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