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New HKFC Junior D team enters HKTA league

This term saw a number of our younger players step up to represent the HKFC in its first Junior D league Team.

This collection of 12&U players that have been involved in weekly squad training with the ATA coaching team getting them up to standard to get out and compete in the HKTA league where they will find themselves playing weekly fixtures at home and away against other HK Clubs.

The Junior D league team is the latest to be formed by ATA following on from the junior C league team (14&u) and subsequent junior B team (18&U) and has now added an another vital stage of development on the junior tennis pathway at the club.

The entry of HKFC’s Junior teams in the league are recognition of how the Junior Tennis programme at the Club has grown over the past 3-4years. From the initial 20 players a week attending junior groups when ATA started at the club to the 200+ children playing weekly at present from tiny tots tennis (3 years olds) right through to our older squad players (18&U) a number of who will be joining the squads of the men’s and women’s teams in the coming Summer season.

Under the guidance of the HKFC ATA coaching team Toby, Nathan and Vlatka, the teams are building and getting stronger, the squads are being strengthened by players moving up from our regular mid week junior groups. Players are training better and the enthusiasm of the children in our tennis programme is exciting for the future progress of the club.


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HKFC Club Championships

Entries now open! We have the HKFC Club championships about to start on Feb 28th and will be played over 4 weekends. The finals will be played on the weekend of March 21st and 22nd. There is Junior and Adult divisions with Open and Closed events.
left2Australian Open social Event
The Aussie Open social was played on January 31st with 28 participants playing in the newly formatted social event. A competition and separate social category were played on the day, the more competitive players fighting it out for bragging rights and a social category having a more relaxed game. As always at these events lots of tennis was played, plenty of food, drink and prizes were available on the day.

player of the month

rafe

Junior B Team:
Rafe Purdie

Has been a constant contributor to the B team, his dedication to the team and training has seen him improve immensely over the past 6 months. Apart from his dedication to the B team he is also his schools tennis captain. Rafe is the number 1 player in the B team and comes up against some strong players in the B league.

darren

Junior C Team:
Darren Chan

Darren has been committed to his training, improving well and playing some superb matches often at rank 1 or 2 in the C team. Never giving in even when behind in matches has seen him fight back and take victory.

neena
Junior D Team:
Player of the monthNeena Fjeilddahl Neena, always working hard in practise, has improved significantly towards the end of last term and the beginning of this one and even more evident in her performances out on court in the D team. Always smiling and keen to learn more!

player of the month

Off the court, with Coach Toby

Our Coach Toby still competes in tennis both in A+ league in HK and in the HK Open competitions, playing mostly with fellow ATA coach Pat Mckee. Last year they were ranked 4th in HK in doubles reaching the final of the HK nationals, and the year before the semis of the CRC open. He also still very much enjoys competing when back in UK for the International Club of Great Britain.
What you probably didn’t know about Toby, is his amazing talent with Dance! Salsa, Bachata, and Zouk!
Toby is the 2013, 2014 HK Bachata champion, and has competed in the World Salsa Championships in 2013/ 2014 competition staged at the International HK salsa festival making the finals and semi finals respectively, his dancing has seen him travel and perform in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing in China, KL in Malaysia, and Manilla in Philippines.
Go Toby!


player of the month


player of the month


player of the month

Back to Basics: Footwork!

Great tennis footwork is the key to great tennis, which is a fact too many players overlook. There seems to be far too many coaches and players concentrating — and in fact wasting too much time and energy — on one or two particular shots, It doesn’t matter how good the shot potentially is if you never get yourself into a good position to hit it.

What exactly happens when you play?

You hit a great return off a good wide serve by your opponent. You are moving him all over the court when all of a sudden your opponent attacks by deciding to come to the net.You attempt a passing shot, but he makes a volley into the opposite corner and you head off to play a stunning running single-handed backhand pass down the line that a certain Mr. Federer would be proud of.Stop pumping your fist for a moment and let’s go over what just happened. You have just hit the ball eight times, but what did you do for the majority of the point? Move! You moved to the ball to hit every shot and you moved to recover after hitting every shot. The time spent hitting shots (never mind the actual time the ball spends on the strings) is only a fraction of the time spent moving to and away from your shots. Is this reflected in the way you practice? Every tennis shot starts from the ground up, so your feet are engaged long before the racket gets anyway near the ball.

So what are the fundamentals of footwork?

  • Agility: Improved agility will allow you to move around the court at speed while maintaining control, an important skill that will prevent injuries.
  • Balance: Balance on the court means better controlled, more powerful shots.
  • Coordination: Coordination and timing allows you to make all kinds of shots from all kinds of positions.

Top 5 reasons why footwork will improve my game?

  1. Improved court speed and fitness:
    If you work on improving your footwork, you will have no choice but to improve your tennis speed and tennis fitness — not a bad thing.
  2. Reduced Errors:
    As much as 70 percent of unforced are due to poor footwork. What would it mean to your game to reduce your unforced errors by as many as seven out of 10?
  3. Stay in points longer:
    You will be able to get to more balls more often (even when under pressure), and that forces your opponent to play one, two or three more shots than they expected to — or wanted to. And that gives them more chances to miss.
  4. Greater shot power:
    Developing your footwork skills results in greater power in your shots for one very important reason: When you get to the ball and get set in a good position, you give youself the chance to hit the ball using as many body parts as you can.
  5. More shot options:
    Improving your tennis footwork gives you greater flexibility of shot choice because you get there earlier and in a better position.Whether you’re a novice, high school, or professional player, the importance of footwork cant be stressed enough. Spending some time on your footwork will ultimately improve your conditioning, agility, and readiness. Make footwork an integral part of your tennis training, and see how it pays dividends in your overall tennis game.

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