Meet the Pros
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Chris Baar
is a USPTA certified teaching pro with a
Professional 1 rating. Chris played at the
college level from 1972 - 1974. Afterwards he
played on the pro circuit from 1974 - 1975.
Shortly after that Chris started teaching tennis
in 1977 as an Associate Head Pro at the Jack
Kramer Tennis Club. From 1979 until 1994 Chris
was the Head Pro and Tennis Director at the
South End Racquet & Sports Club in Torrance.
From 1990 until 1992 Chris was one of the
coaches for the South Bay USTA Area Training
Center. In 1994 he became the Tennis Director at
the John Wayne Tennis Club until 1996, when he
went on to become the Head Pro at Palisades
Tennis Club. Since 1998, he has been the Head
Pro at Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club.
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Chris Hastings
was born September 19, 1967, in Newport Beach, CA. His
English-born father, Jim Hastings started
teaching Chris to play tennis when he was 7
years old. He learned many of the game's
techniques and developed his own skills by
watching the tennis pros teach and avidly
watching the televised professional matches. His
formal lessons came at the age of 12, when he
was enrolled in the Chuck Boyle tennis academy
at Los Cab in Fountain Valley. Chris played at
Estancia High School and went on to play at
Orange Coast College from 1987 - 1989. In 1998
he started coaching the girls' high school team
at Estancia High School.
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Chris Hirtler
started playing tennis at the age of 18. After 7
years and countless Group and Private lessons,
he became an Open player. In 1984 he began
teaching at Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports
Club. He earned his certification from the USTA
in 1987 and continued to support the USPTA.
Chris met his wife, Janet, on court 18 in 1996.
They married in December 1996. They have one
daughter, Krista, born March 1998. Krista is 8
years old and becoming quite a nice tennis
player. Over the past 22 years at Los Cab Chris
has taught many people to play tennis. He
teaches to all levels, from the 2 or 3 years old
beginner, to ranked and Open players.
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Mark Hirtler
is a Pro-level 1, United States Professional
Tennis Association (USPTA) Tennis Teacher. He
grew up playing competitive tennis in Orange
County, California and has been teaching tennis
professionally for the past 25 years. His gifts
of communication allow him to work with students
of all ages and abilities and to help each and
every one achieve their very best. Mark served
as the Director of Tennis and Head Pro for the
Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club from 1984
to 1998 and during that same time operated the
Los Caballeros Junior Tennis Academy.
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Wojtek
Pietrowski
is a USPTA certified teaching pro with a
Professional 1 rating. He has over 30 years of
experience in teaching tennis to players of all
ages and abilities. Since 1985, he has been
working at Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club.
Prior to working at Los Caballeros, Wojtek
coached in Poland and Austria in their Junior
development program. Since 1990 he has been an
integral part of the USTA Competition Training
Center junior developmental program in Orange
County. In 1995 - 1996 the Orange County
Competition Center was named as the "Competition
Training Center of the Year" by the SCTA. Wojtek
is also USTA certified as Level 1 in Sports
Science Competency.
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Phil Dent
Runner up to Jimmy Connors Australian Open 1974 |
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Jackie Heston comes from teaching at South End Tennis Club in Torrance for 15 years. She is a 2-time Senior National Champion on grass and hardcourts, a former California U.S.P.T.A. Player of the Year and the 5.5 division winner of Top Gun Local Tennis Tournament. |







