Is It True That “In Tennis Not All Points Are Equal”?
Initially all points seem to be equal but, in reality they all have a different value which is intrinsically tied to the moment at which the point is played therefore the score.
For example, an apparently innocuous first point (15-0 or 0-15) of a match can be a pretty straightforward ace affair on a hard/grass-court or a 10 to 20 minute battle on clay!
In the first case there are no scars. In the second situation the damage can be substantial. I have seen matches where the conqueror of that first point runs away with a quick 6-0 set. In other cases it takes so much energy from the winner of that 15-0 point that they end up losing that game and the set.
Once again in the first situation it is easy, you won a straight forward point. In the second it is hard to turn around, relegate it to oblivion and start all over again and become detached from a major battle for a point where you gave it all and lost. Neverthless, if you want to be a top mental percentage player it is a must, just tell your bruised ego to forget it, regroup and do battle again. Read more
Tennis: Samantha Stosur
Samantha Stosur, the Australian tennis player crushed the Russian Vera Zvonareva during the first round of the Medibank International.
The Medibank International is a professional tennis tournament that takes place in Sydney, Australia. It has been held since 1935 and is known as the fifth oldest tennis tournament in the world. The tournament includes both men’s singles & doubles and women’s singles & doubles events.
Samantha Stosur who is just 22 years old, started playing professional tennis in 1999 on the ITF circuit. In 2001 she won four straight ITF titles: three in Japan and the other one in Australia.
In 2004 she reached the semi-final of the Gold Coast event, after she beat up Meghann Shaughnessy, Karolina ?prem and Magui Serna, before being defeated by Ai Sugiyama, who would win the tournament.
In 2005 Samantha finished the year ranked #96 in singles and #2 in doubles.
In 2006 she represented Australia along with Todd Reid at the Hopman Cup and won all her singles matches. Then she lost in the first round of Sydney to Nicole Vaidi?ov? in three sets.
During the match Stosur was wearing a heavy bandaging on her left wrist preventing any injury. The Australian accounted for Zvonareva in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Read more
How to Win the Inner Game of Tennis?
Do you know the ways of winning the inner game with your mind? Timothy Gallwey developed this concept in his bestselling book Inner Game of Tennis. You’re about to find out more ways of winning the inner game of tennis and these ways are applicable to all other areas of life.
Inner game is actually rarely a game. How is that? Well, usually we just listen to every thought that comes up in our consciousness and listen to it. Like having a radio stuck to your ear and repeating everything that you hear.
Playing a game means that you have some influence on your opponent. But if we just listen to every thought that comes up in our mind, then that is not a game, it’s obedience.
The first step is to become detached from your mind. It’s just your mind, it’s not you! It’s simply releasing thoughts from the realm of your unconsciousness and there is no end to them.
So how can you actually play the game with your mind?
Here are 5 ways you can win the inner game of your mind:
1. Fighting the mind
The most typical example of fighting the mind is when we are afraid. Courage is actually a win against fear ? and that’s when we fight our mind. Our mind is telling us something and we don’t do it. There is some other internal or external motivation that moves us through the fear.
Fighting the fear can result in a very surprising outcome if we persist. When we are in a fearful situation and we overcome fear, we gain some confidence. When we are confronted with that or a similar event later, we overcome that fear more easily. We feel that the fear is smaller. Eventually we win the internal battle and the fear does not appear anymore. We don’t need to spend our nervous energy to overcome the fear, so then we can be much more effective in other mental activities at that moment.
2. Tricking the mind
This concept is the main idea in the Inner Game of Tennis book. We trick the mind by focusing it on something relevant and something interesting - seeing how the ball is spinning or watching the flight path of the ball and things like that.
We are playing a game with our mind and even though we know that we’ll trick the mind and the mind knows it, it still falls for the trick. Not always but we get better with practice.
3. Listening to your mind
When we develop good awareness of our thinking, we choose what we’ll believe. We choose whether some thoughts are important or not. Again, this is not some Indian mystical ability; we do this all the time.
No? Have you ever thought about hitting someone and you didn’t? Or some guy on the street drove in front of you and you wanted to crash in his car? And you didn’t? You chose not to follow the thoughts! You saw how useless and damaging would that be in the long term.
That’s exactly what we need to do in tennis. Hitting a winner from 3 meters behind the baseline on the run is not a thought to follow. If just after a bad line call a thought like this appears: ?Everything is against me; I cannot possibly win this?, then this is not a good thought to follow!
4. Ignoring the mind ? the door to the zone
This is an even higher ability to have than just listening and selecting the thoughts. When you ignore the mind it feels as if you’re watching the TV and the radio is on. You are so focused on the TV show, that you don’t hear the radio. But it’s playing all right.
And the same can be done with our minds. We can get so focused on the tennis game that we don’t even hear and realize what the mind is talking about.
5. Shutting the mind off ? entering the zone
This is the ultimate ability and it enables the player to enter the zone. Shutting the mind off happens when you have been ignoring the mind for a long time. Some thoughts come but you simply don’t care and you just keep playing. Every time a thought appears you just let it pass.
What happens after a while (and it is my own experience) is that the mind seems to get offended. Since we don’t notice the mind’s chatting, it is so upset that it refuses to talk to us anymore. Suddenly there is silence in the mind.
And you can just play. There is no past or future. They exist only in the mind. What is is now.
So this is a progression in taming the mind. Sometimes it gets a little rough, but eventually the mind seems to give up especially when we don’t care. And there lies the freedom from ideas, concepts and beliefs. Only after the match you release this zone state and return to your normal beta state of brain wavelength. Back with your mind friend.
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Tomaz Mencinger is a sports consultant and a tennis coach. He shows tennis players and other athletes how to win the inner game of their mind and how this makes their mind their best ally. More resources on inner game at his website http://www.tennismindgame.com/inner-game-tennis.html |
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A Tennis Racket Can Make Or Break Your Game
You are in love with the game of tennis and can not get enough of it. Starting off in school learning to play on basic gym equipment was the beginning-then in college you made sure that you took tennis as your required physical education classes.
The time has now come for you to get your own personal equipment and you want to get a tennis racket of your very own. To make a personal statement to everyone that you have come of age, are serious about this sport, and want to compete with your friends evenings and weekends.
What type of tennis racket are you going to purchase? They vary in length, weight, and head size, and you will need to figure out which one is the best for you. Think back to your beginnings playing this sport-what did you like or dislike about the different tennis rackets you used. This can be a starting point to begin narrowing down your choices.
A very important component for the tennis racket is the head size as the power behind your swings is directly affected. A larger head will give you with more power than a small head and also provides you with a larger hitting area making it a little easier to hit the ball. Generally speaking, a smaller racket head appeals to more accomplished players seeking more control, while larger rackets appeal to beginning and intermediate players seeking more power and a larger head.
They range in length from 27-29 inches with most people selecting the 27 inch ones. However, a longer handle provides more reach on ground strokes, adds leverage on serves, and slightly more power, than one with a standard length.
The weight has also been reduced making them lighter and easier to hold.
If you have friends or co-workers that also play, ask them about the type they use and why. They will enjoy talking to you about the sport and in providing you with information and advise. And, there is nothing more flattering than to ask someone for their opinion on a topic that they really enjoy and believe that they are an expert in.
Some of these people might even loan you some of their equipment so that you can try it out and find out whether or not you like it. No matter what your preference for a tennis racket is, you have to find the best one that meets your needs. This may even mean renting them and testing them out for a few games. This is probably the best way to have an opportunity to use many different types, styles, models and different manufacturers without spending a lot of money on ones that will just end up collecting dust in the closet.
Get out and play every weekend. The exercise is good, you will meet new people, and be out in the fresh air. This is much better than spending your weekend sitting in front of the television or going to the office to catch up on work.
Enjoy yourself, life is too short.
About the Author:
For more information on tennis try visiting http://www.TennisQuestions.com, a website that specializes in providing tennis related tips, advice and resources to include information on the best tennis racket.
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Boomer The Tennis Ball Machine
While a tennis ball machine can be useful for helping tennis players with their practices, there is one machine that is more advanced and can help players in more ways during practice. This tennis ball machine is known as Boomer, and it is referred to by many as the ?ultimate tennis ball machine.?
Created by robotics designer Dave Jordan and used by programs such as the University of Georgia?s tennis program, Boomer is a tennis machine that can help with not only practice shots for responding to serves and returns but also with other aspects of the game, including reading lines and scores, as well as the quality of your shots. Generally speaking, it is a tennis ball machine that doubles as a virtual competitor. Boomer helps to analyze how well you are doing and offer you more assistance in your practice that what any typical tennis ball machine would offer.
Unlike any ordinary tennis ball machine, Boomer can give information for people of all skill levels from beginner to expert. The user can also adjust the skill level of Boomer for the person?s own needs. This means that Boomer can play at a skill level of a pro tennis star or of a regular casual player. Therefore, this tennis ball machine is able to respond to your moves with a variety of shots, ranging from hard smash shots to slow volley shots.
Another advantage of thismachine is that Boomer can shoot with a variety of different shots used in tennis. For instance, Boomer can shoot volley, net, serve, approach and ground shots, which allow for a better variety than what a normal tennis ball machine has. Also, the scale of the shots can be arranged between 2.0 and 7.0. Boomer also gives points to its shots, ranging them from a scale of one to nine based on the depth and width in the shot. This allows for more range than what a typical tennis ball machine would offer.
One advantage of using Boomer as a tennis ball machine is that it makes practices more exciting and enjoyable. Boomer works like a regular tennis player would with different difficulties, making this a more challenging tennis ball machine to use in your practice. Also, it can simulate an entire match for you, which makes the practice a good way to prepare for a real match. It is like a real person when you don?t have one to practice with you.
Whether you are an expert at tennis or you are just learning to play the game Boomer is a great tennis ball machine that you can use for your practice. This tennis ball machine will analyze the quality of your shots and give you a variety of shots with which you can respond to. This machine is one that works like a real person to give you a challenge in your practice. No matter what skill you have Boomer will be a great practice buddy for you.
About the Author:
Gavin Sanderson provides articles on sports and recreation. Visit morebowling.com and tennis-central.com to find more of his work.
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