Winter. The Enemy of Tennis!

Poor Tennis Net

Now Winter is a fine enough season. The snow falls, it's beautiful and gotta love Christmas, but the clear thought looming in my head is, "How am I going to play tennis!?". Each Winter I dread the thought of not being able to play on a nice outdoor court, sun shining with the temperature at a perfect 70 degrees. Alas, seasons change and us tennis players must adapt.

Not everyone can afford an expensive tennis club membership (*hint* *hint* me), so it's good to find ways to practice during the Winter. The last thing you want is to go a few months without practicing and now you're shanking tennis balls left and right. 

Here's one way I keep up with tennis to get around the cold Winter months.

Try a Racquetball Room

A racquetball room is a great place to work speed and reaction. You can never defeat a wall, but only constantly improve how you lose to it. Sounds self-defeating, but there is much to be learned through this. You can practice strokes and work on reaction time. I like to bring some non-marking tape and place some at the same height of a tennis net. This helps me know whether my strokes are staying in.

You can also practice volleying with the wall, keeping the ball up without hitting the ground for as long as possible. 

Now depending on where you live or go to school, you may be in close proximity to a racquetball room. Certain fitness facilities, that aren't tennis clubs, host multiple racquetball rooms. A popular gym with racquetball rooms is LA Fitness. A membership there is much more affordable than a tennis facility. If you're willing to stick it out for the Winter, it may be worth the cost.

Check out a short session I recorded in my school's racquetball room.

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