Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: 2018 Highlights

First off, a quick introduction: my name is James and earlier this year I joined Active Away on a 12 month internship after graduating from the University of Nottingham. During my time at Uni I was fortunate to spend a large portion of time training alongside, playing with and observing some of the top talents in University and college tennis. In addition to this, when back home, I’ve spent the last 8 years working as a tennis coach at my…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Corporate Launch

This Wednesday marked an important date in the Active Away diary for several reasons. Firstly, it was the launch of our Corporate Tennis Events, an occasion attended by a variety of highly regarded figures from a wealth of professional backgrounds. Secondly, the launch coincided with our filming with the BBC for Pitches to Riches, their popular follow up show to Dragons Den. The day began with a light brunch and a chance to get to know everyone before guests were…Read More

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The best tennis camp location

Our team at Grand Slam Tennis Camps are renowned for their careful selection of potential venues for our tennis camps.   For 2018 we’ve selected the prestigious New Hall School in Chelmsford. From the moment Grand Slam Camp players first travel up the mile-long, tree-lined avenue that leads to the grand façade of the former Tudor palace, they will be made to feel welcome and excited. Chelmsford is officially the UK’s hottest spot, with its own microclimate! Summers in Chelmsford…Read More

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Why Grand Slam Tennis Camps, by Active Away?

Grand Slam Tennis Camps are no ordinary tennis camps, we use current professional tennis players to host and lead our tennis programme. Head Coach at the tennis camps in 2018 is Marcus Willis a former top 300 ATP player, who recently played Roger Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon in 2016, and Jocelyn Rae who won Gold at the 2010 Commonwealth games, has competed at every Grand Slam and represented Great Britain in the Fed Cup. Jocelyn and Marcus will…Read More

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Jocelyn Rae – Grand Slam Camps by Active Away

Grand Slam Tennis Camps are no ordinary tennis camps, we use current professional tennis players to lead our tennis camp programme.   Heading up our 2018 Summer Tennis Camp is Jocelyn Rae;   Jocelyn started playing tennis at the age of 7 at local tennis club Woodthorpe. She had a successful junior career reaching the finals of the prestigious Orange Bowl Championships in Florida at 12 years old and later winning the under 18 UK national championships singles and doubles….Read More

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Marcus Willis – Grand Slam Camps by Active Away

      Grand Slam Tennis Camps are no ordinary tennis camps, we use current professional tennis players to host and lead our tennis camp programme. Heading up the Summer 2018 tennis camps is Wimbledon player; Marcus Willis. Marcus Willis began playing tennis at the age of 9, and reached the No. 15 in the world as Junior, making the latter rounds of the Junior Slams as well as representing Great Britain. In 2016 – Marcus Willis faced Roger Federer…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 12

Did you manage to read part 11 last week? We looked at improving you impact on the game from the servers partners perspective. I had some great feedback from that blog post. If you haven’t read it yet, click here to have a read. In this part we are going to look at the hot seat, you are in the hot seat when you are the returners partner. I have coached so many people who almost seem like they feel…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 11

Did you manage to read part 10 last? We looked at improving your smash, I had some great feedback from that blog post. If you haven’t read it yet, click here to have a read. In this post we are going to look at the player who is the servers partner. Picture the scene, your partner is ready to hit their first serve. You are correctly The Danger Player, as you are the first person that can have a real…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Grass Court Tips

The first thing to know about grass courts is that they’re fast – much faster than clay and hard courts. When the ball hits the surface, blades of grass are flattened and the ball skids off the court fast and low. By late summer, when the grass has been worn down, you’ll also find the bounce is very unpredictable. IS IT ALL SERVE-AND-VOLLEY? Big servers have always been successful at Wimbledon with the ball flying off the surface. And those…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 10

Did you manage to read part 9 last week based on improving your volley technique, I had some great feedback from that blog post. If you haven’t read it yet, click here to have a read. In the part we are going to look at simple ways to improve your smash, specifically at the arm movement. As a doubles player, the smash is an essential weapon in your arsenal since you are looking to spend the majority of your time…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog : Tennis Crimes part 5

YOURS, YOURS !!!!! Hi everyone and welcome to part 5 of our tennis crimes series, todays crime is again one we see all the time on our tennis holidays and focuses within the doubles game and really highlights the importance of communication. So here’s the scenario, you and your doubles partner have attacked the net. Your approach wasn’t fantastic and your tactically astute opponents have been able to guide the ball accurately down the middle causing confusion and disarray between…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 9

Did you manage to read part 8 last week based on improving your smash we focused on talking about the importance of the unit turn. People seemed to really like it. If you haven’t read it yet, click here to have a read. In the part we are going to look at the next key element to improving your smash, your movement. The smash is an essential weapon in your arsenal since you are looking to spend the majority of…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog : Tennis Crimes part 4

GET READY !!!!! Hi everyone and welcome to part four of our tennis crimes blog. At active away cannot stress enough how strongly we feel about today’s blog.  Nothing frustrates me more as a tennis coach than seeing one of our players on our tennis holidays about to return a serve but actually looks like they are waiting for a bus. The “ready” position is the best way to prepare for an incoming ball, it allows you to be balanced…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 8

Did you manage to read part 7 last week based on improving your volley technique, I had some great feedback from that blog post. If you haven’t read it yet, click here to have a read. In the part we are going to look at simple ways to improve your smash. As a doubles player, the smash is an essential weapon in your arsenal since you are looking to spend the majority of your time at the net and closing…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog : Tennis Crimes part 3

The ‘EASY’ Smash !!!! Hi everyone and welcome to part three of our Tennis crimes Blog, I hope you are all enjoying them and getting the chance to practice guarding against committing the crimes!! We are going to start this weeks tennis crime by painting a really clear picture. You’ve hit a crushing forehand down the line allowing yourself to stride into the net ready to put away the inevitable ‘easy’ volley… however, here comes the problem, you’re playing against…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 7

If you have been away with us before, you are almost certainly going to have heard us talk about this. Steve’s family used to run a very successful double glazing factory in his home county of Staffordshire. We developed this technique to help improve your volleys while Steve was attempting to upsell some double glazing on one of the holidays – just kidding 😉 In part six we talked about improving your lateral movement to help to move better as…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Top 5 Tips to Improve Your Matchplay

  Using the skills you learn in practice and implementing them into a match situation is the toughest thing to achieve in tennis. A variety of factors can hinder your performance such as nerves, tactics or lack of confidence. To combat this we have put together our top five tips to help you unlock your potential in those tough matches!   1. Working out your own and your opponents strengths and weaknesses It is key to know your main strengths…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog : Tennis Crimes Part 2

Having A Plan Hi everyone and welcome again to part 2 on our ‘tennis crimes’ series.  On our tennis holidays I think back to what the most common request to improve people’s tennis is, while occasionally people would like to be able to send down a 150 mph rocket 1st serve or learn to craft a stunning slice backhand fizzing off the court, the overwhelming favourite request is “I’d like to be more consistent” or “I’d like to make less…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog: Guide to Improving Your Doubles Part 6

In the last blog post we talked about our 80/20 rule and ho it helps you maintain a good position, if you haven’t read it yet you can read it by clicking here. In this blog we are going to give you a few tips on how to move better at the net. This might surprise some people but its a fact: the key to tennis isn’t how well you hit the ball its how well you can move to…Read More

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Active Away Tennis Holidays Blog : Tennis Crimes part 1

The Second Serve Hi everyone and welcome to our Blog. If you have been on one of our tennis holidays you will have heard our coaches mention the dreaded ‘tennis crimes’! There are a few simple reminders that can help us all in our quest for a more consistent game. The first one we are going to talk about is the 2nd serve. As the old saying goes “you’re only as good as your second serve”. If it’s weak it’s…Read More

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