February 2006 -- I love teaching tennis! I enjoy the variety. I love teaching children, adults, seniors, beginners and advanced players. I love the fact that our sport is inclusive. In tennis you don’t get benched. If you sign up for a tournament, you are going to play. However, sometimes players get bored. They have a hard time finding people for a singles match, and they feel like doubles is just not enough of a workout.
I started Cardio Tennis at my club (Brookstone Meadows Golf and Country Club in Anderson, S.C.) last winter as a pilot program. The response has been phenomenal! In the winter people were ready to lose those extra pounds left over from the holidays. Also, there weren’t that many tournaments and league matches to play. They felt their regular tennis had been replaced by holiday shopping, so it was the perfect time to introduce a Cardio Tennis program. I ended up with two pros teaching my Cardio Tennis classes – one on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and one on Sundays at 1 p.m. One year later, the program is booming.
Cardio Tennis is liberating our sport! It’s a great workout; it’s high energy; and the music makes it so much fun! Research has proved that music improves your workout by 20 percent. For anyone who has ever tried to work out without music, you know it’s true. The music enhances your Cardio Tennis program just like it helps to motivate people in their regular workout. The upbeat sound and rhythm help keep their feet moving. Cardio Tennis is not about perfect strokes and competition; therefore, your level of concentration is different. The focus is working out, and the music fits the need perfectly.
- Cardio Tennis players of different levels can share the same court. Up-and-coming players love the opportunity to play up. I make sure advanced players have to handle tougher feeds from the pro in both drill-based and play-based situations. It solves our eternal problem of people refusing to play with others because there is a half level difference between them. People who would never get to meet on a tennis court end up together because the levels don’t matter. Then you’ll catch the 16-year-old boy flirting with the 15-year-old girl because they end up on the same court and they love it! Husbands and wives play together, fathers and daughters, 3.0s and 4.5s alike.
- Cardio Tennis makes it fun. The atmosphere is great with “different strokes for different folks.” Sweat drips down the satisfied overachievers, while others discreetly skip a lap and give me a smile, asking, “You won’t tell, will you?”
- Cardio Tennis is a fantastic workout. Heart rate monitors have allowed us to measure how good of a workout tennis can be. During a Cardio Tennis class, players take a few minutes to warm up and get in their “cardio zone” (65 percent to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate. Maximum is calculated as 220 minus age). It is amazing to see how easy it is for players to get in their zone during Cardio Tennis. The key is to stay in that zone and not overstrain players. Again, Cardio Tennis is about having fun while working out, not about exhaustion and soreness. During a regular Cardio Tennis class, players burn between 400 calories (women) and 1,000 calories (men). Some of our participants burned 2,000 calories during our Cardio Tennis workshops!
- Cardio Tennis attracts players to the game. At first, attract current players by talking to your team captains and the people already in your programs. Former players also love Cardio Tennis. They want something new and exciting. Cardio Tennis offers the excitement they have been looking for. They meet new players to hit with and enjoy a great workout.
People in the fitness world are tired of boring machines and repetitive step classes. They are looking for a new type of workout – exciting and challenging. Cardio Tennis is an absolute blast and the fitness people can’t get enough of it! Women love Cardio Tennis because it gives them the opportunity to work out, get in shape, and stay in shape while having fun. Men find Cardio Tennis to be a great workout and stress reliever. Couples and families enjoy a workout together. Americans in the past 10 years have rushed into fitness programs. They are fighting obesity and time constraints. Cardio Tennis offers what Americans are looking for: a great workout in a short amount of time.
Try running a Cardio Tennis program and help liberate the sport of tennis! If you haven’t taken the opportunity yet, sign up to become a Cardio site at www.partners.cardiotennis.com. View the DVD and receive all of the marketing tools for free! The TIA has a series of Cardio Tennis drills on its Web site to help you launch your program. You can also attend one of the free workshops! Cardio Tennis is an exciting new program brought to you by the Tennis Industry Association and proudly supported by the USTA and our partners in the industry. Now get started and create some heart-pumping fitness at your club!
Sophie Woorons-Johnston is a member of the TIA Cardio Tennis speakers team.
