1. Cost of Tennis in Chippenham (over 300 views) Read
2. My Standard Operating Procedure Read
3. Why you will notice a difference between a constant pull and a lockout string job Read

Enjoy!

Daveg

March 2015 "Your Favorite Tennis String"


Pro's Pro Devil Spin

Pro's Pro Devil Spin: This latest shaped co-polyester string has been created for the modern aggressive player who demands the most extreme spin and control.  In a patented method, Devil Spin features a twist that is about 250% tighter and more pronounced than conventional twisted strings  The rough texture increases ball bite while being very comfortable and playable.

March 2015 "Your Favorite Squash String" 
Pro's Pro Dura Ace

Pro's Pro Dura Ace is a high performance squash string for demanding players, providing excellent control, efficient power and excellent durability.
The multifilament string core of high quality micro fibre is wrapped with 2 layers of woven micro fibres

March 2015 "Your Favorite Badminton String" 
Pro's Pro TOUR 75

Pro's Pro Tour 75 is an excellent, powerful badminton string, with a multifilament core of high quality micro fibres, wrapped with 2 layers of woven micro fibres.
Combining durability, speed, control and excellent playability

Some of the best facilities and courts I have ever played on have included Astro tennis courts.
I noticed when I moved into the South West area that 95% of the courts where Hard Courts, When I went home to the North West nearly all the courts where Astro Courts and I noticed that they were always full of the senior players during the daytime (Slack time for hard courts).
When I started to talk to these players they all said the  same thing, "The Astro Courts are kinder to my joints" so I can play longer and enjoy my tennis into my older years!
I then asked the committee members of each club how there membership changed (if any ) when they installed Astro, they all said the same thing: our membership increased by 300% because we where able to keep our members longer than when we had Hard Courts and the older members were the most supportive members of the club!

Note: In the SouthWest:one of the best Tennis clubs I have ever played at was Chipping Sodbury who have 4 Astro courts and the best white down floodlights you would ever care to play under/on.
Northwest: North Meols Cop tennis club, has to be one of the most friendly clubs ever! and yes Astro !

Note: the cost of Astro vs Hardcourts, Astro lasts longer average 18 Years, the bounce is more consistent and more akin to grass tennis.(Softer on the joints and footware!)
Hard Courts require Painting every 5 Years and the re surfacing 10- 15 years! (Foot ware needs replacing every 6 months, so what is it doing to your joints!)

So when you come to the time to resurface your courts: Think of your membership and look at Astro courts!

Hope this helps!

Daveg

The process of adjusting your strokes unconsciously is well-known to most coaches.

Just drop by an academy or a club, and you’ll very likely see a feeding drill or a playing drill where there is no isolated correction of technique, but there are a lot of repetitions.

PLEASE LOOK AT THIS VIDEO (Then read on)


So, just for the record, I agree that if the foundation of technique is really poor, repetitions make it even more habitual and harder to correct later.

But if the main foundations of the stroke are there, the player needs to hit a lot of balls into targets as that process will polish the little technical details by itself.

There are a few keys to good improvement with this approach:

1. No pressure. The player must perform a lot of repetitions (drills, games, patterns) without pressure first – meaning that there is no scoring.

This is important because that allows the player to be more relaxed, and ONLY in a relaxed state of mind and body can the body make the necessary adjustments.

If your body is stiff, it cannot adjust to a different ball at a different height, for example, because it’s simply stuck at a certain position.

You must work on your strokes in non-pressure situations where body is relaxed and allows adjusting to take place


So, it’s critical that through no-pressure situations you also consciously try to be looser and allow your joints to adjust to different types of shots.

I’d like to point out here that, in my opinion, the main reason for poor stroke technique of recreational tennis players is playing for points way too early before their basic technique has been established and ingrained.

If you haven’t yet read the Myth of the Tennis Technique, please do so in order to get more familiar with what you’re reading here.

2. Enough time and repetitions. It takes some time for the mind and body to adjust to a certain type of shot, so you must give them enough repetitions to start adjusting.

The minimum time period in my experience is 5 minutes, and usually the maximum is 20 minutesbefore taking a break.

It will be very difficult to keep high focus for more than 20 minutes. When you lose focus, you will also time the ball worse, see it worse and therefore hit many more inaccurate shots.

Unfortunately you will probably attribute those inaccurate shots to your stroke that you’ve been working on and again lose confidence in it.

In reality, it’s not your stroke that’s faulty and the cause for errors; instead, it’s your loss of focus.

But, as I said, there is this unfortunate association that keeps happening which is that players always blame their stroke technique for mistakes and rarely their mental skills.

3. Playing the same stroke with little variation. When you’re working on adjusting, you need to keep hitting the same stroke at the same target.

That’s because, with every shot you make, you get instant feedback on what went wrong (ball landing too short, for example) and what you need to aim for on your next shot (aiming deeper).

If you keep changing targets and strokes – for example hitting a baseline shot, then an approach shot, then a volley and then a smash – you are not really developing stroke technique through adjusting. You’re practicing something else.

You’re actually tying it all together which is the next step of training in tennis.

True, there is no clear line between all stages of training on the court in real life, but in theory there is.

So, at first you need to try to stick with a certain stroke or perhaps add just a little variation like sometimes hitting cross court and sometimes down the line.

There are many simple patterns of baseline strokes that combine cross court shots and down the line shots, and pros work on them daily.

Just spent 2 hours playing "Sticke Tennis" on one of only 3 courts worldwide and it's in Corsham 7 miles away!

• Hartham Park in Corsham, Wiltshire (England). Built in 1904 out of wood.

Stické is played with standard lawn tennis racquets and low pressure balls in an enclosed court. The court is somewhat similar to a real tennis court in shape, but is smaller (about 78 feet by 27 feet) and different in construction. Play takes place using all the basics of lawn tennis and the same scoring system, with the addition of side and back walls. Players face each other over the net in pairs. As in real tennis, there is a penthouse, used throughout the game as a playing surface and on which the service has to land to start each point.
I have played most racket sports and this is totally different, squash players will get on fine, tennis players will have to get used to the ball coming at you from behind! The low pressure balls make the bounce and angles difficult to read so that one of the "rules" is not to apologise for any shot no matter how bizzare the bounce or spin.
You learn to laugh a lot at both your opponents,your partner and yourself, great time thanks to Ashley, Steve and Sam.

Sticke Tennis at corsham

If you get the chance to try it do so, I must be at least number 25 in the world by now :-)
Cheers!


daveg

Club                Hard courts Astro Grass Floodlights Full Single Membership Club House Membership cost per court
Biddestone          4                 0      0           Y                £85                           N                            £21.25
Calne                  4                 0      0           Y               £95                            N                            £23.75
Chippenham        6                 0       0          Y              £170                            Y                            £28.33
Chippenham park 2                 0      0           N                £50                            Y                            £25
Marshfield           4                 0      0           Y                £90                            Y                            £22.5
Melksham            0                 2      3           Y(on astro)  £70                            N                            £14


So the cost of membership can be from £50 to £170.
If you want to play tennis on new hard courts with floodlights then Calne and Marshfield seems the best value for your full membership.
There are other factors to take into account, but it maybe interesting to look around your own county to compare.

Note: all membership fees where taken from each clubs website or 2015 membership form. 

Cheers!

Daveg


Note: over 300 views of this page !

Rainy day just right to carry out the Annual service on the Lobster Ball Machine,
This means checking all electrical connections are sound and all the moving parts a tight and lubricated.
The most important bit also is the detent:
Detent - The detent is a rubber bladder inside the metal sleeve shot tube that regulates the ball machine's air pressure. Replace your detent if the ball ejects with reduced speed or if it frequently becomes trapped.
Well mine has been in the machine for 5 years so it's getting replaced anyway.
The only tools you need to replace the detent are: Electrical tape and an Allen Key.
The job take 10 mins and all the parts can be purchased from: Apollo Leisure


Update: just spent two hours with my ball machine WOW ! The difference the new detent has made, fires the balls on the exact same spot every time, the power of the balls is back to it's 70 mph (yikes!)
Really back to as it was when new! 

Click this link for instructions on how to replace the detent rubber
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gk4xzr41rfcj8rl/AAB5-amDQrGF3JInuKgGwPZ2a?dl=0

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