Tennis players have a ball at smashing holiday clinic in Fairland

FAIRLAND – The Fairland Tennis Club plays host to the first Get Set Play Holiday Clinic and Tournament.

July 7, 2017

Nicholas Zaal 1 minute read

Annika Dirker practises her serve at the clinic.

Get Set Play served up a rally of a time during the school holidays in conjunction with Fairland Tennis Club and Kinetik Tennis Academy .

The inaugural Get Set Play Holiday Clinic and Tournament saw 70 children aged four to 13 take to the courts to learn and compete between 3 and 5 July.

The courts were abuzz throughout the event as backhands, forehands, serves and drop shots ensued while even the basics of throwing a ball and moving around the court were taught.

Chris Rothmann practises returns at the holiday clinic at Fairland Tennis Club.

Youngsters show how they would prepare to receive a serve.

“You saw how we progressed from moving forward to the net to create pressure, to hitting deep to put further pressure on your opponent. We are covering everything from basics to advanced,” said Jean de Lange, head coach at the academy and partner at Get Set Play.

He said the feedback from children and parents was positive and they would host the clinic again in the next school holidays.

Josiah Stroh (10) won the clinic’s tournament, but everyone walked away as winners having learnt how to improve their game.

De Lange added that a weekly tournament for youngsters would now be held throughout the tennis season at the club.