THE GENERATION CHALLENGE

The idea behind the new concept at The Emu Point Tennis Club on Friday afternoons was developed through too many good local players sitting on the sidelines unless there was a local Tournament on offer ,(usually a Doubles Tournament) .The feedback i have received is that Doubles Tournaments are way too plentiful and Singles competitions, unless they are Club Championships basically do not exist for senior local players . When i say 'senior' players i refer to the advanced level players (both young and 'older') who still want to test themselves. Doubles is more a tactical game requiring angles whereas the game of singles is a physical and mental test .Hitting with guys that i used to teach when they were kids has taken on a whole new dimension now as these players have now stopped 'over hitting' and don't miss the easy ball anymore , makes life tough for us old blokes but i live for the challenge. No offence to Saturday afternoon Club Tennis but it does not give the stronger players the intensity that they require to both test themselves and improve. There are some up and coming young kids doing drills with the more experienced players and the mix is very exciting to see , some of the points i witnessed were unbelievable . The vision that I had quite some time ago was simple , get the kids to play 'above' themselves , hitting with each other will only take their game's so far. Girls vs ladies and boys vs men , that's what will eventually even out the gap between current standards.
The initial hour of drills was to get the shots 'grooved', in a two on one format, which gave all players a warm up into their singles points. Placing a junior on court with two senior players seems to be the right formula to bring the best out in each player . Some of the rallies were brilliant and more consistent , an indication of the shot repetition drills serving their purpose without a doubt. The Generation Challenge was long overdue i believe locally , finally a mixed age drills and point play session that will be of benefit to all those who participate........