Finding the Right Class

In just over a week, we start our summer season at Encanto Sports Complex. We offer classes based on age, ability level, or family bonding. Selecting the right class is important for the quality of your child's experience.

If your child is in the age group of 5-8 years old and has never played tennis before, I recommend our LEARN TO RALLY class. Your child will have an opportunity to develop gross and fine motorskills related to tennis movements using a scaffolded approach. In other words, each skill builds upon one another.  This class uses smaller courts, smaller rackets, a lower net, and larger slower tennis balls. We also incorporate cooperative learning strategies so your child learns how to play with others and to keep the ball in play.

If your child has very little to no experience and is in the age group of 9-12, we recommend our BEGINNER class. If your eight year-old has played in our LEARN TO RALLY class, but is ready for more of a challenege, we also recommend this class. Our BEGINNER class is similar to the LEARN TO RALLY class except it is played on a 60 foot court using a smaller ball with more pressure. We also focus on teaching the students the foundation to advanced strokes and preparing them to play on the 60 foot court.

For children who have played before or have been in our pathway, we promote them to the ORANGE BALL 2 class for advanced beginner and intermediate students ages 8-10.

We have a class for students ages 11-14. Our GREEN BALL class is for our older students who are able to play on the full court with full or partial pressurized balls. We teach all ability levels in this class, but right now it is primarily aimed at those students who have progressed through our pathway.

Maybe your child only wants to play with mom or dad. We offer  PARENT AND ME  classes which allow for the parent and child to learn the same skills in our other classes but in a family friendly environment. 

Shadow Tennis

Many people think they need to go out to a tennis court to practice their tennis. What they don't realize is they can practice off the court. One way you can practice is to simply go out in your backyard and play shadow tennis. The key to being an exceptional player is to be able to perform the movement of each stroke in an effortless manner. When you go out in your backyard and pretend you are playing a point, you are making the muscle memory even stronger for how to perform the movement. So today, go out and try to play tennis with your shadow and make that shadow look good.

April Update

April has been a wonderful month. The highlight has been the Learn to Rally class on Tuesday evening and our Beginner classes as they learn to rally using the skills we teach. Our Intermediate class has grown as well. The students in the intermediate class are learning to apply their technique in match situations.

Our Learn to Rally classes have learned how to rally using their right and left hand. They have learned how to rally the forehand using a rolling rally. This skill game teaches the student the importance of using the palm to driect the ball and creating topspin.  The students have learned to be friends with the ball and to always make it look good. They have also learned how to rally  over the net by making the winning shot. (We call the volley the winning shot).



Our beginner classes have been larger than normal so we do a lot of cooperative partner practice where the students are tossers and  hitters. Students are able to give cues to their partner regarding when to be ready, pace, and how to make it look good. Students rotate in a round robin format to give them the opportunity to play with different players and perform a different role.


Our intermediate classes have been learning how to rally the ball deep cross court, how to play the serve and return, the transition game, and doubles. Our students always perform fluency to master technique before we begin and actual lesson.


We have added a half session in May and our summer session opens for registration on April 25.

60 Days In

What an interesting start to 2019 we had. We had two full classes and some new students. Our advanced beginner Orange Ball 2 class is really starting to take off. My hope is to use this class as a stepping stone for our students to play more outside of class time. Starting in May is the Junior Team Tennis season and this is a great opportunity for our students to join a team and play with kids from around the Phoenix area.

The start of the year has been one of the wettest on record. We were rained out four times, the fourth being the last day of our Monday classes. The round robin/pizza day will have to wait. Our Thursday classes hit the toughest part, first I ended up with the terrible illness that was being passed around. Then the next two weeks we were rained out. However, it is all falling into place with the make-ups and the next session starting on time.

Be on the lookout for the NET tournament in Tempe. This is a novice tournament for kids who are learning how to play. They get to play a round robin format for three hours. Sometimes they may get as many as eight matches in a three hour period. For registration, you can go to www.mesatennis.com.

The other best part of 2019 is Coach's new vehicle. In case you hadn't heard, at the end of 2019 Coach was in a horrible car accident and his van was totaled. Thank you for all of your patience as we began to reset. I have learned a lot about the power of being present and in the moment these past months. I am grateful to everyone who has stayed with us during this time.
Lastly, I would like to welcome the new director of Encanto Sports Complex, Susan Pleger. I am impressed with her attention to detail and wanting to help the program at Encanto Park take new ground. Welcome Susan.

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How Do We Love Our Players?

You and your tennis practice: It’s a love story for the ages. Think about it. You are your practice.   Those daily practices bring fullfillment and mastery. Side by side always. In sickness and in health. For richer or for poorer. This is a legit, serious, long-term relationship.

Love takes shape in a lot of different ways. But no matter how it starts, there are a few things you can count on. For one, love is going to have its ups and downs. It’s going to get rocky. You may yell things you don’t mean like, “I don’t care if there is tennis tonight, I want to go play with my friends at the pool.”
But despite the hard times, if you work together, you and your practice will last the course of time. So carve your name and your practice in a heart in some wet cement. Take some pictures and post them on Instagram—#reallove. And, when you feel like you are losing your passion for your practice, try out a couple of these tips on how to love playing tennis forever.

1. Enter a Non-Elimination Tournament throught www.mesatennis.com
    This is an opportunity to play as many as ten players for three hours in a non-pressure environment.

2. Participate in a USTA playday

3. Create a tennis court in your backyard or driveway

4. Join a Junior Team Tennis Team

5. Be a part of an afterschool tennis club/class if your school is a part of the USTA schools program

Looking Back at 2018

Another holiday season has come and gone. 2018 has had it's victories and adversities. First, 2018 was our fifth year in existence. Yes, we made it to five years. That is something to celebrate. It was a year to look back and celebrate all the students we have taught and how far we have come.  

This past 2018 saw some new opportunities for our students. We support the NET (non-elemination) tournament program and we had several students participate.  We saw several of our students graduate to tournament training programs and participate in USTA tournaments. 

 We also learned how to connect more of our students to outside play opportunities through Junior Team Tennis. Four girls joined together to form Team Svadhyaya out of Encanto Park.   In addition to valuable playing experience, the parents and kids developed relationships that will last for years to come. 

Our summer program featured the Parent and Me program where parents got to bring their children ages 8-10 to participate together. We even had the Mental Skills Coach for the Cubs come and take the students through a mindfulness exercise!

This year saw us get better through professional development, started a website, and learned how to use a smart phone. Yes, I was blessed to have one given to me and it has been very helpful with some of it's functions. I have learned how to use Instagram, check students in, and use slow motion video. 

We developed a relationship with Svadhyaya Sport and began the study of mindfulness. We saw many of our parents show us gratitude and support as we struggled through a car accident at the end of October. You have no idea how grateful I am for your support and patience as we went through this ordeal. Thank you for helping to inspire me to keep going.  Well, that is a brief look at some of the happenings in an eventful 2018. Here is looking to 2019 and even better things to come. We are here to SERVE you.