Tennis

Fore(hand) Play

Ever wonder how you can improve your forehand hits? Well, I’m here to tell you today!

For the most part, your forehand hits rely heavily on the sort of grip that you use. However, by heading into the ball’s direction, with your weight shifted into the spot in which you hit the ball, you extinguish your body rotation. Thus, your forehand will not only look better, but it’ll also improve in feeling, in spite of whatever stroke you do. Focus, and pull your arm back for a longer wind-up, thus giving you more time to accelerate your racket into a better speed and forehand. Also, what about incorporating a topsin to your forehand? This will make the ball dip as it lowers back to the ground, allowing you to get a harder hit.

Finally and most especially, have confidence! Be strong with your hits, and focus. Keep your eyes on that ball!

Tennis

Tennis and Weight Loss

The following is a guest blog post from Chris @ howtoloseweighthealthy.com:

Tennis can be a lot of fun and can keep a player physically fit. Additionally, tennis can help you lose weight. Before getting into the details on how playing tennis can help you lose weight let us first discuss when a person gains or loses weight.

When we eat, the calories from food are being converted to energy so the body can perform its physiologic functions as well as other activities that are part of daily living. However, if we take in too much calories and at the same time live a sedentary lifestyle, the calories are converted to reserved energy (also known as body fat) and deposited in the fatty tissues for future use. This body fat greatly contributes to the ability of a person to gain weight and also looks not as aesthetically pleasing. However, when physical activities that require effort are performed, the body will be working harder to convert these body fats to energy so the person can efficiently perform the tasks, thus a person loses weight when working out.

According to fitness experts, an effective workout activity doesn’t only burn calories but it is also something that is enjoyable as well. Come to think of it, a workout will be considered a chore if a person finds it boring and unchallenging, which is the reason why more and more people drop out from gym or fitness classes. On the other hand, a fitness activity that interests a person is considered recreational thus people are able to burn more calories because they keep on coming back. That’s the reason why fitness experts recommend fun activities for weight loss like dancing, yoga, and sports.

Tennis is a great calorie-attacking sport that allows a person to burn 326 calories/hr for doubles and 469 calories/hr for singles. This sport burns a good amount of calories because it requires a lot running, jumping, skipping, hopping, tossing, and hitting. Since this sport requires both the upper and lower body to work, it’s one of the best sports that is recommended if you want to shed off those excess pounds at an accelerated rate.

Playing tennis also contributes in creating lean and toned muscles because it requires both strength in hitting the ball and agility as the player runs and jumps. Additionally, since muscles burn calories faster than fats, tennis allows the player to lose weight faster than going through workout machines.

Tennis is also a great aerobic exercise. This means that when a person plays tennis, the oxygen system is improved and the heart gets some exercise as it pumps faster in a short period of time. Also, according to the principles of indirect calorimetry, oxygen plays a major role in burning calories, so you lose weight as your oxygen level improves.

Because of all these reasons, playing tennis is like working out on several exercise machines all at once. Thanks to tennis, Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, and Maria Kirilenko look so stunningly sexy and James Blake, Andre Agassi, and Rafael Nadal have lean and well-toned abs.

Author bio: Chris maintains a weight loss blog where he explains how to lose weight using natural methods and techniques. Sports and especially tennis are some of the best ways to lose weight fast and enjoy it at the same time.

Tennis

Tennis Cardio Plus

Anyone interested in training for competitive tennis knows there’s going to be cardio involved. But what kind of cardio workout is best for tennis? If you want to get the most out of your workout, you need to focus on the three most important cardio conditioning factors in tennis: speed, endurance, and fast reaction time.

Speed. To improve speed, try simulating the side to side shuffle steps performed during matches. Combine that with interval running and sprints. In fact, one of Andre Agassi’s favorite training tips is to sprint uphill.

Endurance. To stretch out your peak performance time, make sure to get outdoors as much as possible. Your body needs to be readily acclimated to the outdoor conditions experienced during a match. Swim, bike, go for speed walks-just keep running to a minimum. Know in your mind when you are training for speed and when you are training for endurance.

Fast Reaction Time. To work on your reaction time, nothing is better than a personal tennis coach-someone who will force you to grow as a player through focused and intensive drills. Group clinics are sometimes even more effective as the players naturally form bonds, feel supported, challenge one another, and time after time rise to new heights on the court.

Tennis

Give Your Body What it Wants: Competition Nutrition

Clients ask me all the time how they should prepare for a tournament. I always stress the importance of understanding competition nutrition. You can be in top shape and still lose because you got a cramp due a poorly timed meal. In tournament play more than ever your body needs certain nutrients to compete and … even more importantly … out-compete. Tennis is a sport of “a thousand little sprints,” as Bjorn Borg once said, and following the right diet will insure you have the fuel it takes to sprint those thousand sprints … and then some.

3-4 hours before competition your pre-match meal should be high in carbs, moderate in protein and low in fat, such as … a grilled chicken sandwich, a sports drink, an apple and some saltine crackers.

1-2 hours before competition your pre-game snack should settle any hunger and keep you fueled up and hydrated, such as … a banana, an energy bar, a sports drink and water.

Always remember, Stay Hydrated. Drink 17-20 oz. of fluid within 2 hours of heavy competition. Drinking sports drinks (with electrolytes and high in carbs) before and during long matches has been shown to enhance the accuracy and boost the power of both groundstrokes and serves.

Post-Competition Nutrition means replenish and recovery. Tennis dehydrates you, eats up energy (carbs), and drains your body of electrolytes (like salt).

Within 30 minutes of a match you should already be giving your body what it wants. Start drinking a sports drink before even leaving the court. 2 hours later eat a high-carb meal with a lean source of protein and a natural sodium source in order to speed-up muscle recover, such as … 2-3 cups of pasta with marinara sauce (light in meat and fat).

Out-competing for the win is all about knowing what you can and can’t control. You might not be able to prevent your opponent from getting lucky, but you can always control how well you condition, how well you prepare mentally, and how well you take care of your body. Sometimes all it takes is a few dietary suggestions from a personal trainer and nutritionist to help you realize just how fast, powerful and strong you already are!

Tennis

Don’t Believe Fatigue!

New clients come to me all the time with the same concern: “I feel like I’ve found my A game. But then something happens in the third set. A voice in my head starts telling me to give up. That I’m fatigued, I can’t go on. And worst of all, most of the time, I listen!”

Sometimes your whole body is really fatigued, which might be a dietary issue, or a lack of court conditioning-or both. In which case: Listen To Your Body. But most of the time it’s your brain doing the talking and not your body, and only a certain area of the body is really fatigued. It might be your stiff serving shoulder, it might be your knees, lower back or forehand elbow, but since the brain controls the body, it has a tendency to overcompensate. Instead of telling you how to strategize and overcome the stiff shoulder, the brain might tell you to give up and relax the entire body. In which case: Don’t Believe Fatigue.

Once you focus on whatever’s holding up your game, you start to feel compromised. The brain disrupts your focus on the ball zinging towards you. Unforced errors come next, followed by emotional exhaustion, a mental and physical breakdown in the third set … all because of something like a stiff shoulder!

You can train your body not to stiffen and ache with the help of a personal trainer-someone who understands how to build both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles, someone who can review your diet and daily schedule to see where simple improvements can be made, someone who can help prepare your mind for that moment in the third set, when your brain attempts to trick your whole body into believing it’s fatigued. You can say to yourself: “My shoulder may be stiff, my knees may be sore, but I will close this set and win!”

Tennis

Coping With Keeping The Lead

There is no certainty in tennis. Players fight to overcome the odds all the time. A friend of mine experienced this firsthand when she lost her lead in the second set during a tournament. No matter how hard she tried, she felt like she couldn’t regain the lead.

“I don’t know what happened,” she told me. “My whole game broke-down. My forehands were all going long, and my serves were in the net. My opponent kept improving, the whole game shifted. All of a sudden I didn’t have a chance.”

As with every other sport, there is an underlying mental game to tennis. The skills required to take the lead are not necessarily the same skills needed to keep the lead. Taking the lead is about gaining momentum, while keeping the lead is about holding your momentum no matter the obstacle.

Obstacles:

-Tendency to panic

-Overhitting

-Increase in errors

-Emotional outbursts

How to cope:

-Keep a positive mindset

-Don’t worry about winning

-Don’t play the score

-Stick to your rituals

-Take deep, relaxing breaths after every point

-Don’t rush to go for the kill, be patient

-Stick to the game plan that got you in the lead

-Push your game to the top of your comfort zone, but not beyond

Taking control over your nerves may cost you a point here and there, but it will keep most of the momentum on your side of the court. For many players, like my friend, this is a great challenge, and a coach who is able to diagnose the underlying issues can help to awaken players of all levels to their maximum potential. Keeping the lead takes focus, patience, and a positive mindset. Remember, more often than not, the player with the most heart wins!

Tennis

Top Priority Footwork

If you want to get the most out of your training, all those hours perfecting your forehand, practicing overheads, volleys and backhands, your success depends on your agility. What good is a textbook shot if you’re too slow to give yourself enough time to setup? Or if your balance is off? Or if you have trouble running down those drop shots and lobs?

Never miss another chance to run down those tough shots!

With training programs tailored to improve agility, clients agree: “I’m getting to balls I never got to before!”

Agility brings all of your other skills into focus on the court, making footwork a top priority for players of all levels. It is the glue that binds every other aspect of your game. Tennis is all about explosive bursts of energy and a mutual ability to slow down, keep steady, focused, balanced, and calm.

As soon as the ball is in play, be prepared to:

-Spring into action with a quick first step.

-Judge the direction of the ball

-Slow down, swing, follow through

-Change direction, spring into action again

All while maintaining balance and control!!!

Developing and maintaining optimum agility takes constant attention, and is often the most neglected area of a player’s game. If you are still struggling to rise to the next level of competition, chances are you need to prioritize footwork into your training schedule.

Empower your game! Move like you’ve never moved before!

A heightened capacity to compete is built on a player’s footwork-the foundation of their game. Don’t neglect your game’s foundation! A personal trainer can be there to chart the progress of your footwork, motivate you to reach new heights of energy, and instill a sense of self-confidence that lasts!

Tennis

2009 US Open of Tennis Recap

The highlight for many at this year’s U.S. Open was seventeen year old Melanie Oudin, who after taking down Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon, beat out Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova. With her heart, fight, and tremendous determination, she proved herself to be a steady and defensive player all the way to the quarterfinals, never cracking under the pressure of key moments. Her patience and resilience led much more seasoned and higher ranking opponents-like Sharapova, who had 21 double faults against Oudin, and Petrova, who had 22 unforced errors-to fall off their game.

Although when it comes to resilience, no one can top Roger Federer’s collection of records, whose defeat over Robin Söderling marked Federer’s 22nd Grand Slam semifinal in a row. After overcoming illness for much of the 2008 season, his success this year has been profound, to say the least. Federer went on to defeat Novak Djokovic in three straight sets, securing his place in the finals.

An unfortunate turn of events came when Serena Williams lost her composure during her match with Kim Clijsters. After losing the first set to Clijsters, Williams slammed her racket against the court a couple times. She was issued a code of conduct warning for racket abuse, and the game commenced. Clijsters held onto the lead throughout the close second set. Down 15-30, five games to six, Williams’ second serve was called a foot fault, bringing the score to 15-40 double match point for Clijsters. Williams let her emotions get the best of her and began yelling threatening and abusive language at the lineswoman. She was then penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct, resulting in a 6-4, 7-5 victory for Clijsters.

Kim Clijsters was indeed the Cinderella story of the tournament. After taking three years maternity leave, she became the third unseeded and first unranked female champion of a Grand Slam title. She also became the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong won Wimbledon in 1980. Other winners include Juan Martín del Potro, who triumphed over Federer for his first Grand Slam, Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes, who defeated defending Men’s Doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan, and Venus and Serena Williams, who won their second US Open Doubles title.

Tennis

Fitness Is A Lifestyle Decision!

Being fit is a personal decision long before it is a physical reality. Time and time again I’m asked the question, “What’s the trick to getting fit? How do I start?” You start with a commitment to your goal. We all make commitments in our lives, all sorts of commitments for our finances and relationships. Our day to day decisions reflect our level of commitment to any given goal, and too often our decisions about personal health and fitness fall short. You may decide to grab fast-food on your lunch break because it saves you time. You may decide to skip the gym before work because you got to sleep too late the night before; because you were out too late; because you made the decision to stay out.

One of the greatest challenges in getting fit is overcoming habits of instant gratification. Television commercials and billboards fill our minds with false expectations about what it means to be fit. Whether you want to drop ten pounds, tighten your abs, strengthen your biceps, or improve cardio to name only a few, a fitness goal cannot be accomplished in an hour, or a day, or a month. It takes a change in lifestyle and a complete shift in priorities. While there are certain immediate bonuses to working out, getting fit and staying fit is primarily about prevention (from illness, obesity, back pain, and so on). If you’re used to making decisions based on instant gratification, getting fit and staying fit will be a struggle no matter your intentions. We see this when weight loss and gain fluctuate dramatically.

Sometimes the most important decision is admitting to yourself that you need someone else to help keep you on track, something more than a commercial or billboard that feeds on your longing for a quick fix. When it comes to being fit, there is no quick fix. Sometimes you need to be inspired. If you still struggle following through with your intentions, taking the step to pursue a personal trainer invested in your mental and physical well-being, who can serve as an example towards which to aspire, and who understands the hardships of breaking unhealthy habits, may be the most important decision you will ever make!

Tennis

Overcoming Negative Thinking

In tennis, one of the most commonly overlooked elements of the game is the mind. Even with well-developed techniques and strategies, a negative frame of mind on the court can cause all of your honed abilities to breakdown. You can easily lose your concentration, the awareness of tension and stress can multiply, and your emotions can start to cloud your judgment, causing you to take unnecessary risks. One of the most common results of negative thinking is the tendency to overhit the ball, prompting the opponent to play to your apparent weaknesses, further adding to the flux of negative thoughts and feelings.

Overcoming negative thinking means being aware of your frame of mind. If you find yourself blaming things you can’t control-like the glare of the sun, the sound of traffic, or your opponent’s luck-you are only wasting your energy. All this energy should instead be invested in regaining a positive frame of mind, and controlling how you intend to play. Positive thinking increases concentration, improves judgment, and calms anxieties.

Many players start a match with the best of intentions, but once disturbed by a series of missed shots, or what seems like a bad call, the pressures of the situation start to boil to the surface. One way to retain a positive frame of mind is to use visualization. If you miss a shot, develop the habit of immediately visualizing hitting the ball correctly, investing your energy in a positive outcome for the next point, rather than getting down on yourself. Without input from a personal tennis coach who cares about the fulfillment of your potential, it is all too easy to limit your beliefs, and in effect sabotage your own game. Having a tennis coach can dramatically reinforce being aware of limiting beliefs, when and how to use visualization, and the benefits positive thinking.

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