Tennis players are happy to be back at Marks Park

Tennis players have once again taken to the courts at the Patrick Wysoczarski Tennis Academy, and strict guidelines are ensuring everyone is safe.

Patrick Wysoczarski, the head coach at the academy at Marks Park Tennis Club, which is run in association with Rudman’s Tennis Academy, said all coaches have to acquire temporary licences which were given on a month to month basis.”Coaches and clubs have to be in good standing with tennis South Africa and we need to follow protocol,” he explained.

This included checking temperatures of people, sanitising, wearing a face mask when not playing and keeping social distance.”We can only have a maximum of four players per court excluding coaches. Coaches have a curfew that lasts until 6pm, and no squad lessons are allowed.”Wysoczarski added that 15 minutes were provided for between lessons to fill out a register and to do screening.

Before they returned to the courts, players at the academy had received age-appropriate training programmes to follow at home. Players aged five to eight had fun and easy exercises to do. They included bouncing a ball on the racket or the ground, jumping over cones and shadow swinging for some of the older players. Shadow swinging is swinging the racket without actually hitting a ball. A mirror can help one judge their own follow-through and technique but that is not essential, as one can usually tell whether their technique is correct on their own.

Wysoczarski’s players aged 10 to 12 were encouraged to hit the ball against a wall or garage door if possible, or to their parents. They also did skipping, short sprints, lunges and squats. The academy’s players who are teenagers and older did the same exercises as well as upper-body workouts and shadow swings.