NCHSTCA is pleased to announce a partnership with Shot Doctors to provide resources for high school tennis coaches in North Carolina.
Shot Doctors is the brain-child of Hall of Fame coach Tom Parham He's assembled a variety of experienced tennis professionals to provide written resources via our website, and, perhaps, in the future, via instructional clinics or webinars
We are so excited to partner with the North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches Association in an effort to help make all high school tennis coaches in North Carolina as good as they can be. The Shot Doctors are excited to help all coaches and those possibly looking to get involved with high school tennis. We have gathered some of the greatest tennis minds in North Carolina to help answer your questions and provide tips to help you successfully coach your high school tennis team.
Please reach out to me if you have questions or comments. Your questions will be evaluated by a team of experts in an effort to provide you with the best possible scenarios for your particular coaching situation. There are no bad questions. Your involvement is what will drive this particular part of the NCHSTCA website. All the best and we look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you again for allowing us to be a part of your North Carolina high school tennis coaching journey.
Lane Evans, Shot Doctor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
USPTA Master Professional USPTR Level 3 Tennis Specialist iTPA Master Tennis Performance Specialist ISSA Master Trainer
Tom Parham, Shot Doctor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hall of Fame Coach, Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College), Elon University
Hey Coach, looking for drill for your High School Tennis Team practice?Try "Dingles."Dingles is the perfect drill to occupy four players on one court and is great practice for singles and doubles, but especially doubles!
All shots come into play with Dingles and are practiced while the players are having fun.Cross court forehands and backhands, volleys, lobs, and overheads come into play with Dingles.Instead of starting Dingles with a drop-hit, the players can use their serve to start the point, so then all the shots needed to play singles and doubles are practiced.
If there are a large number of players on the team, the Coach can play several courts at one time and keep everybody busy.Once the first game is over, change partners and play another game.
If playing Dingles on several courts let the winners move to the left to play a new team.Same for the losers. In doing so,Dingles might produce which players play better together and this will help the Coach arrive at a winning lineup!
HOW TO PLAY DINGLES
Dingles is a fun, points-based tennis game for four players that involves both singles and doubles play. It's suitable for beginners and can be played at any age or gender. Here are some tips for playing Dingles:
Start - Players begin on the baseline and toss a coin to determine which team serves. The serving team then simultaneously feeds two balls cross-court to their opponents, starting two half-court rallies.
Singles point - The rallies continue until one player misses or wins, at which point they call out "Dingles!" . The remaining ball in play then becomes a full-court doubles point, with all four players participating.
Scoring - To win a point, a team must win both the singles and doubles points. Once a team has five points, the teams rotate.
Tips - When your partner is lobbed, try to cover their half of the court and move across so they can move behind you. When attacking a net player, aim for their right hip or shoulder, as it's the most difficult ball to defend. If your partner is rallying, try to close the net and apply pressure.
Author's Note: I am currently working with about 15 middle school and high school players. I have both girls and guys. Their seasons have now wrapped up. Some had successful seasons and others did not. Below are a few of my takeaways from the season.
1. My players do not know how to warm-up properly. This is a time to get loose, gather information about your opponent and begin to formulate your match plan of attack. This is extremely important and must be accomplished.
2. Doubles play has to be better. Teammates have to work together and know where each other are all the time. Communication is an absolute must! They hit way too many forehands and backhands, play one up and one back and are not proactive in their play, just reactive. Get your serve in, get to the net and Put Balls Away!!!
3. My players are not playing to win. They are playing not to lose. They rarely play the way we practiced. Again, this cannot happen. I and my players work and train way too hard to have this happen.
4. Changeover routines have very little focus or consistency. Changeover routines are designed to settle players down, regroup and adjust match game plans. Use the time wisely and constructively.
5. My players have to get better at learning from both wins and losses. Winning and losing in tennis can be agonizing for players and coaches. Coaches and players should spend post-match time dissecting and understanding what went well and what didn’t in their matches.
This a quote from my book, THE LITTLE GREEN BOOK of TENNIS.
Recently my Son questioned the reasoning behind this “principle “! (It is more difficult to “angle” low volleys. Wait for a ball you can volley down for the winner. )
His response made a lot of sense . ” If you volley it deep the players today can get to it and hit the closer ball by you at the net. Additionally, net players now CAN angle many low volleys, some soft and with almost the same effect as a dropshot. Thus creating a much larger distance to cover to make the passing shot.
Tommy Paul’s angled low forehand volley is a good model.
1. Bishop McGuinness 2. Mount Airy 3. Roxboro Community School 4. Chatham Charter School 5. East Wilkes 6. North Carolina School of Science and Math: Morgantown 7. Highland School of Technology 8.Gray Stone Day School 9.Polk County 10.Rosewood Others Receiving Votes: North Moore, Triangle Math and Science.
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