On Saturday June 24th and Sunday June 25th, six North American based Rackets professionals descended upon Boston for a training weekend, sponsored by NARA. The hope was to bring the pros together to brainstorm teaching techniques, think of new ways to bring fresh blood into the game and have an opportunity to improve ones own game.
The professionals were: Tony Hollins and Leon Smart (Boston), Dan Fisher (Montreal), Steve Toseland (Detroit), Conor Medlow (Chicago) and James Stout (New York).
The pros were lucky to have one of Boston’s members agree to be their student (both Saturday and Sunday morning), as the professionals broke down the structure of a lesson and took an in-depth look into the little changes that can be made to help improve ones technique/swing and thought process on court.
The middle portion of each day was spent working on drills to help specific aspects of the game. This included: serving, return of serve, killing the ball off the back wall, volleys, straightening out the ball and generally hitting to a good width and length.
The final portion of the weekend was match practice, and bringing everything together in a game. The professionals took turns playing singles and doubles, while those not playing honed their marking and refereeing skills.
Overall the professionals were very grateful for the opportunity from NARA and excited to pass along the new technique and skills they picked up, to their home clubs.
This first weekend was such a success that the NARA Board has decided to make this an annual event each September. We look forward to the growth and camaraderie this fosters amongst our professionals.
