Dear Member,
Schools out! As another busy academic year draws to a close, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a fun and relaxing summer break wherever you may be heading off to! But first, find out who receives our Most Improved Player of 2018/19 award and check out ‘What’s New’ at the club. Don’t forget to sign your kids up to our Indoor Summer Camp and take a look at our Rule of the Week and Tip of the Week from Coach Sarah.
Safe travels everyone and see you all back at Rackets Academy in September!
Most Improved Player 2018/19
We are delighted to announce that our Most Improved Player for 2018/19, as voted by the coaches, has been awarded to Sarah Steinbach! Sarah played the first half of the season with her right hand before changing to her left hand for the second half of the season following an injury. Notwithstanding this set back, Sarah remained determined and still managed to come a close second in Division 2 of the RA Ladies league. Congratulations Sarah on this well-deserved award.
Congratulations to the following players who were nominated for Most Improved Player of 2018/19…
Ines Abid
Katya Earl
Riku Higashi
Lourdes DelaCruz
Omar Thawart
Sanjay Lanjaron
Margaret Dean
Sam Dean
What’s New?
Leo and Karl Allcorn would like to say a massive thank you to all at Rackets Academy who supported the ‘Tennis for All’ collection drive for Uganda. With over 30 rackets, 25 pairs of trainers, 20 caps and enough sports clothes to kit out a small village it’s been a massive success, so thank you everyone!
Indoor Summer Camps – Sign up TODAY!
Wondering how to keep your kids entertained over the summer? Well we have just the answer! We are running an Indoor Summer Camp, 7th July – 29th August at Fitness First in Arabian Ranches 2 and Town Center, Springs. Email register@racketsacademy.ae to sign up or to find out more. Places are limited.
Rule of the Week: Crossing over the net on a return
A player can volley a ball back or hit a smash whilst their racket crosses over the net with the follow through as long as no part of their body, clothes, or racket touches the net. However, the ball needs to have crossed the net over to their side first. A player can’t hit the ball without it having gone right over the net. If this happens, they lose the point!
Coach Sarah’s Tip of the Week: Muscle Memory
“When you start learning a new stroke, adjusting an old one or getting these footsteps right, always keep in mind that a high level of focus is needed. Even if it’s for short intervals, it’s crucial to maintain the quality and focus in memorizing the new movement.
Think about a cook quickly cutting vegetables in an swift and automated movement, or when you write an email in a blink of an eye without looking at the keyboards, a dancer memorizing her movements and steps perfectly, a pianist or a guitarist..
The reason behind all this is muscle memory; it’s one of the amazing abilities of our body. In order to install the right movement into your muscle memory system and perfect it, you need to focus on every stroke at the beginning of the adjustment phase. If you tend to vary your strokes, your body installs the movement in variation. Think about a dancer without good dancing steps, or a pianist and a guitarist mixing up their notes, an email with lots of errors and a cook cutting his fingers. This results in a different outcome of strokes instead of the right movement on repeat! Good luck!”
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Have a great summer!
Rackets Academy