Lawn Tennis Summer Clinic 2018 - Dream Come True - Learned A Lot

Finally A Dream Came True - Finished 10 Days Tennis Clinic!

I been dreaming of learning how to play Lawn Tennis but because of fear and ashame to try before when I am still at younger age due to being shy characteristics I was unable to play.

When I was at younger age we used to go with my father and watched him playing tennis but never attempted to play and I regret those times because of having not eager to play it. Now at early 30's I am attracted to play this sport and really enjoyed watching people playing Tennis.

Well, I believed its never too late to start playing this sport so together with my wife and colleague we decided to practice this sport. My very supportive father & sister gave us their rackets for us to use for practicing, i'm using my father's wilson brand racket who originally from U.S.A it was his friend's gift before while my wife @gecellbeltran used my supportive sister @junebride's racket which is a Prince brand.

This racket is much bigger & heavier compared to my co trainees and other players whom I used to be my opponents.

What We Learn From 10 Days Tennis Clinic?

Here is a video footage we recorded at the training session, in the video together with wifey @gecellbeltran were doing a couple of forehand and backhand stroke alternately with side step. It's not easy for beginners like us but we did it very well, one of the biggest challenged on this training session is that we don't have enough stamina to continue striking the ball our cardio is not enough we really felt so tired.

Things We Learned From Tennis Clinic:

1. Proper Positioning - One most important thing when playing lawn tennis is the positioning, a proper position of the body, from hand grip, rocket position, legs & body position because it's hard to hit the ball if you're not doing the proper positioning of the body.

According to our coach it is more important to know first the proper positioning of the body not the force, it is the foundation before inserting any force when striking the ball.

Below is a video footage of @gecellbeltran aiming hitting the ball perfectly thru proper body positioning, she finally learned how to do it I am happy to see her hitting the ball correctly not like the past days we played the ball fly super high outside the tennis court all the time because of no proper body posistioning.

2. Forehand Stroke - Thank God! The 10 days training is super worth it because we learned how to strike using a forehand stroke correctly.

Well, the are different types of grip!

There are various grips for executing the forehand and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the Continental, the Eastern, and the Western. The key differences between grips are the different angles they create between the angle of your palm and the angle of your racquet face.

3. Backhand Stroke - Of course one of the most important stroke is the backhand stroke.

The backhand is struck from the non-dominant side of the body by bringing the racquet across the body (showing the back of your hand to the opponent) and swinging the racquet away from one's body in the direction of where the player wants the ball to go. It is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. It can be executed with either one or both hands.

Wifey is using a two handed backhand stroke because it is recommended for women due to strength differences compared to us men while i'm practicing the one hand backhand stroke.

4. The Volley - This move can kill the game so it is very important to master the volley it can make player win the game.

A volley is made in the air before the ball bounces, generally near the net or inside of the service line. Volleys consist of the forehand volley and backhand volley and are usually made with a stiff-wristed "punching" motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent's court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net. From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court to either enable the lobber (the player hitting the lob) to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent's head

5. The Smash - I love this killer strike! A smash in tennis is a shot that is hit above the hitter's head with a serve-like motion.

It is also referred to as an overhead. A smash can usually be hit with a high amount of force and is often a shot that ends the point. Most smashes are hit fairly near the net or in mid-court before the ball bounces, generally against lobs that have not been hit high enough or deep enough by the opponent. A player can also smash a very high ball from the baseline, generally on the bounce, although this is often a less forceful smash.

6. The Serve - First thing in playing tennis is the serve to start the game.

A serve (or, more formally, a service) in tennis is a shot to begin the point. The most common serve is used is an overhead serve. It is initiated by tossing the ball into the air over the server's head and hitting it when the arm is fully stretched out (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The server may employ different types of serve: a flat, a top-spin, an American twist (or kick), or a slice serve.

Those are the 6 basic of lawn tennis we learned from this 10 days Tennis Clinic held at Garcia Hernandez Lawn Tennis Association (GHELTA) Bohol Philippines.

"Learning the basic is the foundation of playing tennis"

Shoutout to our kind coaches / Trainors Mr. Joseph Estroga & Mr. Reynaldo Alipoyo from Cagayan De Oro City who taught us the proper way and the basics of playing Lawn Tennis and for the organizer of this Summer Clinic Garcia Hernandez Town Councilor Mr. Edwin Baja.

From left coach Joseph Estroga, @gecellbeltran, coach Reynaldo Alipoyo, yours truly @jjeeppeerrxx143 and Councilor Edwin Baja. Photo of us receiving the certificate of completion!