CINCINATTI (OHIO): An Early Development Combine Camp of the United States Tennis Association was conducted at the Five Seasons Racquet Club here on Saturday. It was held under the overall supervision of USTA High Performance Director of Tennis Matt Dektas. He was assisted by USTA High Performance tennis coaches Brian Schubert and Parveen Kumar from Indianapolis, Indiana
As many as 50 boys, including girls took part in the Early Development Combine Camp in two sessions. Orange ball and green ball. The players were divided into two groups. The first group went through the session from 10 a.m to 12 noon and the second group trainees were imparted training from noon to 2 p.m. The new tennis crop looked to be talented and enthusiastic.
The players were evaluated from the sessions and the individual player’s report will be submitted to the USTA to prune down the number of players to probably 16 in each group. The players were motivated by the coaches and they went through the routine on and off the court as directed by the trainers.
The training session began with warm up focusing on athletic skill development warm-up which aims to teach the players the skills that link to technical development. Heel kicks routine was to develop quality movement skills laterally. Movement- Side Shuffles was aimed to develop through a good athletic position through lateral movement. The players warmed up physically and mentally. Objective of the Complex Coordination is to develop complex coordination skills which means doing one thing with one part of the body while doing something else with another part. It is an athletic skill that is vital to becoming a good tennis player. Selected players will be trained keeping in mind about the technical game based approach to develop the player’s ability to respond quickly to the incoming ball, finding the ball in the Strike Zone and the 5 Ball Controls to teach the players the importance of the five different ball controls –1. Direction, 2. Height, 3. Depth, 4. Spin and 5. Speed.
Serve accuracy and consistency was equally stressed during the training. The players were asked to shake hands at the end of match. Overhand ball throw exercise aimed at to develop good throwing mechanics which will help the players in development of the serve.
At the end of the session Matt Dektas asked few questions from the players. Besides showing respect to the trainers, the parents should also be respected,the trainees replied. The coaches shook hands with the trainees before they left the venue.
Outdoor clay as well as hard courts were used for training. The trainees were divided into groups and worked out at various stations at the sprawling Five Seasons Racquet Club.
