While San Luis Obispo high school students are busy hanging out at the beach during summer, junior Zach Hilty is practicing tennis six days a week. He is a leading player on the San Luis Obispo Boys’ varsity tennis team and has lead his team to many wins with his great attitude on the courts. Expressions had the opportunity to interview Hilty about playing tennis over summer and how he trains to stay fit for the SLOHS tennis season.

Expressions: How often do you practice tennis during the summer?

Junior Zach Hilty: About six days a week. My practices usually last to an hour and a half to three hours.

Expressions: Do you participate in tournaments during the summer?

Hilty: Yeah, usually I play about two or three tournaments a month. They are usually located in the southern part of California.

Expressions: How does playing in the summer improve your SLOHS tennis game?

Hilty: It definitely helps a lot, the more I practice the better I get at tennis.

Expressions: What is your favorite Gatorade to drink in the summer while playing tennis?

Hilty: I like the blue flavor! I normally dilute it with water, water and Gatorade is the perfect mixture.

Expressions: In the summer do you do any other forms of exercise to help you train for tennis?

Hilty: Yeah, I do some agility workouts and I go on a lot of runs.

Expressions: Are you excited for the upcoming tennis season?

Hilty: Yes! It will be nice to have a solid base of players that I already know, we will not be losing a lot of seniors like we did last season.