As I get more information on upcoming summer camps I will update this post.

• Carolina Tennis School
• University of Michigan Tennis Camp
• Van Der Meer Tennis Camp – Sweet Briar

While online registration is now closed, the organizers will accept walk-up registrations. Walk-up registrations will not be guaranteed lunches. But hey were you really going for the food?

• More information on the event from the Mid-Atlantic USTA.
• Directions to the event.

Several WT Woodson coaches will be attending the workshop, please introduce yourself if you also attend the workshop. It would be great to put a face with the name!

Featured Presenters:

• Don Paitrick, Director of Tennis, UMW Indoor Tennis Facility
• Todd Helbling, Head Coach, UMW Men’s Varsity Team
• Paul Fisher, Tennis Director, Burke Racquet & Swim Club
• Kim Dillard, Centreville High School Tennis Coach and Master Professional
• Mike Lissner, Competitive Player Development Specialist
• Alicia von Lossberg, Maryland District Community Tennis Administrator
• Frank Wilson, Chair of Association of Maryland Tennis Officials

Topics will include:

• Setting your Line-ups and Doubles Teams – Paul Fisher & Kim Dillard
• College Preparation and Tennis on Campus – Don Paitrick & Todd Helbling
• Keep Them Playing: Junior Team Tennis  – Alicia von Lossberg
• Prepare to Perform: Nutrition and Dynamic Warm-ups
• On-Court Drills
  • Doubles Strategy & Drills – Paul Fisher & Kim Dillard
  • Stroke Production / Adding Strokes to the Game – Mike Lissner
  • Game-based Management of Large Groups – Alicia von Lossberg

Looking forward to seeing you there!

College tennis and the USTA are combining forces in many new ways. One is with the USTA Campus Kids’ Days. Across the country, participating college coaches are selecting a team match that junior players in the local community are encouraged to attend. The atmosphere should be great – in addition to the tennis, there will be free food, refreshments, and activities with the team.

Below is a sampling of some of the upcoming locations that are close to the Northern Virginia area.

You can learn more about this program from the USTA.

Men’s Matches

Women’s Matches

It was great to see everyone earlier this week for our first pre-season strength and conditioning session on Tuesday.

I know that Coach Taylor said we would be lifting twice a week, but as it stands right now we will only be lifting once a week, on Tuesdays after school. There is a chance that we may expand the times but it will require availability of a tennis coach and space for the team in the room on another day/time.

These are the primary goals of our strength program:

• Build strength, core, balance, and explosiveness
• Develop and increase flexibility
• Improve muscle imbalance that comes from playing tennis
• “Prehab-ing” tennis trouble spots, like shoulders, knees, back, “tennis elbow,” etc.

At some point we would like to add some work-outs geared toward footwork, hand-eye coordination, and speed drills. This may however have to wait until our season begins.

A few specific exercises now can help prevent future injuries due to overuse and muscle imbalances that develop overtime from playing tennis. “Prehab” is a relatively new term to me that encompasses these kind of exercises and points to the importance of them to keep you away from “rehab.”

A more comprehensive program will do the same but also improve your tennis through increased strength (hitting the ball) and speed (getting to the ball). Additional exercises can be used to improve hand-eye coordination that is very important in tennis.

As I have begun putting together a program for my teams I have found some good resources.

• USTA’s Health & Fitness
• Pisani Training: Who doesn’t Paul Pisani work with? Answer: It must be a short list. He works with a number of ATP and WTA tour players as well as many college tennis programs including Princeton, Pepperdine, George Washington, Virginia, and Oklahoma.

Country Club Of Fairfax

Wanted to share with everyone that the Pro Shop at the Country Club of Fairfax is having a holiday sale if you are in the market for tennis gear.

• Women’s clothing – 20% off
• Men’s clothing – 20% off
• Vineyard Vine (for those Prepsters among you) – 20% off
• Wilson, Dunlop, & Prince rackets – 20% off
• Demo rackets – Big savings here…I think most demo rackets will go for $50 – $75. There are some good ones.
• Accessories & Bags – 20% off
• Shoes – 25-45% off. We have Babolat, Wilson, K-Swiss & Nike shoes.

Old Dominion University in Norfolk will be hosting a tennis tournament and opportunity to meet with coaches on November 14, register by Nov  5. The event will include both boys and girls singles.

This is NOT just for High Performance or Nationally Ranked players.  Many of the schools are Division III schools and are just looking for  players who love to play tennis and want to be on a college tennis team as an overall part of their college experience!

AGENDA:

• Matches: 12 – 4 pm
• Following Match Play, Juniors and younger players will have the opportunity to visit the Junior Showcase tables and browse information on the colleges and universities.

• Seniors may visit with the college and university coaches in the College Showcase room, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

PARENTS – attend the parent guidance seminar, 1:00 to 3:30. Tennis experts will answer your questions and help navigate the paths to college tennis. Mark Guilbeau, Head Women’s Coach at University of  Virginia will speak with parents and answer questions concerning college tennis. Don’t miss it!

Coaches from Division III to Division I, from a 6-state area will be  there. Here is a list of schools that have committed so far – but more are waiting to see who signs up to play!

• Darryl Cummings, Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA)
• Mark Guilbeau, Head Coach Women’s Tennis, University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)
• Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)
• University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA)
• Shaun Wiseman, Head Coach Men & Women’s Tennis, University of the Ozarks (Clarksville, Arkansas)
• Keith Puryear, Head Coach Women’s Tennis, US Naval Academy
• (Annapolis, MD)
• Meredith Geiger-Walton, Head Coach Women’s Tennis, The College of
• William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA)
• Methodist University (Fayetteville, NC)
• Lynda Alanko, Head Tennis Coach Mary Baldwin College (Staunton, VA)
• Keith Hetsko, Head Tennis Coach University of Scranton (Scranton, PA)
• Michael Vann, Head Men’s Tennis Coach Goucher College (Baltimore, MD)
• Greg Pribble, Asst. Men & Women’s Coach Randolph College (Lynchburg, VA)
• Matthew Halfpenny, Head Coach Men’s & Women’s Tennis, Norfolk State University (Norfolk, VA)
• Leslie Bernard, Head Coach Women’s Tennis, Hollins University  (Roanoke, VA)
• Rush Cole, Eric Christianson & Worth Richardson, Men’s Tennis Coaches, Christopher Newport University (Newport News, VA)

For more info and to register, follow this link to the tournament info.

You can read it here. But come back….

The article is good, pointing out the expense and difficulty of scouting the multitude of potential opponents that you might play in a tennis tournament. While it might be difficult I was surprised by how many top coaches and players minimized the effectiveness scouting or played it off as a zero-sum game with developing other parts of a players game.

IBM gives the pros a post-match DVD with a boat-load of info regarding their specific match. IBM produced a short video that briefly talks about the use of technology in general and the collection/use of tennis statistics.

So how is the use of statistics or scouting any different than teaching tennis players “Percentage Tennis.” While percentage tennis might tell you what “most” players would do in a situation, the use of stats or scouting would tell you what a specific player will most likely to do in different situations. Stats can also tell you if you was true to your own game plan, by looking at serve percentages, or where winners and errors came from.

There’s An App For That
To help me and the players I coach I have begun using a great application for the iPhone, called Tennis Trakker Pro. This application allows me to easily collect match statistics and process the results. This is key to its utility, ease of use and ability to quickly process the information that is collected. I can easily share the information also by sending match information via email directly from the application.

I believe in collecting information if I can act on it , if I can’t act on it then it is just a distraction.

Another proponent scouting and statistics is Larry Stefanki, current coach of Andy Roddick. He to was quoted in the Wall Street Journal story, saying this:

After studying the numbers and video footage, he says, he figured out that Mr. Roddick’s first serve, considered the best in the game, was even better when he was behind, or even facing break point, because he was hitting it more slowly and focusing on placement—so he told him to dial it back and think accuracy over speed.

“It’s like a puzzle,” Mr. Stefanki says. Still, he often hears other coaches say it’s impossible to change a tennis player. “I just pat them on the shoulder and say, ‘Well you must not know very much.’”

I must say that I am in the with Larry Stefanki and Brian de Villiers on this. While a player might not be able to digest the information, as a coach it is my job to digest and share with my player(s).

Let me know if you have you used stats or not. Was it successful? Too difficult?

See you out on the court soon.

• Do Some Research: Go to your high school’s website and look for information about the tennis team. Finding out things like last year’s record, contact information for the coach, player’s names will help you in your plan to make the team.
• Contact The Coach: Let the coach know of your interest to try-out. Leave contact information: name, year, phone number, email address. Be clear and concise. Prior to the season the coach will send out information, correct contact information will assure that you get the information early.
• Take Lessons: When you did your research what did you learn? Is your HS the reigning state champions? Is 90% of the team Juniors? To improve your chances of making the team or getting into the starting line-up take some classes.
• Play Tennis: This seems obvious, but it can not be underscored enough. I recommend playing USTA team tennis. First off it is fun and it gives you another day on the court over the winter months. Secondly it gives you the important experience of playing on a team, playing for more than just yourself.

Did I miss anything here? Any questions? Drop in a comment and let me know.