Coach G's Blog

01/21/12

Well we are ready to start a new year! We made some amazing progress in 2012 and we had many of our players excell in high school and in USTA matches. This year we want our players to really start to play USTA matches and work on improving their games and see if they can get a ranking too,

11/22/11

Jeremy is entered the Burbank Satellite Tournament in the 14's on 11/22/11. Also entered in the 14's is Dustin Yu.

09/11/11

We have another USTA OPEN tournament coming up on 09/24 the
48TH ANNUAL NORTHRIDGE-MATADOR JUNIOR TOURNAMENT and it is a Level B Open tournament. Jeremy will be entering his first open level tournament.

I hope to get our fundraising going to provide money for UTSA mathes.

8/12/11

We are getting ready for our next USTA tournament at the Paseo Club this weekend. It is has been a hot couple of weeks here but I think we are ready. We have three players playing- Jeremy - Jenny- Christian. See how our hard work will pay off

07/16/11

Jeremy got to the semifinals of the NORTHRIDGE JR SATELLITE TOURNAMENT and that brought up his USTA Boys 14 Satellite ranking from #847 to #147. That was our first semi- final win and we hope to have many more. USTA tournament success is what we need to excell in high school and to play college tennis

Our advanced group had a great week of workouts and we had some good matches in our weekly ladder. Our intermediates are now ready to start serving, playing games, and playing in our ladder matches. This will be the first step to playing USTA tournaments

07/05/11

Jeremy won his first round match today in the NORTHRIDGE JULY JR SATELLITE TOURNAMENT against Logan Fields( ranked #672) 6-1, 6-4. He plays Julien Mascarade( ranked #168) tomorrow at 3pm, and who beat the number one seed, Bentley Acee (#88) today.

We are getting to level we need to play at to win and compete in USTA matches now. That also means we need to keep up our hard workouts to keep improving!!

BTW we noticed Logan is from Manhattan Beach, not used to the heat, and wore a black shirt. Like I have been telling everyone we are used to the heat and our practices allow us to play and win when it is hot. That is one advantage of living in SCV

 

06/24/11

Jeremy and Coby both played well but not well enough to win on Friday. There was a large draw and they had some very good players there. Jeremy lost 4-6, 4-6 and Coby lost 1-6, 1-6. We know what we have to work on now to improve and so that is what we are going to do and we ran extra hard on Monday to get started on this. We are now looking to play in the Northridge USTA tournament in July

We have some new intermediate players this past week and with their athletic backgrounds they are getting very good. Adrienne has a black belt in Karate and she has very good reflexes and quick feet. Helene is really hitting the ball hard and getting her shots in and Marlon is going between both this class and the advanced class.

06/17/11

We are getting ready for the next USTA tournament in Braemer on June 26th. Jeremy and Coby will both be playing in the boys 14's, and I can't weit to see how they do. They both had a great workout last night and then played a few games, and then went and hit with Alexa at Canyon HS.

Alexa is having a blast at the Canyon Summer Camp and is in the top 3 players for rigjt now at least. She is also filling out physically over the last month from some good training here, Canyon, and with her Father.

Kristin is playing at the Canyon Camp also but I have not talked to her yet. The running will really help her game for she has great power already.

Our intermediates are making great progress and Marlon is now able to hit with both this group and with the advanced group. Helene and Lawrance are now hitting and ralleying from the backcourt and are moving up fast, and Riley has been coming back and hitting too.

O6/05/11

Our practices all include double running for the last two weeks. And we made some major improvements. And our intermediate players are now playing games too ( 2nd - 8th grade).

We had GREAT Tennis ladder matches this morning. Some extra firepower was brought in byboy high school players, Christian from West Ranch and Tristin from Saugus. They are two of the top players in SCV. We had a perfect number of 6 this morning so we had three games of singles with players rotating.

Remember the purpose of the ladder is to improve our game play for USTA matches. Three our players were getting knocked around by Belicia and Giana. I watched the matches and it was clear that they were running much more than we were and that we needed to make some changes. So I immediately doubled our running and drills. And as you know many of you were on the ground after the first day of new training.

Did it work? Well Alexa and Jenny had a great match. But James saw what was like to play older boy high school players and he got clipped 0-5 by Tristin and was tied with Christian at 2-2 when he had too leave

But the real results of the ladder was Jeremy. We have spent 5 months trying to change his game. It all clicked in two weeks ago and i have never seen a player make the change in his game in such a short time in my 30 years of coaching. All of his shots improved. As a incoming 8th grader he lost to Christian 4-6 and then beat Tristin. 6-3, which was one of the best played matches I have seen in awhile with each player running down ball after ball.

Remember all of these players mentioned above want to win and are playing all of the time. So make sure you are too. The matches are not USTA matches - they are for practice but they do show where you are on your game for that day.

The Signal did another nice write up on our group in the Community Sports Section at the back of the sports page last Sunday .

We are now ready to up our training and to start to really work on our footwork. So all players will be running the entire practice from now on. I brought our the ladders last night and we ran sprints through them at different times at practice last night. I have designed my own drills the past two days and will be changing them up each week. I finally realized after going to numerous coaching drills that the tennis industry is trying to copy the football and basketball training drills that I did and taught for years and they are still not even close to them ( which is why Andre Agassi payed football trainer Gil Reyes to train him).

I am also going to bring out two new medicine balls to add to the drills. So please bring some electrolyte replacement drinks with you from now on. I get the powder ones so I can make my own at 1/2 strength for the regular bottles have TOO MUCH SUGAR in them.

Also bring a towel. Now is when we REALLY start to build up our game and our bodies. And we also need to pick our next tournament. I have my new video camera and we are going to start to add video this week and also pics and video for our website.

Coach G.
http://www.santaclaritatennis.com/

05/08/11

The Signal did a nice write up on our group in the Community Sports Section at the back of the sports page today. Gave us a little publicity and some nice kudos.

This week we need to work on our forehands and having the correct form. That means a complete shoulder turn, the racquet way in front
when we make contact with the ball, the racquet face beveled and level so a dime could stay on it at contact, a straight hitting arm, and
then a complets 180 degree turn starting with the hips, then legs pushing, and following through across the opposite side of the body with the shoulder.

i played this morning and concentrated on keeping my arm in a more locked position at contact for my forehands and I found I was hitting a lot harder and with more spin and control.

We are planning some ladder matches for this Saturday. Remember some of the advanced players who will be coming are playing 4-5 times a week so we need to make sure we are playing and training at the same intensity they are. Otherwise it is not going to be a goof match for either player. I am going to arrange the matches by level and buy the results from the previous weeks play. So players will be moving up and down the ladder.

Speaking of moving up - former beginner - intermediate player Kristin is almost ready for the advanced group. The past two weeks she has really started to HIT the ball HARD!! And she is going to have some kind of power on the Canyon High School tennis team this coming year. So will Alexa on the same team, and it is good to see her back in action and running full speed after her knee injury. Now Erin and Caren have to step up their training for the Saugus team summer play coming up soon. And Jennifer has been back to training and she has another full year before she goes to Canyon.

Our beginner - intermediates are starting to serve and play games now and should be playing ladder matches soon too.

I will be putting up exercises you need to be doing on your own on your off days this week. Remember the tougher you are physically the tougher you are mentally also on the court. And the faster you can run the more fun it is to play tennis

04/18/11

We are gearing up for tennis ladder match play. I have seen some great improvement in our games the last few weeks and hopefully that will translate to good tennis games in our ladder play this Saturday and to the USTA match in Sylmar on 04/30/11.

04/10/11

We had a very good week of practice leading up to a GREAT night of practice on Friday. We had some nice drill and serve points played Friday. Our Saturday ladder match play went very well also and we got in some practice games in. Our next week should be even better as we get some players back from Spring Break.

Plus this week we are start to up our running and sprinting to build up our speed and endurance.

04/03/11

Well this past weekend Jeremy played his first USTA match in Manhattan Beach, played the number six seed and lost 4-6 4-6. He was at 4-4 for both games and he also had his opponent switch the score 2 times in each set ( last set on purpose), not throw him the balls a few times, etc.

KNOW THE SCORE! ANNOUNCE IT! And do not let them serve until you hear it and agree with it.

Jeremy played well but he can improve 100% more with his strokes and serves. Also I see that Christian Cranert from West Ranch last 2-6 5-7 yesterday in the same tournament. I have not talked to him yet and about how he played,

But they both played and that is the key! And we need to keep going, Sylmar has a USTA satellite tournament on 4/30. I am not sure how many players will be there but since it is close and we know everyone there I am going to suggest we go. We have till 4/23 to register.

In the 10s we have the top two Satellite 10 year old girls from SCV- Nicole Alvarez #1, and Amanda Skye Tabanera #2, and Olivia Bloome #36 in the open! Jake Anderson is number #9 in the satellites, and Ryan Nuno ( Sylmar is number 10 in the open's)

12' Brandon Yu(Canyon Country) is 93 in the satellites

14's Harrison Collins(West Ranch) is number 60 in the Satellites

18's Spencer Parks( Saugus) #65 Satellites,

I see Katrina from our courts is playing in the Santa Monica Dudley Open tournament today and she is playing Sydney Schwartz from Stevenson Ranch ( too bad they put them together). She is now playing the 14's and it still ranked as #53 in the Open 12's.
She was warming up next to us this morning. I see some new SCV players playing also - Robert Dickson Boys 12's Satellite, and Brandon Y0 - boys 14's Open.

And Natalia Munoz also from our courts is ranked #29 in the Open 12's, Sarah Nuno ( Sylmar ) 10 in the 14's, Rebecca Ho( Golden Valley) #54 in 14's!

So SCV is on the way in tennis!

We did our water cup drills this weekend and I saw a HUGE improvement in our play right afterwards and also the next day. Our ladder play on Saturday was great and our 2nd and 3rd graders amazed me by playing games. We had four advanced players playing matches at the same time But from now on I need to schedule these in advanced so the matches are set for singles and doubles.

For the advanced players I have some high school players who want to come to play and also some senior players. But we need to be READY for them when they come and give them a tough game so they improve as well as us. Only a few of the advanced players are ready for this and if you want to join them then you need to increase your training.

Speaking of which we are GOING TO INCREASE OUR TRAINING THIS WEEK AND FROM NOW ON! That means much more running, change of direction drills, and
balance and shot drills. They will be faster and with less recovery time included. So bring some gatorade and water! I am also going to give out a non-practice
day rountine for everyone this next week too. We need to train just like the top ranked soccer, volleyball, swimming, football, etc. players train in SCV.

I am off this next week and will be around for most of it and will send out my schedule later today.

Keep working,

Coach G.

 

03/21/11

I went to Valencia for two hours on Saturday and I was VERY impressed with the tennis at the Valencia Spring Smash. The players there have made some major improvements!!

The J.R. ( Valencia ) Baron (West Ranch) match was great! Baron has flattened out his
strokes and is putting power into this game to go along with his speed! The Jason ( Canyon) JR match was also intense with some real power hitting.

I was also VERY impressed with the doubles play of Valencia and West Ranch. They have both improved 100% from last year. Saugus also has some good doubles teams this year.

Will be a competitive year for a lot of players and I think Valencia and West Ranch will have some real battles.

J.R., Baron, Jason, and Miles will battle for the top two spots but there are also some players making a move from Valencia for that spot also.

I saw Tristin, Luis, and Patty there and Tristin is up for the season and to get some great singles experience against these top players. Tyler Gotschall's Dad was there and he says Tyler is loving playing at LMU and is playing number 5 singles! Tyler is great young man and it is great to see all of his hard work payoff.

This Saturday Jeremy from our group and Christian from West Ranch will be at the USTA Manhattan Beach Tournament. Jeremy is playing the 6th seeded player, Ryan Kawano of Anaheim, on Saturday at 1:00 at Mira Costa High School. Ryan has won at least 2 Satellite Tournaments ,and has made it several times to the Semi-Finals.

Hey you will play the top seeds when you first start playing USTA matches. It is the way it works until you work your way up the seedings. But this will give some great experience to build your game.

We had some great practices this past week and I saw some major improvements in everyone's game. Our advanced group played some awesome doubles matches and had some great drilling too. Now we need to apply it to our matches. Our intermediates are now playing points with real balls we are getting some ralleys going. Next we need to throw in some games with these rallies. We wll also use the soft balls for volley games and practices this coming week.

Top play successful tennis you need tp hit thousands of balls to get the timing of running to and then hitting the ball. And that is what we are now doing.

 

O3/13/11

We had a great week of workouts this week. We added some new players also:

Caren - a freshman at Saugus who has a LOT of topspin and has some fast feet,
Helene - a beginner from Phillips Ranch who looks to be a great athlete

Bryana was in town and played great in a practice with Erin and Caren. All 3 of them played great.
Coby and Jeremy are BANGING the ball in practice and they are playing a lot of practice games now on their own too.
Marlon is now hitting 1/2 of the time with the advanced group and will soon be with them
Riley came back and was hitting the ball very clean. Emma is getting better.
I hit full court with 3rd grader Lawrence today and he will be soon be playing games.

Our intermediates( Megan, Madison, Andrew, Malaina, etc) are now playing 90% of the time with real balls and we are
going to start playing games on the weekends and put up our own tennis ladder. So
we will use these games as preparation for USTA matches. They will be less expensive than
the $45 USTA fee and also I can coach during the games to make sure we do not get into
bad habits. Plus the USTA matches ARE NOT the matches to work on your game on.
But we will have the serve and return of the game and the pressure of a game also

The High School Spring Smash will be held next weekend in Valencia and it is great tournament to take your
players too. There will be some great players there. From the players we have played with, Tristin, Baron, and
Joey should be there. LOTS of the High Schools are not putting their games in The Signal and they need to so that
we can see their records. Valencia has been and they are playing great and just won the USTA First Serve Team
Championship and the are on a roll. Plus they ARE NOT scheduling some of the weak teams from up north - Highland-
Knight- etc. Except for Quartz Hills the rest of the teams up there are not good enough to give SCV good competition
yet

Jeremy and Marlon are putting their training to test on Sundays in the CTA tennis ladder. And so far only Jeremy from our
group has committed to play in the Manhattan Beach USTA match on March 26th.

I am going to put together a Strength and Conditioning training routine for my players who I REQUEST you do on your own.
This can be fun for the whole Family, and will make the players stronger, faster and prevent injuries. This will save our time for
tennis only. I am going to video it and put it up on my website.

Here is the training schedule for this week=

Keep training, studying, and playing.

Coach G.

 

03/06/11

I had Coby and Jeremy. who are both 7th graders play a full set today. They both played great and in my opinion they played as well as my number two player at Canyon did last year as a 12th grader. And he finished 4th in the league championships last year.

By playing a practice set they are able to learn how to compete in a set, I was able to show them things they missed during the game. This is essential to success. You must serve and return to play a game and you must practice that game just as if you are in USTA match! Create the same atmosphere and some pressure too. You CANNOT just drill - you MUST play games against different players to succeed!

Erin came on Saturday and her game is getting much better. She is getting ready for Saugus summer camp and for a successful junior year. Alexa had some great news= she does not have a torn meniscus and she hopes to be back in 2 weeks or so.

Some of our interemediate players had a chance to hit with the advanced players for a few minutes on Friday. It was good to see Emma and Riley back on the courts this last week. And we are getting our young players ( 2nd - 5th grade) ready for matches now and they are right on schedule ( Madison, Megan, Lawrence, Malaina and Marlon). Marlon is now able to hit with the advanced group too.

So far we only have Jeremy signed up for the USTA match on March 26th in Manhattan beach! If you want to up your game we need to play a USTA match every 4-6 weeks.

Valencia High School is right back on track after some NICE wins against teams from Santa Barbara and Glendale. Coach Kellog has continued to build her team each year and they will be tough to beat. Lets see how the other teams stack up. Hart played well against Cambell Hall, and Saugus has Tristin (who played with us for a month) playing number 3 singles. Smart move on their part.

I am getting tuned in HARD TRAINING! And when you think you are really training hard you will find there is someone training harder. So push your training year round. We will be adding some new drills this week!!!

Coach G,
http://www.santaclaritatennis.com

 

12/04/10

Our advanced group had a great workout last night. We had 3 girls going (Jennifer, Alexa, and Erin) and three boy( Coby, Tristin, James) playing two on one and then we played our 3 on 3 drill. For intermediates we had Sisters Megan and Madison before the advanced group.

Today we are back to Sylmar where I will teach for two hours and then we will have match play.

 

11/28/10

We had Alexa, Coby, and James out for a 90 minute workout. We did a series of competitive drills and played points with all players going 2 on 1 at different times. The weather was perfect and so we got a much needed workout after a few days of vacation.