March 31, 2022 at 7:20 a.m.
Spring practice notebook
Last teams to start grateful for Hodag Dome
Spring practice notebook
Like many Rhinelander High School spring sports teams trying to gear up for their seasons, the Hodag boys' tennis and golf teams have been grateful for some added weather security this week as their practices for the upcoming season got underway.
Last year, an earlier thaw combined with a late start to the season -boys' tennis did not officially begin practice until the first week of May due to the WIAA's one-time alternate fall season spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic - meant that the teams could get outside right away. That's not the case this year and, meaning the teams will really be able to make use of the Hodag Dome in the coming weeks.
"It's just awesome to have the dome, experiencing that," Hodag tennis coach Matt Nichols said. "It's fun and the future of the program looks bright. It's very exciting to see."
While other boys' tennis programs struggled with numbers last year, that was not the case for the Hodags. Nichols said the dome has a positive impact in that regard.
"I'm sure some kids take that into account," he said. "Not only the beginning of tennis (practice) we can hit right away on courts but, throughout the winter and the early season the dome, I'm sure some people factor that in. The ability to play year-round is huge."
With ample room and a pair of golf simulators, there's plenty the Hodag golf team can accomplish indoors as well.
"We have a nice dome to go out and practice in. The kids are going to be able to get some swings in," coach Adam Schmidt said.
On the other end of the 128,000 square-foot facility, the Hodag tennis team put to use the four regulation tennis courts. They needed all of that space to move around with 21 players out for the sport.
"Strong numbers, a lot of guys returning and just really exciting to be back on the courts and seeing the guys playing some tennis," Nichols said.
The team doesn't have an abundant amount of time to prepare. Rhinelander will host Lakeland to open the Great Northern Conference season next Thursday and, thanks to the dome, the only question is if that meet will take place indoors or outdoors. Nichols said the team would begin to hold challenge matches by the end of this week to determine who fits where within the lineup. Most of this week, however, has been about brushing up on the fundamentals and the strokes.
"Today we worked on forehands, backhands and then forehand and backhand volleys," Nichols said following Monday's first practice. "We'll be focusing on serve Tuesday, if not Wednesday. By Wednesday we want to have all the fundamental strokes covered and then getting reps with all of those different strokes, especially serve. I want to take pride in our serving ability. It's huge for the game."
The Hodag golf team will likely have a little more time before it heads out to the course. The team's first competition is not until April 14 but - with the team's first two matches scheduled for Laona and Ashland and no major warmup forecasted over the next week or so - there's a chance the team might not tee it up in competition prior to the Great Northern Conference opener in Mosinee April 25.
Schmidt said he had 16 players out for the sport this year, including a number of new freshmen. Much of the first week has been spent going back over the basics and sorting out the experienced players from the beginners.
"We're just going to kind fo find out how everybody's swinging and try to work on some stuff," he said prior to Monday's first practice. "We're going to start with some chipping and then get the simulators going and getting on the (virtual) driving range, have them hit some 5-irons the first couple of days, just loosening up. We'll find out who can play, even who's played before and we know the ones who are coming back.
"I think a lot of it is just going to be finding out who's actually played golf before. I don't know if some of the freshmen have played much golf before at all. We're just finding out who's played golf. When my assistant coach (Carole Zierden) comes back from Florida, then she can help work with (the new golfers)."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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