New Junior Courts at LCC

A new feature on the Longwood grounds this year will be junior sized courts that are superimposed on the Route 9 clay courts. This means that standard lines will still be on these courts for adult play along with green lines that will define three 60 foot long junior courts and two 36 foot courts and two 36 foot grass courts. Included in this post are some videos explaining the smaller courts and some pictures of what our clay courts will look like. Also some commentary by LCC's Director of Junior Tennis, Tim Smith.

Tim Smith: The addition of court spaces for the 2011 season is driven by a rule change made at the highest levels of the game. More than 260 delegates, partners and staff attended the International Tennis Federation’s 2010 Annual General Meeting, held in Washington, D.C., and hosted by the USTA. 

Among the initiatives approved by the ITF membership was a rule change for all 10-and-under competition that will mandate modified courts and the use of slower balls as part of the ITF’s Tennis 10s campaign. This decision will fundamentally change the landscape of tennis in the United States. With this change Longwood will be in line with Harvard University and other established tennis leaders in our region, who have or will be adding court spaces to their facilities in the near future. Longwood was a pilot site for this initiative back in 2007 and we have been using the modified balls to great success with the junior program. We have seen a marked increase in the learning curve for our junior players – they develop confidence from being able to rally with success, appropriate swing patterns, grips and better control. The court space addition is the natural progression for the club. More information can be found at 10andundertennis.com