You might even play a little tennis

I was already formulating an apology to Indie Rock Tennis co-founder Bryan Chenault as I arrived at West Hollywood’s Plummer Park a good 15 minutes late. I needn’t have worried.

“Perfect,” he said, as I stepped onto the court. “You’re the first one here.”

Run -- perhaps “walked” would be a better word -- by Dewar’s promoter Chenault and three twentysomething friends, all of whom work in the music industry, Indie Rock Tennis isn’t your typical high-pressure, competition-oriented athletic organization. In fact, it’s in a league of its own. Literally.

“We’ve got a cooler, a couple bags of ice, a 12-pack, iPod speakers and, like, whoever remembers to bring their iPod,” Chenault explained. “It’s not some huge operation. It’s just to get people together to feign athleticism and hang out and listen to music.”

Others may have shown up to feign athleticism, but I had come to wreck it completely. And so, picking up a tennis racket for the first time since junior high, I hit the concrete with another IRT co-founder, Rishi Shah.

Five minutes later, after nearly taking flight via the gyroscopic effect one achieves by forcefully swinging without making contact with anything, it was time for a lesson:

“Keep your eye on the ball,” instructed Shah, a former high school varsity player. “Use both hands for backhand. And follow through with your whole body.”

Keeping those words in mind, I went at it again with Shah, working up a genuine lather. We didn’t keep score. We broke all the rules. We listened to indie rock.

When I couldn’t stand any more, I took a break to chat with the swelling handful of folks at the sideline, including Dios (Malos) bassist J.P. Caballero, who was rather nattily if inappropriately dressed in jeans and cowboy boots.

“I didn’t come to play. I came for the perverse thrill of seeing tennis and indie rock collide,” Caballero said. “Also, I heard there was going to be beer.”

And beer there was -- lovely, shiny aluminum trophies, Blue Ribbons actually, awarded without ceremony. All in all, it was a pretty even mix of sports and leisure. In fact, considering the amount of beer I drank and the amount of tennis I played, I probably consumed about as many calories as I burned. Well, what did you do with your Sunday?

-- Liam.Gowing@latimes.com

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INDIE ROCK TENNIS

WHERE: Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

WHEN: 3 p.m. every other Sunday

PRICE: Donations accepted

INFO: myspace.com/indierocktennis