This episode shows what a wonderful adventure sport can bring you both on the court and off it! Thaddea Lock is the UK’s no.1 pickleball player and is enjoying a fantastic chapter in what is America’s fastest growing sport. I’d heard how pickleball is taking America by storm in the way The Beatles did in the 1960s. I knew from a work point of view that the ace TopspinPro pickleball version has received a very warm welcome in the community. If truth be told though I didn’t know too much about pickleball, what it is, why it is becoming so popular and whether there is a scene in the UK. Thanks to Thaddea, that has all changed! Thaddea has had an amazing journey in tennis and followed it up with a really exciting chapter in pickleball. I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing all about it…

Useful Links

Please click the following link to find out about pickleball in England from Pickleball England. Do use this pickleball club locator on the Pickleball England website if you’d like to give the sport a try!

And head to this link if you’d like to find out all about the new and ever so ace TopspinPro for Pickleball: https://topspinpro.com/pickleball-training-aid/

Finally, if you are looking for a Pickleball paddle please head over to our friends at PDHSports.com.

I’m a tennis coach and a tennis player but I spend a lot of time in another tennis role - a tennis parent! This podcast shares the things that I’ve learnt from going along to a whole lot of tennis tournaments, plus the tips that experts such as Lisa Stone and Mark Tennant have shared. I also did the excellent LTA ‘Supporting Parents of Competitive Juniors’ course just the other day and felt there was no time like the present to do my little bit to try and make the role of being the tennis parent a little bit easier…hope it helps.

If you'd like more tips on being a tennis parent, please search for these My Tennis Journey podcasts...

Mark Tennant: My 5 Top Tips For Tennis Parents

Parenting Aces: Lisa Stone's Top 5 Tips For Tennis Parents

The LTA also run an excellent course for tennis parents. Please visit www.lta.org.uk/compete/parents-area/

This is the link to the Tennis Parents Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/476342577251252

The Laver Cup is coming to London and what an event it is set to be! In this edition of My Tennis Journey, Laver Cup CEO, Steve Zacks talks about his passion for tennis, the origins of the Laver Cup and the ever so ace story of how Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray ended up joining Team Europe. Hopefully this episode will whet your appetite for the excitement of the forthcoming Laver Cup…

For more information on the Laver Cup please visit: https://lavercup.com/

What a journey Derbyshire’s Andy Wood has had from promising badminton star, to becoming a GB Olympic Head Coach and co-founder of Derbyshire Institute of Sport. Along the way, he’s inspired huge numbers to play sport and from a badminton perspective coached Simon Archer and Joanne Goode to GB’s first ever Olympic medal for Great Britain (Bronze) in Sydney 2000 as well as coaching Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms to Silver Medal at Athens Olympics 2004. Andy has an inspiring story and an exciting current chapter with the Derbyshire Institute of Sport. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to Andy as much as I enjoyed speaking to him.

Find out more about the Derbyshire Institute of Sport here: www.derbyshireis.co.uk

It was fascinating to talk to Michael Gradon, the CEO of Game4Padel - one of the fastest growing companies in one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.

Padel was described recently as the biggest fitness trend of the Summer by GQ magazine. Jurgen Klopp loves it, Pep Guardiola loves it, Annabel Croft loves it, Zlatan loves it, my Mum loves it and so does my wife and my children. 

Michael has a wealth of experience within the corporate World and the tennis World having been on the board of Wimbledon and Game4Padel is growing quickly and has Andy Murray among their investors.

As you’l hear, Michael doesn’t just believe that padel is going to be big, he believes it is going to be MASSIVE.

From a participation point of view in the UK, can it grow to be bigger than rugby? Bigger than cricket? Bigger than netball?

Listen to this episode and find out just how MASSIVE Michael believes padel can become…

For more info on Gsme4Padel, please visit this website: https://www.game4padel.com/

Tennis is a game for life and today’s interview proves it! Professional tennis players may retire on average at 27, but for amateur players your tennis career can run and run up to and beyond your 80th birthday. Seniors Tennis GB are passionate about inspiring players who are over 35 to get involved in the game from giving it a go, to playing competitions and even having a chance of representing GB. As you’ll hear from Seniors Tennis GB Head of Selectors for the men’s teams Edward Oakenfull, whatever your level there are some fantastic opportunities to get involved…something I’m planning to do!

Head here for more info on Seniors Tennis GB: https://www.lta.org.uk/compete/seniors/

MUSIC CREDIT

Earth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden

Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_earth

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/5yIbZVOv438

Fantastic news! John of Rolleston Primary School where I coach has been named the LTA School of the Year for the Midlands! This follows on from the school being named LTA School of the Year for Staffordshire.

The recipe that has led to this Award has featured six main ingredients that when mixed together produces an ever so ace tennis programme. Find out what the ingredients are in this short episode…

For more info about the LTA Youth Schools programme, please visit: https://lta-tennis.force.com/schools/s/

MUSIC: Earth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden

Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_earth

Tom Murray has had an amazing journey from teaching English to a future World No.1 at a Spanish Academy as a young tennis hopeful to heading up one of the World’s fastest growing sports at the LTA. Hear how Tom has helped drive the growth of the game in the UK, what the future holds for padel players and coaches and which World Cup winning footballer he played padel against…

My club Church Broughton Tennis Club has just opened the county's first padel tennis court. We are having an open day on Sun 1 May - find out all about Church Broughton here: https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/ChurchBroughtonTennisClub/ and if you'd like to come along please email me at [email protected]

To find out more about padel in the UK please visit: https://www.lta.org.uk/play/ways-to-play/padel/

MUSIC CREDITS

Earth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden

Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_earth

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/5yIbZVOv438

He’s so excited and he just can’t hide it, Paul from online retailer PDHSport is a massive fan of padel and he thinks you’ll like it… 

Find out why in this introduction to padel as we discuss why Paul is enjoying the sport so much at the brand new court at Church Broughton Tennis Club where I coach. 

As you’ll hear, Paul has a number of reasons why he thinks padel is a fun sport for the whole family…

The court at Church Broughton is Derbyshire’s first padel tennis court and we are preparing for a big Open Day on 1 May. If you’d like to come along please visit this Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/1pgBrwqse (you don’t have to be a Facebook member to view). You can book a free slot to give padel a go at the Open Day here: https://bit.ly/PadelDay. As well as all the padel action, we will have loads of tennis fun going on to. It should be an ace day

For all your padel rackets, padel balls and padel gear, do head on over to PDHSports.com.

MUSIC CREDITS

Earth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden

Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0

Ellen Taylor is a Coach at Church Broughton Tennis Club. Ellen has put a tremendous effort into organising a She Rallies Fun Day at the club on Sat 2 April between 2-4pm. Everyone is welcome at the day, but the aim is to get as many women and girls playing tennis as possible. It was brilliant to hear from Ellen about why she is so passionate about the She Rallies initiative which is brought to us by Judy Murray and the LTA. Enjoy listening and if you’re anywhere near Church Broughton on 2 April, do come on over for some tennis and amazing CAKE!

If you'd like to book a spot on the Fun Day, please visit: https://bit.ly/SheRalliesCBTC

MUSIC CREDITS

Earth by MusicbyAden https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden

Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0