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GRIPS PROGRAMMARCH 2008 Quote of the Month:

“What is the single most important quality in a tennis champion? I would have to say desire, staying in there and winning matches when you are not playing that well.”” -John McEnroe

Welcome to Volume 3 of the Grips Program

Newsletter! COMING UP!March 14th

• ClubSport Valley Vista Test Day!

March 15th• ClubSport Fremont Test Day!

March 15th• Riviera Country Club Davis Cup & Test Day!

March 15th• ClubSport Fremont Test Day!

March 17th• EPATT Test Day!

March 22nd• Sleepy Hollow Swim and Tennis Club Kick Off!

April 4th• Spanish Hills Country Club Test Day!

Always check out the latest events posted at www.gripsprogram.com

GRIPS FEATURE "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." --Vince Lombardi

It is likely you and your coach have discussed your efforts on the court.

Many people think playing tennis is easy, hitting the ball back and forth over

the net and running a little bit. The average club player has no concept of

the intense training on court, in the gym, on the track, the nutritional

discipline, the sleeping habits, mastering travel and jetlag, photo shoots and

sponsorship pressures that go along with being an elite professional player.

As you go about your journey to excel in this game, respect yourself for

daring to test your skills in a tournament setting. Respect the efforts of your

opponents who are out there training hard before they compete against you.

Finally, recognize the commitment that you bring to your training is the

foundation for getting results. Keep up the hard work.

MARCHPLAYER OF THE MONTH:

HAILEY KAYATTAHailey, coached by Paige Billingsly is a left-handed dynamo from San Luis Obispo. At only ten years old, Hailey has been playing since she was 4 and recently reached the Dark Blue grip level. When you see her riding horses on the beach, tell her to get back on the courts for practice. GO HAILEY!

www.gripsprogram.com

Hailey Kayatta

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THIS MONTH IN THE COACH’S CORNERElsio Eybrecht is the director of junior tennis at Almaden Swim and Racquet Club, and founder of The Tao of Tennis Method. New to the San Jose tennis arena, Elsio works under the tutelage of his mentor, Ken Dehart a PTA and PTR master professional. Elsio has taken a leadership role in developing innovative tennis programming in Northern California. The Tao of Tennis is dedicated to the development of the mental, physical, and inner-being of the athlete and is comprised of 3 parts: The Tao of Tennis Training and Development System, Tao-Yoga System, and Dragonfly-Fitness System. By always seeing the tennis ball in motion and always moving with the tennis ball in motion, one can always be in alignment with the tennis ball as one steps to the ball and makes contact with the ball out in front of the body in the optimum contact zone, then execute any shot that one selects. This will allow for any tennis player to effectively hit through the tennis ball and to recover from the selected stroke while maintaining their balance and breathing as well as their focus on the tennis ball in play.

Notes from the Courts...February was a record breaking month for

players passing Grips tests! Way to go to everyone that marked off an achievement in the Grips Program!

We urge everyone to continue working on your next Grips test. Don’t be satisfied with where you are. Strive to make yourself better by practicing with a purpose! You can do this every time you step on the court!

The Grips Guys hit the road again in February to learn more about the great game of tennis and to introduce the Grips Program to new pros and clubs.

We would like to start with a big congratulations to the USPTA NorCal Section for putting on a terrific conference for area pros last month! With a terrific line-up of speakers and knowledge coming from Mark Bey, Sean Brawley, Dick Gould, Wayne Elderton, Robert Lansdorp, and Anne Pankhurst, attendees were fortunate to hear tons of information! And Grips Program would like to make a special thanks to those board members who participate in the Grips Program: Rosie Bareis, Paul Garron, Dale Miller and Marc Moran! Way to go on a job well done!

Next, we were off to the USPTR Symposium in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Northern California Master Pro Ken DeHart was a friendly, and popular face in the crowd. Along with sharing his incredible knowledge of the game, Ken is an active player and the PTR tournament was no exception where he entered the draw as a top seed. Admirable indeed. Congrats Ken!

Next stop- Pennsylvania! We are so pleased to have terrific support in Central Pennsylvania from Jack Bippus, Sean Kelleher and George Zink who will be launching the Grips Program in June at their respective facilities! We would also like to thank a good friend of ours, Delaine Mast who is currently a leader in tennis at with World Team Tennis! Delaine does a terrific job bringing the game of tennis to players of all ages and abilities!

We would also like to make a special thank you to ClubSport for their continual support and dedication to the game of tennis! Dale Miller, Marc Moran, Larry Parker and Allan Brown are all terrific leaders.

The Grips Program loves to see people thinking outside the box. The values coaches strive to instill into players can be easily lost in the midst of long days and tough hours. Making a difference is why we get into this silly little game in the first place- or rather, because we feel we can. Only if players, parents and coaches all knew that at the same time. What a difference we would feel!

This idea was summed up best recently by Marc Moran in an e-mail to players and parents after a Grips on-court test day. It is our responsibility to not lose sight of this and remember this every day we work together!

“Tennis is not a fast food sport; we love it because as you improve in this individual quest, the sense of accomplishment and intrinsic motivation translates not only to tennis, but to life as well!” -Marc Moran, ClubSport Pleasanton

PACIFIC LIFE OPEN 3/13SONY ERICSSON OPEN 3/27

BAUSCH AND LOMB CHAMPIONSHIPS 4/7U.S. MEN’S CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIP 4/14

FOR MORE INFO GO TO WWW.TENNIS.COM/TVSCHEDULE

ON TOUR NEXT:

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Ask a ProATP Professional player Shane LaPorte is responding to this month’s questions.

Q. How do I improve my footwork?

A. On average, I spend about 45 minutes per day working on my speed and footwork. Spider drills, suicide sprints, and footwork ladder drills can all be helpful. But, the best drill I have found is: hitting my shots and focusing on how quickly I can get to the ball, and then how quickly I can recover. If I can improve my movement during practice, I get to

spend less time doing sprints afterward.

Q. My coach says I hit down the line too much. Do you hit down the line a lot?

A. The short answer is, Yes. I hit down the line when I am changing the rally to my strong side, or when I am attacking the net. I agree with your coach that hitting down the line too often is dangerous because it allows your opponent to open up the court with an easy crosscourt shot. Try to make sure your opponent is outside the singles sideline before you hit down the line, or be certain to hit higher down the line to give yourself time to get to

the ideal recovery position. Q. What do you eat before playing a match?A. My coach would think that’s funny since I ate 3 foot-long subway sandwiches before a match in China. I was really hungry but I suffered for it. UGH!! The best pre-game meal, if you are about an hour from match time, is something like a bagel with peanut butter, or half a chicken sandwich on wheat bread. Stay away from candy bars, and high sugar meals because they will make you crash halfway through your match. Also, don’t eat greasy french fries!!

Trivia Question:

When Pete Sampras won his 13th major title, whose record did he break for holding the most Slam titles?(The first player to post the correctly spelled answer on the grips Message Board receives a free grip.)

ATP TOUR RANKINGS

1. ROGER FEDERER2. RAFAEL NADAL

3. NOVAK DJOKOVIC4. DAVID FERRER5. NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO

6. ANDY RODDICK7. DAVID NALBANDIAN

8. RICHARD GASQUET9. JAMES BLAKE10. TOMAS BERDYCH

WTA TOUR RANKINGS

1. JUSTINE HENIN2. ANA IVANOVIC

3. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA4. JELENA JANKOVIC5. MARIA SHARAPOVA

6. ANNA CHAKVETADZE7. VENUS WILLIAMS

8. DANIELA HANTUCHOVA9. MARION BARTOLI10. ELENA DEMENTIEVA

Grips Founders Notes...We hope you have enjoyed the monthly articles coming from Grips. In April, the Grips Program will be putting out a special edition of articles submitted by the quality coaches in our membership. Consequently, we are asking coaches who are part of the program, to submit some of their favorite drills and/or articles to educate young tennis players. We respect your views and would like to add them to the program, crediting you for your ideas along the way. Please send submissions to info@gripsprogram.com so we can all play a role in American Player Development. We look forward to hearing from you.

--Craig and Aaron

MARCH RESULTS 1. ALMADEN SWIM AND RACQUET CLUB

2. PACIFIC TENNIS CLUB

3. SANTA MARIA COUNTRY CLUB(Top Dogs are those clubs that have had the most tests passed within the

past month. Online Tests count, but Placement Tests do not!) Players from the Jack Kramer Club focused on their next skill tests.

TOP DOGS: