Best David Ernsberger Podcasts (2025)

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THPod 2.12: The heat is on! Will tennis captains keep their cool? 51:46

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4d ago51:46

51:46

Send us a text A major heatwave is grabbing the southern UK during peak tennis season for the first time in two years, so new rules created back in 2023 will be put to the test this weekend. In this episode we discuss the moral quandary around postponing a match in 29 degree weather (feels like 31!), and whether or not there will be any funny busin…

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THPod 2.11: East Hants tennis & Survival Saturday Redux 38:02

12d ago38:02

38:02

Send us a text We take a step eastwards in Episode 2.11, exploring how the East Hants league works for clubs that lie out towards the border with West Sussex. The East Hants chat starts on the 20 minute mark. We find a smaller but more perfectly structured set of events out there, but no website to help us make sense of it all. Does East Hants have…

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THPod 2.10: Quick Hit - Thornden go top as Apsley heats up 19:19

20d ago19:19

19:19

Send us a text We dropped an epic episode last week (thanks for all the feedback!), so it’s just a Quick Hit with Dave this week. It took nine weeks, but Thornden are back at the top of the Premier Division. Will anyone knock them off their usual perch from here on out? Wellow also made big gains in the league, but we're keen to see if they can bui…

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THPod 2.09: Peak Apsley results and cheating headaches 1:29:02

25d ago1:29:02

1:29:02

Send us a text Dave's on the road and no one's heard from Tom since he went to that stag do in Poland a week ago. But never fear, Edwin Lau is back! And just as well, since we have a bumper round of Apsley fixtures to talk about. Bassett's winning streak came to an end at the top of the Premier Division, Division Two bought us a real slugfest, and …

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THPod 2.08: Peak Apsley, and Riverside’s Super Day 42:27

1M ago42:27

42:27

Send us a text There are only three Saturdays in the summer when 28 teams go out and do battle over 14 fixtures, and this weekend is one of those Peak Apsley moments. Bassett face a proper test in the Premier Division against Riverside, who have their own Super Day to worry about at the same time. Division One will be fully in action, with just one…

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THPod 2.07: The Battle for Ladies Doubles 45:22

1M ago45:22

45:22

Send us a text This week we take a closer look at Ladies Doubles in Hampshire, and see who's battling it out for top spots across the county's five divisions. That discussion starts at 27 minutes in. The contest to find the best women across the county also has a big impact on the Apsley League, and we take a look back at Week Five's results, plus …

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THPod 2.06: The Tennis Hampshire Awards, weekend fixtures 54:30

2M ago54:30

54:30

Send us a text Paranoia strikes this week, as Dave spots something suspicious in the Hampshire Tennis Awards, and Tom dissects A versus B team selection theory. Are shenanigans afoot, or are we just seeing ghosts in the shadows? It’s all just tennis, right? Meanwhile, we've got one of the county's blockbuster weekends ahead. 26 teams will be on cou…

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THPod 2.05: Men's doubles, and Winchester's padel pickle 35:43

2M ago35:43

35:43

Send us a text After a busy start, the Apsley League is in a bit of a lull. So after covering Twyford's Super Day and looking ahead to this weekend's four fixtures, we take a look at Men's Doubles. There are nine divisions, 48 teams and more than 200 players in the men's doubles competition. But the real question is... can Tom do well enough with D…

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THPod 2.04: How to survive and thrive on Super Day 27:41

2M ago27:41

27:41

Send us a text Six ambitious clubs field three or more teams in the Summer Apsley League. At least once a season the league organizers oblige each of those clubs to field al of their teams at once -- a phenomenon we call Super Day. This week we look ahead to Twyford's Super Day, which hits on May 17, and look back on Swanmore's Super Day last weeke…

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THPod 2.03: What are Apsley's early results telling us? 32:53

2M ago32:53

32:53

Send us a text We've got one week in the bank for the season, and we've learned a lot about how things are shaping up in the Apsley league - Hampshire's best tennis tournament. Tom and Dave dissect the action from up and down the divisions, and take stock of what it all means for the May 10-11 weekend, where 28 teams go into battle. The sun is shin…

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THPod 2.02: Courtside with DL West End's Mark Jackson 47:32

3M ago47:32

47:32

Send us a text This week we interview Mark Jackson, racquets manager at David Lloyd Southampton West End. Mark picked up tennis at a young age up in Lincolnshire, but it wasn’t necessarily the sport he’d had in mind as a starry eyed kid. His path to managing racquets at one of the biggest clubs in Hampshire came via a year looking at a possible lif…

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THPod 2.01: The Solent Cup, Hampshire singles and the big Apsley curtain-raiser 52:43

3M ago52:43

52:43

Send us a text We’re back! Commissioned for a second season, we start with a little look-back at Season One before jumping right into the Solent Cup. Will Portsmouth recover from its 8-0 mauling by Southampton’s finest? And if the league organisers want more attendance for this big county event, why id there no advertising? Maybe we can help with t…

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THPod 1.22: Champions emerge in Winter Leagues ahead of a big weekend 26:25

4M ago26:25

26:25

Send us a text Champions have been crowned in 11 of the 18 Winter Divisions in the Southampton LTA. We weren't among them this time, but we're happy enough with how our winter went, how about you? It's a big weekend for the remaining seven divisions. By next week we should know how the rest of the divisions squared away, which leaves us with a few …

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THPod 1.21: Winter Men, club finder quiz and padel hits a wall 47:34

5M ago47:34

47:34

Send us a text All Brits love a quiz, so we put Tom’s local knowledge to the test with our Hampshire Club Explorer Quiz, His response is… pavlovian! In other testosterone-driven news, it’s time to check in with the Men’s Winter leagues, where Dave is pleased and relieved to report that he is back in the top half of the individual performance table.…

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THPod 1.20: Summer fixtures are out, and all to play for in Winter Ladies 45:00

5M ago45:00

45:00

Send us a text The Apsley fixtures are out, which means it's time to start marking your calendars for another great summer of tennis ahead in Hampshire. We check in with the Winter Ladies Doubles leagues, and Tom finds a thrilling conclusion underway in the top division. Just about any club can win it... except for the one club that is currently at…

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THPod 1.19: Winchester "gunshots" put padel on trial, and a mixed doubles update 42:58

5M ago42:58

42:58

Send us a text Winchester Raquets didn't love our debate last time around about their patchy league efforts in Episode 18, but that was nothing compared to the national media debate this week that would come to surround the future of padel at the "posh tennis club" in Bereweeke (blame the Daily Mail for that one, lol). Cue lots of pictures of disgr…

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THPod 1.18: JEM-Swanmore deal shakes up the top, and Winter Men check-in 55:30

6M ago55:30

55:30

Send us a text Moves at Winchester kicked off a busy January transfer window in Hampshire's tennis coaching market. We explore whether a blockbuster move between JEM and Swanmore could shake up the league come the summer. It's also time to check in on the Winter Men to see how they're getting along. The fixtures have passed the half-way mark. Did A…

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THPod 1.17: Bad maths, tennis resolutions and the Ladies Winter League update 34:32

6M ago34:32

34:32

Send us a text After a break so Tom could hunt for club glory and we could both spend some time with the family, we're back! Did you miss us? Our bad maths and tennis resolutions will soon put that to rest, after which we take a deeper look at the very competitive Ladies Winter Doubles Leagues. Welcome to the Tennis Hampshire Podcast as we start th…

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THPod 1.16: Who’s got a ticket to Ryde? And more tennis AGM highlights 1:08:39

7M ago1:08:39

1:08:39

Send us a text It’s the most wonderful time of the year… Tennis AGM season! Tom and Dave bring you the latest from the Southampton LTA and Apsley AGM meetings. The top brass was voted in once again for another year, but with the committees filling up at last there are signs of new life in the corridors of power. One of the podcast just became one o…

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THPod 1.15: Courtside with Tennis HQ's George Thomas 45:04

8M ago45:04

45:04

Send us a text We're joined this week for a Courtside Chat with George Thomas from Romsey-based Tennis HQ (www.tennishq.co.uk). Did you know you don't have to trek all the way to Farnham to get your hands on higher-end tennis gear so you can try before you buy? Neither did I. George takes us through the kinds of issues to consider before you spring…

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THPod 1.14: Mixed with Gemma Hargrave from David Lloyd West End, plus youth and women in tennis 1:00:26

8M ago1:00:26

1:00:26

Send us a text Gemma Hargrave joins the show this week from David Lloyd West End. We take a little walk through hot topics like club-hopping before getting into the heart of what it means to captain teams at a mega-club like David Lloyd. Can you bring the small club feels to big club environments? We find out more. Gemma shares her vision for getti…

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THPod 1.13: MEN! GUITARS! TRASH TALK! The fastest-growing league in Hampshire gets underway 34:19

9M ago34:19

34:19

Send us a text Tom and Dave man up in this episode and get stuck into seven divisions of Winter Men's Doubles Tennis, the fastest-growing tennis format in the county. One in five fixtures have been played already, so we have a sense for how things are going. But not everyone will have the stamina to hold onto top spots until the end of the season. …

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THPod 1.12: Winning ugly, and visualising tennis data 51:21

9M ago51:21

51:21

Send us a text We took a few weeks off to get the summer done once and for all, and spiff up the website. Check out the new inforgraphics on THPod.UK! It's just the start of how we think about visualising tennis data in ever more compelling ways. And please send us your feedback, it helps make the content better and all your ideas have been excelle…

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THPod 1.11: As summer ends, what going up means to Twyford, and other summers to remember 38:02

10M ago38:02

38:02

Send us a text September 22 is the final day of summer, according to the astronomical calendar and, indeed, the Apsley fixture list! Dave reckons Tom has had a Brat Summer without realising it, but Tom won't be drawn into that one. Very wise. We talk about who had Apsley seasons to remember, and what going up to the Premier would mean for giant-kil…

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THPod 1.10: Champions are being crowned... and Winter is Coming! 58:42

10M ago58:42

58:42

Send us a text Champions are being crowned in the County Cups and in everyone's favourite club competition, the Apsley League. We look at who the big winners are as the summer leagues start to wind down. Meanwhile Tom and I rolled up for separate clubs (awkward?) at the Winter League Meeting in Southampton and had very different experiences. As the…

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THPod 1.09: Players go deep in the County Cup as Apsley nears its end-game 28:11

11M ago28:11

28:11

Send us a text The County Cup burst into life over the last Bank Holiday weekend, and some players have gone deep in the competition just when their clubs might need them for the end-game in Apsley. What will the players choose... cup glory or take one for the team? We know what Tom would do! We take a little look at who the favourites are for this…

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THPod 1.08: A fixture fail sends us for a loop, and is it time for Dave to start a Senior team? 43:25

11M ago43:25

43:25

Send us a text This week we look forward to a weekend with five fixtures, but one of them is already done -- sending us into a bit of a statistical melt down in the forward look. Dave is wondering if it's time to start a Senior team, bit will it be chill or a date with a future of fiery fixtures? Also... can we get those midweek fixtures in? We lea…

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THPod 1.07: The sharks are circling! Late summer brings in some brutal results 25:18

11M ago25:18

25:18

Send us a text Another week of Hampshire tennis is in the books, and divisional leaders up and down the Apsley League are peering nervously into the depths to see what could be coming for them. Thornden dish out a merciless win in the Premier to move up the table, while South Hants A are quietly circling the top three in Division Two with intent af…

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THPod 1.06: Apsley update and special guest Edwin Lau 56:16

11M ago56:16

56:16

Send us a text This week we welcome Edwin Lau, who recently landed in Hampshire after a glittering career in Berkshire tennis. We talk county comparables, whether or not there's anything quite like Apsley across the border, and what the future may hold for one of the young guns in the county game. Is it harder to get a driving license or a level th…

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THPod 1.05: Results coming in hot 23:32

12M ago23:32

23:32

Send us a text With Hampshire's favourite inter-club event heating up AND now going weekly in its schedule, we drop you a quick update on how last weekend went, what it meant for the tables, and who's next on deck over the August 3-4 weekend.By David Ernsberger, Tom Mitchell

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THPod 1.04: Hampshire & IOW’s Doubles Leagues, and the crystal ball 59:19

12M ago59:19

59:19

Send us a text One of us makes it back from the beach just in time to release this edition ahead of July 27's Apsley matches. Not that we need to see any more action, because Tom has built a crystal ball that tells us all how the divisions will end anyways! Deep stats ahead! Meanwhile it's Dave's turn to research a Hampshire tennis event, and we di…

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THPod 1.03: Tom's going National 47:45

1y ago47:45

47:45

Send us a text Tom's started his own National League team, which prompts the question... what's this National League, then? And how did Tom get into it? Hold on tight as Tom explains how the upper reaches of club tennis work in the UK, and how Hampshire's clubs are faring up there. Back on terra firma, the heat is on for the Apsley League's Premier…

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THPod 1.02: Stormy weather leaves us wondering about the rules 32:50

1y ago32:50

32:50

Send us a text A Doom Cloud hung over Hampshire's festival of tennis on June 15, but somehow the county's hardy players shivered through ten and a half fixtures of English summertime yellow ball. In our special topic, we find ourselves wondering about the rules for rain. Do Captains really know the rules? And should we send some proposed amendments…

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THPod 1.01: The best team in Hampshire... is from Wiltshire? 29:33

1y ago29:33

29:33

Send us a text With a third of the season played, Tom and Dave discuss the state of the Apsley League, Hampshire's biggest inter-club competition. Two big weekends lie ahead that will do a lot to settle scores across all five divisions, and we look at who plays who on June 15, the second busiest day of the summer for club tennis. We also talk about…