CCT – Inside The Lines – February 2018

Junior Tennis Clinics

Mondays :

Orange Dot (ages 6+) 4:30p – 5:15p

Green Dot Beginner (ages 9 – 10) 3:30p – 4:30p

Tuesdays:

Yellow Ball High Performance (ages 12+) 6p – 7:30p

Wednesdays:

Green Dot Beginner Boys (ages 9 – 10) 3:30p – 4:30p

Green Dot Intermediate (ages 11+) 4p – 5p

Thursdays:

Orange Dot (ages 6+) 4:30p – 5:15p

Green Dot Advanced (ages 11+) 3p – 4p

Yellow Ball High Performance (ages 12+) 6p – 7:30p

Fridays:

Green Dot Intermediate (ages 11+) 4p – 5p

Adult Tennis Clinics

Mondays:

Shot of the Week (all levels) 9a –10a

Intermediate (3.0 – 3.5) 9a – 10:30a

Cardio tennis (3.0 and up) 10a – 11a

Men’s Clinic (3.5 and up) 6p – 7:30p

Tuesdays:

Advanced (4.0+) 9a – 10:30a

Wednesdays:

Intermediate (3.0 – 3.5) 9a – 10:30a

Thursdays:

Advanced (4.0+) 9a – 10:30a

Fridays:

Intermediate (3.0 – 3.5) 9a – 10:30a

Upcoming Junior Tournaments:

02/10/2018

NorthRiver Winter Slam Ala Level 3 STA Level 5 -703202018

02/17/2018

Lake Cyrus Winter Ala Level 5 – 700058818

02/23/2018

Alabama’s Court Elite Defender Series I Ala Level 4 STA Level 5 – 703210518

02/24/2018

Greystone Spring Novice Ala Level 5 – 700086518

Adult Beginner Tennis Lessons

Call (205) 331-0211

Charlie’s Tip of the Month – Doubles Strategy

1) TOUCH AND PLACEMENT ARE FAR MORE IMPORTANT IN DOUBLES THAN KILLING THE BALL – ESPECIALLY WITH VOLLEYS AND OVERHEADS!

Getting too “hungry” often just ends up becoming a wristy or swinging shot that ends up in the net or long.

2) GET YOUR FIRST SERVE IN! try this over and over again for doubles. As soon as you miss your first serve, your opponent’s get into “attack” mindset (or should!) on your second serve. Take a little pace off to boost your 1st serve percentage. Or consider using a higher – percentage slice serve (versus flat) as your first serve: it may have less pace, but the ball will be trickier for your opponent to handle. The team with the highest 1st serve percentage in doubles has a big advantage.

3) BE CLEAR ON YOUR SHOT CHOICE DURING RETURN OF SERVE. Most often, aim for sharp –

angled cross – court returns (medium pace! placement more important than power!) to pull your opposing returner wide. Do this well, and you’ll buy time to move into net, open up the opposing court, and set up you and your partner for a winner. 4) VARY THE SPEED AND HEIGHT OF YOUR RETURN OF SERVE – and decide how you’ll return before your opponent serves. Just like volleys and overheads, have a target and strategy in mind before you hit the ball. After seeing your opponent’s serve one game, you’ll probably have a good enough sense of what to expect.

Option A: Medium – paced short – angled return (to pull opponent at baseline way out wide out)

Option B: Hard drive

Option C: Lob (short backswing, usually over opposing net player)

4) TO ATTACK THE OPPOSING NET PLAYER (AND ON APPROACH SHOTS) KEEP THE BALL LOW AND USE MEDIUM – PACE ANGLE SHOTS. If you hit a shot at/near the net player and it’s low, they’ll have to hit up, which means you’ll be able to move into net. And when you

hit angle shots, this pulls the opposing teams out of position and buys you time to approach net. Recognize the short balls and opportunities and move into net whenever possible, where most

points in doubles are won!

5) ALWAYS HAVE A TARGET IN MIND BEFORE YOU HIT YOUR VOLLEY OR OVERHEAD.

Choose a target that buys you some leeway if you’re tight or mishit (i.e., don’t aim for 2 inches from the baseline! Aim for wide boundaries of service line, or opposing net player’s feet, etc).

6) MOVE WITH YOUR PARTNER AND COVER THE MIDDLE! Move with your partner (L and R, up and back – think of “windshield wipers” moving as a unit) and follow the ball. If your partner (or opposing player) is pulled out wide, one of you should be touching the center line of the court with one foot to be covering the middle. There’s only one exception to moving like windshield wipers:

if you hit the ball to the middle of the opposing court, you and your partner should move in slightly towards each other to cover the middle.

7) COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE – DURING AND BETWEEN EVERY POINT! Talk to each other during every point (You! Me! Go! Stay! etc). And communicate

between every point, whether verbally or just physically: whether you talk strategy about the

next point, tell your partner “way to go”, or simply give each other a high – five, you’re connecting –

a key ingredient to sustained success in the match.

8) THE NET PLAYER SHOULD SIGNAL EVERY TIME BEFORE YOUR PARTNER SERVES

(including before the 2d serve) — Closed fist = “stay” — Open hand = “poach/switch.” — (From T – formation) Pinky pointed down = “I’ll move L after you serve” — (From T – formation) Index finger pointed R = “I’ll move R after you serve”

9) COMMIT TO A POACH/SWITCH AFTER SIGNALING IT. Signaling a poach means you are telling your partner he MUST plan to immediately cover the other side of the court after serving. It does NOT mean you’re going to “try” a poach and stay if not successful. If you signal “stay” and a ball comes into your zip code for a poach, by all means go for it: your partner should be alert to this and move to cover the other side of the court. Important: Once you start signaling and executing poaches, expect the opposing team to start trying to aim more of their returns to your net guy. They will try to go down the line more often and punish you for poaching. As such, the net player should

NEVER think “I signaled stay so I can relax now, because they’re probably going to hit their return cross – court…” Instead, the net player should start expecting – actually hoping – that the opposing

team hits more shots directly to him. The chances of the net player hitting a winner are far greater than the baseliner.

10) DURING MATCH WARM – UPS, ASK THE OPPONENT YOU’RE WARMING UP WITH TO FEED YOU SOME OVERHEADS: This will both give you time to loosen up your shoulder AND will send a signal to the opposing team that you know what you’re doing.

Tommy Wade, Director of Tennis, Center Court Tuscaloosa, is retiring March 1, 2018. Wishing you the best of life!

Center Court Tuscaloosa’s Doubles Ladder – Combo Rating

February 26, 2018

Please join us at the second annual Emily Baker Women’s Classic tennis tournament February 22nd – 24that Center Court Tuscaloosa. As an annual Tuscaloosa Tennis Association tournament, the proceeds of this event will go to the Emily Baker Scholarship and Youth Tennis Fund. In 2017, 590 elementary school children learned how to play tennis thanks to your participation and generous support of this tournament. Emily has been a driving force in growing the sport of tennis in Tuscaloosa. This is TTA’s way to honor her and continue her dream of building and growing tennis in Tuscaloosa.

Tournament Details:

Location: Center Court Tuscaloosa

Doubles; entry fee $50 per person

18+ 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5+

Day and Night Division

55+ A (3.5+4.5), B (2.5 -3.5) Day Only

Player Party

February 22nd 6 pm to 8 pm

55 + February 22nd starting at 8:30 am

18+ Day Division February 23rd starting at 8:30 am

18+ Night Division February 23rd starting at 4 pm

Finals (optional) February 24th starting at 8:30 am

You can play in up to 2 events.