Chris Lockyer

I started to play tennis aged 7 in Nairobi Club, Kenya where my grandfather, Chas Lockyer had been their Head Tennis Coach.

Here's a bit of tennis history for you :) ...my grandfather played from a young age at Hurlingham Tennis Club in London, (as he lived nearby) and became one of Britains first professional coaches. As a professional he was not allowed to play competitively, I'm not sure why exactly except that those were the rules at the time! Professional coaches of the Fred Perry era were overlooked as far as their input into the development of players. Fred Perry was one of Chas Lockyers' pupils.

To have had professional coaching in those days was deemed to to having an unfair advantage and therefore 'cheating' and so was behind closed doors. Fred Perry one must remember, was classed as an 'amateur' because that is what you had to be to be able to play in tournamenrs like Wimbledon. No mention is made of any coaching Fred received, but receive coaching he did! 

Chas Lockyer died at sea on the Union Castle Shipping Line in 1956, whilst sailing past the East Coast of Africa in his 60's on my Mum and Dads honeymoon! Chas also taught the Spanish Royal family and was instrumental in putting the first Spanish Davis Cup team together. In my view he's one of the unsung heros of British Tennis.

I moved to the UK when I was 9 years old and played as a junior at Bramhall Park Tennis Club near Manchester. We then moved to Johannesburg South Africa when I was 12 years old and played as a Junior at Parkview Tennis Club and at The Wanderers Club. I was a very active club member and played for the club teams and played socially every week on Saturdays! The big event was the afternoon teas... "...not good for the figure!" as my Dad used to say. 

I took part in many holiday tennis camps where the tennis was played competitvely in fun Round Robin formats. Its amazing how much you improve in a very short space of time!

I also had private coaching from various coaches. One coach in particular was way ahead of his time with the use of video capture technology... in 1977!

In the UK I've played for Club Teams and put on many Junior Holiday Tennis Camps. I coached adults and juniors at David Lloyd in Hull for a year before heading back to the Lake District. 

I have also coached some outstanding Junior players from the ages of 6 upward, two of which played in the County Squad and at three have become the club champion.

I enjoy coaching all standards of player. The important thing is having a go and having fun!