Oldfield’s Davis Cup

This past Saturday Oldfield Tennis hosted our annual Davis Cup tournament. Each team is made up of two men and two women. The format is Men’s doubles, Mixed doubles and Women’s doubles with all the points added up to determine who plays off in the finals.

The countries that were represented were, USA, Italy, Germany, Israel, Nevis and Jamaica with team Nevis beating out team USA in the finals. As you can see in the photo, players were encouraged to dress up in their countries colors. A good time was had by all!

Oldfield League Play

Pictured above are members of the Oldfield “Shot in the Dark” 3.5 women’s tennis team. This team practices on Thursday mornings from 10:30-12:00. Players will often stay after the practice is done to work on partnerships for the upcoming matches.

The USTA league in the Beaufort area has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes teams at all levels. Senior & Super Senior leagues are also becoming very popular. Any level tennis player can find a league to suit their needs. Matches are played on Saturday mornings so come out, if you are around, and watch some good competition

Drop In Tennis

Oldfield has a “drop in clinic” every day of the week. This way if a tennis player wakes up and decides that they would like to play but don’t want to spend the time rounding up a foursome, they just show up at the courts with racquet in hand.

Tuesdays and Thursdays we have Cardio clinics, Wednesdays are stroke, drill & beginner clinics and Friday is Doubles strategy. Pictured above are two of the regulars, Bill Stephens and John Roberts getting ready to receive during a doubles clinic.

Saturday Mixed Doubles

Oldfield hosted a Mixed Doubles Tournament on Saturday morning. Teams had to “max out” at 8.0 combo to be eligible for this tournament. We do this so that the tournament stays within a certain level and it encourages the better players to go out and find a player slightly weaker than they are. Our strongest players are at a 4.5 level.

This week our finalists were Bill Stephens and Donna Wester. David Topper and Michele Vitale took home bragging rights. The format was round robin to determine who made it into the final four teams. This ensures that everyone has the same amount of tennis. A good time was had by all and thanks to whoever was in charge of ordering up the perfect weather!

Junior Tennis

Pictured above is one of the Oldfield “future stars”. Brooks Wilson is setting up to serve the ball during a Saturday morning junior clinic. Oldfield junior players have clinics on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

We have seen a steady increase in junior participation on the Oldfield courts over the past few years. This is no surprise as tennis play in general, league or social, has increased tremendously in the Beaufort County area.

Night Tennis

Pictured above are some of the Oldfield gang playing doubles during one of our Thursday evening Mixers. We had five courts going for this event and everyone enjoyed some great tennis under the lights. This is a social event where we don’t keep track of the scores but “mix” the players around so that everyone gets a variety of tennis. All six tennis courts have great lighting systems which allow those members who cannot come out to play during the day to still enjoy the tennis facility.

The Oldfield Doubles Team Challenge

On Saturday we played the Oldfield Doubles “Team Challenge”. This format saw six teams of four players compete against each other to see who could accumulate the most games at the end of the day. The teams were very evenly matched so we saw some great tennis played throughout the morning.

There was some “social heckling” going on from the sidelines but we wouldn’t have it any other way. The true test of a championship team is to overcome these distractions and still come out on top. 

 In the end Captain Dave Oakley and his team had the most games scored. Captain Bill Stephens and his team came in second. Thanks to all that came out to play and watch.

Tennis Tips

This week did not see any competition on the Oldfield tennis courts so I would like to take some time to go over ideas to help your tennis, without making any major changes:

• Use your opposite hand to hold the racquet so you can relax your hitting hand as much as possible.
• Exhale as you make contact with the ball.
• Try to keep your head and body weight forward at ball contact.
• Extend your arms more when in the volley position and for return of serves.
• Start to focus on the ball when your opponent tosses instead of waiting until it is hit.
• “Enjoy yourself”, you can control your attitude and having fun will improve your tennis.

We often focus on making “major” changes to our game when sometimes focusing on basic ideas can make the difference.

See you on the courts!

Open Tennis

On Saturdays Oldfield tennis players come out to play in “Open Tennis”. This is a round robin format where players switch partners after every match and get to play plenty of tennis, with different people. The weather was perfect for tennis and the play was fun to watch. League play starts up this month so more tennis will be played out there. This is a great time to be around the tennis courts as there is action for spectators and players alike on a daily basis.

Next Time…

This past Saturday saw 48 tennis players playing in unseasonably cool weather! The “Quad club match” had Oldfield doing battle against Palmetto Bluff, Spring Island and Callawassie Island Club.

Spring Island managed to win this event but Oldfield has vowed to get the trophy next year. Thanks to Jason and his team for taking the bite out of the cold by treating all the players to a great lunch afterwards.