Teaching Strokes;

Helping Seasonal Players with the Basics

John Frausto, USPTA Elite Professional, Cathy Thomas, USPTA Elite Professional

By Dan Oliver USPTA Elite Professional

John Frausto and Cathy Thomas, both USPTA Elite Professionals, gave an informative presentation called “Teaching Strokes; Helping Seasonal Players with the Basics” at the Indianapolis High School Coaching Conference. This presentation expertly covered exactly how to make new and beginning students successful right away and keep them in the game of tennis.

The presentation progressed from going over the grips, contact points, body positioning, and ball placement for strokes in this order: forehands, two-hand backhands, volleys, then serves. Each stroke included drilling and practicing at a slow speed so the student could get the feel of how to find the ball. This progression aimed to make the students successful from the beginning.

Finding Happiness Teaching Tennis

By Barbara Wynne

Barbara Wynne gave an engaging presentation called “Finding Happiness Teaching Tennis” at the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Conference Prior to her on court presentation Tim Cleland, President of IHSTeCA, rewarded the Lifetime Achievement Award to Barbara for all she has contributed to tennis in Indiana during her career Barbara is the epitome of a local tennis supporter and trailblazer in Indianapolis Just a few highlights from her dedicated tennis background include founding the Northside Tennis Program on a backyard court, which has grown into the Indianapolis Community Tennis Program as well as teaching tennis at the Indianapolis Racquet Club for more than five decades Barbara has organized tournaments, served on boards, volunteered, and raised funds just to name a few ways she has helped grow the sport of tennis in the Midwest.

Barbara’s passion for helping tennis players and her community shined through during her presentation. Barbara collaborated with three local junior players to demonstrate various drills one player aged six, one player aged 13, and one player aged 16. Barbara emphasized the importance and joy of mentoring young players at every level.

OHIO Coaches Clinic, 2/25-2/26

By Dwight Taylor, USPTA

Hello USPTA members!

We just wrapped up the 57th Annual OTCA Coaches Clinic and USPTA Midwest event at the Chagrin Valley Athletic Club, just outside of Cleveland We would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who attended.

This event covered a wide variety of challenges and opportunities to exchange knowledge with some of the best tennis coaches in the Midwest – bringing value to coaches and their players at every level of the game. Topics ranged from innovative drill demonstrations and doubles strategies for today’s coaching styles by Katie Orlando and Adam Ford to discussions from Craig O’Shannessy about injecting positivity and a focus on skills and successes rather than what is missing from players to help encourage and motivate them to reach their full potential We even covered some of the less commonly addressed challenges of the game; the mental and emotional demands, as well as speed & quickness, that players face, with tremendous presentations from Ramona Husaro, Melvin Hodge, and Alla Kudryavsteva on how to prevent and support players before they get to an emotional breaking point.

Also, during the event, was the 57th Annual Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony. Our very own Greg Aten (USPTA Midwest Executive Director, coach at Hathaway Brown High School) and Janet Disbennett (coach at Chillicothe High School) were inducted into the OTCA Hall of Fame for 2023. Congratulations Greg and Janet!

We cannot wait to see what exciting things are in store for the next event and hope to see you there!