Just wrapping up another night of tennis at our weekly Adaptive Athletics wheelchair tennis clinics at the Gold River Sports Club. Could hardly ask for better conditions with temps in the high 70s and a light breeze. Hats off to our weekly stalwarts Phil Peabody and Mark Mason who joined me for our session. We enjoyed a light warm up with Mark just who has just started playing wheelchair tennis and Phil a solid veteran A player. To help everyone feel like they were getting what they needed out of this evening practice, I backed up Mark and let Phil play the entire evening on his own side.
This is a great technique for playing inclusive tennis with multiple levels of players. Phil was able to work on his control, pushing and reaction time on different styles of balls. He’d play hard, medium and easy shots to Mark and could work on the heavier paced shots and returns when hitting to me. I’d in turn push Phil from side to side and provide laser returns that forced him to volley or stretch to the limits of his capabilities with a range from lobs to lasers and just solid smart tennis shots.
We rounded out the session with a set of match play Mark and I playing doubles against Phil in a singles court. The set went to 5-7 in favor of Mr. Peabody and all had a good time.
Looking forward to next week!