When rain interrupts a clinic, we’ll either do video analysis/film study sessions where we analyze the strokes, strategies, and temperaments of professional players, as well as top junior players in our own program; or, we will do classroom learning sessions where students learn about a range of subjects such as:
- The pros and cons of different racket and string types (including racket head/grip sizes, weighting, stiffness, string tensions, string gauges, string types, why strings break, and about bogus marketing of products, etc.).
- The ins and outs of tennis rules (including double touches of the ball, shots going around the net, foot faulting, accidentally touching the net, reaching over the net vs following through over the net, people in the crowd causing problems, how to handle scoring disputes, opponents causing lets by dropping balls/hats/etc, doubles order of serve rules, etc.).
- Specific strategies for how to beat counter punchers, aggressive, and balanced players.
- How to handle various distractions that can occur during matches.
- How to deal with cheaters in both tournaments and high school matches.
- How to deal with losses properly, because breaking rackets and crying isn’t it!
- What mental toughness is, and how to achieve it on court (including why a bad attitude is extremely detrimental, and what thoughts should occur instead of negativity).
- Proper practice regiments for recreational, semi-serious, and fully committed players (as in how many hours and days they should practice, and all of the different options for practicing constructively).
- How to properly use a ball machine.
- The ins and outs of a comprehensive off court conditioning and stretching program.
- Understanding the role of heat acclimatization, and how that is often more important that just doing conditioning exercises for a player that “needs to get in better shape.”
- The items that should be carried in a tournament player’s tennis bag during tournaments (including necessary equipment, supplies, and food).
- Proper pre and post-match nutrition and hydration regiments, and how to prevent and deal with cramping.
- How to properly prepare for a tournament (including proper warm-up’s and other things that should be done pre-match and post-match to give oneself the best chance of success).
- The importance of keeping a tennis tournament/match journal, and what you should be logging into it before and after each tournament match.
- How to prevent and diagnose tennis injuries, and what should be done at the first signs of pain or irritation (including blisters, soreness, major joint pains, random muscle/bone pains, etc.), and when to see a doctor.
- Individual rankings progress checks on usta.com as well as tennisrecruiting.net, and then proper goal setting for the upcoming months and/or year.
- The pros and cons of high school tennis, and what you will give up or gain by participating or not participating.
- How to get college scholarships, how the recruiting process works, and what one should do now to get prepared.
After all lectures, we will also allow for a Q&A session, and some 1-on-1 time to speak with the coaches.
