Kyle Butters Live from Amsterdam!

First of all thank you very much to Marcel and Tennis New Zealand for organizing this Tour and giving me this opportunity. The NZ under 16’s Junior Davis Cup team including myself - Kyle Butters and Paige Hourigan are in Holland, Amsterdam experiencing what it’s like to play on clay. 

I was very nervous and fell over lots but now it’s very exciting sliding and gliding for the ball. We are working mainly with 3 very experienced coaches, Sven Groeneveld, Michiel schapers and Martijn Bok. The three men are very highly regarded for their coaching skills and playing abilities with Sven being the Adidas global coach. So far they have all taught me a lot about the clay and how to move to the best of my abilities which has been awesome.Working hard to brush up on my teqnique. 

There were a few more pro's around as well this week, Zvonereva, Kleybanova and Laura Robson. Paige got a good shot with Vera while I am waiting for some guys. great to see them practice.

We are training for about 5 hours a day which includes tennis, fitness and a personalised program.Next week we are going to do yoga. By the end of the week my body is dead, I look forward to Sundays as that is our day off. The training we do here really improves our footwork, balance and fitness whilst working hard on technique. 


The ball bounces higher and once it hits the clay court it really checks and sits up. The rallies are long and often we play 20 shots before winning or losing the point! I played one set against a Holland boy that lasted nearly two hours! The restringer here loves me as I am breaking around 4 strings per day. The clay destroys the racket strings. We are on a first name basis! I have changed rackets now with a smaller pattern which helps on the restringing.
Last Sunday we went out to the city to experience what it’s like in Amsterdam. In my eyes it’s beautiful. We walked around and saw some very famous buildings which was good. At the moment we live in a 4 storey apartment in the city which faces a very beautiful canal. A lot of people ride bikes here.

I will be in Amsterdam for about another 7 weeks which is awesome. I am sure I will improve my tennis a lot here. I am the first New Zealand /Maori they have met and they asked me if all the Maori boys were my size in New Zealand. I told them only in Wanganui. 


Yours sincerely
Kyle Butters