Thanksgiving Week Tennis Events

Hey everyone, KPST is open during the Thanksgiving break.


 We will be having a "Tennis Mixer" on Friday November 29, from 7pm to 9pm plus.
Register at 774-392-3666 or kpsotennis@gmail.com.

The Friday morning 9:30 to 11 am round-robin with Sean WILL happen.


On the  Saturdays' of  November 23 and November 30, we will be offering the "Junior Flex Camp" from 9am to 12 noon. This camp is for all levels of juniors. We design programs for you that morning. You may attend one to three hours at a cost of $20.00 per hour. Cape Cod Bagels are served. Train with Kevin Pease, Kara Pease, and Sarah Monteiro. Lots of fun.
Register at 774-392-3666 or kpsotennis@gmail.com.


Private Coaching. Sean, Kevin, and Kara are taking private lessons during the Thanksgiving break.
Work on your footwork using the "Etcheberry Technique." All of our pros are versed with tennis conditioning techniques, footwork drills, cutting edge stroke production and the motivating enthusiasm to push your game to the next level. For more information about this exciting training program used by world class pros check out-- http://etcheberryexperience.com/en/info/tennis_certification.
A true tennis player must be court conditioned, in shape, and mentally tough. Coach Kevin Pease is a certified Etcheberry Tennis Trainer. Take advantage.

Register at 774-392-3666 or kpsotennis@gmail.com.


Reminders: There will a be a tots on Monday 5 to 5:30pm on November 25 and there will be Challengers at 3:30 to 5pm and Tennis for Life at 7:30pm. There will be NO TUESDAY JUNIOR TENNIS GROUPS.





 

Doubles Fundamentals (Part 2)

Doubles Strategy Continued

 Last column I left you with the basic doubles warm-up and scoring. Now the match begins. The serving team, decided by a flip of the racket, begins play. The server should stand (for the most common doubles position) one half between the center of the baseline and the far doubles alley. This will allow the server to cover the cross court return. The server’s partner should stand at the net on the left side of the court, six feet from the net, ready to cover the receiver’s return down the alley, or poach (a diagonally forward move to the center net strap) the return cross court heading back to the server). If the server can locate serves and hit with power then the net player can move and put away returns. If the serves are weak then the net player plays a conservative (stay at home) position. It is more of an advantage to get the first serve in. The server’s partner can now play more aggressively on the return. Put that down in your doubles handbook—“get the first serve in.” The net player of the server stands near the middle of the left side of the court. That player follows the serve laterally, for example: if the net player’s partner serves wide to the left then the net player moves to the left, toward the alley, to cover the down the line alley shot; if the serve is hit down the middle of the court, then the net player positions slightly toward the middle. This gives the net player a bisected angle of return. The net player is a “goalie” that reduces the angle of possible return. In your doubles handbook put down, “follow the ball.” If the server locates a serve down the middle of the service box, the angle of return is reduced. This gives the net player a chance to “poach.” When a net player poaches, it is easier to score winning volleys (balls struck from the air). The next fundamental is a, “serve down the middle.” Serving wide is good to have as a change of direction to catch the returner off guard. The receiver may have a weaker “outside return.” If the receiver has a strong outside return, then the server should try to locate the serve to the body or down the middle. The net player is many times taken out of the point when the ball is served wide, for two reasons: one, the net player slides over to cover the alley shot, and two, the receiver  has angle and  returns cross court away from the net player. The receiver’s main job (next to getting the ball back in play) is to “avoid hitting up to the net player.”

 

To be continued.

 

 

Falmouth Sports Center/ Junior Open

The Cape Cod Junior Open was held at the Falmouth Sports Center this past weekend. Eight girls and eight boys competed in a total of four flights of four. These players are gearing for future USTA competition and High School Tennis programs.

In the Girls’ Flight One there was, Becky Perleman, Paige Meade, Kinsale Steedman, and Sarah Christa. Flight Two consisted of Jackie Perleman, Sanya Rajagopal, Taylor Rogers, and Julie Bridges.

In the Boy’s Flight One there was, EJ Harbilas, Noah Pring, Scott Lubofsky, and Noah Mendelsohn. In Boy’s Flight Two there was Max Carter, Ben Helfrich, Alex LaRuffa, and Max April.

Jackie Perleman placed first in the girl’s tournament with Sayna Rajagopal second, and Paige Meade third. The boy’s tournament winner was Max Carter, followed by Ben Helfrich, and Noah Mendelsohn.

Doubles from the Beginning

Doubles positioning, communication, and strategy (part 1): There are four people required to play doubles. As you look on the court the alleys (outside lanes) are used. In singles the alleys are out of bounds. The skills required to play a solid game of doubles include, positioning yourself during the point for best matching your opponent’s return, taking balls out of the air on the fly (volleys), locating your serve with a high first serve percentage, returning the serve away from the net player, and isolating groundstrokes away from your opponent’s best strike zone, and matching your partner’s strengths to yours while minimizing your weaknesses. As you play with different partners and gain experience with the game of doubles you will learn what shots are best in given situations.

 In the beginning of a match all four players warm up, first starting with mini-tennis at the service line for a quick minute and then backing up to rally full court. It is typical for players to warm up with their opponents. Each player is rallying (hitting the ball off the ground with forehands and backhands) one on one, while using one half of the court. There are two rallies going on at the same time. After five minutes, one team will go up to the net and hit a few volleys and over-heads, followed by the next team who does the same, then, each player will serve cross court to each other, catch the ball and serve it back. This takes about ten to twelve minutes. It is important to hit all the shots during the warm-up to get ready to compete. If you do not warm-up you can risk injury and are likely to start off with poor timing. After the warm-up is over, one of the players will call up or down (usually the bottom of the racket) to decide who serves first and the side which each team will begin the game. Players usually play two out of three sets where the team that wins six games first by a margin of two wins a set. Typically a twelve point tie-break is played at six games each to decide the set. If each team wins a set then the third set may be played out or a 10 point super tie-break is played.

After deciding which team serves and the player to start serving, both teams position for doubles. The receiving team positions a player on the right side of the court (deuce) and one player on the left side of the court (ad). The scoring is 15, 30, 40, game. At 40 all, it is known as deuce. Play always starts serving on the right. You have two serves to get the ball in the court. If you miss it is called a fault. If you double fault you lose the point. When the serving team wins the deuce point it is known as ad in. If the receiving team wins the deuce point then it is ad out. The score is always said serving team first and then the receiving team.

The serving team must repeat the score before starting a new point. Every odd game the teams switch sides of the net and are permitted a 90 second break with the exception of the first game of a set. Players must play continuously with no interruption. Servers must get the next point started within 25 seconds. The team making the call on their side on the net determines whether a ball is in or out. If it touches the line it is good. Calls are made promptly. After a serving order is established it cannot be altered to the next set. The same is true for the designated receiver sides or order. These are the basic rules of doubles.