In this issue:                                                                          September 2008

   • Special Feature: Cardio Tennis at USPTA World Conference
   • Quickstart Tennis - At the US Open and How To Make Your Own QST Court
   • Up Close with the Top 50 TWC- Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet Club
   • Tennis Industry Hall of Fame Inductees
   • New Website for the Tennis Industry!
   • Research News- Tennis Health Index
   • Spotlight On- Online Enrollment, TennisInsure, TennisConnect and More


                 

Save the Dates:
GrowingTennisTraining.com

Sep. 15-20: USPTA World Conference with special Cardio Tennis workshops- La Quinta, CA
Oct 3rd: USPTA Cardio Tennis Specialty Course- Boston, MA
Oct 4th: Full day Cardio Tennis workshop- Boston, MA
Oct 16-19th: PTR Professional Development weekend featuring morning Cardio tennis workouts and four hour Cardio Tennis course: Marketing and making money- Hilton Head Island, SC
Oct. 18: TWC Business & Technology Workshop, Hilton Head Island, SC
Oct 20th: Cardio Tennis workshop- Jupiter, FL
Oct. 25: USPTA Cardio Tennis Specialty Course, Phoenix
Nov 23rd: Cardio Tennis workshop- Rochester, NY
Dec 7th: USPTA Cardio Tennis Specialty Course- Rochester, NY

Please contact Michele Krause at michele@cardiotennis.com for more information and how to register

Special Request Workshops –for more info email us at
info@GrowingTennis.com
QuickStart Training
USTA Recreational Workshops

Official Sites To Date:
Tennis Welcome Centers: 2,398
Cardio Tennis: 1,678
QuickStart Tennis: 918

Cardio Tennis Player of the Month
In every newsletter, we will feature a player whose life has been positively changed due to Cardio Tennis.

This month’s focus is Mike Woody, Executive Director at the Midland Community Tennis Center in Midland, Michigan. By playing Cardio Tennis, Woody has lost more than 50 pounds! He has caught the Cardio Tennis fire and is sharing it with all the players he teaches at Midland Community Tennis Center. “The players have been extremely amazed at all the great health and game benefits Cardio Tennis delivers,” says Woody. “I have witnessed in this short journey how people’s lives can be transformed when they are freed from the confines of a fitness gym or club.  OUT with the machines and IN for Cardio Tennis!”  
Click here to read more.

Do you or someone you know have what it takes to be Cardio Tennis Player of the Month? E-mail your story to Amanda@TennisIndustry.org. If your story is featured, you will win a Cardio Tennis Survival Kit.

Get some CT Tips with our monthly Q&A Featuring A National Cardio Tennis Speakers Team Member: Troy Robinson-Kinston Country Club, Kinston, NC
Q: Describe the popularity of CT at your facility.
A: In a small town it has a lot of buzz and we now have a waiting list, and for a club that has steadily declined in membership, golf and dining participation we are up over 300% percent every year for the past two years.  We will have our 5000th cardio tennis participant sometime in November I hope!!! This is major because we only have 80 families here to pull from.
Q: How has CT grown your business and participation?
A: Immensely.  The energy it creates at the facility is amazing and people love to talk about what they are doing to stay in shape and this creates intrigue.  Intrigue creates experimentation and once I get them into CT they begin coming to other programs and leagues to play as well and it just grows from there.
Q: What is your most helpful teaching tip for conducting a CT Class?
A: Learn to triple feed, No matter how good the drill is my crew enjoys the game based drills and I get more “that class was fun” comments and have deduced that it is because there are more games.
Q: What tip would you give to a club or organization that is struggling to start up a CT Program?
A: Add a corner stone Monthly exercise in which people after four weeks of doing it can actually notice strength improvements, this keeps them engaged for longer periods.  One month we may do abdominal so we drill and then we break up the class into segments and each starts with 2-3 minutes of ab work.  So far we have had Lunges one month, push ups one month and Abs one month.  Not sure what we’ll be doing next.

Click Here To Read the Rest of the Interview with Troy Robinson

Watch Free Tennis Drills Online
Master Professional Jorge Capestany has created a video based website that shows more than 600 videos of tennis tips and drills.
Visitors to the site can view more than 15 drills for free!
Visit www.tennisdrills.tv

TIA Forum Celebrates Tennis
The 2nd annual TIA Tennis Forum shared the good news in tennis during the USTA TTC in New York City in August. More than 250 people attended the forum which highlighted racquet and ball shipments, the tennis economy, the new Tennis Health Index, latest tennis initiatives, USTA programs, visibility of tennis in mainstream media, and the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame inductees (see below).

If you missed the forum you can still view the powerpoint portion online at http://www.growingtennis.com/PDFs/2008TIATennisForum.pdf

Dennis Van Der Meer and Howard Head Inducted Into Inaugural Class of Tennis Industry Hall of Fame (read full story)

Dennis Van Der Meer

Howard Head 1914-1991

Dennis Van der Meer and Howard Head were the first people instated to the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. The announcement was made at a special reception at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, to honor the men and their contributions they’ve made to tennis.

Former Mayor of New York City, David Dinkins, spoke on behalf of Van der Meer who was present to accept his award. Ray Benton, President of KSB Ventures and the co-founder of the senior tour for men’s professional tennis, accepted the posthumous award for Howard Head and gave a speech in his honor.

The Tennis Industry Hall of Fame recognizes those individuals who have made a significant impact to the sport. All candidates had to have made an impact on tennis from the 1960’s until present in the following four categories: Inventors- Those who changed the game through product and/or design; Founders- Those who started noteworthy groups/organizations that made and continue to make a difference; Innovators- Those who marketed tennis with a noticeable difference in how it was perceived / growth attained; Contributors- those who impacted and touched lives to make tennis a better sport.

Industry News & Updates
Visit TennisIndustryNews.org for the latest industry news and information. Site includes newfeeds from RSI plus an official tennis industry calendar, GrowingTennis newsletters and archives, quicklinks to industry partners, industry newsletters, and a tennis media and manufacturer search. Make sure to visit the site frequently to stay updated on the Tennis Industry and its partners.

Cardio Tennis NEWS

Cardio Tennis at USPTA World Conference
Cardio Tennis is a great way for you to make a major impact with the “Tennis for the health of it” initiative at your facility.
CARDIO TENNIS HIGHLIGHTS AT THE USPTA WORLD CONFERENCE
   • Take part in the 60,000 calorie challenge.    USPTA professionals will attempt to burn a staggering 60,000 calories in the Cardio Tennis workouts during the convention
   • Win a Polar F5 heart rate monitor-if you participate you have a chance to win.
   • Free Health tips of the day, redeem for a free James Blake Cardio Tennis poster at the TIA booth.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Tuesday 3:00-4:00: Cardio Tennis on-court presentation: A successful fitness and health program. This session is designed to give you the tools and updates to run a successful Cardio Tennis program and improve those who have existing programs.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning workouts 7:00-8:00am
If you have never experienced Cardio Tennis this is your chance to experience a fitness changing experience.  You will be surprised how tennis if one of the best forms of cardio exercise. Great giveaways each morning such as Drills DVD’s and the NEW Cardio Tennis Music CD.  
Click Here to see the full morning CT Schedule

Thursday 12:00-1:00: USPTA Cardio Tennis National Shootout competition (qualifying) Compete in the qualifying round for one of five available spots in the finals. If you were unable to compete at your division convention you are eligible to compete in the qualifying.

Friday 12:00-1:00: USPTA Cardio Tennis National Shootout competition (finals) You are invited to watch and cheer on these competitors.

Tracy Austin Special Cardio Tennis Event
Former No. 1 player and two-time US Open Champion, Tracy Austin, helped conduct a special one-hour Cardio Tennis Event in Mamaroneck, New York on September 8. The event, which was hosted by the Eastern Adult Tennis Foundation (EATF), included a luncheon following Cardio Tennis with award grants given to programs serving disadvantaged and special population adults and seniors.

Cardio Tennis to be Featured at Celebrity Tennis Event to Benefit MS
October 10-11th: Los Angeles, CA
Join Tracy Austin, Todd Martin, Lindsay Davenport, and Pam Shriver in a fun-filled weekend of tennis, auctions, parties, food, and many chances to interact with professional tennis players and celebrities. Visit www.ojakiantennis.com for more information and tickets

New James Blake Cardio Tennis Video and Poster:
Click here to watch his new CT interview
Click here to download the Cardio Tennis Product Order Form

Have Questions about Running or Starting Your Cardio Tennis Program?
Ask the Experts
Contact Michele Krause,
National Cardio Tennis Manager and Speakers Team Director
Click here to Contact a Cardio Tennis Speakers Team Member

ClickMix Is Here for your Cardio Tennis Music Needs!
ClickMix is the newest online music service for Fitness Professionals. For the first time ever, you can create your own custom mixes from a choice of more than 3,000 single 32-count tracks, or browse the pre-mixes made by other members and burn them to CD or on your ipod to use on the same day you buy them. All you have to do is choose which tracks you want and then our automatic mixing system does the rest. Visit clickmix.com to create your new playlist for your next CT class.

TWC of the Month: Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet and Fitness Club (pictured below)
The Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet and Fitness Club, have a lot to be proud of as they celebrate their 35th anniversary. Over the past three decades this ten court indoor Park District Facility which also features a fitness center, lap pool, wellness center, and conference room has won numerous awards including: A Top 50 Tennis Welcome Center for the past two years, a two-time National Park & Recreation Association Gold Medal, USTA Facility of the Year, and USTA Member Organization of the Year.
To read the rest of this story and learn how you can become a TWC of the month, click here.

A Big Welcome To Our Newest TWC's (August)

A Child's Tennis Haven
Walking into the Longfellow Club in Wayland, Massachusetts, is like waking up in a dream world for kids that love tennis. Besides the bright colors and kid-friendly staff, there are no normal size tennis courts here\\. Those can be found across the street at the adult club. This is a kids-only tennis zone equipped with four 60-feet courts, eight 36-feet courts, low-compression balls, and everything else a child could want in a tennis paradise.
“There are many good facilities in the area, but everyone recognizes that Longfellow is the place where children go to learn how to play tennis and be appreciative and respectful,” says Alan Cohen, father of seven-year old Gia Cohen who has recently started playing at the facility. “The people at our old club actually told us to come here because she can learn best on these courts.”
Click Here to read the rest of this story

New Teaching Method Getting U.S. Back into Swing of Tennis
(Taken from Dayton Daily News)
Whether playing on her Nintendo Wii or in the driveway, Kallyn Buckenmyer can't get enough of tennis. Boredom and a soccer ball to the face led the 8-year-old to quit softball and soccer for tennis, which has generally been popular with adults ages 40 and older. Increasingly, youths like Buckenmyer have dropped T-ball, soccer, basketball and pee-wee football for tennis. Tennis professionals credit the United States Tennis Association's new teaching method — miniaturizing the court and equipment — for the increase in youth interest.
Click Here To read the rest of this story

Tennis' Great Comeback
Grassroots Growth Pushes Membership to All-Time High
(Taken from Sports Events Magazine)
After a period of decreased membership and events nationwide, tennis is on the rise again, according to U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) officials. “In the last four years there has been phenomenal growth, and, according to a survey by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, tennis has grown more than any other traditional sport since 2000—with a 30 percent increase in participation,” said Kurt Kamperman, chief executive of USTA Community Tennis, adding that USTA membership has increased from 675,000 members in 2006 to close to 740,000 members this year—a record for the association.
Click Here to Read More

Spotlight On