Saturday, April 4, 2009

Serena Williams

From being a timid suburban child in Saginaw, Michigan, Serena Jameka Williams became an outstanding tennis player that currently ranks as the world no.1 by the Women’s Tennis Association as of February 2, 2009. At 27, she holds the current titles of the US Open and Australian Open singles champion, has won 20 Grand Slam titles (10 singles, 8 women’s doubles, 2 mixed doubles) and is considered the most recent tennis player to have held all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. With all her successes as an athlete, Serena has won more career prize than any other woman athlete in any sport. In the 2005 issue of the Tennis magazine, Serena Williams was named as the 17th best athlete of the preceding years. Along with her female tennis player sibling, Venus Williams, there is more to see for this woman in action.

Serena Williams was born in September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan by parents Richard and Oracene Price Williams. She is the youngest of the five siblings; Lyndrea, Isha, Yetunde and Venus. When the family moved to Los Angeles, Richard has dreamed of making one of his daughters a tennis superstar. Serena, along with her other siblings, was personally coached by parents and began playing tennis at young age and trained at the public courts in Compton, California. She participated in numerous clinics, particularly those that are targeted for at-risk youth. At the age of four and a half, Serena already won her first tournament. By the,...

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tennis Equipment -Tennis racquets, tennis balls and more

Tennis has always provided us with great viewing pleasure. Ever since the beginning of open era, there have been many stalwarts of the game who have added a new dimension to it. Players like Laver, Bjorg, McEnroe, Lendl, Sampras, Federer and Nadal have charmed us. We have laughed and wept with them. We have shared their dreams and almost fainted when they have played those stunning shots from the death. A fluid backhand here, a stern forehand there, elegant players, muscular players, and much more have defined tennis. Overall, tennis has lured us into missing our most important works and we have never complained.

This has often kept the instruments of the game at the backdrop. Even they have been very important in letting the game prosper as it has. Imagine what the stars would do without tennis racquets or balls or even tennis bags. You would never imagine if not being told, that a tennis racket holds a world in itself there are so many points to ponder. Professional racquets come with a thin beam width. This offers greater range and flexibility to a player even as it adds to the quality of drop shots. These give greater control over shots. These racquets are also ergonomic in nature.

In terms of balance, a racquet can be head heavy or head light. It can also be evenly balanced. The racquet length is divided over 5 main specifications. They vary between 27 and 28 inches keeping a distance of .25 inches. Today, the sports is being strongly followed frown a young age. This is why there are many junior racquets as well. They come with,...

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Monday, December 8, 2008

How to hit a backhand tennis stroke tennis tips online strategy

My name is Todd Schuyler. I love to play the game of tennis. I played in high school and college in Southern California. I also taught tennis to several people. I enjoy teaching tennis. Today will be a online tennis lesson article.

I will discuss some tennis strategies related to the backhand tennis stroke. It is one of the most difficult strokes to tackle. Most of my students picked up the forehand first which is normal. This is what most tennis instructors start with.

Now for the backhand stroke. Should you use a single or two-handed backhand. I usually recommend a two-handed backhand for youngsters. Most of them are just not strong enough to hit the backhand stroke consistently one handed.

Pete Sampras had a two-handed backhand and coverted to a one handed backhand. It worked great for him. Now if you are older your playing style might dictate whether you should use a one or two-handed backhand stroke.

If primarily hit from the baseline and rarely come to the net a two-hander should be fine. If you serve and volley a lot a one hander is better in my opinion. It is much easier to attack the ,...

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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Tennis elbow - But I don’t even play tennis!

Tennis elbow, medically named lateral epicondylitis, is an inflammatory condition affecting the outside of the elbow.

The pain of tennis elbow is caused by inflammation of the tendon and periosteum (the outer layer of the bone) where the tendon from the back of the forearm joins the humerus (upper arm bone). The tendon connects the bone to the muscles that straighten the wrist. Any tension on that muscle - for example from a tennis backhand - will cause pain.

These activities would include writing, typing, lifting objects while the palm is turned down, or using a screwdriver. The pain usually has a gradual onset with no visible swelling. Stiffness or pain in the elbow is usually evident after prolonged periods of rest.

One of the tests for tennis elbow is to attempt to hold on to the top of a book with the palm turned downward. If this proves to be painful in the outside of the elbow, you likely have tennis elbow,...

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Tennis elbow - And you Never Touched a Tennis Racket!

Tennis elbow, medically named lateral epicondylitis, is an inflammatory condition affecting the outside of the elbow.

This elbow pain is due to tendonitis and periostitis (inflammation of the outer layer of the bone) where the tendon for the common wrist extensor muscles attaches to the humerus. This results in pain with any activity involving the contraction or moderate stretching of the wrist extensor muscles.

These activities would include writing, typing, lifting objects while the palm is turned down, or using a screwdriver. The pain usually has a gradual onset with no visible swelling. Stiffness or pain in the elbow is usually evident after prolonged periods of rest.

How do you know if you have tennis elbow? Try lifting a book with your palm facing down to the floor. If it causes pain on the outside of the elbow, you probably have tennis elbow.

Thus tennis elbow is not so much a problem with the elbow joint, as with overuse of the muscles that are connected to the elbow - those same muscles which extend or straighten the wrist - as in the tennis backhand.

Too much tension in the muscle group can also cause a decrease in the joint space in the elbow and actual inflammation of the joint. In time this can cause not just the typical pain from the epicondylitis, but also from the elbow joint itself.

Conventional treatment of this condition may involve the use of anti-inflammatory medication and muscle relaxants along with temporary lifestyle modification. Physiotherapy modalities that may be employed include laser therapy, TENS, interferential current, or ultrasound.

Chiropractic techniques that work well with this condition include soft-tissue therapies such as active release technique, Graston, or cross-fiber friction massage. Chiropractic adjusting of the lateral elbow, including the proximal radial-ulnar joint and the radial-humeral joint, appear to be quite beneficial,...

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Drive In Tennis

The forehand drive is the opening of every offensive in tennis, and, as such, should be most carefully studied. There are certain rules of footwork that apply to all shots. To reach a ball that is a short distance away, advance the foot that is away from the shot and thus swing into position to hit. If a ball is too close to the body, retreat the foot closest to the shot and drop the weight back on it, thus, again, being in position for the stroke. When hurried, and it is not possible to change the foot position, throw the weight on the foot closest to the ball.

The receiver should always await the service facing the net, but once the serve is started on the way to court, the receiver should at once attain the position to receive it with the body at right angles to the net.

The forehand drive is made up of one continuous swing of the racquet that, for the purpose of analysis, may be divided into three parts:

1. The portion of the swing behind the body, which determines the speed of the stroke.

2. That portion immediately in front of the body which determines the direction and, in conjunction with weight shift from one foot to the other, the pace of the shot.

3. The portion beyond the body, comparable to the golfer’s “follow through,” determines spin, top or slice, imparted to the ball.

All drives should be topped. The slice shot is a totally,...

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Sunday, June 1, 2008

General Tennis Psychology

Tennis psychology is nothing more than understanding the workings of your opponent's mind, and gauging the effect of your own game on his mental viewpoint, and understanding the mental effects resulting from the various external causes on your own mind. You cannot be a successful psychologist of others without first understanding your own mental processes, you must study the effect on yourself of the same happening under different circumstances. You react differently in different moods and under different conditions. You must realize the effect on your game of the resulting irritation, pleasure, confusion, or whatever form your reaction takes. Does it increase your efficiency? If so, strive for it, but never give it to your opponent.

Does it deprive you of concentration? If so, either remove the cause, or if that is not possible strive to ignore it.

Once you have judged accurately your own reaction to conditions, study your opponents, to decide their temperaments. Like temperaments react similarly, and you may judge men of your own type by yourself. Opposite temperaments you must seek to compare with people whose reactions you know.

A person who can control his own mental processes stands an excellent chance of reading those of another, for the human mind works along definite lines of thought, and can be studied. One can only control one's, mental processes after carefully studying them.

A steady phlegmatic baseline player is seldom a keen thinker. If he was he would not adhere to the baseline.

The physical appearance of a man is usually a pretty clear index to his type of mind. The stolid, easy-going man, who usually advocates the baseline game, does so because he hates to stir up his torpid mind to think out a safe method of reaching the net. There is the other type of baseline player, who prefers to remain on the back of the court while directing an attack intended to break up your game. He is a very dangerous player, and a deep, keen thinking antagonist. He achieves his results by mixing up his length and direction, and worrying you with the variety of his game. He is a good psychologist. The first type of player mentioned merely hits the ball with little idea of what he is doing, while the latter always has a definite plan and adheres to it. The hard-hitting, erratic, net-rushing player is a creature of impulse. There is no real system to his attack, no understanding of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an interesting, fascinating type.

The dangerous man is the player who mixes his style from back to fore court at the direction of an ever-alert mind. This is the man to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an answer to every query you propound him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist in the world. He is of the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the man of dogged determination that sets his mind on one plan and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely fighting to the end, with never a thought of change. He is the man whose psychology is easy to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, for he never allows himself to think of anything except the business at hand. This man is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the mental capacity of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.

Pick out your type from your own mental processes, and then work out your game along the lines best suited to you.

When two men are, in the same class, as regards stroke equipment, the determining factor in any given match is the mental viewpoint. Luck, so-called, is often grasping the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account.

We hear a great deal about the "shots we have made." Few realize the importance of the "shots we have missed." The science of missing shots is as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a, return that is killed by your opponent.

Let me explain. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and reaching, drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and shaken, realizing that your shot might as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again, and will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may fall into error. You have thus taken some of your opponent's confidence, and increased his chance of error, all by a miss.

If you had merely popped back that return, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to get the ball out of his reach, while you would merely have been winded without result.

Let us suppose you made the shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points in that it took one away from your opponent that should have been his and gave you one you ought never to have had. It also worries your opponent, as he feels he has thrown away a big chance.

The psychology of a tennis match is very interesting, but easily understandable. Both men start with equal chances. Once one man establishes a real lead, his confidence goes up, while his opponent worries, and his mental viewpoint becomes poor. The sole object of the first man is to hold his lead, thus holding his confidence. If the second player pulls even or draws ahead, the inevitable reaction occurs with even a greater contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader now with the second man as well as that great stimulus of having turned seeming defeat into probable victory. The reverse in the case of the first player is apt to hopelessly destroy his game, and collapse follows...

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Friday, May 23, 2008

SERVICE-THE OPENING GUN OF TENNIS

Service is the opening gun of tennis. It is putting the ball in play. The old idea was that service should never be more than merely the beginning of a rally. With the rise of American tennis and the advent of Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward, service took on a new significance. These two men originated what is now known as the American Twist delivery.
From a mere formality, service became a point winner. Slowly it gained in importance, until Maurice E. M'Loughlin, the wonderful "California Comet," burst across the tennis sky with the first of those terrific cannon-ball deliveries that revolutionized the game, and caused the old-school players to send out hurry calls for a severe footfault rule or some way of stopping the threatened destruction of all ground strokes. M'Loughlin made service a great factor in the game. It remained for R. N. Williams to supply the antidote that has again put service in the normal position of mere importance, not omnipotence. Williams stood in on the delivery and took it on the rising bound.
Service must be speedy. Yet speed is not the be-all and end-all. Service must be accurate, reliable, and varied. It must be used with discretion and served with brains.
Any tall player has an advantage over a short one, in service. Given a man about 6 feet and allow him the 3 feet added by his reach, it has been proved by tests that should he deliver a service, perfectly flat, with no variation caused by twist or wind, that just cleared the net at its lowest point (3 feet in the centre), there is only a margin of 8 inches of the service court in which the ball can possibly fall; the remainder is below the net angle. Thus it is easy to see how important it is to use some form of twist to bring the ball into court. Not only must it go into court, but it must be sufficiently speedy that the receiver does not have an opportunity of an easy kill. It must also be placed so as to allow the server an advantage for his next return, admitting the receiver puts the ball in play.
Just as the first law of receiving is to, put the ball in play, so of service it is to cause the receiver to fall into error. Do not strive unduly for clean aces, but use your service to upset the ground strokes of your opponent.
Service should be hit from as high a point as the server can COMFORTABLY reach. To stretch unnecessarily is both wearing on the server and unproductive of results. Varied pace and varied speed is the keynote to a good service.
The slice service should be hit from a point above the right shoulder and as high as possible. The server should stand at about a forty-five degree angle to the baseline, with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Drop the weight back on the right foot and swing the racquet freely and easily behind the back. Toss the ball high enough into the air to ensure it passing through the desired hitting plane, and then start a slow shift of the weight forward, at the same time increasing the power of the swing forward as the racquet commences its upward flight to the ball. Just as the ball meets the racquet face the weight should be thrown forward and the full power of the swing smashed into the service. Let the ball strike the racquet INSIDE the face of the strings, with the racquet travelling directly towards the court. The angle of the racquet face will impart the twist necessary to bring the ball in court. The wrist should be somewhat flexible in service. If necessary lift the right foot and swing the whole body forward with the arm. Twist slightly to the right, using the left foot as a pivot. The general line of the racquet swing is from RIGHT to LEFT and always forward.
At this point and before I take up the other branches of serving, let me put in a warning against footfaulting. I can only say that a footfault is crossing or touching the line with either foot before the ball is delivered, or it is a jump or step. I am not going into a technical discussion of footfaults. It is unnecessary, and by placing your feet firmly before the service there is no need to footfault.
It is just as unfair to deliberately footfault as to miscall a ball, and it is wholly unnecessary. The average footfault is due to carelessness, over-anxiety, or ignorance of the rule. All players are offenders at times, but it can quickly be broken up.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Tennis Stadiums - See it Live

Watching tennis matches on television is one thing, but to see a match in person is out of this world. You wouldn’t think tennis stadiums are really that exciting and that watching a match on television is just as good if not better.

However, that is not the case at all. In fact, watching tennis live from a tennis stadium increases your adrenalin and makes the match that much more enjoyable. On television the tennis match may get a bit boring watching the ball being hit back and forth. But, if you head to a tennis stadium and watch the match live it is a completely different experience.

First of all, you get a good view of the players. You see what they are doing, how they are reacting, and where the tennis ball is going. You get involved with the match watching it live from a tennis stadium which is ...

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Grip, Footwork and Strokes in tennis

Footwork is weight control. It is correct body position for strokes, and out of it all strokes should grow. In explaining the various forms of stroke and footwork I am writing as a right-hand player. Left-handers should simply reverse the feet.

Racquet grip is a very essential part of stroke, because a faulty grip will ruin the finest serving. It is a natural grip for a top forehand drive. It is inherently weak for the backhand, as the only natural shot is a chop stroke.

To acquire the forehand grip, hold the racquet with the edge of the frame towards the ground and the face perpendicular, the handle towards the body, and "shake hands" with it, just as if you were greeting a friend. The handle settled comfortably and naturally into the hand, the line of the arm, hand, and racquet are one. The swing brings the racquet head on a line with the arm, and the whole racquet is merely an extension of it.

The backhand grip is a quarter circle turn of hand on the handle, bringing the hand on top of ...

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