30 December 2020 | Tennis Victoria

It goes
without saying, it’s been a tough year for our Affiliate Tennis Clubs, but
following the easing of restrictions in late 2020, Elsternwick Park Tennis
Centre has made the most of the opportunity to be back on court.

The Club
has turned a minor setback into a major comeback and rebounded through their popular
Cardio Tennis program.

Elsternwick
Park is currently running 58
hours of Cardio Tennis classes per week and has 337 participants attending
classes on court and once finished, enjoying the offerings that the club
provides off court.

Mat Garnham, Co-Director of Elsternwick Park says the program has always been successful, but especially after the restrictions, and this is largely through word of mouth and the way the program is run at the club.

“The way we run Cardio Tennis is unique,
we have points-based Tennis and the session is completely non-stop from start
to finish – people will keep moving throughout our sessions.”

“A lot of
parents from the local schools would come across (to Elsternwick Park TC), and
via word of mouth, they would come and participate here. We also gave people
the option of creating their own groups and come on a weekly basis, which has
been really popular with the community.”

“All you
need is a ringleader, then it evolves from there!”

People
are starting to actively select Cardio Tennis as a great combination of both
exercise, playing sport and socialising, and in the current climate, this can
be all done whilst social distancing.

Garnham
explained how the Cardio Tennis sessions are run and provided the three key
things a club needs to do to run a successful Cardio Tennis Program:

“We
often have groups participate and stay around after their session for a drink and
a chat. We are always
looking to encourage people to play more than once a week, and want to create an
environment where players want to stay around afterwards and play as a
community”

So, what information
would help any clubs looking to run a Cardio Tennis Program at their club?

• Explain and educate to participants that you don’t have to be really fit, we just ask that you can have a rally.
• We tell our coaches to sustain the energy levels and your voice, enthusiasm and getting the group pumped up!
• Clear Communication and create a great atmosphere for participants to come and enjoy themselves!

More
recently, the team at Elsternwick Park have started to fill the courts and this
is due to their marketing and retention of the program.

If a new
participant comes to a session, the club will check in with the participant to
see whether they enjoyed it and offer discounts to those who participate in
multiple classes.

If you’re a club or participant looking to find more information and get involved in Cardio Tennis visit: Cardiotennis.com.au