Tennis

The College of New Jersey girls warm up, according to TCNJathletics.com

Hey everyone!

Tennis is a great sport to get involved in. It can improve your endurance abilities and give you killer calves.

There are many ways to get involved in tennis.

If you want to play at a club it is as simple as finding a local club in the area. In Mercer County, there are many tennis clubs. The best are Mercer County tennis club and Hopewell Valley tennis and swim center. Here is a link to their website  http://www.nj.gov/counties/mercer/commissions/park/tennis_center.html. 

This is located in Mercer County Park. 

Mercer County Park officials gather together to cut the ribbon to the grand opening of the new tennis center in October of 2008

As of October 21, 2008 the new indoor tennis center has been opened. It is supposed to be really nice and newly built. It is even equipped with heating and air conditioning so that tennis players can play year round. 

This was built to replace indoor courts located on the Trenton-Mercer airport grounds in Ewing.

 Hopewell Valley Tennis and Swim Center is another good tennis club.

This center offers a variety of programs. One particularly interesting program it offers is its tennis camp. There were several camps, but the one that is the best for a recreational tennis player is the Power Tennis camp. It  uses a flex-pass system that allows you to decide what days you want to attend throughout the 10 week program. Here is the link to the website 

http://www.hopewelltennis.com/pages/Hopewell_PowerTennisCamp.html 

If you want to play for free you can find the local tennis courts in the area. In Mercer County there are millions of courts. Just driving around a person can find courts in the park on Eggerts Crossing, courts down the road by Mountain Road off of 206, courts at Rider University, and courts at Lawrenceville High school. The best court if you are practicing your strokes by yourself are the tennis courts located in Moody Park. This is one of the only tennis courts in the area that has a wall. The courts with the best surfaces are located in Mercer County Park. 

Or if you are a Rider University Student you could simply stroll down to the Student Recreation Center on Tuesdays, if you have never picked up a racquet, or on Thursdays, if you are an advanced beginner. 

Coach Ed Torres, the Rider University coach, has reserved a court on these days between 12 and 1. He teaches lessons during this time. All the basic strokes are practiced, such a forehand, backhand, serves, overheads, and volleys. It is even good for intermediate players to attend these lessons because they can refine their strokes improving their game.  

Lastly you could just grab a friend or a relative and just hit some tennis balls. Practice makes perfect.