Get to Know Your Pro

Greg Smith, the Head Tennis Professional at the Lakewood Racquet and Sport Club, has been teaching tennis since 1970.  Before joining Lakewood, Greg worked for Vic Braden in California where he was the senior staff member at the Vic Braden Tennis College.  Before instructing at the Tennis College, Greg taught tennis for California State University at Fullerton, Santa Ana College, and directed the junior program at the Santa Ana Racquet Club in California.

Greg played his college tennis at CSU Fullerton where he received his B.S. in Physical Education and M.S. in Biomechanics of Sport.  While working on his Masters Thesis, Greg did extensive research involving the analysis of human motion within the game of tennis.  Arthur Ashe, Tim Gullikson, Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert and Rod Laver are a few of the top professionals that Greg studied analytically using high speed cinematography and computer analysis.

In 1982 Greg was certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA), and awarded the highest level of Pro 1.

Since coming to the Lakewood Racquet & Sport Club in 1981, Greg has been very active working for the PNW Tennis Association. Greg introduced the first novice tournaments in the Pacific Northwest in 1984, which have since grown into the Pat Galbraith and Jonathon Stark Rookie Nike Tour. Greg is the founder of the Greater Tacoma Community Tennis Association that has been involved in the development of local junior tennis players. Also, as a trained USTA school assembly clinician, Greg has brought tennis to over 60 schools in the greater Tacoma area. For his efforts, Greg has received two USTA awards for his community service.

In 1984 Greg was selected as Tennis Pro of the Year by the PNW Tennis Association and again in 1988 was honored with the same title by the USPTA-PNW division. Greg continues to enjoy playing competitive tennis and in 1994 was ranked #1 in the PNW in Men's 40 Doubles. In 1995 Greg was a member of the Men's 5.0 USTA League Team from LRC that advanced from the PNW to the National 5.0 USTA League Tournament. In 1996 Greg was ranked no.1 in the Pacific Northwest in Men's 45 doubles and in 1998 he won the PNW Grand Prix Men's 45 Championships. Greg as a member of the 2003 4.5 Men's 50 team won the section and placed 4th in the national championships. In 2005 the team returned to the Championships and became the National Champions.

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