Got Tennis? It’s good for you

"An apple a day keep the doctor away" - so does Tennis. Just what are the benefits of tennis on the body? Immediately you think it is exercise, so it must get you fit. Correct! We looked into some scientific proof to attest to that.

Referencing something published in the Journal of Sports Medicine by Babette M. Pluim, et al. (2007) in a study entitled “Health Benefits of Tennis”, we explore what the relationship is between diseases that affect the lazy lifestyle such as obesity, hypertension, and heart disease and bone problems to playing tennis.

This particular study referenced over 84 articles on the subject of disease and tennis. Running, biking and swimming are among the favorite types of exercise known to have significant health benefits, however not everyone participates in these over the course of a lifetime. Tennis is one of those sports you can play forever, is played by millions of people worldwide and is therefore an ideal target for the improvement of health for the general population. Tennis is also not a continuous exercise at the recreational level, but is characterized by short bursts of energy, making it a highly intense form of exercise. Over time the recommended dose of exercise has changed, and mostly grown from 20 minutes to 30 minutes of moderate intensity daily. Although it has grown, it is also proven that short intense periods of exercise are as effective as longer continuous types of exercise. Tennis makes the cut.

In conclusion, this study produced many numbers and equations and summed up the fact that tennis and health are positively associated. Not only are there reduced risks for heart disease, obesity and hypertension, but since it can be played long term, it increases bone density in the playing limbs. Basically, people who choose to play tennis have many important health benefits. Aerobic fitness for one, lower body fat percentage for two, a reduced risk for disease three and lastly, improved bone health. All you have to ask yourself is, “Got Tennis?”

Tennis Racquets for Kids found this article at:

http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/41/11/760#BIBL

Sacrifice for bigger better things in life

"RSVP: I am sorry I can't make your birthday party, I have a tennis tournament"; "I will be celebrating my birthday on the road, probably at Applebee with my coach"; or the infamous Facebook group "This weekend, did you...No, I had a tournament".

When kids dedicate themselves to a sport, it often comes with many social sacrifices. Whether it leads them to homeschooling or traveling for weekends at a time - in all case scenarios they give some other part of their average life up such as going to late movies, attending birthday parties or trick or treating on the weekend of Halloween. At the time each of these events seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity and the parents and the sport take the role of bad guy and "punisher" when kids are told they can't be like their school friends. Matter of fact is that these are sacrifices that are not pin pointed at one kid here or there, they are shared by all kids pursuing tennis or anything else with high goals in mind. In most cases missing holidays is unavoidable due to the fact that most tournaments are hosted during and around holidays because those days allow kids to travel without missing school. After all, it builds character. Reasonable sacrifice is a necessary ingredient to being really good at what you do, another ingredient is having demanding parents.

I know from personal experience and talking to many players who went from junior to pro in the past 10 years, that of course you regret missing your ordinary could be life, but you find your social life on that tennis circuit and if you make it big one day, the sky is the limit for the attention you receive, parties you attend and cakes you are baked. Still doesn't mean you'll be at home, but at that point you're one experience will top the other.

Just yesterday Ana Ivanovic turned 21, during the Sony Ericsson in Doha and the sponsors threw her a birthday party. Still on the road and I am sure with limitations due to her tennis schedule but the attention and press it garnered must have been a pleasant surprise. Too bad she got sick and pulled out of the tournament. Check out her cool Babolat looking cake!


Check out Halloween Serena Williams style from her blog:

Grand Slams, Master Series and NCAAs aren’t the only to boast online tennis now

Launching in January 2009 is the new live streaming site TennisTV.com. For fanatics it will offer over 700 matches, tournament highlights and player interviews as well as special on and off court features from over 40 tournaments world wide. This is a great idea given the capabilities of our mobile phones and up and coming city wide wireless networks, the real tennis fans will be able to stream live tennis not just from their home and work stations but from other devices and locations. It would be awesome if these websites had stro-motion features of technique that coaches could use on their phones. Time will tell, for now this is wonderful news.

Roger Federer - a gem is worth a fortune $$$

Roger Federer is now the biggest all time money maker in men’s tennis. He has now surpassed Pete Sampras with career earnings to $43.3 million as he advanced to the third round of the Madrid Masters Tournament last week. According to Sports Business Journal, Federer has one of the most lucrative (supposedly up to 13$ million a year of endorsements) Nike contracts among Nike represented stars such as Tiger Woods ($40 million a year) and Lebron James (7 year $90 million deal). According to the paper, Federer also costs a million dollars for an exhibition in Asia during off season. Today even with these figures, arguably the best player in tennis history, Federer, may even be underpaid compared to greats in other sports.

Sandy start to the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha bay

Perhaps this was a glimpse of the future of tennis or maybe even a highlight of the present creative tennis promotions that feature top players playing on crazy courts, but the creativity of breath taking opportunities today’s stars get must have the past champions like Chris Evert wishing she was born a few decades later. A while back Andre Agassi hit with Federer on the rooftop of the only 7 star hotel called the Burj in Dubai. This time around it’s the ladies turn to hit in an exotic location, a desert island to be specific. Palm Island of the Arabian Gulf was staged for a tennis showdown when the only mise en scene was a purple and green tennis court built for the occasion for the two tennis belles, Ivanovic and Dementieva. Events like this are not only a great way to gain new fans but also to promote the sport itself, especially on the women’s side. The Championship is to start today, Nov. 4^th.

Ivanovic & Dementieva in Doha, Qatar

Agassi & Federer atop the Burj in Dubai

Does tennis racquet grip size matter? Maybe not.

Tennis players often fret about the type of racquet they should get and the grip size that they should order for their new racquet. Often times they will test out several different frames, and thanks to the web it’s as easy as going to a website and getting a front door delivery the next day. Racquets come in different shapes and colors, varying in weight and balance, all of which are in part marketing schemes but also attempts by manufacturers to involve studies and come up with different racquets that fit the needs of different types of players. Players usually end up picking the ones that feel the best, the ones that give them the best power or control, or whatever they are seeking and then they move onto ordering grip size.

Does grip size matter as much as your racquet choice? Tennis magazines always say that the wrong grip size can lead to tennis elbow and other overuse injuries, but is that really the reason? In order to find out more, I looked in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. I came upon the following study by George Hatch et. al (Jul, 2006) “The Effect of Tennis Racket Grip Size on Forearm Muscle Firing Patterns”. Now that is too scientific for us, but in short, these scientists hypothesized that ¼ of an inch change in either direction from the recommended grip size won’t affect the forearm. Keep in the mind the notion of the correct grip size was developed by a guy named Nirschl who believed that depending on the grip size being bigger or smaller a player would have to squeeze their hand around it harder or looser and overwork or under work their forearm. Nirschl then recommended measuring grip size by determining the distance from the tip of the player’s ring finger to their proximal hand crease, and the resulting distance was to be the grip size, which would have been neither too big nor too small. This idea was then adopted by racquet manufacturers.

In this particular study, these scientists took a group of D1 and D2 college players and had them hit one handed backhands with 3 different grip sizes while connected to these little wires that gave a reading of how their forearm muscles reacted to the sizes. They concluded that the forearm muscles didn’t show a difference in reaction to 3 different grip sizes and that it really doesn’t matter what grip size you use as long as you can grip the racquet. By extension, they also don’t think grip size can be blamed for injuries like tennis elbow since the muscles work the same regardless of size. Now as a player, you know that grip size matters in terms of comfort, so having read this, and taken all risks aside, just like you evaluate your new frame, in the end, its best to choose whatever is most comfortable.

This is also good news for people that do not have the option of being selective about racquets and grips, as is the case of people using Tennis Racquets for Kids, if grip size doesn’t matter and you can get your hands on a frame, you’re half way there!

Have an extra racquet? Give it away! Tennis is more than just a sport!

There is one thing that is particularly true of great athletes and that is that they begin working on their skill sets as children. Sports provide people with such a great range of activity, collective solidarity at games and a fun healthy past time, professional careers for some, and the best part is that your commitment can really be taken to any level desired. Not to mention, they can be picked up at any age and there are things to work on and perfect throughout a lifetime which makes the pursuit an exciting journey.

That is not to say that learning a sport comes as easy to adults as it does to children. Just like kids learn languages with ease up to a certain age, they learn the fluidity of motions that contribute to proper technique, the feeling of anticipation that comes with being in a given environment from an early age and they forever have the advantage of time spent practicing and years spent competing over athletes that start later in life. When kids pursue sports they have boundless options still ahead of them ranging from playing in the pros, to college scholarships and overall benefits to their health, discipline and development. While not everyone may be cut out for sports, everyone should pursue sports while they are young because it extends so much farther than just highlighting innate abilities and learning how to play but becomes something that stays with you for life. Telling your kid, "You’ll learn when you can pay for it" may cut off a world of dreams and opportunities.

Unfortunately, most sports are quite expensive. Tennis for one hones so many great qualities in kids and opens so many doors later on for them as young adults, however, not without an investment first. It is a pricey sport to play with expensive private instruction, court time depending on location, equipment and you can never discount the parental dedication and time out it takes to get kids to their lessons and practices. But regardless of the goals you set, if you choose to stick with it then even reaching for the moon and landing among the stars has tremendous pay off. Anna Ivanovic, the current WTA #4, has said in interviews that she used to practice in empty pools growing up in Serbia and that it has been an important experience that has made her into the player she is today. Ivanovic is an example of doing without to keep the dream of becoming a professional player alive. Even if sacrificing for tennis didn’t get Ivanovic to top 4 in the world, it is a trade for life that you can always fall back on whether you teach, get a free education or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Today, there is a lot of awareness of importance of sports like tennis for children and the issues facing them in terms of inability to pay for it. It is for this reason that there are great aid programs sprouting up for these families to seek out and take advantage of. Programs comprised of people that love the sport so much that they want to share it with those that can’t afford it by giving back. Programs giving hope to those on whom the unfairness of life plays out, even if it is solely by providing some of the expensive equipment so that kids can get out there and start hitting those tennis balls. Tennis Racquets for Kids is exactly that kind of organization.

The great tennis champion, Bill Tilden has once said, "Tennis is more than just a sport. It's an art, like the ballet. Or like a performance in the theater. When I step on the court I feel like Anna Pavlova. Or like Adelina Patti. Or even like Sarah Bernhardt. I see the footlights in front of me. I hear the whisperings of the audience. I feel an icy shudder. Win or die! Now or never! It's the crisis of my life."

How beautiful and true that is, and how worth it makes picking up a racquet and embarking on a life long love affair, or better yet giving away a racquet so that someone else can find that same love of the game!