Tennis in the Winter

[Jolly Reaper]

I've been playing tennis for a little while, and I really like it a lot. In the summer and spring I play it every chance I get, but where I live it's about 60% winter throughout the year, and in the spring and fall it rains a lot.

I only know of one indoor court that's even relatively close, and that's pretty close to an hour away, and it's expensive. I have a lot of stuff going on with schoolwork so I can't afford the coming and going time.

I was wondering if there was anything that I could do to keep up my tennis in the winter?

 

[PM_]

Yes:

1. Find a wall somewhere and hit against it.
2. Shadow tennis-especially your serve motion.
3. Watch plenty on the tube!

 

[Jolly Reaper]

Oh, thank you! I'll definitely have to think of a clear wall...that'll take awhile, but I'm sure I'll find one.

I never thought of shadow tennis. ^ ^ That'll be fun.

I love watching the tube! *lol* Well, I got that one down with the Aus Open.

 

[PM_]

The only other thing I can think of is to improve your hand-eye coordination as much as possible-just doing anything. Maybe some table tennis.
Besides, and maybe working out (shoulder, arms, wrists), there's not much else.

 

[arnz]

Yes the wall is great, but you have to make it interesting. There are threads for various drills that you can do.

I'm a firm believer in the wall. Most of the time I get to play only once a week, sometimes even less, but its amazing how hitting against the wall really helps me out, and the things that I've worked on show up in a game.

Just finished a 2 hour session against the wall this AM in fact.

 

[dmastous]

The wall is fine when you can't find a hitting partner, but Winter brings snow and cold and other nasty type weather. That doesn't allow for much wall work. Shadow tennis is a good idea. Working on perfecting your strokes as muscle memory rather than something you have to think about is worth the effort.
But, Winter tennis up here in the c-c-c-c (well not too cold, but very snowy) northeast is very expensive as the only indoor courts are owned by clubs who charge $20-$30/hour.

 

[kevhen]

One winter, I went out on the days when it was nice enough and not snow on the courts and practiced serves even though the nets were down and just tried to hit the ball close to the opposite service court line. I was able to go out about once every couple of weeks. With global warming the outdoor tennis season should grow longer.

Ping pong or maybe racquetball might be a good substitute for developing hand-eye coordination. Racquetball can mess your tennis game up though by overhitting, but I doubt ping pong would be in any way bad.

 

[Jolly Reaper]

Oh sweet, these are great ideas. There's a raquetball place in my town, but I'll be careful about the overhitting thing, and I love pingpong so that's great.

I did think for awhile about where I would find a wall inside, but I couldn't think of anything. There must be one someplace I can use though, so I'll look up drills for that soon until I find a wall. The shadow tennis with my serve I'll do.

Working out my shoulders and arms sounds great too, since I'm in gym class for the rest of the semester. We'll be going in the weightroom 2 out of 5 days, so that'll work great.

Thanks so much all. ^ ^ I'll still take suggestions if anyone thinks of anything, of course.

 

[PM_]

A great place to find good walls is underground parking garages

 

[Jolly Reaper]

That's a great idea, about the parking garages, but we don't really have that in my town. But I'll keep that in mind and think of similar places!

 

[lookitstrevor]

I prefer winter play, since I won't sweat a lot.

 

[kevhen]

You could probably hit tennis balls in the racquetball court too. You won't have to chase them very far.

 

[Jolly Reaper]

You could probably hit tennis balls in the racquetball court too. You won't have to chase them very far.

That's actually an awesome idea. Then I could just keep going without having to stop and collect the balls. I just hope that they'd let me hit tennis balls in there.

I prefer winter play, since I won't sweat a lot.

Wait...then do you play out in the snow then?

 

[JackRabbit]

I LOVE playing in the winter. Find a wall, and practice your volleys on it (or swinging volleys). There is an added incentive not to miss the ball if the ground is wet. Also, if there is snow out, it is a great time to practice footwork. The added resistance makes you feel light as a feather when you are in the "normal" courts. I guarantee this will increase your footspeed and reflexes by at least three times.

 

[Jolly Reaper]

Oh wow, I guess I never thought of it like that. I always thought, "Snow bad for tennis" but I see exactly what you mean. My footwork will definitely be better since I'll have to adjust from slippery court to regular, and with all the snow gear on I'll feel so great moving around.:mrgreen: Whoa!

 

[x Southpaw x]

I did the wall thingy... my hands were freezing by the time I was done =X

 

[vin]

I've used a racquetball court as a tennis wall quite a bit this winter and like it a lot. It's not optimal because there's not that much room and the gym type floor is very fast, but it's certainly sufficient. I even prefer the privacy aspect of it.

I was worried that the fast floor would effect my timing in a similar way to switching between hard court and clay but it hasn't.

I've also used the wall of a basketball court which is nice because you have more room, but it's not as easy to find an empty gym as it is to find an open racquetball court.

 

[TennisAsAlways]

Yes:

1. Find a wall somewhere and hit against it.
2. Shadow tennis-especially your serve motion.
3. Watch plenty on the tube!

PM, did you mean any plain old wall or did you mean a tennis wall? Just curious...I haven't seen anyone use a random wall before, except in the privacy of their house/garage.

I guess you have to really be serious and not care about your image in order to be hitting the ball on the side a random building out in public.

 

[TennisAsAlways]

The wall is fine when you can't find a hitting partner, but Winter brings snow and cold and other nasty type weather. That doesn't allow for much wall work. Shadow tennis is a good idea. Working on perfecting your strokes as muscle memory rather than something you have to think about is worth the effort.
But, Winter tennis up here in the c-c-c-c (well not too cold, but very snowy) northeast is very expensive as the only indoor courts are owned by clubs who charge $20-$30/hour.

Hey Dmastous, I haven'2looked into it but I wonder if there are colleges around here that have indoor courts. Harvard's Nike tennis camp area maybe?

 

[TennisAsAlways]

One winter, I went out on the days when it was nice enough and not snow on the courts and practiced serves even though the nets were down and just tried to hit the ball close to the opposite service court line. I was able to go out about once every couple of weeks. With global warming the outdoor tennis season should grow longer.

Ping pong or maybe racquetball might be a good substitute for developing hand-eye coordination. Racquetball can mess your tennis game up though by overhitting, but I doubt ping pong would be in any way bad.

About the net, they do the same thing at the local HS where I live as well. I have thought about buying my own net but I'm not too sure if it's worth it to cough up $150-$200 just to have a net in the winter. I am looking for clubs.

 

[TennisAsAlways]

A great place to find good walls is underground parking garages

Good idea. I'm sure security guards or cops will pay you a visit when they make their rounds though. I guess if you're truly an avid player then things like that aren't really a big deal. I can imagine the looks on the faces of employees coming off from work staring at you playing in the garage. LMAO

 

[TennisAsAlways]

Oh wow, I guess I never thought of it like that. I always thought, "Snow bad for tennis" but I see exactly what you mean. My footwork will definitely be better since I'll have to adjust from slippery court to regular, and with all the snow gear on I'll feel so great moving around.:mrgreen: Whoa!

Yeah, I practice outside during the winter. People think I'm nuts. I don't care though. I see people running the track all the time anyways and so I think to myself at least what I'm doing is a lot more fun and less monotonous.

 

[dmastous]

About the net, they do the same thing at the local HS where I live as well. I have thought about buying my own net but I'm not too sure if it's worth it to cough up $150-$200 just to have a net in the winter. I am looking for clubs.

I had a long discussion with a club owner type a few months ago. This particular club has not interest in new members as it's impacted. 95% booked. That's not the case for many clubs, but that's not really the point. The point is it's 95% booked and still not making much money. The problem is their heating and electricity bill went up 79% this year. They said having all this empty space, meaning a tennis court with ONLY up to 4 paying participants, just doesn't make sense. They could put a pool or a weight room in that space and make more money. I don't see this as good for the possibility of new clubs springing up, or the price of clubs coming down.

 

[Jolly Reaper]

I've used a racquetball court as a tennis wall quite a bit this winter and like it a lot. It's not optimal because there's not that much room and the gym type floor is very fast, but it's certainly sufficient. I even prefer the privacy aspect of it.

I was worried that the fast floor would effect my timing in a similar way to switching between hard court and clay but it hasn't.

I've also used the wall of a basketball court which is nice because you have more room, but it's not as easy to find an empty gym as it is to find an open racquetball court.

Oh, that sounds good, especially about the privacy part. ^ ^

I guess I didn't think about the change from the fast floor to a regular tennis court and all, but it's good to hear that it doesn't affect the play.

Wow, that'd be so nice to find an open gym, but like you said it's so hard to find that.

PM, did you mean any plain old wall or did you mean a tennis wall? Just curious...I haven't seen anyone use a random wall before, except in the privacy of their house/garage.

I guess you have to really be serious and not care about your image in order to be hitting the ball on the side a random building out in public.

I figure just any wall will do. I mean, if hitting against a random wall in a parking garage gets me where I want, and lets me play in the winter, then it's worth it.

 

[Sennin]

I guess I should consider myself lucky then. My college here in Queens, NY takes down the nets and locks the courts during winter, but there is a handball court right across the street from my apartment. Except for the rough ground it's almost ideal for hitting against a wall--private,fenced in, relatively small, and the wall is almost impossible to hit over unless it's a major mis-hit. Are there any handball courts in your area?

 

[Jolly Reaper]

I guess I should consider myself lucky then. My college here in Queens, NY takes down the nets and locks the courts during winter, but there is a handball court right across the street from my apartment. Except for the rough ground it's almost ideal for hitting against a wall--private,fenced in, relatively small, and the wall is almost impossible to hit over unless it's a major mis-hit. Are there any handball courts in your area?

Oh wow, I think you are lucky. A handball court right across the street? Holy cow.

I know that at a local gym there are raquetball courts, but I don't know of any handball courts...unless they use it for that too. I might be able to ask around.

 

[PM_]

PM, did you mean any plain old wall or did you mean a tennis wall? Just curious...I haven't seen anyone use a random wall before, except in the privacy of their house/garage.

I guess you have to really be serious and not care about your image in order to be hitting the ball on the side a random building out in public.

Having once lived in the coldest places on the face of this earth, I've hit on all kinds of walls.
If you've got guts it's fun slapping the ball outside in slippery conditions-makes you think and be aware of your footing and forcing you not to expend any unnecessary energy.
Indoors is great too. You can use the cars as obstacles and hitting there will improve your aim considerably. The low height of the ceilings also force you to keep the ball low and continually charge on the returns.
Hope this helps.

Another asset playing outside in the winter is it prepares you to play under slower conditions for the spring/summer (as the ball moves obviously slower).
You never know when you could be playing with your opponent's dead balls, into the wind, whatever.:mrgreen:

 

[goober]

I guess I should consider myself lucky then. My college here in Queens, NY takes down the nets and locks the courts during winter, but there is a handball court right across the street from my apartment. Except for the rough ground it's almost ideal for hitting against a wall--private,fenced in, relatively small, and the wall is almost impossible to hit over unless it's a major mis-hit. Are there any handball courts in your area?

Uh lucky is living somewhere warm where you can play all year round.

 

[arnz]

I bought a gamma training ball, kinda like a nerf ball, to practice volleys inside the house. The feeling isnt the same, but I get to practice my grips and eye hand coordination.

I live in NY too, but much more east than Queens, in suffolk county actually, and today was a rainy day, so I just practiced volleying with my gamma ball

 

[vin]

Uh lucky is living somewhere warm where you can play all year round.

That's for sure!

 

[Jolly Reaper]

Having once lived in the coldest places on the face of this earth, I've hit on all kinds of walls.
If you've got guts it's fun slapping the ball outside in slippery conditions-makes you think and be aware of your footing and forcing you not to expend any unnecessary energy.
Indoors is great too. You can use the cars as obstacles and hitting there will improve your aim considerably. The low height of the ceilings also force you to keep the ball low and continually charge on the returns.
Hope this helps.

Another asset playing outside in the winter is it prepares you to play under slower conditions for the spring/summer (as the ball moves obviously slower).
You never know when you could be playing with your opponent's dead balls, into the wind, whatever.

Oh wow...That totally makes me want to go outside with my giant airforce parka and hit some balls against a wall! I think I'll definitely find a place to practice where I can train like that. I'll kick butt when the snow melts. :mrgreen:

Ooh, I'll have to think about all the stuff you just said while practicing outside, too. Then I'll have the whole mental thing going on to remind myself what I'm practicing. Great.

Uh lucky is living somewhere warm where you can play all year round.

*lol* That's so true.

I bought a gamma training ball, kinda like a nerf ball, to practice volleys inside the house. The feeling isnt the same, but I get to practice my grips and eye hand coordination.

I live in NY too, but much more east than Queens, in suffolk county actually, and today was a rainy day, so I just practiced volleying with my gamma ball

Oh really? That's pretty interesting. I'll have to check that out. Even if it doesn't have exactly the same feel, I'll have another thing to do in the winter, like if it's WAY too cold out or something, or if I don't have time to find a wall that day. Very cool.