Christmas Gifts For The Amateur Or Budding Tennis Player

If you have a young friend or family member who plays tennis, you would have noticed that they are really passionate about their game. Most people who play tennis take it very seriously as it is a source of great enjoyment and recreation for them. They will absolutely love it if you gave them a gift that is related to tennis.

If you however do not know much about tennis, this article will give you enough pointers to accumulate some tennis related gift ideas.

Consider a tennis gift basket A gift basket is when you buy a lot of items with the same theme and then put it in a basket. Instead of a basket in this case, you can use a nice sporty tennis bag and fill it up with goodies such as tennis balls, wrist bands, towels, a couple of sports drinks or anything else that is related to the game of tennis. Other things to include would a good tennis magazine or maybe even some DVDs on proper tennis technique.

Sneakers Tennis players usually wear very specific footwear. Go to a sports store and specifically ask for tennis shoes. You can then choose a pair that will be right in size and style for the person that you want to gift it to.

Apparel Just like shoes, tennis also has separate apparel available for the sport. You will find t-shirts and shorts that are made up of very special material that are very porous in nature. Tennis related apparel is usually a bit more expensive than regular sportswear although they will be well appreciated when received as a gift.

Tennis Racquet This would probably be the most obvious gift for the tennis player although you will most probably buy them a racquet that they cannot really use. Tennis players have very specific tastes when it comes to a racquet. There are so many things that are involved in buying a tennis racquet such as weight, balance, tension level and so on. Your best bet would be to buy them a gift certificate at a good sports shop so they can buy their own tennis racquet after sampling it out.

DVD Every tennis player has an idol. Depending on who it is, search online and look for DVDs related to that idol. You will find that a lot of stores sell collectors items which will showcase great matches or clippings of that particular player. Your tennis player friend or family member will absolutely love this gift as they love to watch their hero again and again.

Tickets to a tennis game Depending on where you live, there might be a major ATP event at a tennis center close by. If there is one, you can definitely buy tickets to that tournament as tennis lovers will love to watch their stars in person. You can look up the ATP official website to look at the schedule to see if there is one close to your city.

Coaching lessons This is more of an innovative gift that would be greatly appreciated, especially if one is trying to improve their game. Go to a local tennis club and pay for a few lessons with which your friend or relative could try to perfect or improve their game.

With the gifts above, you can definitely please your tennis loving friend this Christmas.

Nature Or Nurture Tennis Champions

John Newcombe, former world tennis No 1 and former Australian Davis Cup captain, once said that the top Australian players of his era believed that it was their destiny to become tennis champions.

Boris Becker told me that two weeks before achieving his first Wimbledon title (in 1985 when seventeen years old), he felt as if it were predetermined.

As a seventeen year old, Ivan Lendl, who, prior to Pete Sampras, held the No 1 spot longer than any other player in history, was convinced that he would turn himself into the best player in the world. He would even tell you so.

When asked by the media about his chances of winning his first US Open title (in 1975), Jimmy Connors’ response was: “There are 127 losers in the draw — and me!”
Jimmy won.

What these former greats had in common was an unshakeable certainty that they would win. It is a trait that is shared by all top sports people.

But a question that has always fascinated me is: Are such champions born, or are they made?

Were Newccombe, Becker, Lendl and Connors born to rule the tennis world? Or did they become champions because of the choices they made? Was their success predetermined, as suggested by Newcombe and Becker? Or was it a result of a single-minded dedication to making themselves the very best, as implied by Lendl and Connors?

Are champions a product of nature? Or of nurture?

To be a true champion at tennis or any other sport requires very special qualities. These qualities or attributes can be divided into two categories — the physical and the mental. It is my contention that physical attributes are predominantly a product of chance. They are determined genetically.

For instance, some people are born with a body structure conducive to speed, others to strength, and so on. In this sense, a very large proportion of the population are excluded, from birth, from ever winning an Olympic gold medal as a sprinter or a weightlifter.

It is the same with tennis. The physical attributes that are required to become a champion player are such things as good hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes, and leg-speed. Without question, these attributes can be developed to their fullest potential with hard work and effective training methods.

But most people are excluded from becoming the best tennis player in the world, no matter how much time they spend attempting to reach their physical ceiling of potential.

Does this mean, then, that champions are born? Were Newcombe, Becker, Lendl and Connors so physically superior to everyone else that becoming the best was just a mere formality?

Certainly not. All four were exceptionally gifted physically, but in my view, there were other players of the same eras who were more gifted than they were.

What separated them from everyone else were their mental attributes: their will to win, their determination, their perseverance, their ability to remain calm under presuure, their ability to bounce back from disappointments, and the belief that they deserved to win — all attributes that not one of us is born with, but that each one of us has the power to develop. The only choice is whether we want to or not.

It is in this sense that, given the necessary or essential physical attributes as a starting point, all champions are not only made — they are self-made.

how to choose suitable tennis shoes

Tennis sport is a kind of sport that about balance. When you play tennis, it demands to keep balance in running and hitting. Even so, few people know or pay attention to the balance between feet and shoes. Actually, it is of great importance whether your shoes conform with your feet and the type of court. Tennis sport attracts by upper body, but a prerequisite to play tennis well is good run. If your tennis shoes are not fit your feet, that may not only attract baseboard blisters easily, but also hurt your ankles and knees. Otherwise, a pair of unfit tennis may have negative effect on you when you running on the pitch. However, if your shoes are suitable with your feet and the court, the risk of injury can reduce greatly. Besides, the suitable shoes help you do your best in the match.

Therefore, to choose a pair of suitable tennis shoes is very important to you. So how to choose them? Firstly, you should understand your feet belong to which type. In general, there are three kinds of basic feet types. It is not difficult to judge the type of your feet. You need not to consult doctor or use special instrument, we can do it at home. When you takeing a shower or washeing feet, take a close look at the feet mark in the wet floor. If your footprints are crescent shape, and a narrowband connects the forefoot and heel or ever there is an interspace between yout forefoot and heel, so your feet belong to supinator. Supinator is always rather wide generally, so shoes should provide more exceptional space for forefoot and heel. In addition, supinator do not favor to reduce vibration. Because the feet’ flexibility are not very well, so the equirement of damping performance for shoes is higher.

If your footprints are rather full, then your foot may be flatfoot. Just as its name implies, this kind of foot can wear out the front of shoes easily. So ankle boots or the shoes can provide extra stability in front-end may suitable for the flatfeet. There is another type of feet, which we call standard feet. A pair of standard feet have the standard size arches. People who has standard feet is lucky, as this type of feet can be called universal feet. They are almost suitable to every kind of shoes, and the risk of injury is relative lower than other kinds of feet.

So as we have known which kind of feet we are, next step, you need to know the structure of shoes. In order to buy a pair of suitable shoes, you should know the following four aspects of shoes and its functions at least. Upper of a shoe is the upper part of a shoe, and also it is the the most eye-catching part of shoes. Upper of a shoe is always made of leather, dermatine or other material. When you try shoes on, be sure that their upper is not too tight. A pair of really suitable shoes are fitted very comfortable to instep.

While playing tennis, if your toes are always moving, so you need to find a pair of shoes that their forepart are more durable. If the upper of a shoe is special dealed with, then it can increase the wear resistance and extend wearing life span.

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Nadal Leg Injury Forces Him To Skip Dubai Tennis Tournament

It was due to leg injury that forced Nadal to skip this great tour and gave some disappointment to tennis fans. They will really miss this fast pace action star in the field of ATP tournament. One of Nadal sports friend top-ranked Spaniard says about his injury that he will be soon back on the field to play for Spain in the next month for the Davis cup. This will be the match of first round where Nadal will be able to strike back to his current performance.

Nadal is trying his best to recover as he has received an intense caring treatment on his right leg last Sunday in the ABN Amro final match which he lost against Any Murray. But many of tennis critics believe that Nadal leg injury is linked to his right knee injury that made him unable to miss last year Davis cup final. It can be problematic for this great player this season as this is the time of great tennis tournament which will give him a chance to print some unrealistic Tennis results. It will also bring great sport for tennis lovers who always expect something extraordinary from Nadal. He should recover from this injury soon as he will have to play defending champion against Serbia in the coming Davis cup from 6-8 months but there is no confirmation that he may participate in Dubai Tennis Championships, start on next Monday.

Nadal fans are praying for his recovery as his doctor Angel Ruiz-Comoro said that Nadal has got a strained a ligament under his knee while playing against Murray. But it was not a serve injury as he should fit soon. He is regarded as the first Spaniard who has won Australian Open beating the most talented player of his day Roger Federal in the final of last month. Another player Bjorn Bjorg has won six major finals just in his 22nd birthday while Nadal is also declared as the first man to complete a Grand Slam by sweeping four major tours in the same year. He has also won four French Opens and title of Wimbledon. He always tries to amuse his fans with great sport.

There is much more about these great star and recent tennis events of this season. If you want to get latest information and tennis livescore of all these events, you need to stay in touch to tennis online sites to get details related to any type of sport event. If you do not know any reliable and most accurate site, visit ScorePro.com where you can find anything like articles, tennis players current statements and live tennis results. All the information is described in simple and easy to understand format, you can browse it at any time from your mobile or pc when you want to know about the highlight of current match.

Tennis Serve Tips Step By Step Technique Revealed

The tennis serve consists of certain key fundamentals which need to be learned and delivered in the correct sequence.

These fundamentals include; tennis grip, position of feet, ball throwing method, and position of body prior to impact with the tennis racquet.

An accomplished Tennis player would be able to vary their technique to produce a different type of serve when required. The different types of service include;

1. Flat Serve – produces flat trajectory with minimum spin

2.Topspin Serve – high arc and bounce

3. Slice Serve – generates sidespin and topspin

Service Stance. – The stance adopted is determined by the serve being executed. Feet should be positioned shoulder width apart, approximately 2 feet distance from the center mark, front foot several inches from baseline and knees slightly bent.

Tennis Grip. – The best grip to create a powerful serve is the Continental Grip. This grip creates a powerful release of the wrist which imparts maximum spin on the ball.

If you currently use forehand grip and are serious about becoming a good server of the ball, you need to make the change to the continental grip. When you make the initial switch to the continental grip, it will feel clumsy and unnatural.

Commence hitting shots at quarter your usual speed. Eventually through practice build the speed up to full power and the new grip will start to feel comfortable.

You can avoid the fear of a double fault by alternating between grips initially i.e. play you first serve with the continental grip and your second serve with you old grip. You won’t double fault because you trust your old grip.

Ball Hold. – Hold the ball like you would an orange, between your thumb and all 4 fingers.

Position of Feet. – Foot alignment is determined by service type but toes should generally point toward target area.

Ball Throw. – The ball must be thrown high enough that it is several inches over the height of the racquet fully extended over head. This gives the player adequate time to swing the racquet to meet the falling ball.

It should be thrown front right of the shoulder nearest the net i.e. the opposite shoulder to the hand on the grip. The ball should be release when the throwing arm is fully extended.

Flat Serve Tips

Straighten bent legs and shift weight forward and upwards in support of the racquet arm. Strike the racquet head towards the descending ball when it has fallen 5 to 7 inches.

Let the weight transfer to the front foot and fully extend the racquet arm as you hit the ball.

Let the natural momentum of the strike continue to a full follow through with the back foot overtaking the front foot and completing with a balanced finish.

Topspin Serve Tips. – Throw the ball a little higher than for the flat serve shot and focus on moving the hitting shoulder away as the ball is released.

Straighten bent knees, and racquet arm simultaneously firing the racquet head up such that the springs grab the ball with a brushing up and across action.

Release the wrist towards the direction of the target so that the ball receives an ascending strike from below.

The back foot will naturally cross the baseline as you commit to a full follow through which ensures the ball arcs up and right.

Slice Serve Tips

The slice serve creates side spin which veer off to the forehand side in the right service court.

Using a continental grip the aim is to produce side spin by cutting across the outside of the ball.

Having thrown the ball high right of front shoulder release the wrist with the racquet swung head on and cutting across the ball just below its center right side.

General Service Tips

In order to generate power in the swing the racquet must be taken back as far away from the ball as possible. This generates more leverage and provides sufficient time to build up speed.

A good mental image is to view the racquet as an extension of your hitting arm and make the swing as if you were throwing the ball with the hitting hand.

The rhythm of your swing is important from a timing and power perspective. Don’t intend to trash the ball as hard as you can as this will contract opposing muscles which will result in great effort with little useful power or direction. A good tip is to hit 5 serves each time focusing on generating an effortless swing but at the same time generating more and more power for each serve.

The last thought in you mind is what is going to happen to the ball. If the last mental image in your mind is the ball hitting the net, that will happen. It is critical that a positive attitude is adopted. A confident strike is produced when the player visualizes a perfect outcome.