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Are you a novice when it comes to playing tennis? It is a fantastic activity to try on holiday, especially in the morning when you want to get a little exercise in before lounging by the beach or pool. We specialise in tennis holidays in the Mediterranean.
With over 20 courts dotted around our resorts in the likes of Greece, Turkey, Sardinia and Corsica, guests love the chance to receive lessons from qualified LTA instructors, get to grips with the basics on the court, and quickly learn the lingo.
Even if you’ve never held a racket before, a simple week of lessons could soon see your becoming a tennis aficionado.
Trying out tennis at one of our resorts is ideal for:
• Adults – there are lessons for those 14 and up depending on skill level.
• Kids – helping kids aged 3 to 5 get used to the basics, while kids aged 6 to 13 can take part in a Junior LTA course
• Fitness fanatics – for anyone who keeps their fitness routine up on holiday, you’ll be doing drills on the court to hit your daily cardio goals
Learning how to play on holiday needs to be a stress-free experience. We know that everyone starts at different levels. That’s why our coaching plans have been created to help everyone get the swing of things, from the Tennis Xpress lessons that can help newbies learn the fundamentals to the Classic course who would help those who have some idea of what to do.
Courses have been planned so you don’t find yourself thrown in the deep end (that’s what our scuba diving courses are for). You don’t need to worry about bringing your own racket and balls along. All our resorts have the latest HEAD equipment waiting for you, all for free. Courts are either Astroturf (Levante & Perdepera), Plexi-pave (Phokaia), a mixture of the two (Lemnos & Paleros )or Hard-Painted San Lucianu).
When starting, coaches will help you get the fundamentals of how to hold, what grip size works best for you, and what stance you should be using.
You can play to your heart’s content at any of our summer destinations. Please visit your preferred destination’s tennis page for more information:
• Tennis at Levante Beach Resort
• Tennis at Lemnos Beach Resort
• Tennis at Paleros Beach Resort
• Tennis at Perdepera Beach Resort
• Tennis at Phokaia Beach Resort
• Tennis at San Lucianu Beach Resort
Yes. We have social tennis throughout the day for guests to come along and have a game or two when the mood strikes. It’s a great way to get chatting with other guests and have some friendly competition.
You can find out when courts are free to use at reception during your stay.
Our courses have been arranged to get you nimble on the court quickly and iron out any kinks in your game without worrying about tennis elbow.
If you want to know some of the basic and advanced ways to play tennis before you arrive, Ben Wylie, our Mark Warner tennis specialist explains the basic and advanced tennis moves below.
There are four tennis shots that are used to play a game of tennis. They are the following:
1.Forehand groudstroke - this is a shot hit after the ball has bounced from the players dominate side
2. Backhand - this is a shot which is hit from the the players side that is not dominant.
3. Serve - this move starts the tennis game. It is only shot where the player has complete control over it as they are deciding when and where the ball can be hit.
4. Volley - this is a shot which is hit after the ball bounces, usually when the player is close to the net.
The forehand involves the player swinging the racket from low to high. This means that player will take the racket back and drop the racket below the optimal contact point (which is the players waist height). From here, the player must swing up to contact (which is the point where the rackets meets the ball).
The contact point should be at waist height and slightly in front of the player. From contact, the player must continue the swing upwards so that the racket finishes over the opposite shoulder (for a right hander the racket will finish over the left shoulder).
The two handed backhand is much easier to master, and is predominantly taught to beginners. For a right hander the left hand will grip the racket above the right hand. From here the racket needs to be taken back and down to below the optimal contact point.The backhand is a mirror image of the forehand. The player swings up to contact and the racket continues over the shoulder. Again for a right hander, when hitting a backhand, the racket will finish over the right shoulder. Again the key is swinging from low to high.
For a single handed backhand, the swing is still low to high but the shoulder must not open to the court, meaning the player stays side on throughout the shot. Unlike the two handed backhand the player does not finish with the racket over their shoulder, the racket in fact finishes in the direction of the desired target.
The grip is most important on the serve. A player should be in continental grip, commonly referred to as ‘chopper grip’. The serve is modelled on a throwing motion. For a beginner, it’s easier to start with the racket on their shoulder and think about leading with their elbow. This helps with the pronation of the wrist.
Beginners can struggle with ball toss. If a player can imagine a big clock in front of them above the net, the ball toss for a right hander should be at 1 o’clock and just in front of the body. For a left hander it will be at 11 o’clock and in front of the body.
The grip is most important on the serve. A player should be in continental grip, commonly referred to as ‘chopper grip’. The serve is modelled on a throwing motion. For a beginner, it’s easier to start with the racket on their shoulder and think about leading with their elbow. This helps with the pronation of the wrist.
Beginners can struggle with ball toss. If a player can imagine a big clock in front of them above the net, the ball toss for a right hander should be at 1 o’clock and just in front of the body. For a left hander it will be at 11 o’clock and in front of the body.
More advanced players should start generating topspin (the forward spin on the ball). To do this, the player must brush up the back of the ball. No longer should the player just hit through the ball, now the player is trying to hit through and up the back of the ball. To do this the player needs to contact the ball with a closed racket face. To keep the racket faced closed on contact, the player should aim to take the racket back with a closed racket face.
The player should be trying to develop a slice or a topspin serve. For a slice serve, the player should be trying to cut across the ball. Imagine there was a clockface on the ball, the player should be trying to cut across the ball from 3 o’clock to generate a side spin (slice). For a topspin serve, the player must be hitting up the ball. For a topspin serve, the ball toss and thus contact point should be closer to the players non dominant side. For example, a right hander will toss the ball at 11 o’clock. The topspin serve is the handset shot to master and really is a benchmark for a good tennis player.
The player should aim to extend through the volley. The elbow should be away from the body and the racket extends forward slightly. The racket head should always finish up, meaning the racket head doesn’t drop below the wrist. To get more power in the volleys, the player should be moving their weight forward on contact by stepping into the volley. Don’t forget the split step, it is key!
These are the golden rules for any level in tennis.
1. Always hit up the on the groundstrokes. The path of the ball should be off the racket. The swing shape is low to high meaning the ball should be hit up and over the net. We never swing high to low.
2. Footwork is key. For the forehand, backhand and volley payers must be in the correct ready positon and split step. A player split steps at the time their opponent makes contact with the ball.
3. Tennis is a simple sport, just get one more ball in the court than your opponent.
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© Mark Warner 2020
