Safety Guidelines For Tennis Clubs During COVID-19

Safety Guidelines For Tennis Clubs During COVID-19

Safety Guidelines For Tennis Clubs During COVID-19

While the coronavirus carries on affecting our country in various ways, we can still keep our tennis clubs open. We just need to make sure that we’re all following the relevant state and local guidelines. Below, you can find a variety of regulations that you should implement in your tennis club including how to prepare your facility, some checklists to hang up around the courts, and so much more.

Ready to ensure your tennis club stays fun and healthy? Let’s get right into the details.

Tennis Covid-19 Guidelines

Tennis COVID-19 Guidelines

Court Access and Facility Guidelines

There are so many things to consider about your facility now that COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. While we’re sure you can think of the main ones, we’ve included some lesser-known rules below to help your club flourish.

  • Ensure you have a supply of disposable face masks for people who forget to bring one.
  • Ensure people stay 6 feet apart and wear face masks when they’re not actively playing on the court.
  • Encourage players to monitor their bodies to ensure they’re in the right state to play.
  • Do not allow court access to those without the right PPE.
  • Display health and safety signage around the courts and facility (see our handy quick-glance checklists below).
  • Put hand sanitizing stations throughout your facility.
  • Make sure your ventilation system is working effectively (if you’re inside).
  • Remove benches to ensure nobody sits too close. Tell players to bring their own chairs.
  • Set the limit for people allowed at the club at one time during these times.

Tennis COVID-19 Guidelines — Game Play

  • When players change ends, do so on opposite ends of the net. This avoids walking too close to each other.
  • Return balls from other courts without touching them. Use the racquets instead.
  • One-to-one coaching is ideal.
  • Players should bring their own balls to serve.
  • Players should not touch their opponent’s balls with their hands.

Equipment Guidelines

In a perfect world, all the players would bring their own equipment and be hunky-dory. However, we’re fully aware that this does not always happen. Below, you’ll find some ways to limit the risk when situations like this occur. 

  • Players shouldn’t be touching coaching equipment.
  • Players should bring their own racquets. Where this is not possible, the equipment will be thoroughly sanitized before, during, and after use.
  • No one, including coaches, should pick up tennis balls without sanitizing their hands or washing them with soap and water.
  • Coaches should avoid sharing equipment with other coaches.
  • Only the coaches should clean, disinfect, and sanitize the equipment.
  • While water should be supplied, players and coaches should bring their own, full water bottles to the court. This limits touching taps and water fountains.
  • Players and coaches should bring their own hand sanitizer.

Tennis COVID-19 Guidelines — Administrative Requirements

The coronavirus has brought new and unrelenting challenges to sports venues and clubs like ours (and yours). We’ve found that our admin team has been incredibly stressed and flooded with extra work thanks to the social distancing regulations.

Thankfully, there is a way to combat this. How we hear you ask? By using an online reservation system!

This nifty plugin makes it easy to plan for increased levels of staff, communicate expectations, stagger your court bookings, provide information to all your members, and so much more. All of these things are more important than ever before so we can work together to stop the spread.

During these unprecedented times, your tennis club does have the power to run smoothly!

Tennis Covid-19 Guidelines

Health, Safety, and Hygiene Tennis COVID-19 Guidelines

As a tennis club owner, you should be thinking about how to properly regulate hygiene standards and provide the best cleaning possible. The easiest way to do this (in our opinion) is to employ dedicated cleaning staff who are trained in enhanced cleaning.

This will ensure that your facility has:

  • Sanitized high contact surfaces.
  • Procedures in place for cleaning uniforms and other training fixtures.
  • Used EPA registered disinfectants.
  • Been cleaned, disinfected, sanitized, and ventilated properly. The ventilation side of things is less important if you’re playing outdoors.
  • Followed all CDC guidelines for using COVID-19 disinfectants. 

The Quick-Glance Tennis Covid-19 Guideline Safety Checklists

While everything we’ve discussed so far is incredibly important, you will need something easy-to-digest and eye-catching to put up in your tennis club and around your courts.

So, use the text below to do just that! We’ve set everything out helpfully in three sections — before play, during play, after play — to encourage adherence.

However, you might also want to put a little paragraph about when not to play as well. Something like this will do:

Do not play if you are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or if you have been in contact with a person who tested positive with COVID-19 in the past 2 weeks. 

Before Play

  • Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds (longer if you can). Alternatively, use hand sanitizer if you can’t access soap and water.
  • Bring tissues with you.
  • When you’re not playing, make sure all facemask conditions and PPE regulations are followed.
  • Use your upper sleeve or a tissue to cough or sneeze into.
  • Don’t touch the court gates, fences, or benches if possible.
  • Bring a water bottle, already full, with you. This ensures you don’t have to touch the water fountain or taps.
  • Arrive as near to your timeslot as possible.

During Play

  • Don’t touch other players.
  • Stay at least six feet apart from other people.
  • Hand washing procedures should be followed when touching tennis balls.
  • Use your towel and water bottle only.
  • Don’t share food.
  • Don’t touch the net.
  • When you’re changing ends of the court, keep six feet apart.
  • If you’re playing doubles, coordinate with them to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
  • Make use of hats, towels, headbands, and wristbands to ensure you don’t touch your face with your hands.
  • If you’re playing indoors, you may need to wear a mask.
  • If you’re not active on the court, wear your mask over your nose and mouth.

After Play

  • Don’t congregate after the match is over.
  • Don’t participate in other social activities after it’s over.
  • Don’t use the locker or changing room. Instead, use the shower at home.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds (or longer) as soon as you come off the court. If this isn’t possible, use hand sanitizer instead.
  • Leave the premises as soon as you’re finished playing.

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Padel Rules: How To Play Padel Tennis

Padel Rules: How To Play Padel Tennis

Padel Rules: How To Play Padel Tennis

It’s a sport that’s gathering a lot of interest these days and for good reason. Padel tennis is tennis with a kick, incorporating the walls and a new set of rules that are sure to keep your doubles-games exciting, competitive, and energetic. So, how is played and what do you need to get started? Today we are going to discuss how to play Padel tennis and let you know exactly what you need to start playing this exciting game for yourself. It is highly addictive, however, so consider yourself thoroughly warned!

tennis club homepage

What is Padel tennis?

The first Padel tennis court was built by a man named Enrique Corcuera in 1969, at his vacation home in Acapulco. While he is given credit for inventing the game, some claim it goes back as far as the 1920’s, but whatever the case the game caught on. With the first official Padel courts soon built afterward in Spain, it got European attention and visiting Argentinian Polo players even took it back with them to South America.

Fast forward to modern-day and it’s all over the world, with a recent popularity boom which is growing in Sweden. It’s fun, fast-paced, and great for a little variety in your sports routine. There are, however, a few things that you will need if you want to get in on the action.

What does a Padel court look like?

A Padel court is a 4-walled area of play that has dimensions of 20 x 10 meters. It’s got a net in the center like you would with tennis, however, part of the fun is the fact that you can use the walls! The playing surface is supposed to be terracotta in shades of blue or green (per the official rules), but the court surface could be cement or even synthetic grass.

What equipment do you need?

Padel racquets are definitely not tennis racquets, with a length of 45cm and a ‘face’ with a surface area of 26 x 29 cm. Padel balls and tennis balls are virtually the same, with only the internal psi pressure being different. Your average tennis ball has a psi of 14 and a Padel ball has a psi of 11.

As Padel tennis is usually played with doubles, you’ll need a racket for yourself and your partner will need to get one. The same goes for your opponents and once you’ve got these, the balls, and have reserved a place to play you are ready to try Padel tennis.

Beginning the match

The start of the match involves a coin-flip in order to decide which side will be serving first. The winner also gets to choose which side that their pair will be playing on. The serve is an underarm serve, below hip-height, and the ball is bounced into play, rather than launched as you would in tennis. Now you just need to know how to score and how to win, so let’s proceed and get you ready to play.

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What are the rules for playing Padel tennis?

Padel Tennis has your basic tennis rules but there are a number of variations that you will need to learn since you are incorporating the walls. Here are the ways in which you and your partner may score points:

  • If your opponent hits the ball into the net
  • If the ball hits one of your walls or leaves the enclosed ‘cage’ area
  • If the ball bounces more than twice on the ground on their side
  • If your opponent gets hit by the ball
  • If the opponent hits the fence/wall on their side before the ball crosses the net

How do you win the game?

Scoring is done like tennis, with counts of 15, 30, 40, and then the game is won. A 40-40 tie in Padel is referred to as a ‘Deuce’ and is settled by the first side to score again twice. You and your opponent will play for the best out of 3 sets and each set will consist of 6 games.

This gives you plenty of time to work up a sweat and a strategy and once you’ve had a taste of Padel action you won’t be going back soon to Tennis.

So, what are you waiting for?

Now that you know the rules you are ready to give this popular game a try and see what all the fuss is about. Get your gear and make a reservation at your nearest Padel court location, which you can find via Google if you just do a search for ‘Padel court locations near me’. Finally, get plenty of sleep the night before, because this game gets crazy and you are in for a workout.

Good luck and we hope you have a great time discovering your new favorite sport!

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A Guide to the perfect tennis club homepage

A Guide to the perfect tennis club homepage

A Guide to the Perfect Club Homepage

Creating the perfect tennis club homepage is a bit more involved than most expect.

Sure, there are a lot of templates out there to help you get the “bones” of a tennis club homepage up and running – but how you create a website that not only drives new membership and business opportunities for your club but is also useful and valuable for your members and visitors at the same time?

Juggling these responsibilities takes a bit of strategic thought and intentional effort.

Below we highlight a few strategies you want to use to make sure that your tennis club website is as well optimized as possible!

tennis club homepage

Keep a Consistent Identity

Straight out of the gate, it is hugely important that the design of your tennis club website is perfectly congruent with the design, aesthetic, and “atmosphere” of the club that you are promoting.

Any deviation from the branding of your tennis club in the real world on your website is going to create an immediate disconnect.

That disconnect is going to create just the smallest amount of discomfort and distrust, and it’ll be hard for people to visit the site and really think of it as an extension of your club.

Dial-in the colors, the graphics, and the overall layout of your new site to match your club in the “real world” and you’ll have a much better engagement for sure.

Optimize Your Tennis Club Homepage for Members and Visitors Alike

Secondly, it’s important to remember that your website is (first and foremost) a resource for your members, your visitors, and your partners.

Too often folks responsible for designing club websites create things that look beautiful, take advantage of the latest web trends, and overload their sites with content and features that no one is really interested in.

All that does is clutter the place up, tank engagement across the board, and negatively impact not only the website itself but the brand and reputation of the club as well.

Always – ALWAYS – consider your members, your visitors, and your partners before you make any decisions with your website.

Build everything with them in mind (“will this be interesting or important for them?”) and everything else sort of falls into place.

Get Your Members Onboard

The membership area of your tennis club website is likely going to be where all the “action” is, but that’s only going to be possible if your members have been properly onboarded and are excited to take part in this new online community.

The actual onboarding process should be facilitated through the club itself, reaching out (a number of times) to not only alert members to the new website but also letting them know that they are encouraged to join and be active on the platform as much as possible.

It’s never a bad idea to build in different components of the sites to drive engagement, either.

Community forums, membership boards, polls, contests, analysis, and more can all be used to encourage onboarding of your club membership, and participation will increase, too.

Use Social and Scheduling Tools to Drive Engagement

A properly designed tennis club website has a lot of opportunities to become the central hub for all kinds of social activities with your club, not only acting as a scheduling solution (complete with an always up-to-date digital calendar) but also as a social center itself.

Look for ways to create more interaction and engagement with memberships online and really fold them into the member’s area.

You’ll also want to tie your social media accounts into your website as much as possible, creating a real synergy across the board.

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Leverage Opportunities for User Generated Content

User-generated content opportunities should be taken advantage of as much as possible.

For one thing, this guarantees that your site is always being updated which in turn drives engagement, interest, and activity. There’s nothing more of a turnoff than a club website that feels like a desolate graveyard.

Secondly, it frees your staff up from having to do the heavy lifting of populating the site with content on a regular basis all alone.

When members are driving the content push it’ll always be content that they are interested in as well. This avoids trying to read the membership’s minds about what they want to share, discuss, or engage in on the website as well.

Build Revenue Generator Opportunities

Lastly, it’s never a bad idea to build as many revenue-generating opportunities into the website as possible – so long as it never (EVER) interferes with membership or visitor access.

The last thing you want to do is plaster the homepage with all kinds of advertisements or sponsorships, making the website (and the club by relationship) look cheap in some way.

Run ads that are discrete, promote sponsorships on separate pages, and look for ways to tie the retail outlets of your club to the website for more effective revenue generation.

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7 Things the best Online Reservation System Should Have

7 Things the best Online Reservation System Should Have

7 Things the best Online Reservation System Should Have

More people now prefer to book their appointments online. They don’t want to waste time waiting for their turn, or calling in their appointment with a customer service representative. It’s easier to go to a website or an app, and then reserve their slot.

That’s why service providers like hotels, restaurants, salons, and sports clubs need to have an online reservation system. But it doesn’t just benefit your customers – it can also help your operations become more efficient.

Benefits of an Online Reservation System

  • You improve customer satisfaction. Customers will value the convenience, and may even be willing to pay more for your service. You also avoid overbooking, and the potential backlash of a customer who waited for too long.
  • You can manage your manpower and resources. You know how many customers you will have that day, and can prepare your facilities and assign your staff.
  • You can gather relevant marketing data. You can track and analyze bookings to know peak hours and peak days. You can also know which customers tend to book more frequently and can reward them for their loyalty, or identify customers who have left and retarget them for your marketing campaigns.

How to Choose an Online Reservation System for your tennis club

The best online reservation systems should have features that help the customer and your business. It should also be easy for anyone to use – because there is nothing more frustrating than a failed booking.

Here the questions to ask when choosing the right online reservation system for your business.

How smooth and intuitive is the booking process?

Not all your customers are Internet-savvy. For example, a tennis club may have retirees who rarely use their smartphones and aren’t used to booking or buying products online. The booking process must be so simple and seamless that your grandmother can use it.

Is it easy to view and change a booking?

Plans change. Customers may need to move or cancel their booking. They should be able to do this easily, and it should reflect in your system in real-time. If you have a policy about reservations (for example, a deadline for canceling events without having to pay a penalty fee) the system should also be able to notify the customer.

Can you add promo codes, smartphone notifications, and other special features?

Your business may have on-going marketing plans and customer satisfaction initiatives. Ideally, you can integrate these within your online reservation system. Not only will it be easier for you to promote your business, but from a marketing perspective, it creates a unified customer journey.

Is it mobile friendly?

People now access the Internet with multiple devices: computers, tablets, smartphones. Your website should be able to load and perform accurately on all gadgets.

Trends also show that most people use their phones to book appointments or buy products and services. A mobile-friendly website looks good on all screen sizes and loads quickly. That is very important because Google research has found that customers will leave a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.

So, an online reservation system has to be fast, or people won’t stay long enough to find out about its other features.

Is it affordable?

One reason why small clubs or businesses are wary of getting an online bookings system is that they’re wary of the cost.

However, providers like Court Reservation offer very affordable packages. You can have your online registration system for as low as $34.99 a year, or upgrade for more features at just $69.99 a year. You can also get additional savings by signing up for the Lifetime Membership.

Try your Online Reservation System now

Want to try it for free? You can download a basic version, and watch a demo so you can see how the features work. Visit Court Reservation for more information.

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5 Simple Indoor Mini-Games Your Tennis Club Will Love

5 Simple Indoor Mini-Games Your Tennis Club Will Love

5 Simple Indoor Mini Games Your Tennis Club Will Love

“Serve” something new at your next tennis club meeting. Instead of practicing drills or matches, try playing simple Tennis Mini Games.

Benefits of Tennis Mini Games

– Warm-up before a real game or practice session
– Build strength and endurance
– Teach or improve basic movements in a fun way
– Get kids excited in the sport
– Build team bonding

Hungry Crocodile

This is a good game to play with younger children who are just starting to learn how to volley. Every time they lose a shot, they “lose a limb” – or the right to use it – to the proverbial crocodile.

For the first miss, they can’t use their dominant hand. For the second miss, they can’t use one leg and have to catch the ball while kneeling.

However, if they successfully receive a shot, the crocodile gives back the limb and they can use their hand/leg again.

This can be a group game, with the kids lined up to see who will literally be the last one standing! It’s a fun way to break the monotony of passing the ball from one side of the court to another.

Potato Race

This is another great mini-game for kids (or kids at heart). Three players stand behind the service line. They have to run to the net, grab a ball, then run back to the service line and hit the ball over the tennis net.

To add more fun, you can put other balls and objects in a Mystery Box—ping pong balls, small stuffed toys, oranges, balloons—to add to the fun and challenge of getting a “dud”.   

Serve Box Drill

This tennis mini-game is a good warmup for people who are still learning to perfect their aim. You need to give people: one who will serve, and four others who are positioned behind the service line. These four players stand in “serve boxes”: two in the front, and two in the back.  

 The player must now serve and return the ball in a way that it falls into one of the boxes. You can call out the Serve Box number, or say “Odd” or “Even.”

This can also help correct habits of always favoring one part of the court, or the tendency to overshoot and send a ball out of bounds. Even more advanced players can use this game to improve the power of their serve.

Target Practice

All players of all players can learn from this game. Stack tennis balls into pyramids on a table. Ask them to hit the balls.

You can increase the level of difficulty by using different colors of balls. For example, ask them to hit the blue ball, or hit the yellow balls without touching any red balls.

This tennis mini-game improves aim, control, and power. It’s also a good way to entertain players while waiting for their turn to use the tennis court.

Go figure

This tennis mini-game helps players improve how they control the ball, place their shots, and their footwork.

You need two players. One of them is only allowed to hit the ball down the line, while the other is only allowed to hit it to the crosscourt.

They’ll be running around often, which improves endurance while forcing them to stay focused. So they are able to practice both types of shots, the players will switch roles for the second set.

Shrink the Court

Even more advanced players have difficulty slicing or chipping the ball. This mini-game can help them master this important skill.

The rule is simple: any ball that falls outside the service line is considered to be “out.” They have to work with a smaller court, which will challenge them to use wide angles and short chips.

This is also a good way to prepare them for competitions since those types of shots have helped win many a match.  

Dribble + Obstacle Cours

New tennis players have to learn hand-eye coordination, concentration, footwork, and control of the ball.

You can teach this through dribbling: bouncing the tennis ball down to the ground with their racket, much as they would do with a basketball.

While this is often done during the first few lessons, you can turn this into a mini-game with increased levels of difficulty (and fun).

Instead of just staying in place, they have to dribble while walking around the tennis court, or even through an obstacle course. You can also ask them to dribble with their non-dominant hand or pass the ball to another player in an Obstacle Course/Relay Race.  

These are just some of the fun mini-games you can play with your tennis club. You can adjust the difficulty according to the age and skill of your team members, or tweak the game to suit their specific training needs. The most important thing, however, is to have fun!

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