Tennis at AVAC

On October 5, 2021, I joined the Almaden Valley Athletic Club (AVAC) to resume tennis training. The monthly membership cost is $200/month for one adult. In addition, I had to pay a $175 membership joining fee.

In 2020, I was well on my way to improving my tennis skills, moving from a USTA 3.0 rating to 3.5. This training involved daily training on the Sunnyvale Tennis Center's ball machine and multiple tennis clinics with Rick Newman.

I set up a daily 07:00 - 08:00 ball machine session to re-acquaint myself with my tennis skills. During my first session on Tuesday, October 5, I played at 21:00 and missed many balls. My timing was way off.

The AVAC Tennis webcam is on to check the conditions of the tennis courts. 

On Monday, October 11, I have 30-minute lessons with Greg Holmes (AVAC Tennis Director) to help me develop my tennis development plan:

1. Introduce me to current 3.0 - 3.5 AVAC tennis players
2. Find out about ongoing tennis clinics (Saturday 08:30 - 10:00)
3. Find out about the NorCal USTA tennis team
   

Tennis development consists of three separate areas:

1. Physical conditioning
• Stretching (yoga)
• Muscle Development (push-ups)
• Aerobics (mountain biking, cycling)
  
2. Technical skills (improving strokes)
• Forehand
• Backhand
• Serve (kick, flat, slice) 
• Volley
  
3. Strategy (developing game intelligence)
• Hitting cross-court vs down-the-line
  

Serving Lesson Notes:

1. Ball toss location:
• Kick-serve: 11 o'clock
• Topspin: 1 o'clock
• Slice: 3 o'clock
2. Topspin or kick serves are more reliable for the second serve than the slice serve.
3. For the first serve, you need less spin and more power
4. Toss the ball higher and more in front for more power
5. After the service, the body should be moving forward – not left
6. If the ball lands outside the service box, the racquet is opening up too early
7. Try to keep the racquet closed until ball contact. The wrist needs to snap forward for more power
8. Use more of the shoulders to get power
9. The swing path follows wherever the ball is tossed.
• Toss the ball forward for more power
• Toss the ball left, and you will move left

Forehand Technique Notes:

1. Use a closed stance for more power
2. To hit the ball further, increase the extension of the swing
3. To hit accurately, minimize movement of the head & body (quite everything)
4. For a long drive, aim for the ball many feet above the net (vital for a topspin forehand)
5. To seek, the ball left to hit the ball on the right
6. To seek the ball right, hit the ball on the left

 I found an excellent video online explaining proper forehand principles on YouTube: