Q&A with John Kellert from Kellert Tennis Academy

Following on from the story we published a few weeks ago, we sat down with John from Kellert Tennis Academy again to ask some hard-hitting questions about tennis, the business and what to expect in 2020!

Talent or perseverance – which wins out as a rising tennis player?

Haha…the big question!!

Typically, an elite player is on court somewhere between 12 to 20 hours per week. This is a combination of private lessons, squads, hitting and match play.

It does vary player to player and based on personality and also the ability of parents to get them to the tennis courts. With anything requiring this kind of commitment, perseverance is critical. Talent is great but I have seen many talented players walk away from the sport simply because it is a long road to travel for success.

When talent and perseverance show up in the one player you consider yourself a lucky coach however this is when your skills as a coach are truly tested. It is so easy to get ahead of things – you must be able to keep up with a rapid rate of progression all the while making sure that sufficient time is allocated to the basic day to day routines that are so critical to the longevity of an elite player.

How has the new courts been going at Moxon?

The centre is really coming together now. Our new hardcourt and synthetic courts are proving very popular and they look great too. Our players can train on different surfaces to build different court skills.

We do have a few projects in the works including the resurfacing of Court 2 and completing the beautiful black fencing around our final two courts so stay tuned.

I must thank Canterbury for all they have done to improve the tennis facilities and promote our business. The whole team has been a great help and are fantastic to work with.

What are you looking forward to in 2020 for Kellert Tennis Academy?

There is a lot coming in 2020!

We should be up and running with a full online platform in the coming months which will include a bunch of information and enable things such as online booking and also the ability to stay up to date with the results of all our players which is tough because there are so many currently achieving fantastic results in their tournaments.

We will have a strong presence once again at all national tournaments. Currently we have 4 players inside the Top 20 in Australia that automatically qualify. It is my hope to add a few more this year.

To keep our players progressing we are in the process of organising a 4-week European tennis trip in the middle of the year to give our tournament players some experience playing overseas and on a clay court surface.

Our tennis camps will also be getting a bit of a makeover with half days available as well as full days starting in the April school holidays.

Our squad classes will be going to another level as well with an increased emphasis on fitness and movement. We will also be looking to include more point playing opportunities whether that be during squads or at other times. To increase these opportunities, if you are a member of our tournament squads, you can hire a court and play for free! We really want to see our players on court as much as possible.

Last but not least, there will be some new social tennis nights starting the first week of February. No experience necessary! It will include food, music and a variety of full court and mini tennis drills and games. This will run alongside our regular adult squads.

If you had one piece of advice for someone wanting to start tennis what would it be?

Come and take one or two private or semi-private lessons with a friend or family member who wants to learn also. You’ll to get an understanding of the basics and then from there you will be ready to join one of our group classes or bring some friends to the courts for a game.

If you are keen on getting a start in tennis, book a private with John here