Our Story

Clark Hancock and some of his students

The story of how it all started

Clark Hancock, the founder and owner of Vintage tennis, was in his hometown of Spanish Fork, Utah, working on his game when he was approached by the city Recreation Director. The director had received a call from two ladies who wanted to start taking tennis lessons. The problem was that the city did not offer tennis lessons at that point. He asked Clark if he would like to teach them, and so Clark began to teach for the city. His programs began to grow very quickly, and so in 1986 Clark decided to go full-time in tennis. He continued to learn as much as he could to become the best coach he could.

Creating Vintage Tennis

In Clark Hancock’s own words,
“I wanted to create a style that included some of the older, classic techniques, combined with the current ever-changing ones, which lead me to create Vintage tennis in 1986. I did not know at the time, but tennis began to evolve very fast and I was able to be a part of that evolution. As I have continued my career in tennis and helped many kids achieve their dreams, I had to take this modern evolution of tennis into consideration. I decided to adjust my teaching style as the game changes but I take each and every change into careful consideration. Using my 40+ years of experience and knowledge, I make a change in my teaching style only when I can be absolutely sure that this change will continue to benefit me and my students long run, and necessary in keeping up with the current game. I take pride in my students’ performance, and it is of the utmost importance to me that my students have the best stroke technique possible to give them a chance to win. “

How Vintage Tennis is Different and Better

Vintage tennis is focused on the growth of the student and in providing wholistic, quality lessons to perfect the student’s stroke, and drastically improve their performance. While on his journey to do so, Clark came up with an innovative idea to offer his students what he calls, “High-Performance Training.” He decided to make the most out of group lessons by creating a
more advanced system that produces results much quicker due it being cooperation based and more difficult than your standard lesson of feeding the ball to students and having each student taking turns hitting. Creating a system where the students work cooperate and compete against each other, Clark has seen that it produces results much faster.

In Clark Hancock’s own words,
“I continue to learn the game. The biggest differences in the way I teach are that I now know a lot more about how to produce good strokes and I pay strict attention to that. I also include other necessary components such as conditioning and footwork, mental toughness and strategy. It takes a long time for a player to master these things and I am willing to go through the progressions for as long as it takes. I am very steady in my work and try to be prepared for each player in every lesson. I think the biggest difference is my experience for so many years and my commitment to my teaching and coaching. Another difference is that I incorporate some unique systems, including High Performance programs that are not being taught in Southern Utah.“

Another innovative system that Clark has created is what he calls High-Performance Practice. The purpose of this is to create an opportunity for student’s to hit their coaches and other high level tennis players. High-Performance Practice is for those that are looking to train and practice with a skilled tennis player, while receiving tips and learning how to better practice on their own.