Spring sports coaches only have two-and-a-half weeks of preseason to prepare their athletes. In tennis, many of the athletes who are new to the team are also new to the sport.
When teams have a lot of tennis newcomers, those two-and-a-half weeks of preseason becomes even more important. That’s a lot of pressure for coaches.
“It’s been a couple of different emotions,” Spruce Mountain girls coach Natalie Luce said. “I was really nervous at first — a team of five girls, and only two of those girls having been on my top seven before was kind of really nerve-wracking. But as I’ve watched these, you know, my new girls, and then my two that had been on my team previously, they really continue to just blossom over preseason.”
Like Luce, Lewiston girls coach Lorraine Bowen and a pair of area boys coaches, Greg Vincent of Edward Little and Zac Conlogue of Mt. Blue, have squads filled with newcomers.
The coaches said they have spent a lot of time teaching the basics, including, Luce said, how to keep score and hold the racquet. After the basics, they get to work on developing confidence and consistency.
“I find with my new players, that they really all lack confidence in themselves,” Luce said. “And so I think installing confidence in my new tennis players is one of the most important parts of the beginning couple of weeks of the spring season, is understanding that it’s OK to make a mistake.”
Luce said that continual improvement on serves is a good way for players’ confidence to grow. Bowen, whose team lost 12 players to graduation, said another way is learning to play at the net.
“I feel all girls are really good at the net, and it gives them that confidence,” Bowen said. “So we definitely end (up) working at the net. But we do, like, drop drills.”
Elam Mbembo, a newcomer on the Lewiston girls team, said she tries to be patient and remember that she isn’t the only player on the team learning new skills.
“I don’t have to compare myself to other people because I know they are also new,” Mbembo said.
Some teammates are new to the high school level but not to tennis. Lewiston freshman Ashley Cloutier, who has played in Lewiston’s rec program, helps teach teammates who are new to the sport.
“(I am) kind of just helping people with the scoring and just how the game works in itself,” Cloutier said.
After players learn new skills, the next step is consistently performing them.
“At this level, consistency is key,” Vincent said. “They can keep the ball in play. Try to emphasize, hit one more ball than your opponent, keep the ball in play, don’t try to overdo it, overpower your opponent. If you can keep the ball in, hit one more ball, that’s how tennis is typically won, especially at this level right now.”
It’s also crucial to be able to control the ball. About half of the Edward Little boys team’s 17 players and eight of the Mt. Blue boys are new to tennis. Both coaches have spent a lot of time on footwork, which helps players better place their shots.
“”A lot of times beginners, they are off balance when they are hitting, which then the ball is spraying all over the place,”” Conlogue said. “So we started out the first two weeks, we’ve been doing a lot of ladder drills, kind of like you would see in the NFL combine. We’ve been doing a lot of that. We do a lot of cone drills, where they’re moving their feet around.
“They’re getting a reset. We just really want them balanced. That way, we can be strong when we’re hitting. We’re not just kind of hitting balls over the fence over and over again, and (getting) consistent.”
Bowen said the Blue Devils have also focused on hand-eye coordination.
Despite the challenges, Conlogue is enjoying the process of teaching the newcomers and watching them, as Luce said, “blossom.”
“This is one of my favorite preseasons I’ve had,” Conlogue said. “… We have four freshmen, none of which have played tennis before, but they’ve really picked up the game pretty quickly.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Join the Conversation
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. Read more...
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
For those stories that we do enable discussion, our system may hold up comments pending the approval of a moderator for several reasons, including possible violation of our guidelines. As the Maine Trust’s digital team reviews these comments, we ask for patience.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday and limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs.
You can modify your screen name here.
Show less
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.