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Ken DeHart Inducted to PTR Hall of Fame

February 18, 2019

Hilton Head Island, SC – Ken DeHart, of San Jose, Calif., was inducted to the PTR Hall of Fame during the Awards Banquet last week at the PTR International Tennis Symposium. A Charter Member, DeHart was certified by Dennis Van der Meer in 1974, making him the third coach in that class to be inducted to the PTR Hall of Fame. (Van der Meer and Dr. Louie Cap are the other two.) DeHart is also one of the original eight PTR International Master Professionals and was the first full time Executive Director of PTR.

Interestingly, DeHart never played or even seen anyone play tennis before going to Campbellsville College. He quickly adapted his basketball and baseball skills to the game and would later on win the NAIA #3 Doubles Championship and become Co-MVP of the team in his senior year. He went on to Western Kentucky University to earn a Masters.

Currently DeHart serves on the PTR Board of Directors. Serve is the operative word, as Ken serves the tennis community in a myriad of ways, including his deep commitment to education and sharing his knowledge with others.

A PTR Clinician for more than 40 years, DeHart is a USA High Performance Coach and has been a string tester for the USRSA – United States Racquet Stringers Association – for 25 years. He serves as the PTR representative for Northern California and was among the first mentors in PTR’s Mentoring Program. is also one of the original members of the Cardio Tennis Team.

DeHart has been a presenter at many coach education events, including the PTR Italy Symposium, PTR Wimbledon Conferences, and the PTR International Tennis Symposium. He has spoken at the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference, and four times at the Australian Open Coaches Conference.

He has had countless articles published in Addvantage, Tennis View, Inside Tennis and TennisPro magazines. He co-wrote the International Book of Drills with Dennis Van der Meer, and he produced eight DVDs to educate other coaches on topics such as drills, mental toughness, strategy and tactics.

A Wilson Racquet Play Tester, DeHart has been on the company’s Premier Advisory Staff for 30 years. He is on the Advisory Boards of Tennisdrills.tv, Grips Program and Oncourt Offcourt. He is the President of Competitive Edge Training.

Currently, DeHart is the Director of Tennis at Silver Creek Valley Country Club. In his 21 years in San Jose, DeHart has directed two clubs to Club of the Year honors, including Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club to PTR Facility of the Year, and Mission Hills to NorCal Club of the Year.

This busy man still takes time to play, medaling at both Nike World Senior Games and Huntsman World Senior Games. He captured Gold four times in the Bay Area Senior Games.

No stranger to accolades, DeHart is the only member to be named PTR Professional of the Year twice! He was GPTA (Georgia Professional Tennis Association) Small Facility Pro of the Year, and Tennis Industry Magazine’s Champions of Tennis PTR Member of the Year. USPTA has named him Divisional Pro of the Year four times and was the organization’s Career Development Award winner three times.