How to better introduce and retain recreational adult tennis players in tennis… the best sport for life, general health and fitness

Authors

  • Dave Miley

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52383/itfcoaching.v25i72.287

Keywords:

Adult, tennis, participation, slower Balls, competition, ratings, Canada

Abstract

This article outlines ways to effectively introduce and retain starter/recreational players in tennis. It outlines the scientifically proven health benefits of tennis and shows how the use of the slower balls to introduce starter adult players to the game will ensure that they can more easily rally successfully and have a beneficial workout akin to interval training as per the research presented. It states that because of the slower balls, it is now easier for coaches to adopt the game based approach methodology to introduce starter adults within an active and dynamic teaching environment. The article differentiates between “tennis competition” and “tennis play” and emphasises the importance for clubs and tennis venues to use ratings and userfriendly formats and scoring to effectively organise social “tennis play” for the recreational players and suggests that this could be positioned as a new global follow up programme to Tennis Xpress. By focusing on the concepts outlined, this can help coaches and tennis venues to retain more adult players in tennis by providing a successful, fun and positive start to the sport and by providing motivation for recreational players to continue playing and trying to improve their level.

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References

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Published

2017-08-31

How to Cite

Miley, D. (2017). How to better introduce and retain recreational adult tennis players in tennis… the best sport for life, general health and fitness. ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review, 25(72), 33–36. https://doi.org/10.52383/itfcoaching.v25i72.287

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