
A Must Read for U.S. Scholarship Hopefuls – Interview with Billy Pate
We wanted to provide insight for Canadian junior players to understand the lay of the land as it relates to US tennis scholarships in these
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We wanted to provide insight for Canadian junior players to understand the lay of the land as it relates to US tennis scholarships in these
Overhead sports are more likely to develop muscular discrepancy, even more when athletes start at a young age. They will be more likely to experience bad posture and continued errors in technique, which would put them more at risk for injuries. The best way to avoid any complication is prevention, which is why technique and exercise choice are paramount in resistance training and cannot be done randomly.
Has anyone not heard of the power of goal-setting? Yet, even in this age of goal oriented sports, business, science, etc. tennis coaches are typically not very good at incorporating goals into their daily activities. Too many coaches come to lessons on ‘wing-it’ mode. Oh sure, they can do fun activities, however, these don’t add up to effective improvement as they should. To harness the power of practice, goals are required. Goals increase the effectiveness of your annual plans, seasonal plans, monthly plans, weekly plans, lesson plans, right down to the drill or activity being done. You can almost use the term ‘goals’ and ‘plans’ synonymously. The old adage, “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is applicable here. A great plan is a series of goals that are SMART.
It was a Saturday late in August 2011 at Mont Tremblant in the finals of the Under 14 Nationals that I came to respect Raheel Manji the way I do. He was a scrawny kid from Pickering playing in his first National finals. As the Ontario coach, I had been preparing Raheel for his matches all week. He was a joy to work with because he was so committed to his objective of winning a National Championship. I must admit I was influenced by the fact that he really seemed to respect my opinion. What is funny about that is now I know that that is the way of Raheel. He asks everybody, listens to everybody, makes everybody feel like they are the only one he listens to and then….does what he wants.
For most sports fans in North America tennis is still a fringe sport. The sport comes to life four times a year in Melbourne, Paris, London & New York City. Eight weeks out of 52 is not enough to bring the sport to the upper echelon. To find tennis on most websites in North America you have to scroll down to the “other sports” category. It is not front and center and on the main pages like it is in Europe, South America and Asia. It can’t compete with the likes of the NHL, NBA, NFL or the MLB. Women’s golf – a sport on life support – has gone this route – they added a fifth major to their schedule and broke with tradition. What’s wrong with the concept of adding another Grand Slam to a sport with a rich history? It’s along the same lines as the major sports increasing the number of teams participating in the playoffs. It’s a risky move but in all instances it has been successful.
Former Canadian tennis player, coach, & Fed Cup captain Rene Simpson, who passed away in 2013 of brain cancer, was an inspiration and a role model to all of those involved in the sport. She was inducted in the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011.
Editor’s Note: As a nine-year-old, Kayla demonstrated that she would be a force to be reckoned with when she led her team to a provincial
Editor’s Note: The Greenan family is synonymous with tennis in Cambridge. From his son Mark, a Canadian Davis Cupper, Harry has been responsible on
Editor’s Note: Peter was a Canadian champion and Davis Cup player and became a long-time broadcaster for the Canadian Open. He was also a great
Editor’s Note: Two years ago, Tony Roth, the Director of Tennis at the Ottawa Athletic Club, received a three-day notice that the club was
Editor’s Note: Richard was Tennis Director for 28 years at the Richmond Hill Country Club, is a level 4 Tennis Canada coach, is co-president
Editor’s Note: Rebecca was on her way to becoming one of the WTA’s new stars when life dealt her a different hand. Here is a
Editor’s Note: As Senior Director of Facilities Development at Tennis Canada, she occupies a position which could determine the future of tennis in our
Editor’s Note: James has done it all, 32 times national champion, a Davis Cup player and tournament Director, and an established coach. Jim, president