Our Coaches
John Peters
John Peters runs the coaching programme at Grafton. He is a licensed LTA Level 3 coach and has been coaching at the club since 2004. He is as happy coaching absolute beginners as he is men’s first team players and our up and coming juniors at the club who compete at high levels. He works closely with Tennis Surrey in helping juniors across the county play more competitive tennis and has hosted many Surrey junior tour events at Grafton.
Gary Walker
Gary is highly experienced LTA Level 3 coach, having been a former head coach at Spencer tennis club and Telford Park tennis club and more recently before joining Grafton was responsible for delivering the tennis programme across Lambeth parks and schools. Gary leads our sessions aimed at intermediate to advanced level juniors who are training several times per week and who are regularly travelling to competitions.
Junior Coaching – Grafton Academy
We run group coaching for junior members Monday to Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. At the weekends, we organise competitive play for junior members in all age groups. We do not charge for this – it is included with membership. As well as being fun and good experience, these matches contribute towards players’ LTA ratings. Our more experienced players, particularly those training several times a week are encouraged to enter regular open competitions. We host a number of open LTA Junior Tour competitions to help meet the needs of these players.
Each coaching session addresses physical and mental skills, technique, drills and points play. We are affiliated with Modern Tennis International. MTI have developed groundbreaking methods for teaching tennis to both beginners and advanced players. We issue our players with syllabus sheets so that they are clear on what both they and their coaches are aiming for and we issue MTI’s awards (certificates and badges) when the players are able to demonstrate their new skills.
In addition to the weekend matches, every 6 weeks part of each coaching lesson is allocated to playing matches that contribute towards LTA ratings – so a player learns how to compete even if they don’t have time for weekend play. Our junior group coaching fees are £25 per month (for once a week coaching) and £55 per month for unlimited group coaching, which can be every day. Our beginner / improver classes are 1 hour and our higher level classes are typically 2 hours. The more lessons you take per week and the better you get, the cheaper per hour the coaching gets.
For further information about the coaching programme or to book lessons, contact John Peters by email or by calling 07801 910264
Junior Coaching Schedule
Further background on our coaching approach
School holiday courses
Summer Holiday Courses (Tennis)
Starts Monday 25th July-Friday 19th August 2011
You can book for mornings only, Afternoons only or All day (packed lunch required) or for the week.
Cost £6 Mornings/Afternoons, £13 All day or £60 for the week.
Discount for more than one child in the same family. (if booking for the whole week.)
For bookings contact Gary Walker by email or by calling 07979 203517
Adult Coaching
As well as providing individual lessons, we run beginners groups, improver groups and provide coaching for our ladies and mens teams. Our policy is that adult non-members may take up to six lessons with John or any other coach before joining the club. If you are looking for adult coaching, in the first instance please contact John Peters by email or by calling 07801 910264
