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Early Development Camps

June 29, 2014 05:40 PM

In the late spring, on Sunday, April 27, nine 10 and Under (10U) junior tennis players from the Albuquerque area attended the Southwest Section's (SWS) Early Development Camp (EDC) hosted in El Paso, TX, at Tennis West.  Nicole Fintell, the SWS Player Development Manager, organized the event with the help of Alex Moquin, a USTA Trainer and USPTA pro.  Alex Moquin has worked with the USTA on many EDC and Regional Traning Centers (RTC) programs.

The event began at 8:00am with drills and skills. The 1-1/2 hour lunch break was used to show video's of orange ball play.  Then match play finished the day. In spite ofthe high winds and blustery day, the kids enjoyed the event and learned quite a lot regarding foot work.  The EDC ended at 3:00pm at which time everyone headed back to Albuquerque.

Sissy Kelly, the NNMTA Junior Competitive Chairperson, attended the event.  Other coaches participating were Eric Torres of El Paso, Adam Fault of El Paso, and Matt Neeld of Albuquerque.

According to Nicole, the name of the camp was "Expert Rallyer", so the main focus for the coaches was to evaluate and assist players with their skill development of movement and ground strokes.  To that extent, the USTA recommends to link the athletic development of the child to the technical development.  The parents were encouraged to help the development of physical abilities outside of tennis practices and the camp.  Each player needed extra focus on an active ready position and a consistent split step to help facilitate an effective body turn and trigger efficient footwork patterns. An example given at the EDC was to avoid a "side step pattern" when going to a wide ball.

The next EDC is scheduled in Albuquerque on Sunday October 5th at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center. The exact program is still in development.  Go to the Southwest Section Website for more information on the player pathway.  Go to: 

http://www.southwest.usta.com/Juniors/junior_development_camps/?intloc=headernavsub2

Contact Sissy Kelly for more information on what is happening in Northern New Mexico at sissykelly@me.com.

 

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