Tennis

Jump-Start Your Slow-Start Matches

Fighting back after a slow-start is never where you want to find yourself in a match. A new client recently expressed this very concern: “I never start my matches in a groove. I’m slow on my feet, missing my first serves, hitting my groundstrokes long and my overheads into the net. It’s only once I’m down a few games that my groove kicks in, and I try to fight my way back, but by then it’s sometimes too late, or I exhaust myself in the process.”

Few can shrug off a slow-start like Federer did against Falla earlier this year. More often than not, a low energy start will lead to a low energy finish. The more you jump-start your slow-start matches through mental and physical preparation, the better chance you have to play at your peak level. Win or lose, that’s all you can hope for. Every match is an opportunity for you to play better than you have ever played before, starting with the very first point. …

Let’s face it: How are you going to play the best match of your life without being prepared?

How to prepare yourself…

-Get enough rest (See my article “Sleep More, Do More”)

-Eat a proper pre-match meal (See my article “Give Your Body What It Wants: Competition Nutrition”)

-Make sure your equipment is in order

-Arrive early

-Warm up (ideally with enough time to cool-down before the match)

-If you have time, change into fresh attire for the match

-Mental match preparating (focus on the positive feeling of knowing you are going to play your best, starting with the first point, because you know you have prepared … you should feel refreshed, energized, and light on your feet before walking onto the court and meeting your opponent …)

-Study your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and develop a game plan

-Be conscious of repeating your most common unforced errors

-Remember to stay light on your feet (See my article “Top Priority Footwork”)

-Remember the goal is to play at your peak level, if not exceed it (every point should be fought for, every hit should be deliberate and focused… In short, be true to your game, your limitations, do what you know works, and start every match with confidence. With a bit of luck, the scoreboard will start to reflect all your hard work …)

How to Calculate Your Average Workout Water Loss

You know you’re supposed to stay hydrated, but do you know how to calculate your average workout water loss? Every time you hit the gym, your body loses water. Since your body is 65 percent water, being dehydrated by as little as 2 or 3 percent can decrease performance by as much as 10 percent. Depending on your diet, hydration habits, and the intensity of your workout routine, you are more or less prone to sweat out an unhealthy percentage of water…

Now, you might be saying to yourself: “But what’s wrong with sweating a lot? I thought I was sweating off the pounds!”

It’s a common and dangerous myth that dripping sweat will drop the pounds. In fact, sweating too much can be counter productive. When you work-up a dripping sweat, your body starts to lose heat. Millions of sweat glands lying under your skin go into overdrive, consuming metabolic energy in order to secrete all the sweat. Your total energy, in effect, gets drained; and, in effect, energy is drained from your muscles… The very muscles you are trying to strengthen! 

Here’s how to calculate your workout water loss, so you know if you’re staying safely hydrated:

1. Weigh yourself before working out (For example, we’ll use a nice, round number: 200 pounds)
2. Weigh yourself immediately after working out (For example, 195 pounds)
3. Subtract the post-workout weight from the pre-workout weight (5 pounds lost)
4. Divide the pounds lost by the pre-workout weight (5/200 = .025, or 2.5% weight loss)
5. Lastly, multiply the pounds lost by 15.3, or the number of fluid ounces lost from the body for every pound lost during workout (5 pounds x 15.3 fluid ounces = 76.5 fluid ounces lost)

So, what do all these numbers mean? They mean if you weighed 200 pounds pre-workout and 195 pounds post-workout, you would have lost 2.5 percent of your body weight, and 76.5 fluid ounces of water. You might feel good about losing 5 pounds, but even at 2.5 percent body weight loss, your performance would have already degraded by a decrease in thermoregulation and a steady increase in thirst.

Negative effects on your workout performance only build alongside the percentage of weight loss. At 4 percent, your energy is now limited by 25 to 40 percent. At 5 percent weight loss,headaches are common, as well as a feeling of weakness, incoherence, fatigue, and general irritability. At 6 percent, you would feel especially weak, nauseous, and suffer from a dangerous loss of thermoregulation. Finally, at 7 percent and above, you would be in incredibly dangerous territory. Someone weighing 200 pounds would have to drop 14 pounds during a single workout in order to lose 7 percent of their body weight, which amounts to 214 fluid ounces of water, or over 26 glasses of water (assuming you drink 8 ounce glasses)! Obviously this is an extreme case, but you get the point…

You don’t have to sweat up a storm to shed the pounds. If anything, all that sweat may be slowing you down. If you stay well-hydrated, your post-workout weight loss should read close to 0 percent, which means you have enabled your muscles to workout under optimum performance conditions, unlimited by metabolic energy drain from over-sweating and fluid loss.

If you don’t want to workout the math on your own, don’t worry. Unlike working out at the gym, there are shortcuts with math, and online you can find many exercise water loss calculators.

There Are No Easy Matches

Andy Roddick is hands down one of the best tennis players in the world (no. 5 seeded, to be exact), and he probably knows better than anyone never to take victory for granted. You never know when your opponent is posed to play the match of his life, as unseeded Yen-Hsun Lu did at Wimbledon on Monday, beating Roddick in a five set quarterfinal upset.

If you’re not on your game, anyone can beat anyone

One of the most exhilarating things about sports is that upsets happen all the time. In singles, all bets are off. When you’re all alone on the court, every player becomes a team of one. When things aren’t working, you have to coach yourself back to being the better player on the court, or else you’ll lose.

Even the best players lose focus

Wimbledon is the home of many upsets. In 1965, Manuel Santana became the first defending champion to lose in the first round. And then there was no. 1 ranked John McEnroe’s loss to Kevin Curren in ‘85. Defending champion Steffi Graf’s first-round upset to Lori McNeil in ‘94. Andre Agassi’s first-round loss in ‘96. Pete Sampras’s second-round loss in ‘02. Maria Sharpova’s second-round loss in ‘08. The list goes on and on. … And on Monday, Roddick fell short on his returns, and he knew it. “I don’t view what happens today as an impossibility,” he said in a post-game interview. “It wasn’t my serve. It wasn’t my service games. It was my returning. That was crap. It was really bad.”

There are no easy matches

At the end of the day, seeded or unseeded, world renown or unknown, the player with the most fight and focus usually wins. Speaking about his state of mind going into the 5th set, Lu said to the journalists, “I don’t believe I can win, because he’s a better server than me. I mean, for chance, I don’t believe. But I just tell myself, ‘Even if I don’t believe, I have to fight….’”

Isner Wins Longest Match in History

We’ll Miss You Coach Wooden…

On June 4th the world lost not only one of the best coaches of all time, but a man of integrity and humility; a man on a mission to inspire those who knew him, those who played for him, and those who read his books, to face their fears and discover their own potential.

Last week, Coach John Wooden passed away. A sports legend by any standard, Wooden was the first to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. In only a 12 year period, he led UCLA to 10 NCAA championships-a record unmatched by any basketball coach since (and will in all likelihood remain unmatched).

Called the “Wizard of Westwood,” Coach Wooden preferred to stick to his down to Earth Indiana roots. The only magic he knew of came about through old-fashioned hard work and determination. His maxims are now used by coaches of just about every sport out there: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. … Flexibility is the key to stability. … Be quick, but don’t hurry…

He lived his life according to a Seven Point Creed given to him by his father when he graduated from grammar school. Among the points are timeless perils of advice, such as:

-Be true to yourself
-Make each day your masterpiece
-Help others
-Make friendship a fine art

Coach Wooden was a man who stayed true to his core beliefs. He never earned the big bucks. He married his high school sweet heart and stayed married for 53 years until she passed on. And now, the legendary coach and role model has passed on at 99 years. May his countless insights continue to inspire and challenge us all to better ourselves, and uplift each other.

Federer, what happened? Seriously, the Quarterfinals?

At the 2010 French Open on Tuesday, Roger Federer’s streak of 23 Grand Slam semifinal appearances came to an end. That’s right, let it sink in. For the first time in six years, there will be a Grand Slam semifinal without the Swiss champion there to stand his ground.

So, who is responsible for defeating Federer in the quarterfinals? In no more than four sets? Keeping Federer on the defensive, dominating him from the baseline like nobody’s business? None other than the big swinging Robin Soderling…

Before Tuesday, Soderling had a 0-12 record against Federer, so in one sense the victory was long overdue. Last year in Paris, Soderling ended the reign of four-time champion Nadal in the fourth round, clearing the way for Federer to take his first French Open title-narrowly beating Soderling in the finals. But this year, Soderling returned with his power shots polished-ready to finally have his day with Federer.

At 6-foot-4, Soderling’s serve has always been a force to be reckoned with, but on Tuesday, he matched the power of his serve with thunderous returns. On several points, Soderling took Federer’s second serve and aimed the return about a foot inside the baseline! To possess the skill and confidence to pull off those shots is astonishing. Again and again, Soderling’s powerful and precise returns (and serves!) threw Federer off his game, forcing him to try to play catch up … ultimately finding himself unable to do so.

Through sheer talent and a focused mentality-never appearing nervous, scared, or anxious-Soderling earned his victory over Federer. One champion outplayed the other. As Federer said to the press, “I’m disappointed to a certain degree. I didn’t think I played a bad match. He came up with some great tennis. It’s much easier to digest this way.”

Unfortunately for Federer’s unbelievable streak, the match couldn’t wait for the semifinals.

The Life Coach Advantage!

Work, family, friends, chores, errands, traffic, favors, deadlines … and underneath it all … invisible pressures, fears, feelings of inadequacy, resentment, regret, stress, hidden insecurities, superficial insecurities, deep-seeded issues that few really make the time to heal….

Keeping so much bottled up inside can have devastating effects on your psychological and physical well being, including stress headaches, exhaustion, depression and anxiety, chemical dependency (most commonly caffeine), insomnia, nightmares, and a jeopardized immune system….

Personal empowerment begins by admitting you need a change in your life–But where do you start? What will be your strategy? How will you change today? … Jump-starting palpable change in your life can feel almost impossible when your body and mind are already overwhelmed.

Most people need more than admitting they need change … they need support for that change … some one who can offer strategies for a balanced, healthy life … some one with a fresh perspective you can trust … in other words, a Life Coach!

As your Life Coach, I can help to jump-start change that will be sure to empower, inspire and rejuvenate your sense of possibility:

-Restore balance in your life

-Get your feelings off of your chest so you can perform at your maximum ability

-Carve out time for yourself

-Importance of setting goals and sticking to them

-Importance of FREE days/vacation

-How to invest in yourself and follow your passions…

Schedule an appointment today and discover for yourself the Life Coach advantage!!!

The King of Clay!

Rafael  Nadal is maybe the greatest clay court player of all time. In his first clay court tournament of the year in Monte Carlo he lost a total of 14 games and won the event for his 6th straight year. He is now tied with Andre Agassi for the most Master Series tournament wins with 16 and he will probably surpass Agassi next week when the men’s field heads to the Rome Masters.

What makes Nadal so great on clay?

-tenacity

-how he wears his opponents down

-never gives up

-grew up playing on clay

-his speed (lets him run down more balls)

-clay courts play slower, which allows time for his big looping groundstrokes

We will all have to wait and see how he finishes the clay court season. I believe Nadal will finish strong and win this years French Open.

What’s Roger Federer’s Story?

Give Your Adrenal Glands a Boost

Next Page »