There's a new craze at the Manker Patten Tennis Club.
It's called "LiveBall" - a virtually nonstop way of practicing doubles with a competition aspect - and it has become highly popular since being introduced at the venerable club overlooking the Tennessee River.
"It's exploding," said Ned Caswell, the club's general manager and director of tennis. "People want exercise, and this is exhausting. And they love it."
With lively music in the background and a pro feeding shots to begin each point - serves are eliminated as part of the speed-up process - six players are on a court at a given time. Two are paired on the "champion" side while the other two duos alternate on the "challenger" side. If challengers score four points before the champions score two, they flip-flop sides, and they have only three seconds to do it.
Manker Patten head professional Kevin Donovan introduced LiveBall at the club a few months ago. He's in charge of programming for the club, so he's always on the lookout for ways to enhance the experience for members and potential members. LiveBall can work as practice for traditional tennis or as a gateway to get started or back in the sport, or it can stand on its own as a separate version of the game.
"One of our members saw a little article about it in The Wall Street Journal, so I checked into it," Donovan said. "It started in a club in California, so I got online and learned about it. There are certain rules to it, and we tweaked it for our members.
"There's lots of movement. It's nonstop action, and you're out there with your friends and getting great exercise. You're working both your upper body and your lower body, and it's mentally as well as physically challenging. There's a ton of strategy involved. It's the ultimate game."
The pro at each court has a whole basket of balls to use, so there is no down time while players retrieve the three balls used at a time in traditional tennis competition. And the pros adapt their feeds to the individuals' skills and mobility, so different levels of players can take part at the same time. The pros also can give individual feedback at the end of each session.
"It's so much fun!" one player after another proclaimed after a LiveBall session Thursday morning.
"I've been doing it since (Donovan) started it, a couple of times a week," Caroline Bentley said. "The biggest thing is how much exercise you get. It's constant cardio, and it's super fun."
Said Kelli Donnelly: "For me it's a wonderful way to get exercise. And it's a great way to get back in the game and to meet people."
Donovan is known for his enthusiasm, so his personality goes well with the LiveBall concept. And it's contagious, apparently. He said that when he sends out a text blast on Friday evenings for interest in the next Thursday's session, to Manker Patten members first and then to others, "it fills up in about 30 minutes" with a waiting list.
"We started with one court and six hitters, and then we went to two courts and now we use three," he said, revealing that the club will be launching a "huge" fitness initiative with more LiveBall classes after Labor Day.
With a Los Angeles dateline in December 2013, Tom A. McFerson wrote on www.tennis.com that LiveBall has "been described as tennis crossed with aerobics, but really it's much more than that the tennis equivalent to a video game. (It) provides fitness, fun, action, camaraderie."
Typically there are three-minute breaks at 27-minute intervals in the 90-minute sessions, or five-minute warmups before 55 consecutive minutes of LiveBall in the hourlong sessions, Donovan said. LiveBall also has been incorporated in some of the club's established lesson programs.
"Some things I've found about it," said Jon Thorstenson, one of Manker Patten's top players, "are first, the cardio aspect - it's nonstop. And you get to hit a lot of balls that are not fed perfectly to you. It's a complete variation, more like real tennis than hitting with a pro, and more of the essence of real competition. And it helps you with transitioning between shots."
Anyone interested in taking part in Manker Patten's LiveBall sessions or other classes or in joining the club can visit mankerpatten.org/#/ or call 423-266-6767. Nonmembers pay a guest fee.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.