The Rhabit Story

Dawson jeff
Jeff Dawson
Dawson connor
Connor Dawson
Dawson kyle
Kyle Dawson

It’s Personal, It’s Passionate, A Decade in Development!

We are three brothers—Jeff, Connor, and Kyle... crazy enough to think we can help change the world through our love of the game of tennis. For us, tennis started at an early age, and now, decades later, we are still enthusiastic fans, students, coaches and players. Learning the game, honing our skills through repeated practice, and then competing as players in college and on tour has sculpted who we are as people. The game of tennis has provided us an incredible education—both on and off the court.

It all started in the fall of 2008... little did we know our journey with Rhabit had begun, disguised as a community service initiative. While we all went to Yale and played tennis, we, with our coaches and teammates, co-founded the New Haven Tennis Organization (NHTO). NHTO’s TEaM (Tennis, Education, and Mentoring) program currently serves as the signature program of New HYTEs and helps students from underprivileged and underserved areas in New Haven through after school tennis instruction, tutoring and mentorship. We learned first-hand that lessons learned through tennis were important in the development of character and achieving personal potential. We discovered that we could help others improve their lives through learning the game of tennis. (For more information on New HYTEs, visit www.newhytes.org.)

Fast forward to July 25, 2014... the concept of developing an online tennis instruction center started to incubate and Jeff began “product” development work. Jeff became intrigued by an Aristotle quote, as interpreted by the historian Will Durant, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Repetitive actions, becoming habits, leading to excellence...and Rhabit—repetitive habits— was born.

Through Rhabit, our goal is to share the best in tennis instruction with the greatest number of players—young or old, beginners or advanced—in an affordable and easily accessible way. Rhabit’s instructional videos teach proven skill and strategy development techniques in a unique vlog like style—delivering a fun learning experience

From 2015-2017, “capture and produce” was our mantra. The Rhabitat, our RV, was our home as we criss-crossed the country, traveling over 40,000 miles to capture, produce, and ultimately share the teachings and philosophies from some of the world’s most respected tennis professionals and coaches. Today, with over 10,000 hours of film and over 1,000 videos, we present to you...RHABIT. In pursuit of excellence, we are constantly improving, so let us know what you think!


 

Thank you

We extend a heartfelt and special thank you to the pros and coaches who are the faces, the backbone and wisdom of Rhabit and also to our friends, family, and countless supporters throughout this journey. Thank you all!