By rights, Donny Flowers should not be a tennis teaching pro.
He didn’t play tennis in high school or college, and didn’t play much at all until he was 25 years old. His first NTRP rating was 3.5, roughly the equivalent of a 20 handicap in golf or a 6-minute mile. He’s 5’8″ tall and weighs 150 pounds and the only way his serve will top 120 miles an hour is if he counts both of them. At 46 and married with two kids, he still looks about 17. Half the hackers in Memphis can remember beating him 20 years ago.
So what’s he doing as the U.S.P.T.A. pro — that means certified — at Memphis Country Club and now Tunica National Golf and Tennis? The answer has to do with ping pong, hard work, hard knocks, getting better as you get older, and helium balloons. And being nice, don’t ever forget nice.
