Forty years after Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes," new reports have surfaced that the match was fixed and Riggs tanked it to pay off mob debts. This is a plausible story as it was just an exhibition match, albeit a landmark event. I say, who cares how that…
When dieters keep a log of everything consumed for a week or two, they are often surprised at how many empty calories appear. Try keeping a tennis training diary and be highly detailed. You might not be optimizing your time. I’ll bet most junior players, even those spending long hours on the court, recognize at least…
It was just a short time ago that Roger Federer was the number one player in the world. Today, many tennis experts have said his days look numbered, and they could be right in saying that the best player to ever swing a racket is slowing down. His best chance for one more Slam is…
The most exclusive achievement in Men’s professional tennis is membership in the career Grand Slam club. Just five players in the modern era, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won the Australian, French, U.S. Opens and Wimbledon in their career. The likes of Sampras, Connors, Lendl, Becker, Courier, Wilander,…
While much has been written about split steps as magical movements unique to tennis, split steps in functional performance are just another way to describe simple " stops and cuts." More specifically, split steps are the transition movements from linear or straight acceleration to multidirectional movements with the goal of managing uncertainty. All movements have…
While it’s not news to hear that tremendous focus and attentiveness to detail helps you play better tennis, it is a little surprising to learn that it also makes you happier. Recently, a fascinating study at Harvard University found that people are most happy when they are fully engaged in activities and are least happy…
Pat Mitsch, publicity associate of the USTA, sent me an e-mail the other day with an attached press release about the new USTA "Feeder Program" at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He asked if I "Can use it in Long Island Tennis Magazine," and I am happy to accommodate. As explained on USTA.com,…
Flushing Meadows, N.Y. was the center of the tennis universe again and it wasn’t the U.S. Open that got thousands of tennis fans to gather at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on a beautiful Sunday. If you love tennis and you stayed home, you missed out on not just the biggest, but the…
On April 16, the New York State Department of Education begins administering the English Language Arts (ELA) tests for grades 3 to 8. A similar math test begins next week. A small, but vocal, group of parents are objecting that schools are spending too much time in the classroom preparing kids to take tests and…
A New York Times article titled "Reasons Not to Stretch" by Gretchen Reynolds was published today, April 3 and posted on the USPTA Eastern Division Facebook page. This article refers to two recent studies that add to the scientific body of evidence that pre-exercise static stretching alone is counter-productive to athletic performance, and dynamic warm…