40 Great Tennis Sessions.

‘Drills are the basic elements that define the structure of all tennis practices.’


Tennis Psychology, International Tennis Federation (2006)


Why do people play tennis? Research tells us that the overriding motive is ‘to have fun’. Fun stems from playing the game and experiencing the excitement of rallying, and from the challenge of competing at the appropriate level... Each chapter of 40 Great Tennis Sessions contains a series of exercises or drills relating to a particular shot or tactic. As a general rule each exercise is a progression from the previous one. This design leads a player forward in a series of small steps, ensuring fast understanding and improvement. Taken as a whole, the exercises in each chapter provide a complete on-court practice session for an important tennis skill. All of the exercises are proven to be effective; I have fine-tuned them on court in the course of my thirty years teaching the game...


This extract is from the foreword to the book '40 Great Tennis Sessions' written by Peter Farrell.
Peter is a prominent Irish tennis coach and with years of experience, Peter has put together a very helpful and interesting read for tennis players of all levels.
The book is available to buy on http://www.amazon.co.uk/ and should be worth a read.

Babolat Cork Tennis Ladder Tournament Schedule

Ok guys here is the schedule we will be working from for the Babolat Cork Tennis League.
There are 13 events to pick up as many points as you can.
For a full list of the points breakdown click here.

22\4 - Rushbrooke Easter Open
1\5 - Bishopstown Open Doubles
14\5 - Douglas Open Doubles
29\5 - Kinsale Open Doubles
11\6 - Sundays Well Open
19\6 - Argideen Vale Open (handicap events don't count)
25\6 - Lakewood Open Doubles
2\7 - Carrigaline Open Doubles
9\7 - Rushbrooke Summer Open
13\8 - Douglas Singles Open
20\8 - Lower Aghada Doubles Open
4\9 - Ballinlough Doubles Open
17\9 - Bandon Doubles Open

At this stage we should have our male and female winner, with each one receiving a load of gear in association with Babolat.

Remember you must be registered before you play your first event!  Points will not be backdated.

Big win for young David Gardiner

2011 has continued in the same vain as 2010 for young Gardiner,  playing good tennis and winning tournaments.

This was a big win, this time his win was in an LTA series event in Manchester, where in a 19 man draw, David played some very solid and impressive tennis to win the event.

This doesn't bode well for David's opponents here when the summer season kicks off.  He will definitely worry a lot of opponents over the summer.

David is a very dedicated and hard working player and one who is constantly improving.  He has something very rare, something a lot of kids his age who play competitively don't have anymore, and that is he actually loves playing and being on court.

I have watched many ETA(U-14) and ITF(U-18) events and very few of the kids look as though they are enjoying themselves, even when they are winning.  But David is different, he is looking to play games all the time and during the summer months he spends most of his time on a court, playing, practising or just messing about.

Congratulations Dave on a great win and all the best for the rest of 2011.

Pre Season Training

Presumably you are all now well into your pre season training programmes, if you're not why not.

This part of the season is as important if not more important than the on court stuff.

Here's a young Federer to show how his hard work paid off.

New Season gets under way soon

The new season gets under way soon and with it the chance for 2 people to win loads of gear from Babolat.

This season using the 2011 Senior Tournament Calender, all winners and runners up will accumulate points and at the end of the season, 1 woman and 1 man will win 2 rackets, a racket bag, a pair of shoes and shorts (or skirt) socks and a t-shirt.

If you play open tournaments and this interests you, all you have to do is register and pay before you play your first tournament.

For a full list of the rules and how to enter click here.