ABOUT PRO EDGE TENNIS ACADEMY THE GAME’S CHANGED Pro Edge Tennis Academy has been developed over the last year and their coaching principles are based on the fact that the modern game of tennis has now evolved to favour baseline rallies. The “European” tennis game has been dominating the ATP Tour for the past few years. This is highlighted by the comparison of European tennis players and Australian tennis players in the ATP Top 100. Australia has 4 players in the top 100, Hewitt the highest at 46, where as Spain has 12 players, France has 12 and Germany has 8 players (atptour.com 31/03/14). European coaching strategies have been developed on slower surfaces and place greater emphasis on the following qualities: - Racquet speed development: - Slower court surfaces reduces the pace of the ball during a point forcing players to create their own power To create power and heavy topspin, maximum racquet head speed is required Consistency: - European game style is centred around consistency from the baseline Majority of training is focused around working on groundstrokes from the baseline that never miss Anticipation/tactical development: - The rallies are typically longer and quick shot combinations will not win points as easily. Stamina development: - Longer rallies forces players to increase their fitness. - Longer rallies allow players to develop better touch as there are more opportunities to play shots in order to out manouever their opposition Mental toughness and resilience: - Due to the increase in point length, players need to maintain focus Longer rallies require players to endure and outlast their opponent mentally Mental toughness allows for optimum physical endurance with longer rallies Longer rallies = more swings We believe there is a need for a tennis academy like Pro Edge Tennis to teach these qualities in Australia/ Perth in order to give players the edge and learn to play the modern game of tennis.