 marble domes and one of the world's largest hand-knotted carpets — no muddy paws, please — and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, where a floating silver dome lets sunlight fall through like rain. We'll finish with zoomies along the Corniche waterfront.
This little frame goes everywhere from an air-conditioned hall in July to a cool December morning on the sand, and by the way, it is also perfect for the Heritage Village breakwater, where a two-year-old can swing at absolutely nothing and still come away a champion. Treats for everyone who kept their eye on the ball. Class dismissed — good player! Yes you are!
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