TENNIS
MEET ME
ON THE COURTS By Joe De Luna :: Photography by Kelsey Grudle
The Tennis Club’s instruction is tailored to all ages and skill sets. I was born in 1972 and was raised in a baseball family. My father played high school and college baseball and my grandfather played baseball in a professional league in Mexico. So needless to say, I was throwing, catching and hitting baseballs as soon as I could walk. What does this have to do with tennis instruction, you might ask? Well, this was the beginning of my career as a tennis player. Little did I know, baseball at an early age allowed me to develop excellent hand-eye coordination, strong motor skills and speed.
After several Little League® baseball seasons, I was introduced to tennis around the age of ten and immediately was hooked. Tennis has evolved so much since I began playing back in the early 1980s. I started with a wooden racket and at that time tennis was taught with linear strokes, without a lot of body rotation or spin. Essentially the game was played from the hands down with touch and finesse and less power. Racket and string technology, as well as the evolution of the modern athlete, has turned tennis into a game of power and spin. Today’s game is
