By Justin Gincauskas
Contributing Writer
The KU men’s tennis team recently began practicing in preparation for the upcoming spring season.
Due to cold weather and heavy amounts of snow, the team has been stuck inside the fieldhouse for practices. They’ve also been limited to an hour of practice per day.
Credit: Publications.app.kutztown
With the weather starting to warm up, the team hopes to take practice outside within the next week or two.
The tennis team has been following COVID-19 protocols to make sure they can continue to practice and will get to play this spring. Each practice begins with a temperature check and questions regarding any changes to their health. Protocols also require all players and coaches wear a mask while training in the fieldhouse.
After temperature checks and health screenings, the team begins with a warmup that includes jogging and dynamic stretching. Then, the team usually goes through a series of hand feeding drills, which includes hitting forehands, backhands and volleys.
Towards the end of most practices, the team will work on serves or do conditioning before ending with stretching. They are unable to rally because the surface in the fieldhouse is fast, unlike a regular tennis court.
Currently the men’s team has eight players with four new players making their debut for KU this spring.
Once the team begins practicing outside, they will focus on rallying drills and playing points as opposed to hand feeding. Once outside, the team will be allowed two hours of practice a day, rather than one.
If everything goes according to plan, the team’s first match will be played on Saturday, March 20 at Mercyhurst. KU will then play Edinboro the next day before heading back to play their first home match of the season against Millersville on March 25 at 2 p.m. Be sure to keep up with scores on KUbears.com