Thanksgiving is Special for Tennis Racquets For Kids

Thanksgiving is the time to take a moment and appreciate the things we have. It is a time for families to get together and enjoy each others company. It is a time when Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc., can appreciate the selflessness of others and the moments of smiles and hugs from the children we have helped.

We would like to thank all of the people who have helped to make our tennis charity successful. Thank you to the children who have collected racquets as part of Mitzvah projects and church drives. Thank you to the individuals who have taken time out of their busy lives to find old racquets in their homes and donate them, and thank you to the various tennis clubs who have graciously set up our collection boxes. These actions have made us a larger community dedicated to helping others.

We have used these racquets to bring smiles to so many children. Whether the racquet is Prince, Head, Wilson, or Babolat really does not matter to the children. It is a tennis racquet, special in its own way, that will now allow these children to play a game that want to explore. Many of the racquets we receive require some revitalization. The charity has used their own string and grip, as well as their personal time, to restring and grip many of these racquets so they can play like new. The kids are excited to engage in revamping these racquets for others.

Over the last year, we have donated hundreds of racquets to underprivileged children throughout the United States. We have helped start school programs in Rochester, Florida, and Queens. We have worked directly with the Nassau Parks Department and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and conducted clinics for hundreds of children. After one such clinic, two 10 year old girls went to return their racquets, They thanked us for letting them use the racquets for the clinic. When they were told that the racquets were theirs to keep, they immediately screamed for joy and hugged us, telling us Christmas came early. These smiles and hugs are priceless and well worth the hours of collecting racquets, restringing and delivering them.

We have helped individual families as well. This past summer we received a touching request from a mother of twins who was down on her luck. She wanted her kids to participate in a city parks program but could not afford to purchase racquets. She wanted them to experience the game of tennis, and not disappoint them by having them watch outside the courts all summer. We were able to help and we still remain in their prayers.

As we move ahead with our plans for next year, we are looking forward to new relationships and expansion with industry. We truly appreciate all of the individuals of have supported our tennis charity and have really helped make a small difference in the lives of many. You are the backbone of our charity. Thank you for sharing our beliefs and "pay it forward" for the Love of the Game!" We look forward to making more friends. Happy Holidays to all!

Bionic Tennis Gloves Save the Day

Tennis is a sport played all year round in many different conditions. From playing in the extreme heat of Florida and Texas during the summer, to playing outdoors in New York, players must adapt. As a competetive tennis player, traveling to these various tournaments and associated climates, I have had to deal with blisters, inability to maintain a good feel for the racquets in the cold and maintaining a good grip in the heat.

The Bionic Tennis glove was designed by Dr. Jim Kleinert, an orthopedic surgeon who is a hand specialist. Using his knowledge of human anatomy and the movement of the hand, he designed a glove that would fit naturally and help some of the challenges faced by tennis players of all levels of skill. I have been using the Bionic Tennis Glove for the last two months. I started wearing the gloves to help a blister heal on my hand. For years I used tape and sprays that would coat my hand but nothing worked. The tape would fall off and the sprays would not reduce the friction. I was unable to maintain a good grip on my racquet, the blisters never healed, and the pain during play continued.

The Bionic Tennis Glove not only allowed the blister to heal, but improved my game. I was able to play with the blisters. I found that the glove gave me a better grip on my racquet with more feel. I noticed that in the cold weather I had better control of my shots and in the hot weather the racquet did not slip. The gloves fit well and were very comfortable. They did not make my hand feel hot and there was no friction.

The company states that the gloves were designed with a pre-rotated finger design which encourages natural closure of the hand. There are anatomical relief pads which eliminate the friction which leads to callus and blister formation. This feature clearly helped me.

Tennis Racquets For Kids Inc., a tennis charity, highly recommends this glove for anyone who plays tennis. It provided a better grip and feel in the cold weather and as well as the heat. I have not had any more blisters and it allowed my original blisters to heal. This is a great piece of equipment which should be added to your tennis bag.

Prince Gives Back to New York City

Fun, Tennis and Celebrities, all courtesy of Prince. On August 30th, the day before the US Open, in collaboration with the City Parks Foundation, Prince Tennis put on an exhibition of top tennis professionals at the Central Park public courts. This was free, and open to the public. With the charismatic Wayne Bryan as the master of ceremonies, professionals such as Gael Monfils, Sam Querry, John Isner, Mike and Bob Bryan,and Stan Smith put on various exhibitions and drills. Seeing the Bryan brothers going in opposite directions while hitting paced volleys 70 consecutive times was unbelievable!! Having the players holding hands and playing points was another big favorite for the crowd. The players also got to show some of their personalities when Wayne invited them to dance to the music-it was tie between Monfils and Querrey for most latent talent. Famous coaches such as Paul Annacone were also there to offer their in put and expertise.

It was interesting to hear the various players talk about their Prince racquets. With the EXO3 technology allowing for better play. Prince also provided numerous tennis professionals to hit with the kids on the other courts. Besides a few pointers, the hundreds of children were able to get autographs, tee shirts, and to be close to some of their tennis idols. Speaking of idols, there was a live musical performance from American Idol season 7 finalist, Michael Johns. He is also a big tennis fan. He was really personable signing autographs and taking pictures with the children.

In a time of cutbacks, Prince once again led the way in giving back to the fans,especially the children, by helping support the City Parks Foundation, by providing this up close and personal event. We look forward to next years plans.

Tennis Racquets for Kids is a non profit tennis charity dedicated to providing racquets to underprivileged children and introducing the game of tennis to those children who would not have the opportunity to experience the game. We salute Prince and the City Parks Foundation for helping to further this effort!

Serena Williams Disappoints Children

It was difficult to get tickets to the semi-final match between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters, but it was more difficult to explain to the children Serena's inappropriate behavior!

Serena had not lost a set in her earlier matches, but it was evident early on that she could not handle the consistent deep shots and angles of Clijsters. For the first time in this US Open, Serena was not dictating the match. Clijsters broke her to take the first set 6-4. Serena's frustation was evident as she flipped her racquet and then smashed it at the end of the set. Serena received a code violation. She clearly had started to lose her focus.

Serena played better in the second set, but was never truly in command. She was trailing 6-5 and was serving. She fell behind 15-30, and then the bottom fell out. She faulted on her first serve and then was called for a foot fault to lose the point and make the score 15-40. Mt. Serena then erupted. She turned to the lineswoman and threatened to shove the ball down her throat with a few other colorful words which were caught on the microphone. Not only was she verbally abusing this poor official, but at the same time was shaking her racquet in a menacing way. After she had finished her first attack, she returned to the baseline to serve, but was distracted by the official returning from the chair umpire. At this point, she again screamed at the lineswoman with more colorful language. Tournament referee Brian Earley came onto the court, and gave Serena her second code violation which cost her a point, which was match point.

Kim Clijsters had no idea what was happening as Serena crossed the net to congratulate her. Clijsters had a look of bewilderment as she sat in her chair waiting to be interviewed. Serena William's embarassing behavior took away from the excellent play of Clijsters and her well deserved victory.

There are no excuses for Serena's behavior!! Bad calls are part of all sports and the true champions, the true professionals are able to rise above these obstacles. Earlier in the week, I witnessed a dubious foot fault called against Serena Williams. She handled this call by staring down the official without any verbage or threatening mannerisms. This also is not acceptable behavior, but a better choice of action than she exhibited against Clijsters.

What is an appropriate penalty? In basketball two technicals and you are thrown out of the game; in baseball argue with the umpire too vigorously, and you are thrown out of the game. Why should tennis be any different? She should have been immediately disqualified. She received $10,500.00 dollars in fines, about 3% of her winnings. Is that enough?

Anyone can have a meltdown. The frustation of not playing well, the pressure of being expected to win and then a bad call- all the ingredients for an explosion-BANG! However Serena had a bigger problem- Hubris. She could not accept responsibility for her actions and apologize. She did not apologize at her press conference after the match or the following day. All she could muster was that John McEnroe was one of her heroes, as if to wash away this hideous outburst by drawing comparisons to someone else known for abusing officials. Even McEnroe the commentator was at an immediate lose of words. There are no excuses. She then said that after gaining her composure, " in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me, and as a result, I handled the situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans for understanding I am human and look forward to continuing my journey, both professionally and personally."

Yes Serena you are human. We can understand that. What we cannot understand is why you did not apologize to this official immediately. Why did it take 3 days to begrudingly offer this official any apology?? We can all lose a match and recover our standings, but we cannot lose our dignity and walk away carefree. You have damaged yourself and have disappointed everyone!!

Tennis Racquets For Kids Brings Smiles to Queens

Tennis Racquets for Kids teamed up with the City Parks Foundation (CPF) on August 17th, 2009, to bring tennis to Corona Park in Flushing Meadow. The non profit tennis charity donated close to 100 racquets to kids from age 8 to 15. A tennis clinic was also conducted by Tennis Racquets for Kids, featuring Zachary Mintz, Paige Mintz, and Michael Lem. Zachary and Michael spoke to to the kids before the clinic began explaining to them that these racquets are an opportunity for them to learn and play the game of tennis, but also represent a responsibilty for them to pass these racquets on to others when they outgrow them, and give other children the same opportunity.The racquets and clinic were greatly appreciated by the children and their families. The free racquets were a surprise and acknowledged with hugs, smiles and high fives! By collecting used tennis racquets," recycling them", Tennis Racquets for Kids has brought smiles to hundreds of kids this summer. Many are dreaming about one day playing in the US Open in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.



The City Parks Foundation of New York is an excellent partner sharing the same ideals and goals as Tennis Racquets for Kids. It is the only independent, non profit organization to offer park programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Their programs and community building initiatives reach more than 600,000 New Yorkers each year. We are honored to be working with this organization and are planning more activities in the future.



We are still collecting racquets are various donation sites and appreciate those people who have sent us racquets directly. The racquets in your basement or garage are opportunity to bring a small amout of happiness to others. Whether you have Prince, Wilson,Babolat, Head, or Yonex tennis racquets the same smiles and hugs from the kids receiving them will apply. Donate for the LOVE of the Game!!

Tennis Racquets for Kids Brings Smiles to Roosevelt

On July 22, 2009, Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc, collaborated with Nassau County and the USTA to introduce tennis to various parks throughout Nassau County. This initiative was part of the Quick Start Tennis Program.

Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc., a non profit organization, donated over 150 tennis racquets to children for this program. The majority of the racquets were donated to children at Centennial Park in Roosevelt, New York. While only 40 children were expected to attend, well over 130 children came to the program. The tennis charity was prepared for extra attendance, but still had go back to their storage facility to accommodate the super turnout.

Zachary and Paige Mintz founders of the organization, led the program at Centennial Park. Not only did they distribute racquets but put on a clinic for two hours. During the clinic they taught the children strokes and introduced the children to the game of tennis. The children ranged in age from 5 to 15 years and most had never played tennis. Excitement filled the morning as many children realized they could hit balls back against these two USTA players.

At the end of the clinic, two young girls approached Paige and Zachary. They said, "thank you for letting us use the racquets" and gave them back. You could not imagine the smiles and hugs when these two girls were told that these racquets were now theirs. It did not matter whether these racquets were Head, Wilson, Babolat or Prince. They were a gift to children who really appreciated the opportunity to experience the game of tennis.

Emily Moore, founder and director of Alliance Junior Tennis, had two groups in attendance. " I have been involved in tennis for over 40 years and have never found an organization like this. Tennis Racquets For Kids is exactly the type of organization we need; kids giving back to kids; caring and giving all kids a chance to play tennis by supplying them with racquets and encouragement."

Tennis Racquets for Kids has been invited back to Centennial Park to continue their mission to bring the game of tennis to all children.

Donations of used racquets can be sent to Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc., or brought to convenient drop off locations.

QUICK NEWS:

Serena got to meet President Obama and his family in the White House. The President complimented Serena's shoes and that seems to be the media highlight of the occasion

Federer and Mirka had twin girls! Myla Rose and Charlene Riva Federer were born last night

Nadal's parents are reportedly getting a divorce

Natalie Dechy is pregnant at 30 and retires from pro tennis with 1 career title behind her belt

Roddick is still recovering from his Wimbledon loss and hasn't appeared in any US Open series events

Ivanovic is still focusing on golfer Adam Scott

Novak Djockovic appears to be on a honeymoon type vacation with long time girlfriend

Maria Sharapova claims to be back "100 %" but still spends a lot of time off the court promoting an array of new and old brands

Wimbledon Recap

This year's Wimbledon lived up to its expectations of bringing us great tennis, new records, repeat champions, American hope and once again a men's final for the history books.

The first question on everybody's minds should be, is Roger Federer human? 15 slams makes him a living tennis legend and he is only in his late 20's! With unparalleled class on the court and off, a crisp sense of style and execution, an x-ray vision for winners from any part of the court, and a fit body to play a 7 set final after 2 weeks of tennis and a French Open championship...the question remains the same. The other question is, does being a newly wed help your chances at Wimbledon? As you know, both Federer and Roddick are such. Federer beat A-Rod, 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 in four hours and 16 minutes of service holds. Roddick had a great run of course. With his huge serve that even the King of Tennis couldn't decipher and 140 mph swings that dismissed the draw all the way into the finals, it was hard to feel overjoyed for Federer without feeling quite sad for Roddick. His efforts are no doubt proof of the fact that he has improved, and his hard work is paying off. His post match remarks also marked a funny but more mature Roddick holding back on his sometimes offensive remarks. It is a great result, and hopefully the devastating fact of having been so close to winning, and leaving your heart out on the court and still coming up short, won't stall his career further, mentally that is. Roddick did play two back to back matches of his life, serving huge and ripping inside out forehand winners, leaving Britain without an Andy Murray. Murray will also get there someday, it is a matter of time. Cheers for Tommy Haas as well, a veteran by today's standards, making it to the semis. For now, the top of the ATP is looking good, pinaccled by once again #1 Roger Federer. For now, we wait for the return of Rafa, hopefully by the Us Open, to stop Federer from his quest of tennis world domination =)

On the women's side, the sister's showed their world dominance yet again. This time, Serena coming on top and beating Venus. Serena made that her 3rd Wimbledon, preventing Venus from claiming her 6th, winning 7-6, 6-2. However, the sisters teamed up as usual to steamroll through doubles. It has become hard to keep track of how many titles they both have, and they too, are so young still. Russians, Safina and Dementieva were so close to an all Russian final, but the dominant game style of the William's sisters on grass is a tough one to get through, especially since they are both past champions, a place where neither Russian has been just yet. There were plenty of young surprises on the women's side. Teenager, Melanie Oudin, made it to the rd. 16 by taking out Jankovic. Her result next to Roddick's gives American tennis new hope for future titles. Radwanska, Lisicki and Azarenka all heading the young generation on tour got to the quarterfinals respectively.

In the juniors, Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia beat Jordan Cox of the US in three sets. Two points for Russia and the US in junior development. On the girl's side, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand beat the 1 seed, France's Kristina Mladenovic, also in three sets.

Check out the official site for interviews, scores, junior and mixed results and photos!

Goodbye, too young too soon

This was a hard week to say goodbye to some special people who are gone before their time.

It goes without saying how much Michael Jackson has done for the world in terms of children's foundations, breaking down of racial barriers, world peace, dance and music. The King of Pop, died at the age of 50 on June 25th. His memorial service was broadcast live this week and was watched by a billion people. Quoting online Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi sang Jackson's songs. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read, "We had him," a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou. The Reverend Al Sharpton won a standing ovation when he told Jackson's children, "There wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange was what your daddy had to deal with."Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, cried as she told the crowd, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine ... I just wanted to say I love him so much."

RIP MJ

The tennis world also recieved its share of shocking news on July 6th, when Mathieu Montcourt was found dead behind his door in his Paris apartment, reportedly of cardiac arrest. Mathieu was one of the most talented French juniors, and was ranked as high as 109 ATP, really just starting his professional career. He had lost to Radek Stepanek second round of this year's French Open. He was a really talented and great guy, and only 24 years old. This is really devastating and a cruel reminder of how fragile life is.

RIP Mathieu


"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." Buddha


http://likemylife.homestead.com/inspirationalquoteslivinglifetothefullest.html

Mental Toughness, A Life Lesson

Federer outlasts Roddick and wins a dramatic victory in the longest match played at Wimbledon. How did he do it, how did Roddick hang in there? Mental Toughness, focus, are all synonyms for the same thing. Our ability to continue to move forward when our body says no.

This is not something unique to tennis. It is necessary in all sports and in life. The runner who hits "a wall", the boxer who "runs out of gas", the pitcher who has "no stuff", are all examples of an inner drive, a force which pushes us to rise to the occasion. Even non athletes face these challenges in life, whether its school, business or health. The ability for families to survive when the economy says no.

Many times a patient is given a poor prognosis. You need an amputation, you will never run again; one year later the patient is in a road race. You have 6 months to live, and 2 years later the patient is still alive and well.

A drive to succeed, a drive to survive, a drive to persevere is in all of us, not just athletes. We need to find this strength and utilize it in all we do. We all have the ability to move forward when obstacles are put in our way. We can be satisfied with just being there or rise to the occasion. Roddick was not just satisfied, to be in a fifth set, he rose to the Moment. He just fell short, but he can always hold his head up high. He gave everything he had when his body said otherwise.

As sport fans and members of society, we should always try and rise to the occasion. Take the lessons from sports, school or work and apply them to help uplift others.

Tennis Racquets for Kids.org does this on a regular basis. Whether its bringing encouragement to those that need a positive word, or collecting racquets and distributing them to those who are less privileged, this tennis charity is there for everyone. While the country is in a recession, many individual requests from families who want to put their kids in a park program, but have no racquets, have been honored. An old Wilson, Head, Prince, Babolat, Yonex tennis racquet is a special gift to someone in need. Help us , help others in their quest to play the game of tennis, when the economy or the environment says no. Break from your daily routine, to take the modest time, to help others.

Nadal's charity

Rafael Nadal's foundation is to open a tennis school in India, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The school will be a joint venture between the Rafael Nadal Foundation and Fundacion Vincente Ferrer, the Spanish arm of India-based non-governmental organization. Nadal also became a board member and Spanish advocate for the best buddies organization after capturing gold at the Olympics.

Real Equation to a Tennis Pro

In my opinion, to be great in tennis you cannot miss a step in the following formula. I have derived this formula from being around tennis at all its levels as well as other sports. Recently, I came accross several blogs discussing the benefit of crazy tennis parents to the probability of the kid turning pro. It is an interesting topic and I think it is an absolutely essential part of the formula.

1. Kid's ability to learn, interpret instruction, correct mistakes and maintain discipline - not without talent and a work ethic
2. Parent's 100% obsession with tennis and devotion to their kid and I mean pushing the kid to a great extent, teaching them how to work hard
3. Money for lessons, equipment and travel as it gets super expensive
4. Good coaching and good early basics because fixing bad technique takes away precious time
5. Homeschooling because its impossible to keep up a serious level in both, and I mean tennis should come first with school a close second
6. A setting with a great variety of players and a program such as a tennis academy
7. 100% parental supervision even if the kid is at an academy because that parent has to be there to connect the dots for the kids when they question their priorities
8. Thousands of hours of practice, everyday, since age 4, 5, 6
9. The earlier to start the better, sure there is a risk of burn out, but there is also the reward of developing necessary skills while kids absorb information like a sponge and the rest is just repetition and experience...10 years to be exact...so earlier you start, earlier they will break out
10. Name one top pro without a crazy, dedicated parent or uncle or someone close? Or someone who started tennis at 10 or later? Or someone who went to public school their entire life? You can't. There's your proof.

You have to read this awesome article looking closer into the role of crazy tennis parents and former/current pros!

And this really old article on burning out due to parental pressure.

Vote to end grunting

Here is an interesting article from Martina Navratilova's speech in Paris on things that should be done to improve tennis, like penalize players for a bad toss, and outlaw grunting during rallies...I think its too much, but hey, some one must agree with her. I think to stop grunting there should be an emphasis on teaching kids to breathe the right way when hitting early on. It isn't the easiest habit to break...and maybe there is a medical reason for it. We will need to look that one up. What do you think?

Wimbledon 2009 pre-preview

What is more exciting than grass court tennis? Tennis that showcases tradition, craftiness and mastery of the tennis game, British flags, tea time, all white, the Royal family and well...the mental toughness following those long rain delays. Wimbledon is it, the trophy all players want because it means history, it mean so much more than just another tournament or just one of the four grandslams. And this year, is no exception. There is a lot to look forward to following the French in terms of uncertain results and upsets and more history made, but one thing that is for certain, is that technology has allowed us to review our calls and move that retractable roof around so fans and players alike don't go crazy waiting out all the London rain delays.

As a pre-preview, we will review the events of the past week. For starters, #9 ranked teenager, Caroline Wozniacki won her 5th singles title in the final of Eastbourne (AEGON International) that pretty much all the big shots played. On top of that, designer Stella McCartney decided to drop Maria Kirilenko in favor of Wozniacki. McCartney's beautiful designs rarely made it past the first round on the beautiful Kirilenko and her patience came to an end in terms of promoting her brand, so Wozniacki, already sponsored by Adidas, has been relayed the special edition Adidas baton.

Another winner of the week is #42 Tamarine Tanasaguran. At 32, she is a tour veteran and two time champion of the Ordina Open. She defended her title, making it her 3rd career title by beating Safina in the semi's in two sets. A new champion this week is Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova who won her first title at the AEGON Classic by beating Li Na, who beat Sharapova. Li Na was last year's Wimbledon semifinalist and Rybarikova got a straight entry into the main draw with this win. Jankovic and Ivanovic continue with poor results, both being ousted early in their tournaments.

And now.... to the men's side of things. Dmitry Tursunov, the tour prankster, even while recovering from a May ankle surgery, won Eastbourne defeating Frank Dancevic. "Whether it's winning Wimbledon, Eastbourne, a Challenger of Futures event, or beating your grandmother in checkers, winning is always better than losing - so it's great to get through the week like this," is a straight quote from the guy with the sense of humor. This was Tursunov's first title on grass. Benjamin Becker beat a wild card Raemon Sluiter, to win Ordina Open. His win made him the 1st qualifier to win a tournament this season.

As for Wimbledon, what can be more disappointing than Nadal withdrawing and giving up chance to defend his title. He played two exhibition matches and the pain was too much, so he made the decision to withdraw from Wimbledon. As a silly statistic on the side, he will be the first since Ivanisovich not to defend his title. "I’m here and I'm just not 100%. I'm better than what I was a couple of weeks ago but I don’t feel right," Nadal said in his press conference. "To not play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions of my career." Of course the media jumped on this and the Federer Nadal rivalry and asked Fed what he thought. "Well, I mean, it's a little bit similar to Paris. We played the last four years against each other in Paris. We played the last three years against each other here at Wimbledon. So we definitely won't see the same finals again. So that's disappointing for me, of course, because I'd love to play him. He's my main rival. We've had some wonderful matches over the years, and especially the one here last year was the one that obviously stands out. So that we can't potentially maybe repeat that, uhm, is obviously sad. But it gives me it just shows me how lucky I've been, you know, that I haven't been injured over all those years, you know, that I've been able to keep it up. Even though I was No. 1, the one people were going after, I was there, I was not injured very often, and I was able to keep it up. It just shows it goes so quick. So it's unfortunate. I'm sad for him, because it must have been a very difficult decision to make," is what Roger Federer gallantly told the press.

A 6th Wimbledon for Roger and Venus? Perhaps!

Coverage starts Monday June 22cnd-July 5th, but if you work and don't have DVR, there is ESPN360.com. They will be covering 9 courts through the semis, live, thats 650 hours of tennis online!!!! Yay =) WimbledonTV will be broadcasting too, but with a subscription.

CHECK OUT THE DRAWS ON THE OFFICIAL SITE

50,000 balls - a formula for tennis

ESPN chose to air an hour long documentary film on father's day about junior tennis. A special gift no doubt for tennis fathers who invest time, money, hopes and patience into the process of teaching your kid to play tennis and win. To them it may have reaffirmed that they are not alone in doing so much all the time. Reality is, as a parent you have to do that much all the time and so do your kids. The documentary focuses on 4 junior tennis boys around 12 years of age and discusses the necessary steps it takes to understand the game. Judging by the title, one of the things it discusses is the formula of hitting 50,000 balls in your lifetime to just arrive at the "I get it" stage. For some that stage is reached by 12, for some 18. It is fair to say, the earlier the better and I would have to say it is true. Check out the website in case you missed the airing.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, FATHERS!

A reunion with Grass

The tennis caravan has traveled once again and this time the battles are to be won and lost on grass, another love for some and foe for others. Maria Sharapova got through her first round at Birmingham and a lot of people are looking to this tournament to really see where she stands as she herself claims grass to be her preferred surface. Andy Murray is through to the third round of Queens and is looking tough. So are Hewitt and Roddick, who are to play each other. Meanwhile Safin and Monfils withdrew due to injury - for Safin, the back and Monfils, the wrist. Some went to Germany for their reunion with Grass, like Tommy Haas, who seems to be on fire. He took out Tsonga to get to the quarters of the event. Djokovic is also still holding on to the Gerry Weber draw. French Open champ, Federer, pulled out of Queens and Gerry Weber and is recovering before his official debut. Rafael Nadal confirmed that he is having pain in his knees but also that it would break his heart to miss Wimbledon and that he is thinking he will be playing it this year. Watch out for a lot of good tennis coming your way this summer! So exciting!

Recap Roland Garros 2009

And so it is over...

For some it ended in anguish, for others in victory...players both reached, surpassed and underachieved their goals. But in the end there was only one champion per draw standing.

On the women's side there were a lot of upsets, and a lot of people shifted around in their rankings following the conclusion of the event. For starters, the comeback kid was Maria Sharapova who by beating Nadia Petrova, the seed in her second round opened up her draw and reached the quarterfinals. It was clear she was far from playing her best tennis but as always, tough as nails she fought for every point in that Maria way. She succumbed to Dominika Cibulkova in the quarters. Dominika had the run of her life no doubt. A whole foot shorter than Maria, she proved herself to be very tough on clay by being the ultimate counter puncher. Dominika's run was then terminated by Dinara Safina in straight sets. The two Serbian stars Jankovic and defending champion Ivanovic were ousted early on, both losing a ton of points from last year. Another unlikely semifinalist was Austria Samantha Stosur seeded 30. She created this destiny by taking out Elena Dementieva earlier on in the tournament. A lot of the young girls did really well. The tournament favorite perhaps was Serena, she usually is and Serena was beaten by Kuznetsova. A lot of controversy throughout the tournament on Serena's fitness and focus, but we are all human after all and she really is the best in so many ways. In the end, it was down to two Russians. Safina vs. Kuznetsova with Kuznetsova taking the trophy and adding it to her existing Us Open trophy in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Kuznetsova exhibited a sort of maturity and quiet confidence throughout the tournament, which was nice to see. The fact that the tournament had so many unexpected results only goes to show how tough red clay is and how it truly is survival of the fittest and perhaps the ones with the most patience, better serves and bigger spin. It is definitely exciting to see so many more competitive matches opposed to the predictable past few years in the women's slams.

To sum up the rankings. Safina remains No.1 even though she has yet to win a major. She is followed by Serena, Venus and Dementieva. Kuznetsova moved up two spots to No. 5. Jankovic is slipping down to No. 6, Zvonareva to No. 7 and last year's champion Ivanovic to No. 13. Youngsters Azarenka and Wozniacki now moved into the top 10 at No. 9 and 8. Closing off the 10 is Petrova. Cibulkova went up to No. 14 and Stosur to No. 18. Maria Sharapova also moved up to No. 78.

History was made on the men's side. There was so much anxiety going in to the tournament with whether it will be another Nadal-Federer final, whether Djockovic will pull it out or perhaps Murray get it together. Most best went to Nadal, who was going for his 6th consecutive French Open title. Few would discount Federer, seeing as his incentive was to be called the greatest player in history with a win at the only slam that has evaded him and a tie with Pete Sampras. However, the events took a turn to the more interesting side. Who would have guessed that Sweden's top player, Robin Soderling, would take out Nadal in straight sets and battle his way straight to the finals? Murray ended up losing in the Quarterfinals to Gonzales in 4 sets and looked not only off towards the end but almost expressing a lack of desire in being in that moment. Roddick, the only American left standing reached his goal of making it to the second week before losing to Frenchman Gael Monfils in straight sets. Monfils and Tsonga, made France proud by reaching the round of 16 and Quarters. Djockovic lost third round and Tommy Haas almost got a chance at Federer in the round of 16. But...in the end, it was Federer, the great, the king of tennis! Some may say his draw cleared out favorably, but Federer himself said that the French Open is not about getting lucky its really about being the best at the time of each match. This may be Federer's first French Open but it is his record-tying 14th singles Grand Slam title. When he was asked whether he would be happy if forced to retire tomorrow. He replied: "Yes, I would because I feel like I've put everything out there, you know. I fought for this moment and stayed positive and calm when things maybe weren't going so well, even though they were still going great.So yeah, I would. I always said it doesn't matter when I retire; I'll be at peace. I can walk away from this game tomorrow, but I don't choose to because I love this game too much. It hasn't appeared in my mind once yet that I want to retire. Tennis is not forever; I know that. But I'll try to definitely enjoy it as long as I can." Most critics, not just Nike, have to be convinced by now that this man is the Tiger Woods of tennis and he is only 27 years old. That means there is more to be seen and re-establishing himself as King at Wimbledon again probably means as much to him as it does to his fans and critics alike. Back to Roland Garros. Despite the finals being rather one way and lacking competitiveness, after imagining the grueling task of getting through 2 weeks of practices, 3/5 setters and emotional strains...both men should get a standing ovation.

In the men's doubles final, the duo of Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India seeded three, beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In the women's doubles final, the duo of Spaniards A. Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual also seeded three defended their title and beat Victoria Azarenka (women's quarterfinalist) and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1. Azarenka has numerous accolades now in doubles and in mixed doubles.

Speaking of mixed doubles, Americans Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan beat American Vania King and Brazilian Marcelo Melo 5-7, 7-6, 1-0.

Equally important are the junior results of the future stars of tennis. In the boy's draw Sweden apparently shined not only with Soderling's run but also with Daniel Berta's as he took down Frenchman Gianni Mina 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. On the girl's side, Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic was victorious over yet another impressive Russian, Daria Gavrilova with the scores 6-3, 6-2.


For a detailed look at the draws, check out the offical website.

VIVE LA FRANCE!! ON TO ENGLAND!!

Old Tennis Balls Bring New Life to Tennis

What do you do with your old tennis balls? Most of the time, you discard them. Think of the savings, if you could continue to reuse these balls. We have found a company, Rebounces, that shares our ideals in bringing the game of tennis to all, recycling and staying "Green".

Rebounces is a company using cutting edge technology to recharge dead tennis balls. Using the motto, " Replay, Reuse and Recycle", this company is contributing to the game of tennis throughout the world. Balls that are in good condition are recharged at reasonable prices. (100 balls@ $45.00, 250 balls@ $100.00, 500 balls@ $185.00).

Balls that are too worn out are recycled by donating them to adult care facilities & hospitals who can then use them in rehabilitation exercises and on the legs of walkers. Balls are also cut up and donated to schools to place on the bottom of furniture to protect floors and limit noise in class.

The Oprah Magazine, O, acknowledged the fine work of Rebounces, and featured them in an article in their June 2009 magazine.

Balls are being recycled back into play, curtailing the cost of tennis for all children and adults while helping to make the world a greener place!

Tennis Racquets for Kids, shares these ideals,by recycling tennis racquets to children, supporting the concept of bringing the game of tennis to all children.

The Roger Federer Wimbledon Ad

Watch this new Nike ad for Roger Federer's equation to greatness... =)

This is what is going on...

Maria Sharapova, stylish as ever, decided to give tennis a try before the French at the Warsaw Open, but was stopped early in the 2cnd round by Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine with the scores 6-2, 6-2.

Wimbledon has a CENTRE COURT CELEBRATION of their new retractable roof and featured an exhibition of Graff vs Clijsters and Henin vs Agassi. Clijsters and Agassi won their singles and Henman and Clijsters teamed up to beat the husband-wife team in a close set. Although this roof apparently takes almost 10 minutes to open and close, seeing Graff and Agassi play must have been a treat.

Dinara Safina has won the Madrid Open, securing her No.1 ranking and beating Caroline Wozniacki, who herself just won the tournament in Rome making it her 11th title at the age of 19. Safina is a favorite this year at the French Open after losing in the finals last year and propelling to No.1 throughout the year.

Russia’s Vera Zvonareva has been named a “Promoter of Gender Equality” by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Novak Djokovic took part in the "World Stars Football Match 2009" for Amade between Nazionale Piloti and Star Team for the children at Louis II Stadium on May 19, 2009 in Monaco.

John Isner withdrew from Roland Garros due to a case of mono.

Roger Federer finally did it. He beat Nadal in the finals of the Madrid Open in straight sets. That must have been a huge mental break for him and a great way to go into the French Open. Looks like Roger has been working hard.

The Injured waste no time while others break records

Maria Sharapova is still injured and has withdrawn from the next three of the bigger events in Italy and France, however she is everywhere, from magazines to billboards to tv channels. Just this past week she filmed a segment for ESPN's primetime news magazine, E:60. She will be appearing with Matt Stafford, the UGA quarterback who is up for top pick in this weekend's NFL Draft. She is to give him a makeover for the segment. Watch the preview.


Vera Zvonareva, who has been on a roll recently, is also out for the next 12 weeks or so due to an ankle injury. However, she too is making progress on the business side of things by signing with IMG marketing and representation.

The weeks all Russian final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix ended in a win for Svetlana Kuznetsova over the No.1 Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3. Kuznetsova overcame herself as she has lost the last six finals she has been in, and this is her first title since August of '07.

Another injury stricken woman, is 21 yr old Golovin, who has dropped from 12 to 1228 in the world due to back problems. First the Sports Illustrated shoot, now she has agreed to commentate the French Open this year for the French television broadcasting.

On the men's side, Hewitt hasn't had as much success as in the past, but he is steadily breaking records. Now in Germany at the BMW Open, he has reached his 500th career victory. Hewitt now has a 500-170 career record, which includes two major titles. The only two other active players with more than 500 wins are Roger Federer with 638 and Carlos Moya with 573. That is impressive!

David Nalbandian has fought as long as he could his biggest rival, his hip injury. After a year of pain and suffering he decided to succumb to surgery second week of May and miss the French Open. This won't be an easy comeback for the world's top 10.

Cool Technique Video Links

Ana Ivanovic's forehand in skeletal graphics

Andy Murray's volley's slow motion

Or if you want to look up some OTHER VIDEOS

Tennis Racquets For Kids Launches Press Release

Tennis Racquets for Kids- A non-profit organization dedicated to the distribution of donated tennis racquets to underprivileged children.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dr. Guy Mintz
Tennis Racquets For Kids
racquetsforkids@optonline.net

Do you have a collection of previously used tennis racquets that are collecting dust in your garage? Do you know of a child or group of children that have been unable to participate in the game of tennis due to economic restraints?

5/8/09 - Greenvale, NY - Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc. announces its non-profit organization dedicated to the distribution of previously owned tennis racquets to children who might otherwise be excluded from playing tennis due to financial constraints.

“Over the past few years we have switched the racquets we play with several times. After speaking with some of our friends we realized that we were not alone. We knew that we stumbled upon an opportunity to help other children get involved in the sport we were fortunate enough to be a part of” says Zachary Mintz, Co-Founder of Tennis Racquets for Kids.

“Tennis has enhanced our lives enormously, and we want to spread our love of the game to all children. By distributing new and used racquets from other players and sponsors, we will be helping other children realize their dreams of playing tennis.” says Paige Mintz, Co-Founder of Tennis Racquets for Kids.

The racquets come in all sizes, frames and grips. Children or organizations that qualify to receive donated racquets will fill out a form to ensure they are fitted for the right size racquet.

Donation box locations can be found on the Tennis Racquets for Kids website or arrangements can be made to ship the racquets directly to Tennis Racquets for Kids storage facility.

Tennis Racquets for Kids will reach out to local and national tennis organizations, governing bodies, tournament sponsors, schools, coaches and other entities to help facilitate the distribution of the donated racquets, and help make sure they get into the right hands.

The current economic crisis coupled with the rising obesity rates highlights the importance of charities that provide children of all economic levels with the tools to stay physically active.

About Tennis Racquets For Kids
Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the distribution of donated tennis racquets to individual children, or to organizations that represent children, in need of such racquets. Previously owned tennis racquets, which are often discarded, represent an exciting opportunity for children who might otherwise be excluded from playing tennis, due to economic restraints. The “recycling” of these racquets also contributes to the preservation of the environment

A website developed for kids by kids. Donate for the Love of the Game!

To learn more, visit website http://www.tennisracquetsforkids.com/ or check out the blog http://www.tennisracquetsforkids.blogspot.com/
See Full Press Release:

French Open Preview

One of the 4 most coveted trophies in the tennis world; a chance to play beautifully crafted artistic tennis on red clay; to pound shots with topspin and slide with grace or lack thereof side to side - the French Open is back for 2009! Paris is welcoming its premiere tennis stars, everyone is hopeful, the qualifying is underway, who isn't happy at the beginning of a tournament before the claws come out.

I am going to highlight some of my predictions for the final eight in red.

Here is a copy and pasted version of the first round match-ups:

Men

Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, vs. q-Marcos Daniel, Brazil

Igor Kunitsyn, Russia, vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili, Russia

Denis Gremelmayr, Germany, vs. Andrey Golubev, Kazakhstan

Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, vs. Ivo Karlovic (26), Croatia

Robin Soderling (23), Sweden, vs. Kevin Kim, United States

Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, vs. q-Santiago Giraldo, Colombia

q-Ilja Bozoljac, Serbia, vs. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany

Frederico Gil, Portugal, vs. David Ferrer (14), Spain

Nikolay Davydenko (10), Russia, vs. Stefan Koubek, Austria

Diego Junquiera, Argentina, vs. Paul Capdeville, Chile

Nicolas Massu, Chile, vs. Daniel Koellerer, Austria

Nicolas Devilder, France, vs. Stanislas Wawrinka (17), Switzerland

Nicolas Almagro (31), Spain, vs. Agustin Calleri, Argentina

Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, vs. Sam Querrey, United States

q-Peter Polonsky, Canada, vs. Philipp Petzschner, Germany

Florent Serra, France, vs. Fernando Verdasco (8), Spain

Andy Murray (3), Britain, vs. Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina

Mischa Zverev, Germany, vs. Potito Starace, Italy

Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, vs. Albert Montanes, Spain

q-Franco Ferreiro, Brazil, vs. Feliciano Lopez (28), Spain

Radek Stepanek (18), Czech Republic, vs. wc-Gaston Gaudio, Argentina

Yen-Hsun Lu, Taiwan, vs. ll-Mathieu Montcourt, France

Dudi Sela, Israel, vs. q-Jean-Rene Lisnard, Monaco

Jan Hernych, Czech Republic, vs. Marin Cilic (13), Croatia

Fernando Gonzalez (12), Chile, vs. q-Jiri Vanek, Czech Republic

q-Rui Machado, Portugal, vs. Kristof Vliegen, Belgium

Marcel Granollers, Spain, vs. wc-Josselin Ouanna, France

wc-Alexandre Sidorenko, France, vs. Marat Safin (20), Russia

Victor Hanescu (30), Romania, vs. Stever Darcis, Belgium

Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, vs. Gilles Muller, Luxembourg

q-Daniel Brands, Germany, vs. Robert Kendrick, United States

Wayne Odesnik, United States, vs. Gilles Simon (7), France

Juan Martin del Potro (5), Argentina, vs. Michael Llodra, France

Viktor Troicki, Serbia, vs. q-Lukasz Kubot, Poland

Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, vs. Martin Vassallo Arguello, Argentina

q-Fabio Fognini, Italy, vs. Igor Andreev (25), Russia

Dmitry Tursunov (21), Russia, vs. Arnaud Clement, France

Fabrice Santoro, France, vs. Christophe Rochus, Belgium

Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus, vs. Juan Monaco, Argentina

Julien Benneteau, France, vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9), France

Tommy Robredo (16), Spain, vs. wc-Adrian Mannarino, France

Evgeny Korolev, Russia, vs. Daniel Gimeno Traver, Spain

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, vs. Andreas Seppi, Italy

Maximo Gonzalez, Argentina, vs. Mardy Fish (22), United States

Philipp Kohlschreiber (29), Germany, vs. wc-Bernard Tomic, Australia

Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain, vs. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia

Brian Dabul, Argentina, vs. q-Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine

Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador, vs. Novak Djokovic (4), Serbia

Andy Roddick (6), United States, vs. wc-Romain Jouan, France

Oscar Hernandez, Spain, vs. Ivo Minar, Czech Republic

Ivan Navarro, Spain, vs. Andreas Beck, Germany

Marc Gicquel, France, vs. Rainer Schuettler (27), Germany

Jurgen Melzer (24), Austria, vs. Sergio Roitman, Argentina

wc-Guillaume Rufin, France, vs. Eduardo Schwank, Argentina

q-Victor Crivoi, Romania, vs. q-Simon Greul, Germany

Bobby Reynolds, United States, vs. Gael Monfils (11), France

James Blake (15), United States, vs. q-Leonardo Mayer, Argentina

Andrei Pavel, Romania, vs. Tommy Haas, Germany

Bjorn Phau, Germany, vs. Jeremy Chardy, France

Simone Bolelli, Italy, Tomas Berdych (19), Czech Republic

Paul-Henri Mathieu (32), France, vs. wc-Laurent Recouderc, France

Robby Ginepri, United States, vs. Pablo Andujar, Spain

Jose Acasuso, Argentina, vs. q-Santiago Ventura, Spain

Alberto Martin, Spain, vs. Roger Federer (2), Switzerland

Women

Dinara Safina (1), Russia, vs. Anne Keothavong, Britain

q-Vitalia Diatchenko, Russia, vs. Mathilde Johansson, France

Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spain, vs. Julie Coin, France

Ioana Raluca Olaru, Romania, vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27), Russia

Alisa Kleybanova (23), Russia vs. q-Polona Hercog, Slovenia

Ai Sugiyama, Japan, vs. Aravane Rezai, France

q-Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal, vs. Melanie South, Britain

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, France, vs. Zheng Jie (15), China

Victoria Azarenka (9), Belarus, vs. Roberta Vinci, Italy

Maria-Emilia Salerni, Argentina, vs. Kristina Barrois, Germany

q-Yvonne Meusburger, Austria, vs. Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic

Edina Gallovits, Romania, vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (22), Spain

Iveta Benesova (32), Czech Republic, vs. Julia Goerges, Germany

Varvara Lepchenko, United States, vs. Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia

Tamarine Tanasugarn, Thailand, vs. Camille Pin, France

Sara Errani, Italy, vs. Ana Ivanovic (8), Serbia

Venus Williams (3), United States, vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States

Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, vs. Sabine Lisicki, Germany

Elena Vesnina, Russia, vs. Severine Bremond Beltrame, France

q-Corinna Dentoni, Italy, vs. Agnes Szavay (29), Hungary

Dominika Cibulkova (20), Slovakia, vs. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine

Stephanie Foretz, France, vs. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium

Tamira Paszek, Austria, vs. Gisela Dulko, Argentina

Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, vs. Amelie Mauresmo (16), France

Nadia Petrova (11), Russia, vs. wc-Lauren Embree, United States

Anastasiya Yakimova, Belarus, vs. Maria Sharapova, Russia

wc-Olivia Sanchez, France, vs. q-Arantxa Rus, Netherlands

q-Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan, vs. Kaia Kanepi (19), Estonia

Li Na (25), China, vs. Marta Domachowska, Poland

wc-Emilie Loit, France, vs. Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland

wc-Irena Pavlovic, France, vs. Akgul Amanmuradova, Uzbekistan

Olga Govortsova, Belarus, vs. Vera Zvonareva (6), Russia

Jelena Jankovic (5), Serbia, vs. Petra Cetkovska, Czech Republic

Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia, vs. wc-Kristina Mladenovic, France

Jarmila Groth, Australia, vs. wc-Kinnie Laisne, France

ll-Mariana Duque Marino, Colombia, vs. Anna Chakvetadze (26), Russia

Alize Cornet (21), France, vs. Maret Ani, Estonia

q-Carly Gullickson, United States, vs. Sorana Cirstea, Romania

Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, vs. Jill Craybas, United States

Vera Dushevina, Russia, vs. Caroline Wozniacki (10), Denmark

Marion Bartoli (13), France, vs. Pauline Parmentier, France

Tathiana Garbin, Italy, vs. Ayumi Morita, Japan

Virginie Razzano, France, vs. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia

Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues (18), Spain

Samantha Stosur (30), Australia, vs. Francesca Schiavone, Italy

Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, vs. Urszula Radwanska, Poland

Jelena Dokic, Australia, vs. Karolina Sprem, Croatia

q-Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, vs. Elena Dementieva (4), Russia

Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Russia, vs. wc-Claire Feuerstein, France

Galina Voskoboeva, Kazakhstan, vs. Sania Mirza, India

q-Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia, vs. Melinda Czink, Hungary

Nathalie Dechy, France, vs. Sybille Bammer (28), Austria

Patty Schnyder (17), Switzerland, vs. Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine

wc-Olivia Rogowska, Australia, vs. Maria Kirilenko, Russia

Patricia Mayr, Austria, vs. Mariya Koryttseva, Ukraine

Rossana de Los Rios, Paraguay, vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (12), Poland

Flavia Pennetta (14), Italy, vs. Alexa Glatch, United States

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic, vs. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spain

Mara Santangelo, Italy, vs. q-Petra Martic, Croatia

Monica Niculescu, Romania, vs. Aleksandra Wozniak (24), Canada

Peng Shuai (31), China, vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain

Viktoriya Kutuzova, Ukraine, vs. q-Zuzana Ondraskova, Czech Republic

Virginia Ruano Pascual, Spain, vs. Nicole Vaidisova, Czech Republic

Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic, vs. Serena Williams (2), United States

Check out the official site: http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/index.html

Don't forget to watch some of this amazing tennis starting Sunday, May 24th, on tv, in the US it will be on Espn2, The Tennis Channel, NBC. http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/about/tvschedule.html

or stream it live on the many websites that offer that to you! I'll get some links up later.

AS THE FRENCH SAY IT: BONNE CHANCE!!!!!!!

Sore muscles means time to work out again!

You felt enthusiastic, you went out and gave it your best, you ran down every ball, you played 5 sets even though you haven't played even one consecutive set in a year. Next morning, you can't get out of bed.

There are two ways to look at sore muscles. You can be proud of your workout gone well and do it again even more intensely tomorrow, or you can curse the pain and swear to never again exercise as much at once. Sometimes muscles hurt that you didn't know you had, which is probably true in that they are muscles you didn't use. What muscle soreness really means is that your muscles are getting stronger. Of course pain should be moderate, otherwise you just may have injured yourself! "Mild soreness just a natural outcome of any kind of physical activity," says Rick Sharp, professor of exercise physiology at Iowa State University in Ames. "And they're most prevalent in beginning stages of a program."

Usually you feel the onset of pain in a day or two after your activity. Exercise physiologists call this delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is a common result of exercise that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is used to, like contracting while lengthening (bicep curls) or performing in an eccentric way (running downhill). The muscle tears microscopically and the inflammation that accompanies it, is what hurts.

There is no antidote to muscle soreness, everyone hurts when they subject themselves to exercises they haven't regularly done. Just imagine how body builders must feel, not even speaking of someone who has never exercised before! This is a stage the muscles have to go through in order to adapt and be ready for a repeat of that type of exercise.

What can you do if you are in so much pain you can't even raise an arm to brush your teeth? Ice is one. Rest is another. Advil will take the inflammation away. Massage will relax you're bunched up muscles. Heat in the form of those Thermacare bandages at CVS feels nice and so does stretching. The most effective thing to prevent soreness is to do more exercise after your given routine. Stretch out to cool down, jog it off or go for a swim. This will ease the pain. Of course you also don't want all that hard work to go to waste, so perhaps work out a different muscle group for a week or so and then return to the sore group. This will keep your muscles strengthening and build on your results.

Most importantly don't be discouraged through this pain. Treat yourself to a massage and get back out there. Be proud!

Source

Happy Mother's Day!

Tennisracquetsforkids would like to wish all the Moms a very happy day! Hopefully all the tennis moms will get to enjoy another year of lessons, tournaments, wins, losses, cheers, smiles, tears, crazy schedules and love through tennis and their kids!

Watch this link for what some of the top WTA stars had to say about their mothers.

Swinging at the net like Tarzan

Yes, this is a problem that all tennis players go through learning to volley, we all did it, we were wild at the net and untamed, we swung away at the ball, losing control in the way we setup, the way we made contact and the way we followed through. The ball would hit the fence, or the bottom of the net, or shank. It was an erratic stroke. How did we fix it? For one, you have to have the strength to hold your racquet head up and understand that the power comes from using the pace of the incoming shot and using your legs to send it back. Power can be created by swinging, sure, but only at the expense of control. There are high volleys that border on being an overhead that you have to swing at because its a physically tough shot to create pace on, but on regular volleys, try to watch yourself, and think compact swing and good footwork at all times. I always say that you need to pretend like there is a wall behind your back and that you are standing waist high in the middle of a cutout at the center of the table, you cannot drop the racquet head below the table. Here is a great way to work on this, but you will need props and a feeder.

1. Line your back flat against a wall
2. Place an object (ie. bench with a back, garbage bin) a foot to your right and two feet infront of you, that is at the height of your belly button, not any lower or higher.
3. Ask someone to feed you volleys right into your racquet.
4. You will be unable to swing back for that forehand volley due to the wall/fence in the back.
5. You will be forced to volley forward but won't be able to go wild without hitting the object in front and damaging your frame.
6. Ideally, you will want to make contact before the object and follow through over it and down. The 2 feet infront will allow you to step into it as well.
7. With every few volleys or so, move the object forward and practice moving up to it.
8. Do the same with the backhand swing.
9. In no time will you grasp the compact notion of the swing and have a clear picture of what a volley looks like in your mind.

Good luck!

Newsday: After Three Years in France, Tennis Phenom's Family Returns to USA

Here is a link to the article on Jan Silva, the tennis prodigy much talked about. It talks about the family sacrificing everything to move to an Academy in Spain for then 4 year old Jan, and now moving back to Sacramento, also to an academy. Interesting food for thought: Are kids under the age of 10 better off at academies, public schools, private schools? How do the parents deal with the pressure of their one child being treated so differently than their other two. Financially, is it possible to give your kids wholly into a sport of their choice without outside help?

Here is an old youtube link to Jan Silva.

Open or Closed Stance on my Forehand?

7 year old Bobby just spent 2 hours watching a rerun of one of the now many, great Nadal-Federer finals. He watched them both rip open stance forehands (Moya photo above) from various points on the court and was inspired to try to hit just like that at his 4 pm practice drill. Except the coach kept telling Bobby, step in to the ball, don't over rotate, close your stance, you're too far from the ball. Needless to say, this left Bobby confused. What to tell Bobby? That two options are better than one, choose accordingly.

Most little kids don't have the balance and the footwork to get to the ball, setup in open stance and then generate their own pace from there. Without a doubt they should be taught open stance, but by no means as the only option. Tennis has advanced today and there are a lot of old techniques that have been exhiled but hitting a closed stance shot is not one them. Yes, these days almost everyone hits an open stance forehand because the game has gotten faster, the balls land deeper with more pace and it is inefficient and nearly impossible to turn sideways and step into every shot, players today use their torso and their hips to rotate that shot back into the court without a full turn and a step in. However, when there is time to set up and to step in to a ball that is inside the court and infront of you, by hitting a closed stance shot, you'll hit a powerful, more accurate shot, keep the momentum moving into the court, which will make your play that much more aggressive and give your body a chance to get to net faster to win the point. Not to mention there is no fear of being pushed back by the ball since you're the one stepping into it.

How to do it?

- See the direction of the ball
- Anticipate its depth and speed
- Turn your body sideways
- Racquet back with butt of the racquet pointing at the ball as well as your other hand
- Get ready to transfer your weight from the back to the front foot
- Step forward into the shot, you want to be behind the ball, not sideways going straight into it
- Drive the ball
- Fully extend your arm towards the target before coming around and following through
- Try not to move your head throughout the stroke
- Your follow through should end up over your shoulder although some prefer to make a semi circle finishing at the elbow
- Finally, determine whether your shot was good enough to close into the net and finish off the point

Indian Wells Recap

On the women's side the title goes to Vera Zvonareva. Its about time she captured a big tournament. Safina's run to number one was slashed by Viktoria Azarenka, who with her performance was able to break into the WTA top 10 of singles and doubles. She went on to lose to Zvonareva in the semis. Zvonareva took down Ivanovic in the finals 7-6(5), 6-2 for the championship. Not only did she shine in singles, but she also captured the doubles title with Azarenka, beating Shahar Peer and Martinez Sanchez in the final. Overall it was a great showing for a lot of the youngsters and signals an exciting season ahead.

On the men's side, all hail Nadal. Once again the champion battled through the draw. Roddick ended up beating Djockovic in a full match, those who remember their meeting at the Australian will appreciate that. Roddick lost in the semis to Nadal. Federer on the other side of the draw beat Gonzales in 3 sets, then beat Verdasco in two for the quarters and lost to Murray 6-1 in the 3rd. In the finals, Nadal destroyed Murray 6-1, 6-2. This was the 3rd consecutive time he took out Murray. Can the guy be stopped? The surprise on the men's side came in doubles, when the 1 seeded Bryan Brothers lost to unseeded Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram in the semis. The Bryan brothers were the only seeds to even make it to the semis as there were a lot of upsets and the title went to childhood friends Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick in what must have been a very exciting final with the score of 3-6, 6-1, 14-12.

Tournament and News Recaps

Sony Ericsson Open:
Men's Champion:
Andy Murray defeated Djockovic 6-2, 7-5 in the finals and Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 in the semis. En route to the finals, Djockovic defeated Federer in the semis 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and the top seed Nadal was upset by Del Potro in the quarters 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3).
Women's Champion:
19 year old Viktoria Azarenka defeated an injured Serena Williams 6-3, 6-1 for her third title. Serena beat Venus in the semi's 6-3 in the third. Jankovic lost 2cnd rd to Gisela Dulko after a bye and Safina lost 3rd to Stosur after one win. Azarenka beat Kuznetsova to get into the finals against Serena 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.


Safina became World #1 Arpil 20th. With Serena's injury and first rd lost at the Andalucian Experience, Safina was able to overtake her points. Here is what she had to say about it:
"It's a great honor to reach the number one ranking and it is a dream that every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares. It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach the number one ranking (in 2000) and I am happy to share this achievement with him. There's no question that while I am very proud of my results over the past year, I would have liked to reach this achievement in a different manner. I hope to prove to everyone over the coming months that I merit the honor of being world number one."

Andalucia Tennis Experience WTA Tournament:
Jelena Jankovic was able to regroup after her last two tournament 1st rd losses and beat fifth seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 3-6 6-3 for her first title of the season.

MPS Group Championships:
A promising teenager, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeated Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-2 to win this event, making it her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour career title

Family Circle Cup:
Another promising teenager captured this prestigious title as an underdog. Germany’s Sabine Lisicki beat fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4 in the final as well as Bartoli and Venus Williams en route, to claim her first career WTA title and jump from the 60s to the 40s in the rankings.

Monte Carlo Masters Series:
Nadal beat Djockovic in the final 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 but didn't play his best according to his team.

Barcelona Ladies Open:
Unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci beat defending champion Maria Kirilenko 6-0 6-4 to win her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

Married!
Both Roddick and Federer tied the knot this past week. Federer married his long time girlfriend and expectant mother Mirka Vavrinec in a small ceremony in Switzerland. Andy Roddick married his swimsuit model girlfriend Brooklyn Decker in Texas.
http://tennis-atp.blogspot.com/2009/04/photos-andy-roddick-brooklyn-decker-on.html
http://tennis-atp.blogspot.com/2009/04/photos-roger-federer-and-mirka-wedding.html

Burn out victims inspired:
Kim Clijsters is back in training after she refound the "desire" as well as Gaston Gaudio, a former French Open Champion. Gaston Gaudio, who is ranked 966th after nearly retiring for 2 years, won his first ATP match in two years at the Barcelona Open. Gaudio said earlier this year that he had rediscovered his enthusiasm for the game.

Marketing and Advertising:
Aside from Jankovic signing with a Chinese company for 5.1 millions dollars, Sharapova sketching dresses for the French Open she may or may not play and promoting Unilever's dandruff shampoo called Clear and Cole Haan sports attire...here is a video worth watching
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/multimedia/default_video.asp?videoid=1151 and this one too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9G2iIYkPSg

Television News:
Reality TV, we can't live without it. Martina Hingis will now be joining Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles as a reality tv star. Hingis has been in London filming ITV’s Beat the Star, a show that pits a star against a member of the public in physical and mental challenges. Maybe it will pop on the internet for those of us that don't have ITV.

Justine Henin Gives Back to Kids

Justine Henin may be the only number one to retire at such a young age due to "burn out" but she doesn't cease to impress everyone with her gifts. Henin just launched an official website for her non-profit organization that supports different projects aimed at kids suffering from serious illnesses like cancer. You can see for yourself at www.justineforkids.be.

Justine can be quoted off her site: "After several months of work, I am very happy to launch my new charity organisation, Justine For Kids. Children living with illness face many painful and difficult obstacles. It's always necessary to have the desire to fight, to hope and the spirit to believe in dreams. This is the message of Justine For Kids which wants to bring a little comfort to the children who suffer."

In addition, the RTBF tv channel has also fallen for the gift of Justine Henin and is making her into a television star. Reportedly, she will be on a show called De twaalf werken van Justine Henin, which translates as The twelve works of Justine Henin, in which she will have to take on 12 various challenges from modeling, to cooking to becoming a part of a soccer team. She was also given a part in a popular soap opera called Plus belle la vie, to play herself. But, that is not all, she will also be a VJ, and start hosting a music show that revolves around world renowned singer Lara Fabian.

While we are on the subject of Belgian tennis greats, it cannot go unreported that the speculations about Kim Clijster's return to the WTA have been confirmed as true. She was seen training on and off the court for several hours each day with a coach and trainer and she has officially asked the WTA for wild cards into the hard court events, namely Toronto, Cincinnati and the US Open. "I don't need to be number one again. I have done that and I don't need to do it again. I am just going to see how things evolve", says Clijsters. Who knows maybe she was inspired by Jelena Dokic and will herself in turn inspire Justine Henin to give it another try.

Tennis is Growing!

The nets have just been put back up on the local courts here in the north east, and already the courts are packed with recreational players. Tennis may not have the popularity of Sunday night football or March Madness, but the argument could be made that more people play tennis, than watch it, and those that are true fanatics do a lot of both.

Each year the USTA and the Tennis Industry Association call upon the Taylor Research Group to report some statistics on how many people are hitting the courts out there. Apparently the number is far greater than 15 years ago. Last year 27 million recreational players got out there; that's 12% more than in the last few years and 7%more than just last year. The study also showed that 5.62 million players report playing around 21 times a year and another 5.91 million people take up tennis as something new each year. This is not even counting the rest of the world and the professional and junior athletes.

Another clear indicator is the fact that ball sales have gone up %15 percent since 2003. Perhaps the great athletes we have today, alongside the marketing efforts and the belles of the court have all contributed to the popularity. But then again there are those that briefly follow it but love to get out and play more than they know. The most important thing is participation. Tennis is a family game and a game for people of all ages. This is why Tennis Racquets for Kids exists; everyone should have the opportunity to play because tennis is great!

Practice Makes Perfect, Preparation Makes Opportunities

  In this day and age, talent as natural ability and work ethic translated as tons of practice are absolutely necessary ingredients. Close behind that, are motivating factors which could be parents or coaches, or maybe just internal drive. Financial support is necessary, because lets face it, lessons, court time, travel, tournament entries, and equipment all cost money that kids don't make themselves.   Most players are on board with the above essentials and only few rise to the occasion.

This is where preparation makes the difference. What you ate, how fit you are off the court, how strong you are and how flexible. Like all other sports, tennis is no exception, you have to swing the racquet for hours a day but then you have to hit the gym, run some miles, do your stretches and try to fuel your body with the right things. Tennis Racquets for Kids believes in the essentials and emphasizes the importance of fitness for tennis and good health.

Stretching: 

Before you play it is recommended by experts to do dynamic stretching as opposed to static stretching. If static means staying in one place then dynamic is the opposite, it is stretching while moving. The old way, of holding one stretch for a few seconds actually reduces performance of the muscles because it doesn't fire up the muscles rather relaxes them and for a sprint and stop sport like tennis, that is bad. So jogging a few laps and proceeding with walking up and down lunges and high knees across the court and torso twists is more the way to go. Once you're done playing, then it is a good idea to sit down and do some still stretches holding each for 30 seconds or so to cool down the muscles that were just tensing for the past hour or so.

Strength: 

You have to be strong in tennis, even if you're only ten. While it is a good idea to hire a personal trainer,this is not practical and most people cannot afford one. You can pay a visit to a bookstore to evaluate the many good tennis exercise books on the shelves that will give you the same exercises a trainer will. Kids should work out with supervision.  The workout can take place anywhere; in the house, apartment or backyard, but it has to be done correctly. Strength building exercises should be done twice a week. Things like lunges, planks, squats, abs and push ups. You don't even need weights, your body weight and a medicine ball with a rubber band will do most of the time. These exercises should be done in several sets and made up of several repetitions. 

What happens when you play and you're weak? Your muscles get tired sooner, you get out of breath, the lactic acid crawls into the muscles and you stop bending your knees, you stop accelerating your arm on your serve and you are no longer capable of running down the balls and keeping it in play long enough to win points. Strong muscles also help prevent injuries and give you the force you need to create power and play at a higher level.  

Speaking of injury prevention, there are injury prevention exercises that should be done before practice with a rubber band. These will ensure that the correct muscles are warmed up with several sets of restraining repetitions. If you are not sure what these terms mean, you can always ask a coach or look it up online, there is a ton of material written on the subject.<

Fitness: 

All sports require off court fitness to make you better, faster,and stronger. This is necessary if you want to compete at a high level. Some people play tennis to get fit. These exercises are good for all children and can help fight fight childhood obesity if done on a regular basis.

  If you want to be a competitive tennis player good fitness is essential. It is necessary to help grind out those long matches. You need to do long distance running of several miles a week and short timed miles once a week. Long distance running is not very good for tennis players because it builds the long lean muscles they really do not use. Long distance once a week is for stamina, the muscles you want to build are quick fire sprinting ones. Biking is also a great way to get those muscles working. Interval workouts are the best for tennis, where you sprint for 30 seconds then jog for 3 minutes. In tennis its also important to be able to move in all four directions, up back and side to side. Shuffle sprints are very important as well. Last but not least recommendation is plyometrics. There is nothing better for tennis. That involves a little bit of jump rope and a lot of jumping and sprinting, hurdles and boxes. Don't forget to give yourself days off and alternate the workouts to give yourself time to regroup and prevent injuries!

Food:

Athletes need to eat, they need energy and they need muscles. Unless you're playing defense on a football team, you need to be light enough to fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee too. Which means eating right. Athletes need carbs but need to limit the fat, because the fat won't let the body use the carbs. If you watched the Olympics and saw the special on what Michael Phelps eats, you would be shocked, but athletes like that burn more calories than we can imagine. It is good to eat a while before you play and pack snacks if you plan on playing a while. Good to go for lean meat protein and low fat foods. Hydrating is perhaps the most important, since tennis is not only physical but also playing in hot weather typically. 16-20 ounces of Propel throughout an hour sounds ok. Visits to Starbucks for coffee are not at the top of the list as caffeine is a stimulant and can make you jittery. Fruits and nuts make perfect snacks while you play. After you finish with your tennis for the day, eat within 30 minutes, it will fit in the metabolic schedule your body maintains to get you refueled and ready to play again.

This little intro to preparation sounds like a lot, but really everything listed are just small elements of the whole picture of competitive tennis. Its hard to find the time to do everything because of the hectic lives we lead, kids lead, but at the same time its a very rewarding thing, as all these things are not work in a cubicle or lessons at schoold behind the desk. These activities should be fun and benefit the overall health of your body. These things are for your tennis, but even more so for you. So think of it as you time and don't be lazy.

Check out this really great fitness resource http://fitspott.typepad.com/fitspott/

Visit Tennis Racquets For Kids to help children play tennis.