Tag Archive for 'tennis equipment'

Teresa the tennis coach on tennis rackets, tennis strokes, tennis equipment and sports shops

Published on February 5, 2009 in tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Even the size of your tennis racket handle is important to your success in enjoying playing tennis and, sadly, many sports shops sell tennis rackets handles in only one size to reduce the amount of stock they have to hold. It doesn’t seem to bother them that people, not knowing any better, buy the tennis rackets and then develop tennis elbow through using the wrong size tennis racket grip.

One of the biggest problems in getting people to play tennis is that it is such a difficult game to start playing. Just serving the ball to start the rally is one of the most difficult things a beginner player has to do. The whole action, which involves throwing the ball up with the left hand and then hitting the racket head at the tennis ball in such a way that it falls inside the service area on the other side of the net, is such a complicated sequence of events that even professional tennis players regularly get it wrong.

Of course, this is one of the wonderful things that makes tennis such a great game. However much you play, there is always something to learn and there is always the possibility, even on a bad tennis day, you could play a little bit better.

Many beginner tennis players assume that they have to play singles but singles tennis might not always be suitable for a new player, especially if they are not in their first flush of youth. I would always recommend doubles tennis for the older beginner player. It is much more social and you can always blame your partner for lost points – although of course I wouldn’t recommend that because it’s bad sportsmanship.

The strategies involved in playing doubles tennis are worthy of a whole tennis book in their own right.

The different tennis strokes that can be played with a tennis racket are also many and varied. There are also different ways of holding a tennis racket that work with different styles of play. One woman came to me saying that she had always wanted to be able to hit a backhand shot but had never been able to find the right tennis grip. I told her to place the racket under her left arm pit (she was right-handed) and then grasp hold of the racket with her right hand and take it out from beneath her armpit. The resulting racket grip immediately improved her backhand tennis shots and she went on to use the same grip for her forehand strokes, finding it gave her a great top spin shot.

There are many different types of tennis shots too. There are backspin shots, drop shots, half volleys and drive volleys – just to name a few. All have their own special place in the game.

Teresa the tennis coach, sulking after losing a tennis match and tennis playing boyfriends

Published on February 3, 2009 in tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Soon after I came to Devon to work at the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre, I was interviewed by the local radio station. I think it was because they thought it was unusual to have a kiwi tennis player living locally. People are very insular in this part of Devon. Or maybe it was engineered as a bit of public relations by the management of the sports centre where I work.

Anyway, one of the big things that the interviewer talked about was how angry he gets when he plays tennis with his friend on the local recreation ground tennis courts. He says that if he wins, he feels good, but if he loses, he gets really angry and refuses to talk to his friend for several days. Usually his friend has to buy him a drink in the local pub so that they can make up and become friends again – until the next tennis match.

All of which, is something I absolutely didn’t understand. At the end of a tennis game, club tennis tradition is for the players to always shake hands. It marks the end of the battle. Sometimes I don’t want to shake hands, if I have had a bad match, but it is a ritual that everybody follows and afterwards I always feel better.

I suppose that the hand-shaking bit at the end, is a formalised way of ending the conflict. As soon as we shake hands, we can talk about other things and continue with normal friendly relationships.

I tried to explain this to the local radio interviewer but I don’t think he was listening. Just about the time I was talking about shaking hands, I made the mistake of uncrossing my legs and I was wearing a short tennis skirt at the time. This simple action seemed to take his whole attention.

Afterwards, he tried to make a date but he was too short and balding. Plus, I don’t think I would like anybody who was so immature enough to sulk after losing a tennis match – or perhaps even somebody who makes a habit of losing games of tennis, for that matter.

Not that I wouldn’t like a little bit of boyfriend activity, if I could get it. Living and working in the Devon countryside is all very well but a girl’s got to think of her social life and for me recently it’s been a big zero.

In fact the last real relationship I had was in New Zealand with a sleaze-ball rep for a tennis equipment manufacturer. I suppose I had hoped I would get some free equipment and maybe some sponsorship, as well as a little loving, but he wasn’t really interested in how I played tennis. Instead, he was more interested in how he could play me along.

When I discovered he already had a wife and two kids, I dropped him like a brick. I always regretted not getting back at him. I should have done something dramatic to teach him a lesson but I couldn’t think of anything at the time and, anyway, I’m not usually vindictive. I suppose we had some good times and the relationship had perhaps just run its course.

It was soon after that I cane to the UK and the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre.

Tennis coach Teresa organises Rusty Rackets tennis session at tennis centre

Published on February 2, 2009 in tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I suppose about top of my list of successes at the tennis centre moment is the Rusty Rackets tennis group.

They are a nice bunch of people, mainly middle-aged, who responded to our tennis advertising recently in the local newspaper. Most of them had played some tennis before but had let it fall by the wayside.

We’ve had one Rusty Rackets introductory tennis session so far and they seemed to enjoy it very much. They were all keen to get fitter and, although they didn’t know each other at the beginning of their tennis games, they were all laughing and joking by the end and having fun.

Max tells me I need to identify the things that are beneficial about the game of tennis so that I can convey these benefits to potential tennis players through this blog. It’s a new way of looking at things for me. Because I’ve grown up in a world of tennis, tennis equipment, tennis clubs and just everything tennis, I’ve always assumed that tennis would be part of my life.

It is quite difficult for me to imagine that, for other people, tennis does not play such a central part.

Max also tells me that I need to identify the negative aspects in other people’s eyes about the sport of tennis. He tells me that, for many people, tennis is a highly competitive game that for them involves losing.

This is another aspect of tennis that I don’t understand. When I have played tennis I have always been a winner. Playing tennis doesn’t scare me. If anything, it is an opportunity for me to win and feel good.

Max on the other hand has explained to me that others might not feel the same. In fact, as beginner tennis players, they are more likely to to be on the losing end.

Max tells me that I need to emphasise that playing tennis is not about winning or losing but is about other things such as enjoying the curve of the ball as it flies from the racket, the pleasure of perfecting and making a great shot, the camaraderie of the tennis club and the pleasure of meeting lots of different people from different backgrounds who share a common interest – perhaps even partners in future relationships.

Speaking personally, I’ve often found relationships through tennis, although that was before coming to the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre in Devon where it all seems a bit too quiet at the moment for much of a social life.