Please note that due to the hot weather the junior clinics scheduling will be changing effective Tuesday July 14th:
1st Group [Mini -> ages 4 - 8] will take place 30 minutes earlier from 8:30am to 9:30am
2nd Group [Juniors and Intermediate -> ages 9+] will take place 30 minutes earlier from 9:30am to 10:30am
Always shake hands or tap racquets with your opponents at the end of a game, whether you win or lose.
Treat your opponents and your partner with respect and accept defeat gracefully.
Always focus on the positives; be patient and courteous to other members.
If you need to walk past a court to get to your court, wait for the point to finish and ask if you can go, rather than just walking behind their court without permission.
If your ball goes on another court, wait for a break in play and politely ask for it or retrieve it yourself.
Do not delay play unreasonably. Play to the server’s pace.
If a ball rolls onto your court, call “let” immediately and replay the point. If this happens between the first and second serve, offer the server first serve.
You cannot call a let after the ball is struck and a point lost or won.
Do not chew gum on the courts.
Wear non-marking shoes to prevent damage to the courts.
A player should avoid grunting and making other loud noises which may bother not only opponents but also players on the adjacent court.
Speak softly and turn off your cellphone ringer whenever possible
Courts should be booked in advance when possible. Website - https://app.univerusrec.com/renfrewpub/account/index.asp
Players must vacate the court for the booking time reserved.
Hourly court rental for the Town of Renfrew must be paid in advance ($8.00/hour/person)
Members should collect a $5.00 court fee for any RTC function. g. Fun tournaments, morning group, clinics, etc.
Warm up should be limited to 5 minutes for doubles and singles league play if starting just on time or late
Warm up time in non-competitive games can be flexible amongst the players
Hit the ball back to your opponent at a moderate pace warming up various strokes. You are not trying to win the warm up!
Servers should always call out the score before each serve. If you forget the score, go back to the last score you all agree upon. If you cannot agree, spin the racquet and use their recollection of the winner for the score.
Service calls in doubles – The receiver’s partner should call the service line, and the receiver should call the sideline and the center service line. Either partner may call a ball that he/she clearly sees.
Service calls by the serving team – Neither the server nor his/her partner shall make a fault call on the first service even if they think it is out because the receiver may be giving the server the benefit of the doubt.
Receiver readiness – The receiver should make no effort to return a serve when he/she is not ready. If a player attempts to return a serve, it is presumed that he/she is ready.
Delays during service – When there is a delay between the first and second serves the server gets one serve if he/she was the cause of the delay. The server gets two serves if the delay was caused by the receiver or if there was outside interference.
Service let calls. Any player can call a service let.
Players are not allowed to stand in the receiving court during service. Additionally, a receiver’s partner shall not move in or around the receiving box, or cause a distraction.
Rectifying mistakes – The general rule is that errors are rectified as soon as they are discovered but not during play, and points remain. If a server serves from the wrong court, the point stands and he/she serves the next point from the proper court. If in doubles, the wrong person serves, the game stands and his/her partner serves the next game from his/her side. If discovered during the game, the partner whose turn it is to serve, takes over.
In doubles you change servers after each game . The receiver in doubles must remain on his side for a complete set, and then can be changed. At the end of a set a teams’ serve rotation may be changed.
A foot fault occurs when the server’s foot touches the baseline or steps right into the court on the serve before the ball is contacted. Obvious foot faults may and should be called.
Players should make calls on his/her side of the net promptly.
A ball landing on the line is good.
If a ball can’t be called out with certainty, it is good.
Respect your opponent’s line call whether you agree with it or not. It is theirs to make.
In doubles, the receiver usually calls the side line while his partner calls the service line. However, either player may call a ball they see out.
The call of a player looking down a line is much more likely to be accurate than that of a player looking across a line. When you are looking across a line, don’t call a ball out unless you can clearly see part of the court between where the ball hits and the line.
It is difficult for a player who stands on one baseline to question a call on a ball that landed near the other baseline.
If a player and his/her partner disagree about whether the ball was out, they shall call it good.
Spectators are never to make calls.
A point may be replayed if both sides agree.
A ball is in play until the ball is called out or bounced twice or landed outside the court area or hit something outside the court area. The rare exception to this rule in doubles: a ball that hits the post & lands in is considered good.
You cannot catch a ball & call it out even though it might be going to hit the fence. It has contacted your body while in play and you lose that point.
A “let” is any instance where players replay an entire point during singles or doubles play, except when it is called on a second serve.
Lets should be called:
Waiting too long may not be valid.
by any player on the court
if a noticeable distraction interferes with play; the server receives 2 serves.
when balls, a water bottle or a person from a nearby court comes onto yours. This is treated as an interference and the point is replayed .
Service Let:
The ball hits the net or net cord and subsequently lands in the correct service box
The ball hits the net and contacts the receiver(s) or anything they wear or carry before hitting the ground
However, if the ball contacts the receiver(s), or anything they wear or carry before hitting the ground without touching the net is not a let; it is a fault & therefore an automatic lost point
The ball is served when the receiver is not ready
If the service let occurs on the first serve, players should replay the entire point. However, if it happens on the second serve, the server only receives one additional serve. There is no limit to the number of serve let calls during any given point.
If the let call happens between the servers first or second serve, it’s up to the receiver to determine whether or not the duration of time that passed while clearing the ball or dealing with the disturbance warrants the server starting the point over with a first serve.
Players change ends when the game total is odd, including at the end of a set.
If you forget to change ends during a game, change ends immediately once recognized and continue the game keeping the score achieved prior to changing.
Reaching over the net in tennis is permitted as long as you don’t touch it with your body, clothing or racket, and you don’t touch your opponent or the court on the other side. However, the ball must be contacted on your side of the court first before this occurs.
You cannot jump over the net during a match, or you lose that point and can be disqualified if it is to confront an opponent.
0 points = Love
1 point = 15
2 points = 30
3 points = 40
Tied score = All (e.g. 30 all)
40 – 40 = Deuce
Server wins deuce = Ad-in (Advantage in)
Receiver wins deuce = Ad-out (Advantage out)
When the score reaches deuce, one player or team will need to win at least two points in a row to win the game. If the team with the advantage (Ad-In or Ad-Out) wins another point, they win the game, or it goes back to deuce.
If the score reaches 6-6 (6-all) in the set, a tiebreak game is played.
In a tiebreak game, the next person who was due to serve will start the tiebreak game, and serve one point to the deuce side of the court. The following two points will then be served by the opponent starting on the ad side. In doubles, the player on the opposing team due to serve will serve these points.
Players or teams switch ends of the court every six points (e.g. when the score is 4-2), and to score this tiebreak game, you use, “zero” “one”, “two”, “three”, etc. The first player or team to win seven points, by two, wins the tiebreak. This means the score can end up being very high (e.g. 15-13) or as low as 7-0 through 7-5.
Whoever wins the tiebreak game, wins the set by a score of 7-6.
Since the set is an odd-numbered score (7-6), whichever end of the court the players or teams ended up on when the tiebreak game finished, they will need to switch sides to start the next set. Whoever started serving the tiebreak game will be receiving serve in the first game of the next set.
For more detailed information visit https://www.tennisontario.com/players/get-started/rules-and-regulations
All players have a duty to encourage and to maintain the highest standards of good sportsmanship, courtesy an fair play. Violations of the Code of Conduct include but are not limited to:
Players shall at all times conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and refrain from any misconduct by a player that is clearly abusive or detrimental to opponents, spectators and others.
This includes, but not restricted to:
Violation of the Code of Conduct should be reported immediately to the Executive (
Version 1: April 3rd, 2024
The most important grip to know is the CONTINENTAL GRIP. It is used for the serve. You will never become a good server without using it. You use it for the volley. You do not have time to change grips at the net . The ball comes back too fast!! You use this grip for the overhead . Finally this is the best grip for the slice backhand. ONE GRIP TAKES CARE OF ALL THESE SITUATIONS !!! IT IS EASY TO LEARN> JUST GRAB YOUR RACQUET AS IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAMMER A NAIL WITH IT.
Unlike a normal ground stroke, the return of serve DOES NOT REQUIRE A BIG BACK SWING. Aim for about half the normal back swing & meet the ball out in front of you. The follow through may be a bit shorter as well, but be sure you do follow through. This will be especially important in returning hard first serves!!!
Check the position of your front foot as you step out to make the shot. You should be stepping out so that the front foot is pointed at the one o’clock position. This will make sure you meet the ball early out in front of your body & will allow you to lean forward comfortably into the shot. If you are stepping out at 3 o’clock instead you will meet the ball late & your movements will feel cramped
At any level a poor serve can be traced to a faulty toss. On a clock the toss should be at approximately 1 o’clock. Do not palm the ball. Hold the ball on your finger tips. Move you arm from the shoulder only. DO NOT FLIP YOUR WRIST. Release the ball about head height. If the ball has any spin you are not releasing it properly. Practice until your toss is perfect every time. It is best you practice away from the court.
Mistake 1: Impress Instead of Spar
This is something I don’t believe I’ve ever discussed in any of our digital content before and yet it was hands down one of my biggest frustrations when I worked a “normal” tennis coaching job…Day after day I would set up drills for my students to pinpoint an area of their game that needed improvement. If they were hitting feeds from me, or with a ball machine, or rallying with me they were totally content, but the instant I asked them to hit cooperatively with a peer all kinds of objections would surface:“Why in the world would I want to practice hitting TO somebody? Shouldn’t I be training myself to hit AWAY from the player on the other side of the net??!”
It felt as if the only way they saw value in training reps is if they were directly replicating exactly what would happen in a real point……which left a tremendous amount of improvement on the table because they didn’t have the patience to bring the intensity level down, increase the amount of focus and purpose behind every repetition, and consciously develop the ability to hit a very specific shot over and over again.
Think about it this way: hitting away from a partner is essentially the most general “target” possible. In fact, it isn’t a target at all.
The singles court is over 1,000 square feet and the doubles court is over 1,400 square feet, per side!!
Giving yourself the goal of hitting “away” from your partner means you’re a success if you hit anywhere BUT where they’re standing. That’s a task you can easily accomplish purely by accident 90% of the time!
On the other hand, intentionally picking a specific height, depth, width, pace and spin so the ball lands exactly to your sparring partner takes tremendously more control, concentration and discipline.
That kind of repetition is how great players become great players!
In fact, if you watch professional players train you’ll see them do a LOT of cooperative hitting with practice partners or coaches. Don’t poo-poo it, there’s tremendous value to be had.
Mistake 2: “Power” Instead of Placement
This probably isn’t exactly what you think so read carefully…
I put Power in quotes because delivering a “powerful” shot is completely relative to the level of play in question. In other words, a powerful shot at 3.0 isn’t “powerful” anymore within the context of 5.0 competition.
Obvious on the surface, but here’s where the disconnect is for lots of tennis players: they assume that hitting a shot with more power automatically makes it better, or allows them to beat opponents more easily, but that isn’t true!
You know this from experience – the player who hits harder does NOT always win. In fact, a lot of times the person who’s trying to score “power points” loses much, much faster than they should have.
That’s due to a critical tennis truth: most points end with an error at all levels of play.
And so, if you’re out there trying to maximize how hard you can hit each shot towards a designated target you’re playing with fire over and over.
Contrast that with the players at your local courts who just seem to have a knack for winning no matter who they’re up against…
They’ve mastered the skill of picking a target, spin, height, depth, or pattern that makes their opponent uncomfortable and narrowing their focus like a laser on calmly executing that same shot again and again and again.
Hopefully that reminds you of Mistake #1 🙂
A sure way of spotting somebody who doesn’t understand this principle is hearing them make this remark while watching professional tennis:
“Why do they keep hitting the ball BACK to each other??”
(Don’t feel badly if you’ve had that thought while watching tennis on TV, we all had it at some point)
That viewer doesn’t understand there are layers and nuance to trying to make an opponent uncomfortable…
Great players at all level’s aren’t binary about their offense, it isn’t an “on/off” switch.
Instead, they realize certain patterns of shot are smart to play, and they’re content in hitting a few balls on that pattern to see if their opponent has poor shot tolerance (misses on their own) or will cough up a huge opportunity to close out the point in a high percentage way.
Instead of trying for knock out punch after knock out punch they’re working the point, constantly feeling out their opponent, and maximizing their chances for success while minimizing the likelihood they beat themselves.
Playing that way is much more fun than “all or nothing” power tennis 🙂
Mistake 3: “Tricky” Instead of Deadly
Please read this carefully:
Playing great tennis isn’t about repeatedly fooling your opponent, or faking them out, or being totally unpredictable.
Trying to develop a game around those ideas will only lead to you faking YOURSELF out!
In other words, with every change of spin, tempo, pattern, depth and direction you make it more and more likely that you’ll make a mistake.
And how do most tennis points end??
**Chorus of 10,000 tennis players**: “WITH AN ERROR!”
Instead, really successful competitors at all levels play in a predictably deadly way…
They uncover an opportunity against each opponent, craft a simple way to force them into playing it, and then exploit that opportunity until their foe either adjusts or loses the match.
Think about this within the context of professional tennis…
Over the past decade every player on planet earth knows EXACTLY how Rafael Nadal is going to play them and yet he continues to be one of the most difficult competitors to win against in the history of the sport.
I know, I know: the tools in his toolbox are exceptional.
BUT, it’s the dogged intentionality in how he deploys those tools that makes him such a special player.
Most of the time he could hit the ball harder than he does, but he knows that the shape (heavy topspin) and direction (exploiting righty backhands) he’s hitting in will get the job done without risking more than necessary, plus if it’s needed he can always try to mix things up and go to Plan B later…
…but until you prove to him that his Plan A isn’t going to get the job done he’s going to “go to the well” in perpetuity.
YOU can grind players down and become much, much more difficult to beat with that same mindset and mentality