tennis holidays

Mini tennis: get kids into the game!

2009-03-08T19:06:00.000+05:00

MINI TENNIS: GET KIDS INTO THE GAME

At the Gymkhana and the Rose Hill Club we have been very active with
the mini-tennis and getting kids from the age of 5 into the game.

We have the kids play with soft balls and in a small court. We either
set up a special net or we lower the real net.
One program that has been a great help is the PLAY AND STAY program
set up by the ITF.
The basics is that you make the game easier for the kids and make sure
they have fun!
Fun is the most important aspect for the kids, the main rule is never
explain any technical aspects, just have them running after the ball
and trying to hit it over the net.

We organize 3 mini-tennis tournaments a year, and the last one in
November 08 we had 250 participants.
Any kid can participate in a tournament if he can serve underarm in
the service box. Play the match to ten points and the whole tournament
over one day!

One advice for the coaches, as soon as you start having kids coming to
the tennis school get them interested by organizing a little
tournament and you will see the kids become hooked to the greatest
sport in the world!

MINI TENNIS: GET KIDS INTO THE GAME

tennis in mauritius

2008-06-14T21:46:00.001+04:00

I am very happy to present two new tennis schools now managed by
advantage tennis.
The schools are located at the rose hill club which is a club that
exists for more than a century. It has 8 clay courts and is located in
Rose Hill.
The other club is at the legendary gymkhana club founded 1844. The
gymkhana has 8 grass courts and 2 clay courts.
I am very excited by both projects and I am sure that we are on the
way to train the next mauritian champions.
In hotels the things are a bit slow these days since it is the low
season and that the sugarbeach is being renovated.
But when the sugarbeach opens on the 1st of August it is going to be
absolutely beautiful with the new spa, restaurants, gym, and of course
the 5 brand new synthetic grass courts.

see you soon on the courts

--
Kamil Patel
Managing Director
Kamil Sports Management ltd
+230 7289343
www.advantage.mu

Santa Shumilina: a rising star

2008-01-29T01:07:00.000+04:00

Santa Shunilina: a rising star

Last week I was very fortunate to have a few training sessions with 15 year old Santa Shumilina from Russia.

The fresh under 16’s champion of Russia was in Mauritius on holidays but she still came out and had a few practice sessions with me.

Santa has very good hands combined with simple and efficient technique. We had some beautiful rallies with over 50 hits at maximum speed.

She has the precious ability to take the ball early combined with a great physical resistance that enables her to be very consistent.

She also had a very sound technique on the volleys.

This girl has got a lot of qualities and she is on her way up to the top of the WTA rankings. She has one big thing to work on in order to get there fast: her serve.

As we saw with Maria Sharapova in Australia, a good serve makes a huge difference in big matches. Santa is tall, talented, intelligent and hard working. There is no reason why she cannot transform her serve into a weapon

The main problem she has on her serve is that she is trying to force it instead of focusing on rhythm and flexibility.

On her serves she has to check two things: her wrist has to be loose and her body has to be nicely balanced on her left foot.

As you can see on the picture of Tim Henman’s serve, Santa has to learn to snap her wrist. A loose wrist and good balance on the serve gives precision, speed, spin and power.

I would advise Santa to go out to the practice courts and hit a lot of serves thinking about being relaxed and focusing on precision. In a year from now, she should be able to hit topspin, slice and flat serves with the same ball toss so that the opponent cannot guess what is coming at her. This will help her win a lot of free points which is extremely precious when you are on your way up and facing new situations.

Good luck to you Santa!!

Santa Shumilina: a rising star

Kamil Patel

Managing Director

Kamil Sports Management Ltd.

Tel: +230 7289343

www.advantage.mu

Always stay positive

2008-01-06T22:27:00.001+04:00

Always stay positive

Like Mickael LLodra that has just won the Adelaide Open this afternoon, you must always stay positive.

Mickael Llodra decided a bit more than a year ago that he would concentrate more on singles than doubles. Mickael Llodra is a great doubles player and with Fabrice Santoro he won his first grand slams.

Unfortunately, the 2007 season didn’t turn out as he had wished and he finished the year with only 13 wins.

But where Mickael has been great is that he has stayed positive all the way through, sticking to his training routine and discipline of a top athlete. He has managed to conquer his nerves in Adelaide and he is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

In pursuing your tennis career always remember to stick to hard work, a healthy life style and a positive attitude. It will always pay off!!!

A lot of my clients at the sugar beach resort and la pirogue hotel can relate to that. They come to Mauritius to find peace, play tennis, live a healthy life in order to “feel new” again when they go back to their normal lives.

To find out more on how you can benefit from the healthy life style in Mauritius click on www.advantage.mu

Always stay positive

the key to a great two handed backhand: straighten your non dominant hand

2007-12-23T21:08:00.001+04:00

Straighten your non-dominant hand for a great backhand

A lot of the clients who come on tennis holidays to Mauritius complain about two things on their two handed backhand:

all the balls are going crosscourt
they are unable to generate power

Both of these problems can be very easily cured by straightening the non-dominant arm.

For a right hander, the non-dominant hand is the left hand. A right hander has to understand that left hand has to dominate on the two handed backhand. The right hand is only there to guide the racquet.

As you can see on the pictures of the David Nalbandian, his left arm stays straight all the way through the shot. The most important is for your left arm to straighten out and point towards your target after the contact. It is the only way to get power, precision and spin.

So when you are hitting your two handed backhand next time, think about straightening your non dominant arm out in frout.

Enjoy your game and see you soon in Mauritius

Straighten your non-dominant hand for a great backhand

Kamil Patel

Managing Director

Advantage tennis

+230 728 9343

www.advantage.mu

the contact point: the stepping stone to an attacking game

2007-12-17T21:24:00.000+04:00

The contact point: the stepping stone to an attacking game

Modern tennis is dominated by players with closed (semi-western or western) grips. This trend was started by clay court specialists like Guillermo Vilas back in the 70’s. Since the change to graphite and composite racquets, all the players with big forehands like Marc Rosset, Jim Courrier, Sergi Bruguera, Andre Agassi, Carlos Moya, Gustavo Kuerten, Albert Costa, and Roger Federer play with closed grips. The only exception to this rule is Pete Sampras!

Nowadays all top 10 players in the world play with a closed grip. You are only a couple of players in the top 100 who use an open (eastern or continental) grip.

The thing is that the semi-western and western grips enable the players to hit with more power and spin.

In the resorts in Mauritius where I work, a lot of players that come to see me forget one important point when they hit a closed grip forehand: your racquet face has to face the net at the point of impact. The common mistake is for the racquet face to stay closed. The result is a ball with no power that falls short or in the net…

Those same players come to see me and they ask me to teach them to attack.

The way to develop an attacking forehand is to have your racquet facing the net every time you make contact with the ball. The trick is to rotate your shoulders just before the point of impact so that your torso is also facing the net on contact. Just like Andy Roddick on the picture. This rotation will also add power and spin to your shot and you will deliver a high quality shot!

If your grip is extremely closed and you are still having trouble consider making corrections with the wrist so that you can get that racquet face at the right angle.

Enjoy and have fun on the court with your new forehand!!!

The contact point: the stepping stone to an attacking game

Become a tennis star: be dedicated and find a good coach

2007-11-24T09:15:00.000+04:00

Become a tennis star

I love November because it is the time of the year where all the ATP tour players take a break and go on holidays. Those who are not on holidays are involved in the Masters Cup and the Davis Cup finals.

So in November, I get the visit of friends I don’t see much any more since I have stopped touring and am now living in Mauritius.

So this year, Julien Benetteau, Nicolas Mahut and Paul-Henri Mathieu came down to Mauritius to relax, spend some time with their girlfriends, play golf with me and soak in a bit of sun before they go back to training for next season.

All three of them had great 2007 seasons, finishing at career high rankings. Paul-Henri Mathieu was in the top 20 for the first time!

I am very happy for them since they all deserve it!

I would like to take the time today to explain the success of a guy like Paul-Henri. Too many kids believe tennis is all about talent and that the top guys just get there because of talent.

Becoming a tennis pro is amazing hard work. If you are not dedicated and you are not ready to suffer everyday on the court and in the gym you are not going to get anywhere it is that simple. The top guys spend up to seven hours a day on the court and in the gym in order to improve constantly.

If you want to become a pro, I give you this advice: you will never make it if you don’t work very hard. But not only you must work hard, you must work right! You need a good coach to guide you and have you do the right drills at the right time. All players are different so their practices are different.

If I didn’t make it to the same level as Paul-Henri Mathieu it is not because I didn’t work hard. It is because I never had a good coach…

Good luck to you and I hope you make it!

Become a tennis star

Get into position for a great forehand

2007-11-04T22:18:00.000+04:00

tennis holidays

A common mistake that I have often noticed on the tennis court is that most players have trouble judging their distance to the ball thus hitting the ball too close or too far from their body. This means that their shot is of poor quality.If you have this same problem, next time you are on the court remember two things while setting up for the shot:

1. have the non-dominant hand on the throat of the racquet.
2. point your non-dominant hand towards the side fence.

Roger Federer illustrates this perfectly in the 2 pictures above.

This will help you find the right distance, as long as you get those quick feet moving!!!

tennis holidays

tennis holidays in Mauritius

2007-10-21T09:58:00.000+04:00

Welcome to My blog,

I will in try trough this to give you advice on improving your tennis.
We will have plenty of vey usefull tips for your serve, forehand, backhand, volleys, fitness and mental toughness. As well as usfull tips for your holidays in Mauritius.

Don't forget to check out the website http://www.advantage.mu/

Cheers

Kamil