Just starting out

Hi everyone,

My GF and I have just began to play tennis. Neither of us have ever played before. I was curious what you all did in the beginning. Is it better to play a little while THEN go to a camp or some type of training? I know there is a tennis camp year round here in Lafayette where I live. What type of dollar amount should I expect to be reasonable for beginner lessons? Just curious about the best way to approach this? Any adive appreciated.

Scott Durand

[BSousa]

Hi Scott

I only started taking lessons a few months after I started playing with friends. It may be a good idea to get a feel of the racquet a bit before lessons or you will spend the first 100 bucks on basic stuff like grips and stuff you can learn by yourself with the help of a good book or the internet. But if you have the chance and money, you will probably learn much quicker if you have a coach.


Also, you can check out About beginners section : http://tennis.about.com/od/beginners/


Bruno

[Camilio Pascual]

One of the best things you can do is to start training and getting into shape. I suggest swimming, sprinting with bikes, and weight training with an emphasis on injury prevention and keeping flexibility. Don't overdo jogging/running and don't lift very heavy weights.

[dozu]

just hack around for a while and see if you guys are really into this. lot of times people get all excited about something and 2 weeks later the rackets are collecting dust.

tennis is a fun game for the life time, but it can be a frustrating game to master.

I started hacking 15 years ago and today I am still improving, there is too much to learn. Unlike for somegames, you hit a plateau fairly early (like basket ball, table tennis, soccer)... I think I hit my plateau in those games about 5 years into playing it.

If you find out you are going to be serious, I'd rather spend the money on a ball machine. You can get all the coaching on these boards, from the usual suspects here, better than 90% of the live coaches out there. I have seen those coaches leading a bunch of soccer moms on a weekday morning and I can beat those people 6-1 6-1.

A ball machine feed you balls in a way that you can really groove the strokes. A poor man's ball machine would be a wall, but since the trajectory is very different from playing on court, I'd caution beginners from using a wall extensively.

[Rickson]

Just have fun with it and don't think of the technical aspects in the beginning. You'll learn all the proper strokes in time, but for now, keep hacking away and if you like it, start adjusting your swing and become the next Federer.