Hey there Greenville!
It’s Kathryn and I’m back with my last update of my Sportsclub360 Experience. It has been a fun month at the Sportsclub with plenty of lifting and a tennis lesson. I can’t believe my Sportsclub experience is now coming to a close.
Last week, I had a great opportunity to do a one-on-one tennis lesson with their Director of Tennis, Ashley Maddox. I started playing tennis my freshman year of high school and played on the varsity team. After high school, I was purely focused on Track & Field and really fell out of playing. I would occasionally play in the summers with my family. Recently, I have started playing about every week with my boyfriend as a fun activity to get outside, get moving and enjoy the sunshine. It’s a great sport to play with a few friends that gets your heart pumping and creates a little competitive edge. Due to my interest in the sport, I was so excited when I was told a tennis lesson was my next experience because I can always use a professionals advice and guidance to help me hit the ball better.
I arrived to the Sportsclub and about 10 minute prior it was down pouring! Due to the downpour the courts were soaked with puddles as big as small ponds. At first, I was disappointed as I thought I would not be able to play, however the Sportsclub is a great tennis facility that has a giant dome, which protects two courts from the rain and cold. This is a feature that really differentiates the Sportsclub especially with all the afternoon showers we have been getting and the cold weather. They also have 8 clay courts which are a great service to play on and two outdoor courts. There is not a lack of court space to fight for there!
In the tennis dome, Ashley started the lesson by hitting the ball with me to see how my game was. She gave me some great tips to think about and then started feeding the balls to certain strokes (front hand and back hand.) After some great pointers of where to hit the ball (slightly in front of you) and better foot movements, I went up the net for some volleys. Volleys are the stroke that doesn’t hit the ground and happens when you are at the front of the net. They are so fun cause you don’t swing at the ball but instead punch it. Lastly, I worked on some serves which is such a vital part of the game that I often don’t practice. It was great to get good pointers to improve my serve.
Overall, this tennis lesson was so helpful and Ashley was a nice, instructional and fun coach. I would definitely recommend taking some lessons with her for first time players or veterans of the sport. It is so great to have tennis as a benefit to the Sportsclub because it adds an extra dimension for the club that makes it different from other health clubs.
That’s it for now!
Kathryn