Hey everyone, sorry it has been a while since my last posting. We have had such a busy and active tennis season here that we are so grateful for being blessed with a wonderful sport to enjoy all year round. Many of you might live in colder climates and you are not exercising when you are not on the courts. It is very important to keep stretching and do a similar amount of excercising, even if it is at home, so that when you do go out on one of the warmer days you do not injure yourself. Tennis combines the need for stamina and quickness. You sometimes have to endure long points and sometimes quick bursts are needed to run down that drop shot or the lob over your head. A proper warm up and warm down are essential to staying injury free. A quick little goal to aim for when you go out is to count your opponents mistakes in practice and two things will benefit you from this process. One, you will keep your ball in play longer and two you will know how many shots you have to return safely into their court before they will miss, on average, of course. This little mental exercise will keep you focused and keep your mind from wandering and worrying about the cold weather or other mental images that might pop into your head. Try it and see if it works for you. Until next time, keep swinging.
REYNOLDS PLANTATION’S DIRECTOR OF TENNIS AWARDED TOP HONOR
Greensboro, Ga. (November 11, 2009) – Reynolds Plantation is pleased to announce that Director of Tennis Dave Neuhart has been named the 2009 USTA Georgia Professional of the Year. This honor comes on the heels of The Lake Club Tennis Center at Reynolds Plantation being named one of 12 winners of the annual USTA Outstanding Facility of the Year Awards Program, recognizing excellence in the construction and/or renovation of tennis facilities throughout the country.
Neuhart was recognized as a USPTA certified tennis professional who has demonstrated a high level of involvement with the profession and growth of tennis and makes significant contributions to USTA Georgia. The awards dinner was held on October 24, 2009, at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center to honor those groups and individuals dedicated to growing the game.
“Our staff works hard every day to provide the best in tennis for our members and guests at Reynolds Plantation,” said Dave Neuhart, Peter Burwash International Professional and director of tennis. “It is a great accomplishment to be recognized by the USTA with an award at such a high level for both our state-of-the-art facility and individually as a professional.”
Neuhart has been leading the tennis program at Reynolds Plantation since 2004. With nearly 30 years of professional experience, he has set the standard for building a highly successful tennis program, dedicating his time and talent to the betterment of the sport, and establishing strong relationships with staff, members and industry leaders.
“Dave is a true professional and one of the most talented leaders in his sport as well as within our company. He has made a lasting impression on our members and staff, and we are all very proud that he has been recognized by the USTA with this great honor. I cannot think of a more deserving individual,” stated Rabun Neal, President of Reynolds Plantation.
The USTA, established in 1881, is the national governing body for the sport of tennis. As the recognized leader in promotion and development of the sport, the USTA is the largest tennis organization in the world. In 2009, the USTA and the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) named Reynolds Plantation a “Top 50 Tennis Welcome Center” for the third year in a row.
To learn more about tennis from Dave Neuhart, please visit his blog at www.reynoldstennis.com.
I am often asked questions about instructional articles that members, guests and players read in magazines, on-line and in forums as to their value, truth and even safety. That’s right, some articles you read can even be harmful to someone if it is not checked for being “healthful” to the body. It is kind of sad to say, but not everything you read about tennis, even in major publications, is not all good for you. Make sure the professional who is providing the information is experienced and has a background in the highest level of teaching and teaches concepts that are medically sound. Be especially careful about articles or comments you might read in on-line forums. They do not require any special certification to add comments and unless it is a trusted source, it can do you more harm than good. It is always best to learn from a tennis professional in person. All instruction should make sense, be simple to execute and have a natural feel to it when doing it on court. Any overexaggeration of joints, muscles, tendons or ligaments that create soreness or pain should be stopped immediately. Keep in mind you are hitting a moving object with another moving object creating force. So your hands, arms and body should be in a position to best accept this force and maintain balance at the same time for optimal results and health. If you feel your wrist, hand, arm or shoulder are in an awkward looking or feeling position, it is probably harmful to you. This is why certain shots require certain grips to help absorb impact. So next time you read a tennis tip or any sports tip, be sure to remember to check to see if it a simple idea, feels natural and can best absorb impact. Having said that, there are a lot of good tips out there, just be discriminating when you read, listen to or see them.
So we are nearing the end of the year and it has been a difficult one for many to be sure. You are thinking that maybe while prices are down you should be in the market for a new tennis racquet. You have had yours for a while and it might just give your tennis game the lift it needs. Sure, why not. Just be careful to try many frames. The latest technology may not be the best type of frame for you. Many of the new frames may have the latest technology, but it also might give you less success rather than more success. For example, if it is a powerful frame and you already like to hit it hard it is not a good match. Many of the manufacturers of tennis racquets are now making multiple frames styles that still have the new technolgy and can be matched to your style of play. The most important thing is to try many different brands and styles. It is really like test driving a car, you have to take it for a spin and try all the shots with the frame. Keep in mind most demos are strung in the middle tension range and the grip sizes are usuallly 4 3/8 so keep that in mind as well. Doing a little research a head of time will give you a head start as well. Look at old tennis magazines that had professionals that did research and tests on the newer frames. Plan on taking your time to narrow it down. A certain amount of customization can be done with the strings, grip, weight, balance etc. to tune it to your needs and wishes. Many pro shop will even match the price of a racquet on the internet plus shipping to make the sale. The good news about the pro shop is they will stand by their product and know your game better. It doesn’t hurt to ask. If you do decide to buy from a wholesale tennis goods supplier I would recommend not getting it strung from them or at least don’t expect to have those strings in a long time. A pro shop can really tailor it to fit you best. Good luck and try your best to make a wise, patient and calculated choice.
Interested in a sure and easy way to move your opponent around with a very simple strategy, hit the Open Boxes? Take a look at the tennis court and you can easily see the service boxes. Then picture the back court area as if the center line kept going to divide that area. This will give you four boxes. If you are playing singles there will always be one box that they are either in or covering. In doubles you are going to have two people that are covering one box each or two of the four they are covering. If you always try to hit to a different box each time you will be playing a smarter game and winning more points. There will always be open boxes; you just have to hit them. It might mean you have to vary the height of the ball, speed of the ball, limit the backswing or target their feet. This will allow you to see the court in a different light. Try it, I think you will be pleased at how effeciently you can win points.
The overhead smash can be a very simple and effective shot if executed properly. When talking to many of our club members the other day they asked me how the pros were able to hit the overhead so well from just about anywhere in the court. The problem most people have is that the ball is moving away from them and not to them. Once you add movement, a higher ball and the desire to finish off the point, we all tend to complicate things. The best way to approach your overhead is to simplify the process by first turning sideways (as you would on your serve), prepare your racket in the back scratch position and think catch (as if you are going to catch the ball with your hand) with your left hand (if you are a righty, right hand if you are a lefty). This opposite hand will allow you to line the ball up like you would if you are serving. Unfortunately pointing at it does not prepare best for striking the ball properly. When swinging, make sure to limit your arm swing and increase your wrist movement. If you can keep a loose wrist through the swing you can adjust automatically for any wind or direction adjustments. The wrist helps to still create enough arc to clear the net and adds speed to finish the point. Try these easy steps and you should have a more effective and consistent overhead.
Often afte the US Open the tennis on television is kind of hard to find. But if you look carefully enough, you can find some good matches, especially on the tennis channel. The men are working hard to qualify for the end of the year Master’s event. So any points the players can grab from events played will help to either solidify their position or help them to qualify. I believe there are still a couple of spots still open. I think we are in for an interesting end of the year and start to next year. With younger players coming up and surprising some older and more experienced players. This time of year is when many players start to add or tweak their games to be more effective in matches. So keep your eyes open for what the players are doing differently to win more points and win them more efficiently.
There were some similarities with the results of the men’s and women’s singles events at the US Open. In both the singles championship matches it was a matter of who would outplay the other. The men’s went the distance with Del Potro coming up with some great shots and solid firepower to down Federer. With the women if was the senior, more experienced Clisters who was able to provide great shot making and firepower. However, I think we have now seen, as so often happens with the last Grand Slam of the year, that there are some young players that will mold and reshape the professional game of tennis. I hope you were able to see some of the doubles action as well, especially that racquet artist Leader Paes and the mastery of his hands. He was able to use quickness, touch and angles to nearly pull off two Grand Slam wins in both the Men’s and Mixed Doubles. One championship and one runner-up finish is still not too bad of a showing. I think we are in good hands for the future of tennis.
Most players on the tour are very comfortable behind the baseline just banging balls and moving players from side to side, corner to corner. However, if you have been watching the players at the Open, the ones that are able to attack and gain an advantage do so by taking an advantage inside the lines. Stepping in at the right time to take a ball higher gives you a distinct advantage to create angles and a better trajectory to win points quicker. The key is the ball height. If you have to make contact below the level of the net while inside the lines then you have to neutralize this defensive position by hitting backspin or underspin. Roger Federer and Andy Murray are excellent examples of playing well inside the lines and knowing the right shot to hit, because they adjust to the position they are in. Even Rafa has learned how to neutralize a shot from an opponent with backspin. The smarter player will know when they have to defend and not merely hit hard with lots of topspin. This only serves to create a deeper and higher ball and a shot that is easier for the opponent to manage. Giving the opponent a shot they don’t like or just different type of shot each time will keep them off balance and less able to attack against you.
Do the pros ever get off balance like the rest of the tennis playing public? Yes, they sure do. That is one of the main goals they all try to do to each other. The difference you will probably notice is that they are still able to execute a pretty good shot to stay in or get back into the point. If you watch carefully you will see more players make use of backspin or underspin to defend or neutralize when the opponent’s have attacked against them. This allows them to change the pace, ball height, direction, vary depth, etc. to take their opponent off of their offensive rhythm. Just like a pitcher having change-up pitches and not only all fast balls, variety is the key to keeping your opponent off balance and forcing them to make errors. If someone likes topspin then give them backspin. If they like high balls, give them low balls. If they like to hit angles, don’t give them any. There are ways to move someone rather than just going corner to corner. Next time we will talk about how you can do that. Female player Melanie Oudin and male player Roger Federer are examples of how you can use other ways to move the ball around.
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