Carl Frankel first picked up a tennis racket in 1957 at the age of seven. He had a successful junior career with a #1 ranking in his age group in the Middle Atlantic division. In his 20s, he taught tennis in New York City and Westchester County, and then in Austria and Germany. When he returned to the United States, tennis became a recreational activity for him.
At the age of fifty, arthritis in both knees put an end to playing. Carl had both knees replaced thirteen years later, in 2013. In 2015, he picked up a racket for the first time in fifteen years and fell in love again. In 2017, a highly-regarded coach of supersenior tennis players saw a video of him playing and said he could be a top-ten player nationally in the 70-and-over category. This got Carl thinking, and at the age of 71 in 2021, he played the national 70s circuit and achieved a #2 national ranking.
Since returning to tennis, Carl has become obsessed with both the technical aspects of tennis and the ‘inner game.’ His ongoing fascination has produced two full-length books — Tennis as a Wisdom Practice, and Tennis Meditations — and it also inspired him to start teaching tennis again. He relaunched his teaching career at Total Tennis, an adult getaway tennis camp in Saugerties, NY, and he’s now bringing his unique approach and expertise to the local community.
Carl has won multiple county championships including, most recently, the Ulster County 45-and- over championship, which he won in 2021 at the age of 71.
Carl is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School.
