15-May-2008 Thursday Report

Not too many kids today, Bryan, Kelvin, Kenny, Ivan, Tommy and Nicholas.

Simple hand feed drills again.
The reason why we do these hand feed drills is to train our kids' footwork.
You must know, many of them have "heavy legs", even some of the higher form players.

In the drill, they have to be ready every second and them rush to get the ball. After hitting the ball, they have to recover back to the middle of the court. Moreover, in the hand feed drill, I could see their form and the back swing easily.

Kenny did a good job, I bet his footwork is the best among the kids. He also told me that he had joined HKTA's TG which I act as assistant at GAP. I'm sure that Kenny had tried his best in tennis, he's now far better than I saw him last year. Kenny's form and the strokes are more mature than few months ago, that's why I'm sure he had tried very hard and had practiced for a long time. In long run and with his good behavior and manner, he would be our team crucial player.

Ivan, tried hard in the drill.
But, I wonder his form and strokes are not that good as others. You know, in every single shot, including groundstokes and service, he's hitting the ball in 45 degree with his body... I don't know how to describe to you...

Ivan is extremely consistent, but he have to be focused more on his form, should be in a more correct way and balanced in order to be a powerful player in long run. Otherwise, he would be the "old-man-style" tennis in wahyan.

Some volleys.

The F1 boys tried the best and giving good form of volleys even their shots are not powerful.

Nicholas' volley is the best, I bet.
His shots are crispy and deep. Even I hit a very powerful shot, he could return the ball with his crispy volley. Moreover, he got a good ready position and footwork at the net.

Tommy was great, too.
But, some of the shots are weak and too short, not threatening the opponent.

Some game about the approach shots and volleys.
Many did well.

Service.
Some of them complained that their service is not that powerful.
I have the same experience when I coached at the gap.
I'm not saying that powerful shots are useless, but I think more important is the consistence of the serve instead of the power.
In the professional match, many of the double players' serve are not too powerful but instead of spinful.
All of you know that Tommy had the powerful serve, but you know the probability of his serve in is quite low in real match... Moreover, even if his powerful serve is in, the opponent can only push back the ball easily. However, I believe the kick serve or the spin serve is more threaten that a flat serve. In my own experience, I feel hard when my head coach Matt serve with his kick serve, but I could push back easily with his powerful flat serve.

Maybe, the powerful flat serve is cool, just like when you go to Hong Kong tennis centre, many of the foreign coach serving so fast! But, hong kong people are that muscular to have that great powerful serve.

I will try my best to teach some more spin serve later.
One more thing, Ivan still serving with his wrong position and stance...

This is a so good lesson.
All of them did well.
By the way, some of the are missed some very fundamental technique or skills like the very simple stances, the back swing, etc. What we have to focus and teach are not only the double tactic, but also some very simple fundamental things like footworks and forms.

We will have our next lesson at 1:30pm next Thursday.

Ernest, do you where are the cones and target?
I found no targets at the store room.

Golden Era of Tennis Returning to WYK

Dear All,

I am thrilled by the exciting developments of the past season. We have witnessed an unprecedented interest in tennis among the WYK students and Old Boys (and their children) too.

Waking up late on a Saturday morning and strolling down to WYK for a game of tennis, I am surprised to find that all four courts were packed with familiar faces. I even had to wait for 30 minutes on the sidelines before getting a game. This is a pleasant wait, as I was witnessing good Doubles games played all over the place. Spending more time in WYK tennis courts than at home, Ernest has slowly instilled a new sense of purpose and culture among our tennis players. Of course, he is ably assisted by Edmond Ip in this revolution.

The transformation of the team is amazing. This Saturday, we witnessed Tony Chow playing mature doubles against Kane and Kelvin. It will be beneficial for Tony to play against the likes of Kane, Kelvin and other experienced League players. We expect Tony to beat most of us by the end of this summer. The same must be said about Barry, who played magnificently on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. Barry is now holding his own against the likes of Kane, Ricky, Kelvin, Ambrose and Joseph. Tommy is another outstanding improver. Chris is practising solidly and can improve his mental game. Nicholas and Jordan will be pushing for First Team places next season. Joseph and I started to work on left-hander Kenny's game for the first time and see a lot of potential in him. He was flying on practice courts, but played quite differently in match situation.

Our Team of Old Boys are also practising hard. Jack and Alvin hardly missed a practice lately. Medes has been playing with us for a few Saturdays now. Tony Ko always makes practice when he is not saving lives. Ambrose, Kane, Joseph, Charles and Kelvin (honorary) showed their whole-hearted support and practised with the Team all the time. In fact, all the Old Boys are playing much better tennis now than a couple of years ago. While we are helping the WYK Team, we are also helping ourselves. Kane and I have a much improved backhand now than before. Joseph was given a new serve and return.

The future is brighter with the next generation, those who have not yet reached 12 years old. Chun Chun (Kane's son) and Brian (Alvin's son) will become top juniors one day given their talents and commitment. Jeffrey (Joseph's son) is improving. Galax (Ambrose'son) and Jarvis (Jack's son) are both interested in tennis. Ernest will sort them out one by one.

We are seeing the return of the golden era of tennis in WYK. While our Boys may struggle in Division One for a season or two, we expect them to end up in the Top Half of the Table rather than the bottom Half with years to come. It will be unrealistic to think that we can win the Divison One title again given the talents and sound recruitment policy in sports in DBS and La Salle these days.

8-May-2008 Thursday Report

Today, we had Nicholas, Tommy, Ivan, Kenny, Bryan, Alex, Kelvin.

Some formal warm ups and then the drills.

I decided to have some handfeed drills at first.
Some forehand, backhand easy down the line.
Tommy and Nicholas did the good job.
Most of them were trying their best, especially the F1 boys.
Alex and Bryan were great.

I'm so pleased that our F1 new bloods felt exciting and tried their best in every drill.

Next, we had the baseline and volley drills.
Kenny and Ivan were the net players, while others hitting baseline.
Kenny seemed to be better at the net.
Tommy's groundstroke was great, powerful.

King of the court with the approach shot.
The F1 boys were not good, may be they didn't know much about the approach shot.

The doubles game but once you hit a backhand, you have to switch with your partner.
Kenny and Tommy were good, being the kings for many times.
Ivan and Alex tried their best, but without tactics.
Bryan and Kelvin also tried their best, and at last be the kings once.

Funny game

Service and Returning.

At last, Ivan, Alex, Kelvin and Bryan had a formal double.
Ivan was paired up with Kelvin who seemed to be the weakest among the three F1 boys.
I told Ivan to take care and teach Kelvin.
Luckily, Ivan acted as an elder brother and beat Bryan and Alex.

Alex and Bryan were great, but you know Ivan is too consistent.

I had a formal single with Tommy.
Tommy was absolutely awful at the first set.
He was not playing his style.
All you see are double faults, hitting to the net...

Tommy seemed a bit nervous, or I don't know how to describe...
Some psychological issue affected...
Tommy don't know how to play with a stronger player...

I told him to be relax and just enjoy the match.
For the second set, he was better.
Many crucial shots and threatening me.

Nicholas was back and he challenged me.
Just like the case of Tommy, the first few games were all BAD!
He claimed that he just came back and without warm ups...

At last, Ivan had the single with Nicholas.

I'm so happy to have a good lesson with the kids.
The F1 boys were all improved, comparing their performance last week.
For our team members, Tommy and Nicholas still have the psychological dilemma in playing against a stronger player.
Ivan was still consistent while Kenny trying his best to learn Nadal's forehand.

1-May-2008 Thursday Report

I'm sorry for updating the report too late. =]

We had the practice on the public holiday, starting at 10am.
Luckily, some old boys came and joined the training.

We had Nicholas, Calvin, Tommy, Ivan, Matthew, Jeffrey and Kelvin.
Some warm ups.

Then, we had the first drill: three balls drill.
Many did well in the forehand running shots. As many had seen, Tommy and Nicholas had the great shot, especially the mid court attack.

Next, we had the backhand.
Not bad.

The first game was " the Champion".
Once you win the point, you could be the champion at the other side.
The funny game and it proved that even if you are not good or weak, you can still be the champion.

Many of them did well, including the old boys.
They felt happy in the game, even old new F1 Kelvin, Bryan and Chun Chun.
Raymond and Kane were playing so hard, threatening our boys.
Ivan and Kelvin did best at the net.

Next, we had our favourite game: Recovery.
I think many of you know the game, this is one of my favorite game.
Old boys vs. wahyhan boys.
Once you miss a shot, you have to run to the next court and run back.
At the end, wahnyan school team beated the old boys at the first set.

It was a very interesting game, the only one solution is to be consistent.

Serve and Return, with promotion in three courts.
Once you beat the returner, you can be promoted to the next court and challenge the next returning.
Many were still in trying at the bottom court.
Tommy had too many double fault, staying at the bottom court.
Nicholas tried his best and always stayed at the top court.

Some may think that the game is boring, but one thing you have to learn is to win every single point in the game or match.
I hope all of the boys would learn this after playing the game.

Lastly, the match play.

We had the great day and have fun.
I hope the old boys would like my games and drills.

Some photos attached.