Spring practice notebook

The final group of spring sports to begin practice for the upcoming season did so on Monday, though one wouldn’t have been able to tell by looking outside.

One of the driest winters on record had one more gasp Sunday night, dumping in excess of eight inches of snow on the Northwoods and putting the opening practices for the Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis and golf teams in doubt. 

Though the district canceled classes for Monday due to the weather, the teams were able to practice as scheduled in the afternoon and evening as the system dissipated and travel conditions improved throughout the day. 

Still, the two most weather-dependent sports of the spring were dealt a stark reminder that they won’t get outside until Mother Nature says so. 

“It’s a spring sport. Just when you think you’re going to be outside, it dumps 10 inches on you,” Hodag boys’ tennis coach Matt Nichols said. 

Luckily for both squads, the Hodag Dome serves as a nice fallback option. The tennis squad has four courts on which it can practice, and the golf team used to two indoor simulators and part of the turf to conduct their practice on Monday — a trend that will continue until the latest, and hopefully final, round of measurable snow melts.

“The dome is definitely a great thing,” RHS golf coach Adam Schmidt said. “It’s nice to have a fallback. It’s nice to have a place to practice. It’s just an all-around good thing to have. We’re definitely blessed here in Rhinelander.”

Tennis has luxury of time

Nichols and the Hodag tennis team went with the flow despite the weather setback. In part that’s because the squad has more time to prepare for competition than years past. 

According to WIAA regulations, the Hodags could begin competition as early as today. However, the team is taking more than an extra week, with its first match not scheduled until Tuesday, April 9 against Ashland. 

That has afforded the team more than two full weeks to prepare for a busy stretch that will include 16 match days over a six-week regular season. 

“It’s so crazy to think about how much time we have,” Nichols said. “We can take our time through stroke development and we can really work on strategy, which I feel like is something that’s kind of left out until after we start for the most part. With so much time, we’re able to develop strokes and develop strategies, which I think will help us in the long run.”

Nichols said that has been the primary focus of practice this week and that the team will jump into challenge matches next week as it tries to sort out its starting lineup prior to the April 9 opener. Numbers are strong once again, with more than 20 players in attendance during the opening week. Nichols said that was a continuation of a solid offseason for the squad. 

“The boys have been working hard,” he said. “A lot were in other sports, so they’re busy with that, still conditioning and athletic movements. A lot were playing in the dome league over the winter, open hits. Then, after winter sports ended, there was a big group here just about on a daily or every other day basis. They’re excited. I’m excited. It will be a good one.”

Golfers hitting the weights

    Coach Adam Schmidt addresses members of the Rhinelander High School golf team during the team’s first practice of the season at the Hodag Dome Monday, March 25. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Following Monday afternoon’s opening practice, the Hodag golfers found themselves in the weight room bright and early Tuesday morning. 

While there are certainly some performance benefits to be had — as more speed and power yields more distance — Schmidt said the move was part of a concerted effort from the activities department to make sure all sports have some sort of workout regiment in the weight room.

“We’re trying to get all student-athletes in the weight room,” he said. “Nothing’s better than getting them fit. We want to try to limit injuries and keep them stretched out. The program that we built this year, Ms. (Tara) Gremban built, really the first couple of weeks are more stretching so they’re in good shape and hopefully we can keep them fit and injury free.”

Meanwhile, back in the dome, the Hodags began to knock off some of the rust from the winter. As long as the team remains inside, Schmidt said it will continue to work on full swings and short game.

“We’re just kind of seeing what kids can do,” he said. “We’ve got once of the simulators set up for just the range where they can hit ball. We’ve got another (station) set up with foam balls for chipping and then every day we’ll pick a different yardage and try to figure out what kids’ 150-yard, 100, 125-yard clubs are on the simulator, just based on carry.” 

Schmidt said the team saw its roster increase by more than 50% this year — with 14 players compared to nine a season ago. That will allow the team to field a full junior varsity this season.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].