Blog

  • Plastic Trophy Kids

    I felt a little cheated by the highly anticipated HBO Sports special, "Trophy Kids," that premiered Dec. 4th as part of HBO's "State of Play" series. "Trophy Kids" explores the relationship between parents and children in junior tennis, golf, football and basketball. While it's an important topic, Executive Producer Peter Berg's adult subjects were a little too obsessive to be mainstream representatives of the…

  • Tennis Elbow

    Newsday.com just published an article entitled "Get to Know 11 Home Remedies for Tennis Elbow," and it is likely advice that you already know like "ice the area," take aspirin," "use compression," and "rest." Tennis elbow or "Epicondylitis" is a painful condition that can cause pain, swelling and movement limitation on the outside, "lateral" or inside "medial"…

  • Leander Who?

    He is the holder of 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and recently became the oldest Grand Slam winner at the age of 40. Pete Sampras had a losing record against him in singles too. He has old school volleys in the age of power with great precision, a deft feel, uncanny anticipation and incredibly quick hands. Nevertheless,…

  • Points for Play

    The Internet is abuzz about the USTA considering ranking points for high school tennis matches. The talk is that this will encourage top players to join the school team. It won’t. Instead, it’s a way for the USTA to boast membership numbers. Here’s why … Top players usually choose to focus their participation on: 1. What is best…

  • Equal Play for Equal Pay

    Stacy Allaster, head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), just announced that the WTA player’s are "ready and willing" to play five sets at Grand Slams. "All you have to do is ask us." The ongoing debate over the match format was heightened by Andy Murray, as well as by French player Gilles Simon, who said…

  • A Great Dual

    Rafael Nadal won his 13th Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open over Novak Djokovic last Monday and is now just four Grand Slams behind Roger Federer and catching up fast. While the speed and power of the game was astounding, it was equaled by something very special. I have never seen a level of sportsmanship and…

  • The Practice Diaries

    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…