Tower and Town, July 2024 (view the full edition)CoachingNeil Watts is the Head Coach for the club and Elliott Kami his assistant coach. Coaching should be from 'the cradle to the grave' according to Neil, who has children as young as 4 and members as old as 80 on his programmes. "People often think that tennis is elitist and they may not be good enough to play or be in a coached session. I say tennis should be for everyone, for all, any standard. Just ask and we will recommend a class for you". Along with established juniors coaching, which is split by age group and takes place after school and on Saturday mornings, there are plenty of adult sessions. The most popular class for adults is HITFIT, Marlborough's answer to cardio tennis. Fast paced, with music, it's designed for people to hit a lot of balls, cover a lot of ground and gets those steps in. The perfect way to kick off Thursday morning. At the other end of the spectrum is Walking Tennis, trialled in April with some free taster sessions, it now has a regular schedule. Great for the less active but still competitive, the game is slowed down, featuring two bounces and an underarm serve. It keeps people involved for longer, while also enjoying the social side of being part of a tennis community. And tennis players tend to live longer, so they can enjoy the sport longer! The teen groups for 12 to 14 year olds are consistently popular, and three of the 16/17 year old youngsters Oliver, Lottie and Cristabel recently trained for their Level 1 Coaching qualification. Neil is a performance coach, training county players and Men's County Captain, in which role he was awarded Team of the Year, by the LTA for successfully taking the team to promotion two summers in a row. Both Neil and Elliott also take private lessons at the courts. You don't have to be a member of the club to have coaching. Adult classes can be booked online, with members receiving a discounted rate. For children's coaching Neil prefers an email, text or phone call in the first instance, to discuss which class might be the best fit. But the summer is all about holiday camps! Check out the website for dates starting at the end of July. Great for the kids and the grandchildren, they are always popular, with up to 500 spaces being taken over all holidays across the year. |