Anyone for tennis? Kate was knocked out by the friendly atmosphere at the ‘tennis’ clubs in our area
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KNOW IT’S a cliché but inspired by watching Wimbledon I decided to dig out my tennis racket, which hasn’t seen the light of day for years, and find out what’s going on in the club scene in our area. Tennis and golf were the first sports to resume play when restrictions lifted as they are naturally socially distanced and played in the fresh air. And the overwhelming impression got at each club visited was how pleased the members are at being able to meet other players again. discovered that not only is regular tennis thriving, but that table tennis is popular in village halls up and down the valley and, even more exciting, Market Harborough Squash Club is the first venue in the East Midlands to boast padel courts, having raised 1 0,000 to build two of them. Padel tennis is the second most popular sport in Spain, after football – but perhaps we shouldn’t mention that right now And with about 0 clubs in the U it’s slowly growing in popularity here too. Steve and Alison Avil, chairman and secretary at Market Harborough Squash Club discovered the sport on a Spanish holiday and could see the attraction immediately. The courts are two-thirds the si e of a regular tennis court with enclosed sides like in squash, and you use the walls to continue play. The most appealing benefit according to Steve is, you can get a rally going right from the
first or second attempt, not like in tennis.’ The racket is solid which is much easier for making contact with the ball and there’s no overarm movements so it’s brilliant for anyone with shoulder problems. I went along to one of the Pay and Play mornings which they hold monthly. There was a mixture of families, couples, individuals and groups of friends. Some were already either squash, tennis or racketball players, but many were either complete beginners or had given up the sports years ago. One woman explained that she’d never got on with tennis, but found padel much more accessible right from the start. t’s much easier to hit the ball, so you immediately have fun.’ You always play doubles and it works well even with mixed abilities. e have many parents and children playing together,’ says Alison, and on the open mornings we all swap with everyone else.’ The morning was there a Spaniard from Derby came along, so excited to find a padel court local’ to him. There are plenty of coaches available on those mornings too. Once you’re hooked, you become a member of the squash club and then you can book your slots online to play. On Saturday mornings the juniors aged from three upwards rotate around squash, racketball and padel. The first unior and adult padel competition has now been played and a padel ladder is being organised so players can challenge other members. www.harboroughcsc.co.uk
32 August 2021 / theactivemag.com
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