Cavalier Tennis
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) have joined forces to strengthen tennis in the United States. The USTA is our national governing body for tennis, while the ITA is responsible for all collegiate tennis.
“Showdowns” and “Showcases” are two places where the two organizations meet.
A Showcase is hosted at a single location with many different coaches on hand to view the participating players. These will typically only happen once a year and in a single location with in a USTA section. We live in the Mid Atlantic section, and our showcase will happen on November 20 at William & Mary College.
Click here for more information on the Mid Atlantic College Showcase
A Showdown, like the one being hosted by George Mason University (GMU) in this instance, is a tournament format where some members of the GMU tennis team (or host school) may play anyone interested in an open tournament format. In this case only the host school’s coach is on hand as the tournament director. The coach however can not conduct official recruiting business, nor can you participate while on an official visit.
More on the Showdown format:
- One-day, short format tournaments open to juniors, college players, professionals and adults.Generally draws are compass draws for both singles and doubles with matches being one set with a tiebreaker at 5-5, although format and scoring is at the discretion of the director. Events can be men’s, women’s, or coed.
- The tournaments are run on college campuses with the college coach acting as tournament director.
- These tournaments are non-sanctioned, non-ranking events.
- Entry Fees are kept low to provide access to full range of players. Generally entry fees run $10 for singles, $5 for doubles, and $15 for both.
A showdown is probably best when a student has focused on a couple of schools, most likely a senior. This would be a great way to meet the other players of the team, the coach and get a feel for where you might land in their line-up. They in turn get a really good chance to see how you handle yourself in match play.
Click here for the ITA’s schedule of College Showdowns
GMU has two Showdowns this fall, one for guys and one for gals. You should contact the coach directly if you are interested in participating.
Guys:
- When: October 30
- Coach: Gary Quam - gquam@gmu.edu
Gals:
- When: November 7
- Coach: Steve Curtis - scurtis2@gmu.edu
The coaches at Robinson are sponsoring a fall tennis tournament aimed at high school and middle school players.
The tournament will be held on October 9-10 at Robinson Secondary School at 5035 Sideburn Road, Fairfax, VA. Age groups are Boys & Girls 16 & Unders and Boys & Girls 14 & Unders. All divisions will have a consolation draw so it gives everyone a chance to play at least two matches. Registration will close on Oct. 3, at midnight.
To play this tournament you must be a USTA member.
On November 20, the USTA will be hosting a College Showcase at William & Mary. College/university coaches at all levels from the Mid-Atlantic area and surrounding states will be on-hand to view High School Juniors and Undergraduates, followed by High School Seniors in compeitive match play.
For more information and sign-up, click USTA/MAS College Showcase at William & Mary.
While this is open to freshman and sophomores, it is really targeted and most useful for juniors and seniors.
College coaches will be on hand to answer questions and provide school information. There will also be an afternoon symposium for parents and students that will answer questions about college tennis. All students will receive college packets.
As you may know I am a pro at the Country Club of Fairfax. Well we are having a great sale on tennis rackets now. These prices will beat anything you see in the back of Tennis magazine.
Right now we are offering great savings on Wilson, Prince, and Dunlop rackets. There are too many deals to list here. For some rackets we will throw in for free set of overgrips, plus a set of synthetic gut strings.
Either give us a call (703.723.3100, ext 1) or drop by and visit the Pro Shop.
Summer tennis camps are a great to kick-start the summer or raise your level of play. Campers will spend extended periods of time on court working on stokes, strategy, and also plenty of competitive play.
As I get more information on upcoming summer camps I will update this post.
This Saturday, January 23, the Mid-Atlantic USTA will be sponsoring a High School Coaches Workshop at the University of Mary Washington in Fredricksburg, VA. Registration will run from 8-9 am, with the clinic running until 5pm. The cost of the event is $45.
While online registration is now closed, the organizers will accept walk-up registrations. Walk-up registrations will not be guaranteed lunches. But hey were you really going for the food?
- More information on the event from the Mid-Atlantic USTA.
- Directions to the event.
Several WT Woodson coaches will be attending the workshop, please introduce yourself if you also attend the workshop. It would be great to put a face with the name!
Featured Presenters:
- Don Paitrick, Director of Tennis, UMW Indoor Tennis Facility
- Todd Helbling, Head Coach, UMW Men’s Varsity Team
- Paul Fisher, Tennis Director, Burke Racquet & Swim Club
- Kim Dillard, Centreville High School Tennis Coach and Master Professional
- Mike Lissner, Competitive Player Development Specialist
- Alicia von Lossberg, Maryland District Community Tennis Administrator
- Frank Wilson, Chair of Association of Maryland Tennis Officials
Topics will include:
- Setting your Line-ups and Doubles Teams – Paul Fisher & Kim Dillard
- College Preparation and Tennis on Campus – Don Paitrick & Todd Helbling
- Keep Them Playing: Junior Team Tennis – Alicia von Lossberg
- Prepare to Perform: Nutrition and Dynamic Warm-ups
- On-Court Drills
- Doubles Strategy & Drills – Paul Fisher & Kim Dillard
- Stroke Production / Adding Strokes to the Game – Mike Lissner
- Game-based Management of Large Groups – Alicia von Lossberg
Looking forward to seeing you there!
I first heard of this program while I was at the Mid-Atlantic’s College Showcase at Old Dominion University this past fall. Mark Guilbeau, Head Coach of the University of Virginia’s Women’s Tennis Team said it would be a great opportunity for high school tennis players to get an inside look at what college tennis is all about.
College tennis and the USTA are combining forces in many new ways. One is with the USTA Campus Kids’ Days. Across the country, participating college coaches are selecting a team match that junior players in the local community are encouraged to attend. The atmosphere should be great – in addition to the tennis, there will be free food, refreshments, and activities with the team.
Below is a sampling of some of the upcoming locations that are close to the Northern Virginia area.
You can learn more about this program from the USTA.
Men’s Matches
| Date | Host | Opponent | Location | Contact |
|---|
| 2/6/10 11am | William & Mary | James Madison | Williamsburg, VA | Peter Daub |
| 2/14/10 1pm | Old Dominion | Richmond | Norfolk, VA | N. Fleishman |
| 3/28/10 2pm | UMBC | George Mason | Baltimore, MD | Rob Hubbard |
Women’s Matches
| Date | Host | Opponent | Location | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/14/10 Noon | Old Dominion | NC State | Norfolk, VA | N. Fleishman |
| 3/5/10 5pm | Virginia Tech | Louisville | Blacksburg, VA | T. Zawacki-Woods |
| 3/28/10 11am | UMBC | Albany | Baltimore, MD | Rob Hubbard |
| 4/3/10 Noon | Goucher | Drew | Towson, MD | Sally Baum |
It was great to see everyone earlier this week for our first pre-season strength and conditioning session on Tuesday.
I know that Coach Taylor said we would be lifting twice a week, but as it stands right now we will only be lifting once a week, on Tuesdays after school. There is a chance that we may expand the times but it will require availability of a tennis coach and space for the team in the room on another day/time.
These are the primary goals of our strength program:
- Build strength, core, balance, and explosiveness
- Develop and increase flexibility
- Improve muscle imbalance that comes from playing tennis
- “Prehab-ing” tennis trouble spots, like shoulders, knees, back, “tennis elbow,” etc.
At some point we would like to add some work-outs geared toward footwork, hand-eye coordination, and speed drills. This may however have to wait until our season begins.
About two weeks ago the Washington, DC area was hit by a snowstorm, dumping anywhere from 17 -23 inches of snow. While the kids celebrated an early Winter Break and a few ventured outside to brave the heavy snow and high winds a hardy group of individuals made it out to the Country Club of Fairfax’s tennis bubble to make sure it would “weather the storm.”
As you become more serious about your tennis the need to include some strength and conditioning increases. How much you do depends on your goals.
A few specific exercises now can help prevent future injuries due to overuse and muscle imbalances that develop overtime from playing tennis. “Prehab” is a relatively new term to me that encompasses these kind of exercises and points to the importance of them to keep you away from “rehab.”
A more comprehensive program will do the same but also improve your tennis through increased strength (hitting the ball) and speed (getting to the ball). Additional exercises can be used to improve hand-eye coordination that is very important in tennis.
As I have begun putting together a program for my teams I have found some good resources.
- USTA’s Health & Fitness
- Pisani Training: Who doesn’t Paul Pisani work with? Answer: It must be a short list. He works with a number of ATP and WTA tour players as well as many college tennis programs including Princeton, Pepperdine, George Washington, Virginia, and Oklahoma.
