Getting your coronary heart pumping and mind working, tennis is the full-body exercise that retains on giving; with an entire host of bodily and psychological well being advantages that can preserve you feeling good after you permit the court docket.
Not solely that, tennis gamers at Cheltenham’s fashionable East Glos Membership can take pleasure in being a part of a thriving social neighborhood, with common social occasions and alternatives each on and off the court docket.
To seek out out extra, SoGlos spoke to one of many membership’s skilled coaches, Esther Curtis, concerning the well being advantages of the game – in addition to the whole lot members can stay up for, from smashing opponents on the court docket to beating them at quiz nights…
Meet the knowledgeable – Esther Curtis, senior efficiency coach at East Glos Membership
Esther Curtis has been teaching at East Glos Membership for over 12 years, serving to everybody from tiny tots to grownup gamers to hone their expertise – in addition to nurturing younger tennis stars within the membership’s junior Efficiency Academy programme. She additionally captains the Gloucestershire women’ and women’ 18 and beneath groups at county degree.
East Glos Membership is a enjoyable and sociable members’ membership in Cheltenham that welcomes gamers of all ages and talents, providing tennis, squash, racketball and padel; with all-weather, floodlit courts, knowledgeable teaching and loads of alternatives for aggressive play.
For extra data, go to eastglos.co.uk.
What do you take pleasure in most about working at East Glos Membership?
Being exterior, when the climate’s higher! And doubtless the variability you get to see, working and interacting with plenty of totally different individuals; one teaching session may be fully totally different to the following and there’s all the time a distinct problem. I like instructing totally different periods in addition to teaching and group periods, like cardio tennis.
What does the cardio tennis contain? That sounds enjoyable!
Cardio is absolutely good enjoyable! We do it to music and it’s extra like circuits the place we do plenty of hitting tennis balls however primarily working round. We run by way of ladders and we’ve obtained plenty of gear on the court docket. It does contain with the ability to hit a ball however you don’t essentially want to have the ability to play any tennis – nobody is hitting the ball again to you!
Do you participate within the social facet of issues on the membership, in addition to teaching?
I’ve completed! A variety of the time I’m busy teaching however we do issues like quiz nights that are all the time good enjoyable and an amazing probability to combine with the members. It’s an opportunity for them to get to see you in your off-court capability, in addition to on court docket.
Aside from the quiz nights, is there the rest members can stay up for?
The membership repeatedly runs issues like social barbecues, when the climate’s higher; we do a summer time celebration; additionally, Christmas events and you’ll e book to have Christmas dinners and lunches.
There’s a bunch of members who play bridge, in order that they have bridge nights; we do wine and cheese evenings and issues like that, so there’s quite a bit occurring socially. It’s a beautiful neighborhood.
It sounds it! What do you assume are the advantages of becoming a member of a tennis membership, slightly than play-as-you-go?
I feel once you be part of a membership, you get far more of a possibility to combine with members and meet new individuals. You will get concerned in social tennis classes and there will likely be individuals such as you who you may get to know.
You’ve obtained the chance to start out making mates who you would possibly organize to play with in your individual time in a extra social setting. And with phrase of mouth, they could suggest new issues to you that they’ve already taken half in and loved.
If you happen to pay and play, you get an amazing expertise on court docket with the coach and different group members, but it surely’ll final for an hour and then you definately’ll go. Becoming a member of offers you an opportunity to participate in additional of these actions and meet extra individuals; and likewise, we’ve obtained loads of alternatives for aggressive play, corresponding to ladders and league groups. So once more, you get the prospect to satisfy people who find themselves at the same degree to you.
As a coach, what would you say are the most important bodily well being advantages of tennis?
I’ve all the time thought of tennis to be an all-round bodily sport – clearly you utilize your arms quite a bit, however you may’t play tennis with out your legs! So, you’re getting a full-body exercise. It’s good for core energy as properly, as you’re doing numerous issues above your head like serving and smashing. Bodily, you’re utilizing plenty of totally different muscle teams within the physique once you play tennis, out of your legs all the way in which up.
Usually, it is going to improve your total degree of health as an cardio train – particularly one thing just like the cardio tennis; it’s good for health. Those that are inclined to examine their wrist watches or their sensible watches will inform you that they’re burning someplace round 400-plus energy in an hour.
It’s a great exercise to your mind, as properly. Tennis entails choice making, like the place to hit the ball or the way you’re going to hit it; and drawback fixing, engaged on ways or should you’re engaged on one thing technically, you’re having to focus on the varied bodily elements of what you’re making an attempt to do.
When it comes to your mind, there’s psychological well being advantages to enjoying tennis as properly. How do you assume the bodily advantages feed into that?
General, any sport is nice for wellbeing. You’re releasing endorphins and your power ranges are going up. Train goes to raise your temper and make you are feeling higher – particularly at a membership like East Glos the place the tennis is all exterior within the contemporary air.
We’ve had numerous new members because the pandemic who’ve reassessed what they wish to do with their spare time after being cooped up of their home for thus lengthy. Lots of people who’ve joined the membership or come to become involved with a few of the teaching, they’ve modified their mindset about how they wish to spend their free time. They wish to be outside they usually wish to be energetic – it’s been fairly a giant distinction during the last yr.
I feel it additionally helps should you’re enjoying socially, or particularly should you’re enjoying competitively, you’re form of specializing in one thing totally different, so it offers you an opportunity to take your thoughts off no matter your day-to-day stresses is perhaps in life. If you happen to’re specializing in the best way to beat your opponent as a substitute then it offers you a little bit of a launch – and it might probably assist with frustration as properly, should you’ve obtained any aggression increase inside you then it’s fairly a great launch of power to bash the ball.
You’re all the time on the court docket with another person – even should you’re enjoying singles, you’ve all the time obtained an opponent, so there’s all the time a social facet to the sport as properly.
You’ve talked about aggressive play just a few occasions. Are you able to inform us extra about how one can assist members in the event that they wish to get into aggressive play?
Inside the membership, as a member, you may be a part of the ladders. So, should you had been simply beginning out, you’d be put within the backside field of the ladders with 4 or 5 different individuals – and also you get given a month to rearrange to play these gamers. After which, should you’re extra profitable, you progress as much as the following field otherwise you would possibly find yourself staying in the identical one, however every month the ladders have a tendency to maneuver up and down – so every month you’ll find yourself enjoying totally different individuals.
You get an opportunity to play totally different individuals and also you’ll fairly shortly begin to discover the place your degree is. So, should you are available and also you’re a comparatively competent participant and also you begin within the backside field, you’ll in all probability end up over the primary couple of months transferring up a few occasions. And also you’ll begin to discover your degree, the place the gamers you’re enjoying in opposition to are the same skill.
Clearly, the teaching workforce is all the time available should you get somebody who’s fairly new to the membership and by no means actually performed tennis earlier than, then we’d be capable of advise one of the best locations for them to suit.
We’ve additionally obtained all of our league groups on the membership – I feel we’ve obtained eight males’s groups and eight women’ groups in the summertime and winter league, with weekly alternatives to play in opposition to different groups within the county on a aggressive degree every season.
And that’s appropriate for gamers of all talents to become involved in?
Sure, from the A Group proper the way in which right down to the G Group. As a result of it’s fairly a big membership with numerous members, numerous the groups are of a comparatively comparable degree. So yeah, there’s positively a possibility for all ranges to become involved – within the ladders as properly, you don’t want to satisfy a sure standards to enter the ladders if you wish to play aggressive tennis.
It’s a good way to start out off your aggressive journey as properly. And also you’re assembly fellow members who’re having the identical experiences, so hopefully you’re having enjoyable attending to know individuals in addition to a aggressive sport.
Additionally, every year we maintain our Membership Championships in order that’s one other probability for any member of the membership to enter. We’ve obtained all ages teams, all the way in which as much as our over 70s class; enjoying singles and blended doubles all all through the summer time. Then Finals Day is to start with to mid-September, the place everybody comes alongside to observe and we’ve obtained a barbecue on the go.
That sounds pretty! So, if somebody who’d by no means performed tennis earlier than got here to you for teaching, what can be your prime suggestions for an entire newbie?
I’d all the time suggest you may have some type of teaching session initially. It may be a good suggestion to have a person lesson to get that undivided consideration and personalised recommendations on what you would possibly need assistance with.
Having somewhat little bit of assist initially with the basics of approach, like the best way to maintain a racket, the place your hand is, the place your grip is, the positioning of your toes and your physique. Nailing the basics will actually assist once you’re stepping on a court docket correctly in a extra social setting. It can provide you a bit extra confidence as properly, simply to be a bit clearer on what you’re making an attempt to take action you may go away and begin placing it into apply.
We do grownup teams for full newbies, too – the advantage of being in a bunch state of affairs is it tends to be with different people who find themselves in the same scenario as you.
How lengthy would it not take a novice participant to start out seeing enhancements of their approach?
It’s a bit subjective however should you’ve obtained an entire newbie who actually hasn’t picked up a racket earlier than, it’s a lot simpler to make new habits than break outdated ones. You’ll find that you simply make that preliminary progress fairly shortly – whether or not it’s a bunch or particular person session, it’s best to discover that by the tip of your first hour to hour-and-a-half session that you simply’ll see some enchancment.
I do know you may have numerous junior gamers too. What would you say are the primary bodily and psychological well being advantages of tennis for youngsters?
For teenagers, we have a tendency to search out that numerous kids that come into our growth programme who haven’t performed numerous tennis earlier than are actually searching for it to be initially one thing that could be a enjoyable, leisure exercise exterior the classroom.
The principle aim for us, once you get youngsters coming in for the primary time, is that they go away they usually’ve had enjoyable and wish to come again.
Once more, you may have the social facet for teenagers being in group teaching periods; but it surely’s actually good for youngsters who don’t essentially take pleasure in workforce sports activities or discover it troublesome to be in that workforce setting. So, after they come into tennis, they is perhaps in a bunch setting with different kids, however tennis is a person sport and their success at it’s totally right down to them slightly than counting on different individuals. For some kids, that’s what they reply to greatest. You get youngsters who actually take pleasure in the person elements of enjoying tennis slightly than it being a workforce sport.
Once more, it’s a approach of getting them exterior and away from their computer systems at residence. They’re getting out within the contemporary air and getting the prospect to run round.
They’re additionally challenged in the identical varieties of how we’ve already talked about; we apply plenty of elementary expertise with them, like hand eye coordination by way of throwing and catching; plenty of expertise that we attempt to get them to develop like drawback fixing and choice making.
In partnership with East Glos Membership | eastglos.co.uk
By Annabel Lammas