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The LTA guidelines permit organised activities for larger groups including coaching and club sessions. Given that, the club schedule is unchanged. Also the club tournament continues.

However ad-hoc social play is limited to groups of six. It is not immediately obvious, when looking at the booking sheet, whether a court is booked by a singles pair or a doubles foursome. We must avoid the situation where both courts are playing doubles at the same time. Hence, whilst this rule applies, singles are asked to book court two in preference. If both courts are free book, court two. Then a doubles group knows that they can have court 1. Likewise doubles groups are asked not to book court 2 at any time.

This will run each Tuesday for the summer. It is for beginners or people who haven’t played for a while. So if you fancy starting or improving your tennis, just turn up. Bring a racket. Balls provided. £3.00 per session. Starts at 6pm but it is not essential to get there at the start. Finishing about 8pm.

Notice that it is always sunny at this years Rusty sessions, so much so that this photographer could not avoid having his shadow in the shot.

Stop press. GMT. The world turns and, sadly, summer doesn’t last for ever. Expect an afternoon start during the dark autumn and winter period, currently 4pm.

Club sessions are back.
Saturday 1:30pm to 4:30pm
Wednesday club sessions : 5pm to 9pm

Rusty Rackets (more details) also returns on Tuesdays at 6:00pm.

Any timetable changes will be shown, as ever, on the schedule page.

Here is the draw for this years tournaments. It will be kept up to date with results and subsequent rounds.

Arranging Matches

The club WhatsApp group is a good way to make contact. As ever, if you can move the long conversations off to individual or small-group threads that would be appreciated. Alternatively, we keep the emails and phone numbers of members, I think I have them all and you can ask me for your partners or opponents details. If I am slow in responding then other committee members also have them.

Book the courts for the matches on club website. If you need help then I, or many other members, will be able to assist. Allow 90 minutes for the tie. Please try to get the matches played as soon as possible. In particular, the mens singles will have three rounds prior to the final. Hence the first round should be completed by the 9th August.

Match Rules

Best of three sets. The first two sets to have a tie-breaker at 6-6. The third set to be a first-to-ten tie-breaker. Single point deuces.

Dates

The final is scheduled for Sunday 27th September, weather (and everything else) permitting.

We need to play up to three rounds prior to the finals. The mens singles first round should be completed by 9th August. Other competitions have fewer rounds and we can be more relaxed. Please try to complete those first-round ties by the 30th August.

Another way of viewing the draw, with results, perhaps easier to read, correct as of 9th September:

We are Back !

James is delighted to be in a position to offer group coaching sessions again. The LTA have given permission for coaching to resume in groups of no more than 6, including the coach.

In order to restrict the spread of Covid 19, things will have to be done a little differently this year. The LTA have published some guidelines. which we have interpreted as described below.

You will need to book into a session by emailing James on coachjames7@outlook.com. He will confirm your place and send you details of how to pay online. When you arrive the entry gate will be open and you will be asked to wait in a sign-posted area whilst socially distancing. You are allowed to bring one adult with you. Players will be invited onto the court one at a time. The court gate will be open and you will be asked to use hand-sanitiser as you enter. Hand-sanitiser will be provided, along with tissues and a bin for rubbish.

It is important throughout the session that we keep to social distancing guidelines and that tennis balls are not handled – instead kicked or moved with a racket.

At the end of a session you will leave one at time and there will be a 15 minute gap between sessions which includes time for equipment to be re-sanitised.

James is so looking forward to seeing you all again and meeting new players. Please contact him if you have any questions or to book into a session.

James is local to Plymstock and is an LTA level 2 accredited coach. He started playing here at PLTC as a junior and has gone on to represent the South West at regional and national Special Olympics tournaments. He studied Sport at City College, Plymouth, where he assisted in the running of their tennis club. He is a Royal Foundation Coach Core graduate who did his apprenticeship at Ivybridge Tennis Club.

He has experience in coaching wheel chair and learning disability tennis and is a volunteer coach with Special Olympics Plymouth and District. He coaches both juniors and adults and is qualified to coach cardio tennis.

email : coachjames7@outlook.com

Both singles and doubles tennis are now permitted. You may wish to consult the full LTA guidance .

Social distancing rules must be followed and players should continue to maintain social distancing when playing.
Venue rules state that there should be a maximum of 6 people attending the courts at any one time. Therefore we can allow doubles play on one court but not both courts at the same time.

Book on this website.

Can players please book for doubles on Court one and singles on Court 2. Obviously singles can take place on both courts and these can be booked as happens now.

Bookings can be for up to 90 minutes.

There needs to be a 10 minute gap between the end of one session and the beginning of the next, so please factor this in when arriving and leaving the courts.

Players must enter the names of all players in the online bookings form.

The club WhatsApp group can be used to see who wants a game. As soon as possible in the conversation please switch to making arrangements individually to limit the amount of messaging on that WhatsApp group.

Club House

Please only use the club house if absolutely necessary. Since we cannot provide hot water or disposable towels for hand washing, as recommended by the LTA, we ask that you only use the facilities if absolutely necessary and to bring your own hand sanitiser.
Leave personal items outside where possible. Can players please wipe down door handles, keys and padlocks with a cleansing wipe as they leave. These are available in the club house. Do not use kitchen facilities in order to reduce the risk of contaminating surfaces. Therefore we would ask you bring your own drinks. There is a poster on the window that provides guidance on good hygiene practice while on court.

Keys

There is now a court key in the key safe to reduce the need to enter the club house.

Balls

Guidance no longer includes having to use your own tennis balls. However, it recommends handling balls as little as possible and clean your hands immediately before and after play. Balls should not be left on court or in the club house once used.
We have a limited number of new balls that you can buy at cost price of £3.50 per tube. This is limited to one tube per player for now as we only have a limited number. Details from Jess. If you wish to use used balls, please feel free to take 4 from the clubhouse but again mark them and take them home with you.

Club sessions, sadly, have not returned yet.

From this Thursday, 14th May, you can play at the club, subject to some rules.

Currently only singles play is allowed at the club since doubles would only be permitted where all 4 players live in the same household. However both courts can be in use at the same time.

Courts need to be booked in advance via WhatsApp. If you are not already on the clubs WhatsApp group then contact any member of the committee to be added

Booking via this system will ensure that players are not turning up at the same time and compromising social distancing rules. There needs to be a 10 minute gap between the end of one session and the beginning of the next, so please factor this in when giving times. Bookings are to be for 90 minutes.

Please make details of arrangements with each other by text or phone calls in order to limit the amount of messaging on WhatsApp. Contact Jess for phone numbers if needed and provide consent for your number to be shared.

CLUB HOUSE

Please only use the club house if absolutely necessary. Since we cannot provide hot water or disposable towels for hand washing, as recommended by the LTA, we ask that you only use the facilities if absolutely necessary and to bring your own hand sanitiser.

Leave personal items outside where possible.

Can players please wipe down door handles, keys and padlocks with a cleansing wipe as they leave. These are available in the club house.

Do not use kitchen facilities in order to reduce the risk of contaminating surfaces. Therefore we would ask you bring your own drinks.

There is a poster on the window that provides guidance on good hygiene practice while on court.

KEYS

There is now a court key in the key safe to reduce the need to enter the club house.

BALLS

Players must use their own set of balls when playing, marked with your name and taken home at the end of play.

We have a limited number of new balls that you can buy at cost price of £3.50 per tube. This is limited to one tube per player for now as we only have a limited number. Details from Jess. If you wish to use used balls, please feel free to take 4 from the clubhouse but again mark them and take them home with you.

Please be aware that any of the above is subject to change, dependent upon government and LTA rules and guidance. We urge you to read the LTA guidance for players and check regularly for changes or additions. We will do the same and keep you up to date as much as possible. If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your understanding in these trying times!

There is some guidance we have to read and, presumably, take action upon first. If you are interested, the guidance is in a PDF document on the LTA website.

It looks like singles only, no spectators, with some other measures (like cleaning touch points) required.

More on this as soon as we have ticked all the necessary boxes

There’s no ambiguity. The government website on the matter says that communal sports courts within parks will be out of bounds. So we can’t play tennis at all.