Real Tennis and Squash

Open everyday: 8am - 10pm

Please note, Canford School pupils have block bookings during term time (approx. 33 weeks per year):

Monday	2 - 4pm
Tuesday	2 - 6pm
Wednesday	4 - 6pm
Thursday	2 - 6pm
Friday	4 - 6pm
Saturday	2 - 4.30pm

 

Remaining court time hours are available to members.

 

Your first two introductory lessons are completely FREE!

Current Membership Fees
Full Adult	£110
Country (must reside 35 miles away from the club and play no more than once a month)	£50
Student (Under 28)	£50
Junior (Under 18)	£20
Court Fees and Lessons (per hour)
Court Fees (Singles)	£19 (£9.50 per person)
Court Fees (Doubles)	£22 (£5.50 per person)
Lesson or Game with a Professional (including court fee)	£33 Peak* £27 Off-peak
Additional Guest Fees	£3 with a member £6 without a member
*Peak = 5pm onward from Mon-Fri and any times at weekends
Club Shop
White Standard Racket	£145
Black Extra Tech Racket	£245
Canford Special Extra Tech Racket	£275
Restrings	£22
Repairs	£5 - £10
Grips	£3
Club Polo Shirt	£30
Club Shorts	£25
Club Skort	£25

All enquiries are welcome, please contact:

Contact: Steve Ronaldson/James Ryan

Tel: 01202 881232
Email: steve.ronaldson.t21@btinternet.com
 

Email the Club

Once you become a Canford and T&RA member, you will have access the real tennis online booking system.

Similar to golf, you will be given a handicap, which will initially be a rough reflection of your ability level.

You will be given a username and password, and be able to book yourself in on a day and time that suits you. You can either book in against another person of a similar handicap or book in a slot by yourself and your club professionals will find you a suitable opponent.

You simply add in your result after your match through the online booking system. Every match you play can count towards your handicap and world ranking!

 

The first thing you will notice is that the court is very different to the tennis courts that you are familiar with.  In addition the balls are solid and are handmade here at Canford.  To cope with the weight of the ball, the wooden rackets need to be equally weighty and robust (graphite rackets are banned!).

The next thing you will notice when you watch a game is that the players do not hit topspin as they do in the modern game.  Topspin makes the ball rise off the back wall making it easier for the opponent to get the ball back.

As in normal tennis, the court is divided by a net into two ends. The end from which you are viewing is called the Service end.  The service is always delivered from this end and must be hit onto the sloping roof on the left called the penthouse.  The far side of the court is called the Hazard end.

The basic objective of the game is to return the ball either after the first bounce or on the volley.  Points are lost when errors are made (e.g. by hitting the ball into the net or out of court).  Points may however also be won by hitting the ball into one of the winning openings .  These are the dedans (the opening through which you can see the above photo is taken), the grille, (the blue square in the far right of the court) and the the winning gallery (the furthest opening on the left, and yes it does have a bell in it!).  Scoring in Real Tennis is the same as that adopted by its younger relation (i.e. 15, 30, 40, deuce, advantage, game) save that in Real Tennis the winner of the last point is always called first.  The first player to reach six games wins the set, even if the other player has won five games.

The major difference between the two games is the chase.  If the ball bounces twice or enters  one of the galleries in the service end a “chase” is laid.  Neither player wins the rally and the point is suspended.  When two chases are created, or game point is reached with one chase, the players change ends.  Then the suspended point(s) are replayed and decided.  To win the point the receiver must better his opponents chase by getting the second bounce nearer to the dedans.

The basic strategy of the game is to dominate the service end.  The only way for a player to gain the service end is to set a chase (the players never change ends at the end of the game)​.

Canford’s first tennis court was mentioned in a 1541 document describing the ‘Cituation of the house and manor of Canford’.

After 1776, the medieval buildings (apart from ‘John o’Gaunts kitchen’, which still stands) were replaced by a mansion, and this was greatly enlarged after Sir John Josiah Guest bought the Dorset manor in 1845. The second baronet, Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, later Lord Wimborne, had both a tennis and rackets court built in the grounds in 1879.

The tennis court was renovated in 1913 and a new floor installed, but the Rackets court fell into disrepair and converted into two squash courts in 1962.

Canford School was founded in 1923, with the first resident professional, Edward Johnson, teaching the game to a handful of boys.

During the 1930s, this fixture list was extended and the master-in-charge, W.S. Strain, devoted much time taking boys to play other courts. G.H. Holman arrived as professional in 1933, and in 1935 W.D. Whiston became the first Canfordian to win a Tennis blue from Cambridge.

There was no competitive play during the war, as American Serviceman occupied that part of the school near the tennis court.

The roof had been restored in 1935 by Lord Aberdale and others, but was battered in the war and severe gales continued to take their toll. Strain and Holman worked on after the war to revive the game, and the court was much restored in 1952.

By then, J.T. Hankinson had taken over as master-in-charge, and Malcolm Taylor, the school’s cricket professional, had been trained at Lord’s to move into tennis. He was replaced in 1969 by Hampshire’s former Test cricketer Derek Shackleton.

John Boys became master-in-charge in 1973, the golden jubilee of the school’s foundation, which was marked by the complete re-decoration and re-equipment of the dedans by the Old Canfordian Society.

In 1980, the Canford Real Tennis Club was formed, opening up the court to outside players. Rob Bartlett was appointed and able to earn part of his living by forming a club for local enthusiasts.

He was succeeded at Canford by Steve Ronaldson, under whose long tenure of office both the club and the school have developed greatly, hosting several national events. A series of talented assistants have given excellent support, including Austin Snelgrove, who went on to become the first professional at the new Prince’s Club in Washington, and Darren Long, who has recently entered the top 10 ranked players in the world.

Over the years, the Club have funded many improvements to the tennis facilities, including comfortable furniture in the dedans, partitioned from the court; a kitchen area, changing rooms and the recent addition of new LED lighting with automatic sensors.

Today the court is continuing to thrive and is actively used by both Canford pupils and over 100 outside club members.

The J.T. Faber Book of Tennis and Rackets by Lord Aberdale (2001)

 

Club Officers
Chairman	David Dickson
Secretary	Laurence Kennedy
Treasurer	Bob McCarthy
Committee Members	Barry Aiken David Neill
Head Professional	Steve Ronaldson
Assistant Professional	James Ryan