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MOORE'S MILL

T E N N I S   A C A D E M Y

OCTOBER
NEWSLETTER

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Academy Family,

 

September was a hit! I felt like it was our most effective training month to date. All three academy classes put in the work and their efforts translated to real growth on the courts. We are striking the ball the best we ever have. Several of the 100's are nearing the 200 threshold, several of the 200's are nearing the 300 threshold. We added four more trophies from two events, two first place finishes and two second place finishes. It feels like a culture of winning is truly beginning to set in, and we're all here for it! Below are some tournament updates AND some answers to a couple of common questions we get out at the courts, enjoy! October will be much of the same, we have two tournaments the 200 & 300 academy classes will be attending, wish us luck! As always, thanks for being a part of MMTA!

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Kindly,

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Coach Taylor

Image by Mario Gogh

MY CHILD IS CURRENTLY 100 LEVEL, BUT WANTS TO BE 200 LEVEL, WHAT CAN WE DO?

We get it, the fun really begins in the 200. Once at the 200 Level we really encourage tournament play, but until then it's just training, and though we do our best to make training fun, there's something special about actually playing the sport inside of a sanctioned event. This is why we highly encourage all 100 level players to come and experience our in-house tournaments (next one is December 10th - 11th). Tournaments provide a great opportunity for students to see the 200 and 300 level in action and hopefully provide some insight as to what the expectation is for graduation. If your child is 100 Level and eager to reach the 200 threshold, there is no substitute for time on the courts. It is truly as simple as that. They have to put in the time to develop the skills needed to graduate. The unfortunate truth is, merely attending academy, in most cases, will not graduate your student on the timeline they are probably hoping for. This is the case, because academy 200 trains an additional 8 hours each month; moreover, currently 75% of those in 200/300 are doing a Group Private Lesson (GPL) and/or Solo Private Lesson. This is also in conjunction to tournament play 15+ weekends out of the year. In short, those 100 level students who seek to graduate will need to put in additional hours outside of their academy practice to curtail the training gap. The two quickest solutions are to join the 100 Group Private Lesson on Mondays from 4:00 - 5:00pm and/or solo private lessons. Remember, you can also set up your own GPL, we just ask that you have at least 4 participants. I hope this provides clarity regarding the current state of graduation from 100 to 200.

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200 Threshold - The ability to rally a yellow tennis ball with ease from the baseline 4-5 times, and serve the ball in majority of the time with decent technique.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I GET MY RACKET RESTRUNG?

You'll get a lot of different answers for this one, but the best answer I've ever heard is, "it depends." Strings use to "pop" quite often back in the day, so there wasn't a lot of discussion on the topic, it was ,"you get them restrung when they break." However today, polyester strings are often preferred for their power and yes, durability. So, what does it depend on? I believe the biggest variable here is your skill level. The best players need to get their strings restrung more regularly and here's why:

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Proper form puts a ton of pressure on the string-bed, thus causing the strings to lose their tension at a much faster rate. Good form produces loose strings.

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Perhaps, the next most important variable is time on the court, and this of course makes sense, no matter how good your form or not, if you play a lot of tennis, the strings are still taking a beating. 

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The last variable that plays a role is the kind of string you are using. In short, there are two types of strings, multifilaments and polyesters. Multis are just that, multiple layers of fibers that give the racket a great deal of feel, but dependent upon the gauge (the thickness of the string) may only last a few hours of play before they need to be restrung or break. I use to play with an 18 gauge  (a very thin string)  multi and I averaged about 6-8 hours of play before it would break. This obviously wasn't ideal, so when polyester strings hit the market, typically doubling the play time, that was a game changer. We have a few multis in stock here at Moore's Mill, but we typically string rackets with Polyesters, primarily because of their durability. If you're stringing with a polyester this will extend your string-bed life expectancy.

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With the above in mind, my advice is, all 200/300 players should get their rackets restrung every 6 to 8 weeks roughly. This is still the case if a player has two or more rackets. There's really two philosophies here. First, alternate which racket is getting strung, so you always have a "tight one" and a "loose one." This comes in handy when a match scenario is, "I can't get enough on the ball" opt for the looser racket, or "I can't put a ball in the court" opt for the tighter racket. The second option is getting the rackets restrung at the same time, and balancing out your play with the rackets to extend each racket's play time. I tend to preference this approach because I feel like I have a better grasp of the tightness/looseness of my rackets, and if a racket breaks in a match I know I have a very similarly strung racket in my bag.

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I hope this provides some insight as to how often you should get your rackets restrung.

Image by Prashant Gurung

TOURNAMNET
SCHEDULE
UPDATES

I had planned and hoped for us to go on our first travel tournament as an academy this fall to Greystone Country Club in Birmingham November 5th & 6th, but my gut is telling me we need to wait until 2023. I know the students will be sad, but the good news is, one day soon, we will be traveling to an event as an academy and its going to be awesome! Since we are not attending Greystone, we have added Wynlakes to the schedule, another great tournament! Our next event however is the Opelika Fall Championships in just two weeks! See below for the conclusion of the 2022 Tournament schedule, let's finish in big fashion!

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Image by Hermes Rivera

42
TROPHIES YTD

GROUP
PRIVATE
LESSONS

No one became great at anything doing it merely twice a week. In an effort to provide another opportunity for students to get on the court, we are again offering Group Private Lessons (GPLs) this fall.

 

100 Group Private Lesson (100’s only) Mondays from 4:00-5:00pm

 

200 Group Private Lesson (200’s only) Wednesdays 4:30-5:30pm (followed by match play)

 

300 Group Private Lesson (300’s only) Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30pm (followed by match play)

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Depending upon demand and coach availability, we may add additional GPL’s to the schedule. You can also facilitate your own GPL; we do ask that each GPL have a minimum of 4 participates.

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