Welcome to our new blog, talking all things tennis, fitness & tips from the team
by Ruth Jarvis
SELT Team
Hello! We’re excited to post our first monthly blog where we’ll be sharing the latest news on tennis fitness along with tips and tricks to help you play your best game on our beautiful Lewisham courts, whatever your age and stage. We hope you enjoy it – please let us know what you think, and tell us if there are any subjects you’d like us to cover, email ruth@southeastlondontennis.com.
It’s still January, the traditional time of year to lever yourself off the sofa and get serious about a new fitness regime. But it’s one thing to start a new exercise programme and another to see it through: a recent survey shows that almost half of the people who join a gym in January will leave by June. Which makes sense, when you think about it. If you want to stay motivated, it’s not enough to engage your muscles in repetitive exercise – you need to engage your mind as well as your body. And exercise is easier to maintain when it’s fun, supported and social, and comes in a regular programme. Can you guess where we’re going with this?!
That’s right: tennis ticks all these boxes for developing positive exercise habits, as well as bringing an unbeatable range of health benefits. Racket sports are not only great for longevity and cardiovascular fitness (a study by Oxford University has found that they are associated with a 56% lower risk of heart death); ‘they also have long-term benefits for flexibility, coordination and mental agility as well as offering additional mental health and social benefits perhaps unique to these sports’.
For existing players, the New Year challenge could be to improve your fitness and footwork with cardio tennis, join a league or tournament for the first time, come to one of our evening play sessions for some extra practice, take up pickleball or sort out that kink in your serve with a private class. We will support you all the way – and we’ll even give a 20% discount to the first ten people to book a cardio tennis session (which adds up to almost 40% off for Play Tennis Lewisham members).
Use the code Cardio20, valid from 27/1/25 to 12/2/25. valid from 27/1/25 to 12/2/25.
Every month we’ll be posting a video of simple but effective exercises designed to improve a particular aspect of your game – whether that’s strength, power, speed or movement – and to keep you injury-free. It will be demonstrated by one of our LTA Accredited coaches, giving you a chance to get to know our brilliant team.
We’re a big supporter of London Sport, a charity that aims to redress health inequalities across London’s boroughs by advocating for equitable and inclusive access to sport and physical activity in the community. It’s important work: 40% of adults are falling short of recommended activity levels. This rather grim figure has at least been stable, but now half of adult Londoners are doing less exercise and sport because of the cost of living, rising to eight in ten for households earning under £30,000. This translates into poorer health outcomes across a range of metrics: to mention just one, physical activity decreases the risk of all-cause mortality by around 30%.
The capital’s young people are faring even worse. Half are falling short of recommended activity levels and one in 12 children are doing none at all. This is no kind of start to life: physically active children do better academically because of improved memory, attention and behaviour – and if you aren’t active by the age of 10 you are unlikely to be active as an adult. The picture varies widely across the London boroughs, as it does for adults, with four out of five children inactive in Tower Hamlets compared to one in three in Wandsworth. Overall, adults in the most deprived areas are twice as likely, and children three times as likely, to be inactive compared to the least deprived areas.
London Sport has just announced a new campaign, called Let’s Move London, to try to turn things around.. Because of both its level of need and the potential for improvement, Lewisham has been chosen as one of the eight areas Let’s Move will focus on first, particularly Downham, Bellingham and Catford South. We look forward to following the campaign and passing on any local news. For more information or to make a donation, click here.
There’s no getting away from the winter weather, and all our courts can get icy, particularly in the morning before the sun thaws things out (which is quite late on at Ladywell, thanks to the hospital blocking the rays). On chilly days, check how slippery your whole court area is, and if in any doubt, cancel – it’s just not worth risking injury. If you decide it’s OK to play, stay alert, loosen up with some simple stretches and don’t commit to running for any ridiculously optimistic shots. And invest in the right footwear: it’s even more important than usual to wear hard-court tennis shoes, not just any old trainers or runners.
Did you know? Your wellbeing isn’t just vital for your ongoing physical and mental health, but according to Sport England and the LTA, it has also got an economic value:
We hope you enjoyed our first blog. Look out for the next edition at the end of February. Meanwhile, go smash your game and we’ll see you on court soon.
Chris, Michael and the SELT team
Website by Dan Stevens