Published: April 22, 2008 04:12 pm            

Wayne County Tennis Team receives special instruction

Monticello — Wayne County Schools Tennis program, which is experiencing their most

successful season to date, received a valuable boost this past Saturday, due

to a special clinic offered to students.

Coach Hardin Phillips arranged for tennis specialists Ken and Carol

Robie, who are avid tennis players from Lexington, who travel the country

playing in tournaments, to work with the students. The Robies led the

players through drills to work on control of the ball, as well as forehand

and backhand practice. They provided valuable advice to improve each

individual's game, too.

Ken Robie, an insurance agent, told the players that he once played in a

tournament where he met the world's number one player, Pete Samphras' coach.

He asked Samphras' coach for one piece of advice he could take with him, and

he told him to get the ball across the net one more time.

His wife, Carol, teaches physical education at Rosa Parks Elementary

School and is also a private tennis coach.

The Robies commended the student players for being dedicated and noticed

that many of the players were well advanced in the lifelong sport. They were

also impressed with the excellent coaching the players were receiving from

Coach Phillips.

"We really appreciated them driving down from Lexington and attending

our meet on Friday night with Lincoln County," said Phillips. "They watched

and analyzed our players' skills so they would know how to address our

players' needs during the clinic on Saturday."

The couple stressed the four most important things for the players to

work on‹control, placement, spin and power‹in that order. They explained

that a weaker player can beat a stronger player, as long as they excel in

their control and placement over the more powerful player's control and

placement skills.

With a win-loss record of 6-5 for boys and 9-2 for girls at Wayne

County, the team is experiencing their best season ever. This week the team

has four matches scheduled.

        

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