Last week and year end barbecue!

Hi everyone,

We have one more week of academy left, and we will look to make it as fun as possible for the kids.

Tomorrow, on June 11th we have the year-end barbecue and the one-point tournament for a prize, for all the academy kids. The one-point tournament will start at 4pm so if you would like to participate in it, try to arrive a little before 4pm (3:45pm). Right after the one point tournament there will be the barbecue for all the academy kids at 5pm.

Next week we will be giving out year end reports and information packages about next year. If you have any questions about next year programs please contact the tennis office: tennis@ontarioracquetclub.com

We will also have a few make up days available for all the kids on the week starting June 20th. Please look for an email as to which days the makeups will be that week.

Thanks to all the kids in the program for a  good academy year and we hope to see you guys back the next year.

Have a good summer,

Drago

Week 33

Hi everyone,

This week we will continue to do drilling in the first part of practice, and then either singles or doubles points for the second part of the practice.

Just a reminder to everyone that we will have the ORC academy year end barbecue this coming Saturday June 11th. Everyone is invited and there will also be a one point tournament.

Drago

Week 32

Hello everyone,

We are coming towards the end of the season and since we have not played that many sets or doubles throughout the year, we will be doing more of that in the coming weeks.

First part of the practice we will be doing drills and reviewing the stuff we have worked on all year, and then the second part of the practice, we will be playing singles sets, and possibly some doubles if the numbers work out, and looking to see how the kids are applying the stuff we worked on.

Drago

Week 31

Hello,

As mentioned last week, we are working on having kids be agressive and try to come to the net to finish the point off. We will be doing different rally and point situations than last week and we will be looking to keep it as interesting as possible for the kids.

Again, this week's forecast looks pretty cloudy, especially for Wednesday and Thursday so please be on the lookout for any last minute program cancelations through your email.

Drago

Holiday weekend

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder for those that do not know, there is no classes this Saturday, and Monday due to the holiday.

Have a good long weekend,

Drago

Week 30

Hello everyone,

So the bubbles are down and we will be playing outside from now on. Please check your emails regularly for updates on the weather and if the programs have been canceled or not especially on days when it had rained earlier in the day.

During the next two weeks, we will try to get the kids used to outside conditions and we will teach them how to deal with the wind and sun better. We will be practicing coming to the net at the right time, and finishing the point off at the net.

Drago

Week 29

Hi everyone,

One bubble is down and the other bubble is coming down this week. Starting this week we will be outside so we ask that all the kids bring long sleeve clothing since the temperatures are not going to be too high. Also please check the ORC twitter account if there is rain to see if there are any program cancelations. Again since we willl have reduced number of courts we ask that kids show up on their regularly scheduled days, and that any make ups they have, can be done starting the following week.

This week again we will have the kids play a lot of points from many different situations, and we will be drilling while keeping things fun.

Drago

Week 28

Hi everyone,

This week and the following week we have the bubbles coming down so we will be asking all the kids to show up on their scheduled days for the next two weeks as we will have a court or two less while the bubbles are coming down.

During the next two weeks we will be doing many different point situations and seeing how the kids using all the things that we have worked on. 

Drago

Week 27

Hello everyone,

This week we will go back to working on maintaining the rally cross-court and looking to keep the ball in play for as long as possible. We will also be looking to come to the net of off a shorter ball and using what we worked on the last few weeks in terms of net play and appoach shots.

Also I just want to remind everybody to let me know if they are going to miss a day since we have full enrollment every day, and if kids want to do make ups, it would be helpful to know if we will have space that day.

Drago

Week 26

Hello everyone,

So the kids are showing progress in ball control from the net and improvements in overheads as well. We will continue to work on ball control and grips from volleys, but now we will add the approach as a way to come to the net and actually get into volleying situation.

We will have the kids work on transitioning to the net at the right time, and looking for the right type of ball from a rally situation to come in on.

Drago

Week 25

Hello,

The kids are showing progress in terms of volleying and being able to maintain the rally from the volley position to a groundstroke, and we will continue to work on the same skills this week as well. 

As for the overheads, they require a lot more work, especially the movement for the overhead and having the right grip for it. Lobs are getting better as well as the kids' feeding skills.

We will be putting kids into different point situations than the previous week, but the emphasis is still going to be to come to the net and finish the point off at the net.

Drago

Week 24

Hello everyone,

We have reviewed the positioning and getting the racquet back early, and making sure we are as balanced as possible when hitting the ball over the past two weeks. Now it is time to review volleys and overheads, the correct grip and coming to the net.

We will be drilling these things, as well as putting them into point situations.

Drago

Week 23

Hello everyone,

This week we will continue our review of the positioning and preparation on shorter and deeper balls. We will also look at the grips again, and focus a little more on the serve grip and arm positioning. We will also spend some time practicing the toss on the serve as it is the basic thing that everybody needs before other things can be corrected.

Hope that everyone had a good Easter and that we are ready to work hard again.

Drago

Week 22

Hello everyone,

I hope that everybody had a good March Break, and that everybody is ready to get back to working hard on Monday. 

From the matches the past two weeks, we have seen that the kids are doing a lot of things better and that everybody is improving. Now some things that need to get a lot better are the recognition of a deep ball and getting in a balanced position before hitting it. Similarly, with the short ball kids recognize it but do not find their positioning and just run through it. So we will work on balance and finding the best positioning when hitting the ball while moving forwards and backwards.

Lastly, just a reminder that the following weekend is Easter, and that there is no academy on Friday the 25th, Saturday the 26th, and Monday the 28th of March.

Drago

March Break

Hello everyone,

Just a reminder to all the kids and parents that next week is March Break and that there are no classes during that week. Classes resume March 21. Have a good break and we will see you soon.

Drago

March Break

Hello everyone,

Just a reminder to all the kids and parents that next week is March Break and that there are no classes during that week. Classes resume March 21. Have a good break and we will see you soon.

Drago

Week 21

Hello everyone,

So it is week 2 of match play where we see how the kids are applying the things that we worked on and looking for where we need to continue working further. One big thing that we are trying to get all the kids to do, is to hit the ball properly when playing points as well as when rallying. So far we have been seeing the kids play their shots a little too safely and very differently compared to playing points and rallying. We want to get them to hit their shots the same way when playing points and rallying/practicing shots.

We will also look to introduce the kids to doubles a little bit this week, in addition to singles play.

Drago

Week 20

Hello to everyone,

Over the past few weeks we have worked on many different baseline and volley scenarios to try to get the kids more comfortable with playing points from many different situations. We have also worked on serves and reactions after the serve, and return as well.

So this week we will be playing matches or sets to see how the kids incorporate all these things together, and whether they are able to execute the things we worked on, and what needs to be worked on in the future.

Drago

Week 19

Hello to everyone,

The past two weeks we have spent more time playing points and we have introduced a few different scenarios, and we have worked on the reaction after the serve, and the return as well. 

We will continue to introduce different point scenarios, including ones that will get the players to the net a lot more hoping to get them a lot more comfortable playing from there. We have also started focusing on starting the point with a cross-court rally and then switching down-the-line when the time is right, and we will stick with this scenario for a while, as this is the most common pattern in tennis.

Drago

Week 18

Hello everybody,

I hope that everyone had a good long weekend and that we are all ready to get back to work.

So over the past couple of weeks, I have noticed a difference in the way the kids hit the ball when doing simple rallying drills and hitting the ball when playing points. The kids tend to tighten up and go for a lot safer shot when playing points, which comprimises the quality and the technique of the stroke. We will be playing more points from different situations on the court, where we will be looking for the kids to hit the ball properly with good technique everytime they have a chance to. Hopefully playing more points will get the kids to loosen up a little and get more comfortable hitting the ball properly more often.

We will also continue to stress how important the reaction after the serve is, and the reaction on the return as well, since these are the two shots we always start the point with.

Drago

Family Day weekend

Hello to everyone,

Just a reminder that this weekend is the Family Day holiday, and that there is no academy on Saturday, the 13th, and on Monday the 15th.

Have a good long weekend everybody,

Drago

Week 17

Hello everybody,

So this past week we paid really close attention to grips and technique for volleys, overheads, and serves. We will do the same thing this week as well to really try to get the grips right.

We will introduce points with one player starting at the net, to get the kids comfortable with playing at the net, and volleying and hitting overheads in a competitive setting.

We have also talked about the importance of cross-court rallies in points, and the importance of reacting after the serve, and having a lot more energy on the return. So we will start playing more points with serves and returns to try to get the kids active from the very first shot.

Drago

Reports

Hello to all the parents and kids,

This and next week we will be giving out mid-year reports to all the kids. Just to let everybody know, there are no marks in the reports, just check marks next to one of the levels (needs improvement, satisfactory, good, excellent). So if somebody got a "satisfactory" or "needs improvement" on their Forehand technique, it does not mean that they doing badly in the program, just that they need to improve that shot further. There are a few comments about what the kids need to work on, and general feedback about how they are doing in the program, and their attitude and effort.

Drago 

Week 16

Hello everyone,

So for the following week we will continue working on our cross-court rallies, and playing points cross-court. We will open up the points as well to full court points where we will be looking and stressing the importance of staying in the cross-court rally.

Also for this week we will focus a lot on the continental grip, and making sure that the kids are maintaining the proper grip. The kids mostly know what the proper grip is, but are unwilling to keep the grip for longer than a few shots. So over the next little while we will be paying really close attention to the grip.

Drago

Week 15

Hello to everyone,

So the past two weeks we have been reviewing everything that we did in the first part of the year. 

This week we will continue our review and spend more time on overheads technique and grips. We will also get back to practicing cross-courts, and teaching the kids to maintain the rally for as long as possible. We will also let the kids play points cross-court to teach them the importance of hitting the ball in this direction.

Drago

Week 14

Hello everyone,

So the first week has passed after the break, and as expected almost everyone is really rusty. We have spent this week hitting a lot of balls, and focusing more on early preparation and setup and technique, rather than points. We have spent the whole week reminding the kids about what we did in the first three months related to groundstrokes.

This week we will continue hitting a lot of balls to try to find our rhythm from the baseline. We will also spend a lot of time on volleys, reminding the kids about the proper grips and technique.

Also, just a reminder again that our tennis director, Yves Boulais, is in Australia for the Australian Open, and that he has a blog, http://www.orcgrandslam.com/. So anyone interested can go to the blog and check it and sign up.

See you guys next week,

Drago

ORC on the road

Hi everybody,

Here is a message from our tennis director, Yves Boulais.

"Hello 

As you may know our Tennis Director, Yves Boulais is in Australia with the WTA player Alison Riske. I am sure you saw her in December training with us at ORC. In this blog I will be posting every day all sort of stuff interesting to you tennis players. I will post good articles, news from here and training video of players and all kinds of stuff that will happen on our trip. This information will not get to you if you are not subscribed to the blog so do it now @ www.orcgrandslam.com, and once you are there fill out the text box on the right corner and every time I post a new message, you will get a nice email that will tell you all about it. Help us help you.

Have a great week and thank you for choosing ORC "THE PLACE TO BE" :)"

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everybody and welcome back,

I hope that everybody had a nice break, and that they are ready to get back to playing and practicing hard. The next two weeks we will be doing a review on all the things that we learned so far in the first part of the year. We will be doing a lot of rallying and drilling this week, to get the kids to find their rhythm again, as many have not played over the past two weeks.

We will do a lot of rallying where certain a certain number has to be reached, and also any points that we play will require the kids to keep a certain amount of balls in the court before they open up the point. We will be reviewing the technique and grips as well to make sure that the kids are sticking with what they have learned so far.

See you guys next week!

Drago