CityTennis
For those who play tennis in San Francisco
There are over 150 public tennis courts scattered throughout San Francisco. In addition there are courts available at 2 local colleges, City College of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University, has courts available to the public.
There are 4 public tennis clubs open to the public at modest rates.
Golden Gate Tennis Club is one of the oldest public clubs in the United States. Gay and Lesbian Tennis Federation is one of the largest gay and lesbian tennis clubs in the world. After Work Tennis Club is a singles professional tennis club. Golden Gate Sport and Social Club hosts tennis leagues. These clubs are open to the public and at a low cost. I would highly recommend making these the first choice in finding a partner, league or playing opportunities. There is also a public tennis clubs in South San Francisco.
There are 4 private tennis clubs in San Francisco. Western Athletic Clubs has 3 private tennis clubs (SF Tennis Club, Golden Gateway and Bay Club) in San Francisco. California Tennis Club has 10 courts, Olympic club has 6 hard courts and 2 clay courts. Lake Merced Country Club has 4 tennis courts. All of these facilities are private and require memberships to use their facilities. Contact John Cervantes for more information and recommendations regarding the various tennis clubs, league play and especially if you need a partner
VISITORS to San Francisco
If you are visiting our city and looking for a tennis game contact John Cervantes and he will attempt to find you a partner or game during your stay in the city. There is no charge for this service.
GOLDEN GATE TENNIS CLUB
CLUB DAY AUGUST 21
Third Golden Gate Tennis Club Club Day is on August 21st from 9am to3pm. There are still a few spaces left. So, clear you calendar, sign up andcome out to have for a fun day!
The venue for the day as follows:
TimeEvent
8:40- 9:00Registration
#19:00-11:00Double Round Robin
11:30-1:00Lunch – Club House
#211:15-12:45Single Challenge
#31:00-3:00Double Round Robin
Please let RAYM MU know which event do you want to sign up.
Adult Leagues
The biggest NorCal championship event of the year is coming up August 13-15. The Adult League District Championships will be contested all on one weekend for the first time ever at 4 sites, Alameda, Folsom, Napa and Sunnyvale. Click here for site assignments and schedules.
The Fifty Mixed and Combo Doubles league seasons have just begun. Don't miss any of the action! Find your team here and join today.
2011 Senior League team registration is now open through August 8th. Captains, it's time to get your players together (age 50 and over) and register a 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 or 4.5 level team. Register now!
Early start ratings have been published for our 2011 Senior League. Players whose ratings are now lower should click here for information about playing in the coming Senior League.
COURTESY OF BOB LARSON’S TENNIS NEWS
Nike to Sponsor John McEnroe Tennis Academy
Nike has agreed to become the first official corporate partner of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, which will open in mid-September at the new $19 Million Sportime at Randall’s Island in New York City. Nike will be the official athletic apparel and sneaker for the students and staff of the Academy. The partnership is for a minimum of five years.
Rather than the tennis-only approach favored by residential academies, the McEnroe Academy concept will advocate life balance to the developing elite player. Students who are selected to the program will almost always attend conventional school and will train at the Academy before and after school hours and on weekends. The Academy will offer tennis and related fitness training, as well as academic support. Most students will live full-time in the New York metro area. Scholarship recipients may receive group and private lessons, fitness, performance and cross training, as well as equipment and apparel. The Academy will also provide match play, tournament travel and coaching for its elite team.
McEnroe will personally supervise two tryouts in July open to boys and girls under 16 years old who are interested in attending the McEnroe Academy when it opens in September. One boy and one girl will be selected by McEnroe to be awarded a full-year scholarship to the Academy. The tryouts will be held on July 14 for boys and on July 19 for girls, beginning at 8:30 am each day. Those attending the tryouts and making the initial cut will also be invited to watch McEnroe’s New York Sportimes World TeamTennis team play that evening.
USTA NorCal and Chamisal Tennis & Fitness Club are thrilled to be a part of the US Open National Playoffs. Anyone 14 years of age or older can enter our Sectional Qualifying Tournament, May 17-23, for the chance to make it to the US Open. Registration closes May 1.
If you'd rather rather watch great tennis, come to Chamisal and the Carmel Valley. They have a great weekend of tennis and activities planned for everyone! See you at the Open! More Information.
USTA NorCal All League Calendar 2010
We recommend Bob Larson’s Tennis News as the best source of tennis related news and you can sign up for numerous updates.
COURTESY OF BOB LARSON’S TENNIS
Todays Tennis Tip
Todays tip is provided by Tom Veneziano. To learn more about Tom, go to: www.tenniswarrior.com. To reach him by email: tom@tenniswarrior.com.
The other day I watched one of my students play a match. Her name is Julie and she is nice 4.5 player. After she finished we did a little analysis. Her comments were, "I was nervous, I played poorly, I made a lot of simple mistakes!" My comments were, "I thought you handled everything well. I liked the way you played." Interesting isn't it, two people with completely opposite views of what occurred. Obviously we must have been focused on two different sets of principles.
For most tennis players their analysis is focused solely on the physical game. If everything physical goes well, they played fine, but if everything does not go well, they played poorly.
Yes, you will be nervous and make mistakes. Yes, you will play poorly from time to time. And yes you will make simple mistakes. Do you think these ingredients are not part of winning? Do you think winning is about doing everything correctly? Do you think winning is about your playing the game you think you are capable of playing? If you do, it is time to change your thinking and spend a little more time in what I call the Mental Toughness Sphere.
What I saw in Julie's match was a player that was nervous, but slowly working herself out of the nervousness. What I saw was a player making mistakes here and there, but forgetting them and moving on. What I saw was a player who was trying to stay in the Mental Toughness Sphere and develop some mental toughness, win, lose, or draw. Julie won in a third set tiebreaker, but even if she lost, for the most part she was thinking well. This can only serve to her advantage in future matches. The next time you play do not focus on the physical negatives, mistakes, and failures. Instead, focus on thinking correctly to handle whatever comes your way in the match.
*You must eliminate from your mind the notion that to win you are supposed to play according to some standard that you have set.
IMPORTANT!
* You must eliminate from your mind the notion that to win you are supposed to play according to some standard that you have set.
The best definition I have found that explains this whole concept in one sentence is from an excellent book titled, Tournament Tough by Carlos Goffi. Carlos says, "Tournament toughness is that mental resilience and flexibility that separate champions from the pack, allowing them to win against opponents who are technically more skillful and physically more powerful, even when they are playing poorly themselves."
Hmm, no sign of perfect play in that phrase! Yes, you too can think this way, but it will take some conscious effort on your part. Learning to win even when you are playing poorly will require objectivity in the face of adversity. To begin you must not focus too much on your physical failures, but place a higher premium on thinking correctly in your matches, win, lose, or draw.
You Produce What You Fear
Mary Pat Faley is an tennis author, speaker and consultant. A USTPTA teaching professional at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center, she recently published Winning in Tennis and Life which can be purchased by going to the website: www.winningintennisandlife.com.
FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real or Forget Everything And Run
Fear creates a magnitude of feelings in your body. Our bodies are geared to freeze and stop breathing when we experience fear. Think of the expression, You look like a deer caught in the headlights.
When youre playing tennis, and you think to yourself as youre getting ready to serve, Dont double fault. Dont double fault. You know what will happen yes you will double fault.
Fear creates a feeling of low self-worth and low self-esteem. Fear can make us feel bad about ourselves, where we actually berate ourselves for making a bad shot.
Focus on what you want to happen, not on what you fear might.
Ask Dr. Heller
Dr. Robert Heller is the author of the mental conditioning CD-ROM, TENNISMIND and provides mental coaching to individuals at all levels and ages in person and via the telephone. For more information visit: www.robertheller.net .
Dear Dr. Heller: How do I keep myself from getting distracted during a match?
Answer: Since a tennis match can last several hours, its virtually impossible to keep you mind distraction free for the entire time. Its important that you dont give yourself a hard time about it. Just recognize when your mind is wandering and gently steer yourself back to the present moment. Next, make a list of the things that distract you. Some distractions are external like the noise or movement of the crowd or an opponent poaching or faking a poach in doubles while other are internal such as being preoccupied with the last point, worrying about the score or thinking about where you will eat lunch later.
Depending on the source of your distractions, there are different strategies you could practice. Off court training might include meditating to train your mind to stay in the present moment for longer periods of time. On court strategies might include focusing on the strings of your racket between points or intentionally training on the court nearest the clubhouse to expose yourself to the noise and visual distractions you are likely to encounter in matches. By getting used to distractions you can play through them without hurting your performance.
Send your questions to Dr.Heller at info@robertheller.net.
Travel Tip
Three service guarantees you should have on a tennis vacation
By Dave Kensler
Tennis vacations can range from the hundreds to thousands of dollars in expenses and that is not even including the tennis. It adds up quickly -- airfares or driving in your own car, rooms and meals. . . . to say nothing of the time spent planning the trip.
Once you arrive at your destination, it is the tennis portion of the trip which at the very least needs to shine. Unfortunately, far too often guests are told, I am sorry, we had to cancel the morning clinic because not enough people signed up for it! Ouch!
Therefore, in your trip planning phase, you should inquire with the tennis professionals or shop staff as to their policies on three important service issues.
1. Cancellation policy for clinics. Not when you have to cancel (although that is important to know too as you can be charged if you cancel on short notice.) but rather do they require a minimum number of signups or the clinic will be canceled? Personally, I have never understood why clinics would be canceled at al. The teaching professionals are already scheduled to run the clinic and cancelling is essentially blaming the guests for the lack of signups.
2. What if the student is on time for the instruction but the teaching professional is late? Despite the fact many teaching professionals assume they can extend the instruction time equivalent to how late it began (thus of course starting the following instruction late too), this approach can frequently cause problems at a resort location. For example, what if a guest has a lesson scheduled from 11 am to 12 noon followed by a massage at 12:15 pm or a family lunch reservation? If you arrive late it is safe to assume, depending on the teaching professionals schedule, you may or may not receive the full scheduled time. However, it is good to know what the options are if the teaching professional is late.
3. The instructor to student ratio for clinics. A tennis court and the accompanying rules of the game were designed for a maximum of four people to play at a time. Of course there are many exciting drills which can be done with more than four people on a tennis court or even a doubles clinic with five people still works well. Clinic themes may allow some flexibility in a optimum one to four instructor to student ratio but what you are checking is to make sure a groundstroke clinic is not eight people on a court; hitting one shot on a ball machine and then going to the end of the line. Because under that format most of your clinic time will be spent watching seven people hit their shots.
Fortunately, Peter Burwash International (PBI) has company service standards in all of these three areas. We do not cancel clinics. If your lesson or clinic begins late you receive the instruction for free. We always try to keep a one to four instructor to student ratio whenever possible or practical (See above comment about five people in a doubles clinic as one example / exception).
However, as good as PBI Professionals are, they cannot control the weather, and I know because I have seen it happen firsthand: There is nothing worse than a tennis vacation accompanied by a this never happens week of rain!
Please visit www.pbitennis.com for more information on tennis vacation destinations.
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