Dear Member,
Hope you’ve had a great week! Here’s all the latest news from Rackets Academy. We are delighted to announce that tournaments have finally been given the official green light; see below for further details! Find out who our Players of the Week are and meet our new coach. We have results from week 1 of the Mrs Miyagi’s Ladies League and a Player Interview with Rafa Tom. Check out our Rule and Tip of the Week from Coach Sam… Read on!
Upcoming Tournaments
With tournaments being given the official go ahead, check out our tournaments that are taking place over the next few weeks. To sign up, call 052 372 4224 TODAY or email register@racketsacademy.ae. To see the full tournament schedule for the term click here.
Fri 9th October, 3pm – UTR U16 Boys & Girls Tournament, Rackets Academy, Motor City – Sign up
Fri 16th & Sat 17th October – U12 Boys & Girls Singles UAE Ranking Event, Rackets Academy, Motor City
Fri 23rd & Sat 24th October – U14 Boys & Girls Singles UAE Ranking Event, Rackets Academy, Motor City
Friday 30th October 11am – 7pm – UTR Event U12 Boys Singles, Rackets Academy, Motor City – Sign Up
Friday 30th October 7-10pm – Mixed Doubles Tournament, Rackets Academy, Motor City
Players of the Week
Congratulations to Lucy Martin and Ayesha Rashid who are our Mrs Miyagis Ladies League Players of the Week for week 1. Lucy and Ayesha win a brunch for 2 at Mr Miyagi’s restaurant in Studio City. These ladies were voted for Player of the Week by coaches for winning their debut match in the league; an amazing achievement. Congratulations ladies!
New Coach – Welcome to Coach Dean
Dean has been involved in tennis since the age of 8, representing Lancashire at all national junior levels and after leaving school decided to follow his ambition of becoming a tennis coach. Accepting a place on an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence at Bolton Arena International High Performance Tennis Centre, he achieved his Level 1 and Level 2 LTA Coaching Qualifications. In 2011 he began working for John Schofield Tennis Centre in Lancashire as a full time coach and achieved his Level 3 LTA Coaching Qualification. In 2014 he took up a position as a full time tennis coach working for Neilson Holidays in Messini, Greece. After the season ended he returned to the UK and continued coaching for David Lloyd Tennis Centre in Bolton until November 2015 where he secured a coaching position in New Zealand working for ‘Tennis Monsters’ at Greenhithe Tennis Club in Auckland, leading to a position of Head Coach at the club after 18 months where he was responsible for planning and delivering a full range of tennis coaching for all ages and abilities and managing a team of local tennis coaches. When time allowed, Dean competed to a high level on the Auckland Tennis Circuit, ranking in the top 10 in New Zealand for 4 years.
Dean has a huge amount of experience delivering tennis coaching to a wide variety of age groups and abilities, from large group coaching to individual lessons and from ‘tots tennis’ through to adult groups, he has also taken qualifications in coaching wheelchair and deaf tennis.
Dean is aware coaching is not cheap and believes that people who spend their hard earned cash on tennis expect and deserve quality coaching which is enjoyable, structured, fun and delivered at an appropriate level in a professional way. He is passionate about tennis, both coaching and playing.
Mrs Miyagi’s Ladies League: Season 6
It’s been a fantastic start to season 6 of the Mrs Myiagi’s. Well done to all the ladies who played in week 1. Congratulations to Halep’s Honeys, Queens of the Court, Bulldogs and The Mentalis who won their matches. See scores below.
Division A
Halep’s Honeys vs Baseliners
Line 1: 6-2 6-2 (winner: Halep’s Honeys)
Line 2: 6-0 6-0 (winner: Halep’s Honeys)
Overall Winner: Halep’s Honeys
Queens of the Court vs Rackettes
Line 1: 6-3 6-1 (winner: Queens of the Court)
Line 2: 7-6 6-4 (winner: Queens of the Court)
Overall Winner: Queens of the Court
Division B
Bulldogs vs Simon’s Samurai
Line 1: 6-1 6-0 (winner: Bulldogs)
Line 2: 7-6 6-3 (winner: Bulldogs)
Overall Winner: Bulldogs
The Aces vs The Mentalis
Line 1: 7-5 6-3 (winner: The Aces)
Line 2: 5-7 4-6 (winner: The Mentalis)
Overall Winner: The Mentalis
Player Interview with Rafa Tom
This week’s interview is with our lovely Ladies League Player, Rafa Tom.
1. Who is your favourite professional player?
My favourite male professional tennis player is Roger Federer and my favourite female professional tennis player is Serena Williams.
2. Who is your favourite Rackets Academy Coach?
All coaches that I’ve trained with are super good at Rackets Academy; my lead Coach is Mariano Pettigrosso and also coach Sean Medley.
3. Why do you love tennis?
I love tennis because it is a great sport for all ages and all levels and it is the best sport for the whole body.
4. How did you get into tennis?
My father was a tennis coach and he taught me everything about tennis and I fell in love with this sport.
5. When did you start playing tennis?
I started playing tennis around the age of 12 till now around 30 years.
6. List 3 things you like about Rackets Academy
1. There’s coaching for all ages
2. The ladies leagues and trainings
3. The courts and locations
Rafa’s claim to fame: Taking part in a tennis clinic with Dominic Thiem (see photo)
Rule of the Week – Foot Fault
A foot fault is when a player steps into the court or crosses the centre mark before they have made contact with the ball. This results in the loss of the serve.
Proper Serve – A player serves on the right side of the court at the beginning of each game, with the intention of serving the ball into the diagonal service box. If the serve lands in the correct service box, play can continue. The server switches to serve on the left side for the next point, and vice versa until the game is over.
Coach Sam’s Tip of the Week: Do It Right!
“Whilst I’m a big fan of “serving and volleying” and I generally move forward every time I serve when playing doubles, I do find there are times when it’s best to “serve and stay back”. I will stay back when my opponent’s returns are at my feet on every return, or when I am missing my first volleys, and the net man is regularly cutting off the volleys that I do make. Remember the following; if you do stay back after you hit your serve: 1. Get back behind the baseline once you’ve completed your service motion. 2. Once you get back behind the baseline, make sure you’re leaning forward, with your weight on your toes ready to move for the return. 3. Hit your next shot firmly, picking where you are going early, with your weight moving forward as you strike the ball…Good luck!“
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Have a great week!
Rackets Academy