Adam hoping to inspire the next generation of aces
HALIFAX BORN tennis coach Adam Lownsbrough can’t wait for the coronavirus lockdown to end so he can start passing on some of his knowledge to the next generation.
Lownsbrough is a professional coach working on the WTA tour but had been planning to help develop the junior coaching set-up at Queens Sports Club in Halifax, where he played as a child.
But those plans have had to be put on hold while the coronavirus lockdown remains in place.
“I know the coach there, Simon Taylor, who’s been there since I was a child, and the weeks I’m not working with the professional players, I was looking for somewhere where I could go and help people in the area,” he said.
“I know the club quite well, and in terms of facilities it’s fantastic, with indoor and outdoor courts, a gym.
“Now with the travel bans and everything, I’m going to be around for a while, so I’m trying to build something with the existing team there to add something to the area.”
The 35-year-old grew up in Hipperholme, attending Hipperholme Grammar School, and played at Queens Sports Club as a youngster, taking part in local and regional tournaments from the age of 10.
He went to live in Spain aged 16 to train at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy and played in future’s tournaments, which contributed to professional ranking points, before going into coaching aged 21.
“In January 2007 I went to work for Bob Brett in Italy, he had an academy there,” he said.
“Bob coached Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic, he’s a big name in tennis. I was based there for a year. Then I moved to Barcelona for five years which is when I first worked with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. I’ve worked with her on three separate occasions over the last 10 years.
“I’m working with the Japanese Federation at the moment, so I’m working with the female players in Japan.”
Until normal service is resumed and the tour starts up again, Lownsbrough is hoping to begin working with some of the juniors in Calderdale.
“It’s one of the safest sports because of the distance between the players, you’re not in direct contact with anyone,” he said. “The only thing that could be an issue could be touching the balls, but maybe you could have two sets.
“I’m putting a few ideas together, but it comes down to the restrictions about how many people you can have on a court, whether you can have group sessions. They already have a very good junior programme there and what we’d like to do is to build on that for maybe older juniors, 12 and above, who want to compete a bit more.”
ONLINE: www.halifaxcourier. co.uk