Rainy Day Tennis

My match got rained out a few days ago and I thought, "Here we go with the rain."  Rainouts in the fall and winter are very common here in Houston.  So what does a tennis player do on a rainy day?

1.  Play indoors.  OK, this is cheating on my part.  Not everyone has access to indoor courts or can afford to pay for them on a regular basis.  My club has them and, at about $10 an hour, I think its a worthwhile investment when you really want to play.  The problem?  Getting a court booked before everyone else does.

2.  Get a good cardio workout.  Well, of course you're working out, right?  Tennis alone, especially doubles, is not going to get you in really great shape.  And nothing is more disheartening to your opponent than seeing that you just never get tired!  Getting in great cardio shape will ensure that you can keep playing no matter how long a match goes.

3.  Get a good upper body workout.  No doubt about it - its a great idea to have strong arms and shoulders in tennis.  You know you should be doing weight-bearing exercise along with your cardio.  Be sure you concentrate on your upper body at least twice a week to bring more power to your game.

4.  Read a great tennis book. There are plenty of tennis books that can improve your game. Here are just a few that I like (click on the title and you'll go right to my post on that book!):
Extraordinary Tennis for the Ordinary Player
Tennis Beyond Big Shots
Vic Braden's Laugh and Win at Doubles
Tennis and the Meaning of Life
The Best Tennis of Your Life

5.  Clean out your bag.  You know what a well-equipped tennis bag should have in it.  So get the rest of that junk out of there - the cans of flat balls, the expired Tylenol, the gross dirty towel.  Be sure to keep all of the necessary items in there to guarantee you have a great match - just check out this post: What I Have In My Tennis Bag.

6. Go shopping!  For tennis gear, of course.  It never hurts your game to have a cute outfit and new shoes to wear on the court!  





© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

Tip From The Pro: Poaching

Here is a guest post from my favorite tennis pro, Brian Montez. Brian is a teaching pro working with players of all levels and abilities, from kids to adults, beginners to open-level, and everything in between. Here, Brian gives a great poaching tip.

There are two kinds of poaches. The first type you communicate with your partner and let them know you are moving across in an attempt to cut the ball off and put it away. The second you improvise and decide that it's a ball that you can get before it reaches your partner, so you move across and finish strong!

Either way you should move in at an angle towards the net strap insuring that you are moving forward to the ball and not sideways. The highest percentage is through the middle, so try to aim your poach there until you become more comfortable hitting angles. You must attempt to poach during your lesson, drills, or recreation play in order to become comfortable doing so in a match that counts. You must also be able to poach off the forehand and backhand sides!

If you want to contact Brian for lessons, call him at 713.417.6780.






© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fashion Fix: "I Got It At Wal-Mart!"

I was in Wal-Mart yesterday looking for car washing supplies, a kid's wagon and laundry detergent (where else am I going to go for all that stuff?). I stopped by the Juniors department and spotted tennis skirts for $3 each! OK, they're not really tennis skirts. They're some kind of little polyester skirt that I guess a Junior-sized girl might wear to a Jonas Brothers concert. Or when she's watching "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." Anyway, they looked like tennis skirts to me so I bought several.

This leads me to my best tennis fashion tip - always be on the lookout for cute tennis clothes. The things I get the most compliments on are not the $65 Nike tennis skirts. More often, they're the cute and cheap things I pick up at places like Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl's. And the Juniors department is always the first place to look for this kind of stuff. And, believe me, these stores know their demographic and they know they have some pretty hefty young shoppers. So its very likely you'll find something that fits!








© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

Your "Tennis Fixation" Personal Assistant!

Summer is pretty much over, the kids are back in school and its time to start playing league tennis again - Hooray!

That's right - its time to get organized and ready for another fantastic season of tennis. This is the season you're going to be a winner! This is the season you're going to have fun and feel good about your game! This is the season you're going to beat the tennis skirts right off your opponents!

And, to get things rolling in the right direction, your Tennis Fixation Personal Assistant is here with everything you need to prepare. Just go through the list below and do as much as you can NOW to prepare for an incredible season of tennis:

1. Get your gear in gear. When is the last time you restrung your racquet? Do you even remember? (Read this post to figure out when you're supposed to restring: Quick Tennis Fix of the Day: Time to Restring!) Do you have balls in your bag? A towel? Any of the other stuff you should have in there? (Read this to find out what to keep in your bag: What's In My Tennis Bag?) Maybe its time for a new racquet, maybe its time for new shoes. Take some time to check all of your equipment out and make sure you're ready to play great tennis.

2. Tune-up your game. I love to take lessons, love to go to clinics, love to do drills. I always say - if they would just get rid of those match things, I'd be such a great tennis player! So I've been going to lessons and drills all summer long and am ready to play. If you have NOT, now would be a great time to do a tune-up session or two with your pro. Maybe get your team together for a group lesson. And if that sounds like too much work, get together with teammates or friends for some fun, practice matches.

3. Talk to your captain. Believe it or not, every captain has some kind of plan for the team. Whether the plan is to win the division or to just have a lot of fun, your captain is thinking about where she wants the team to go this season. So be sure and touch base with her and get an idea of what the expectations are for the team and for you, as a player. Find out who your partner is, if you don't already know, and let your captain know what you think of that. Offer to help in any way you can. Let her know your availability, or unavailability, now, before the season gets going. Being a captain is often a thankless job so any help you can give to your captain will be appreciated.

4. Have you paid your league dues yet? Your captain probably has to write a check to cover the league fee for the entire team and then waits for you to reimburse her for your portion. Don't stick your captain with the bill on this one. Send her that check today!

If you take these four simple steps, you and your team are sure to be off to a great start for this season!




© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

US Open Finally Ends - Thank God!

Its been a day now since the conclusion of the U.S. Open and, frankly, I'm exhausted. Every day for the last few days has been such drama!

What am I thinking about after the end of this Slam?

1. The Serena Williams implosion during her semi-final match against Kim Clijsters was just ugly. Even though she's been fined, has made the requisite apologies (heartfelt or not) and tried to move on, its still front page news (at least in my newspaper). I'm tired of this story. Can't we hear about incredible mom Kim Clijsters and her amazing return to tennis?

2. But here's the big lesson I took away from that situation: don't lose control. I think Serena was going down in that match no matter what and she knew it. But she guaranteed that with her behavior. And not just because her actions resulted in a penalty point that turned out to be match point. She had obviously worked herself up to quite a state before the foot fault was called and I don't think she was going to finish out in anything even nearly approaching a calm and cool state of mind.

3. On the other hand, here's a story we STILL never hear: that Serena made it so deep into the singles draw and still managed to win women's doubles with her sister, Venus. I just find that amazing but none of the commentators seem to talk about it.

4. Juan Martin Del Potro defeats Roger Federer - and I'm actually excited about this! My husband is not. He wants to see records broken, i.e., Federer winning another Slam. I, on the other hand, want to be surprised. I don't want to keep seeing Federer play Nadal.

5. How great was Melanie Oudin? She was a true break-out star at the U.S. Open and I'm sad the season is pretty much over just because I'd love to see what happens with her next. We'll just have to wait until the Australian Open.

6. Leander Paes is a pretty incredible doubles player. This is probably old news to a lot of people but, because the Tennis Channel, ESPN, the networks, etc. choose to show so little doubles, I'm only now really noticing him. He won in men's doubles and lost in the finals of mixed doubles. Hopefully, we'll see more doubles play in the future.

7. Finally, I'm a little tired of hearing Bud Collins tell me how Rene Lacoste made such a huge contribution to tennis when he invented the polo shirt.






© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

Teamwork In Doubles

Well, the US Open was rain-delayed all day yesterday so I had to take a break from my intense TV watching (i.e., flipping back and forth between Tennis Channel and ESPN2). Instead, I surfed around on various tennis blogs and came across a helpful post on doubles strategy. Titled Doubles Strategy: Strenghten Your Doubles Game Through Teamwork, this post emphasizes the importance of working and communicating with your partner. In fact, the whole TennisMindCamp site is worth looking into for great commentary on strategy, technique and the mental game.

Here at Tennis Fixation, we spend a lot of time talking about improving your doubles game. In fact, a lot of my best tips are laid out in the How To Be A Great Doubles Partner post.

Stay tuned - surely the U.S. Open will start up again and I'll get my tennis fix for the day!




Photo: Andrew Ong/usopen.org
© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

US Open Update: Wozniacki vs. Oudin

No doubt about it - I will be glued to the TV tonight watching Melanie Oudin take on Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Wozniacki took out Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova to get into this quarterfinal match, while Oudin beat out Russian Nadia Petrova. Personally, I'm pulling for Oudin - she's spunky and fun and, at just 5'6", she gives hope to us women who are less than 6 feet tall (much less in my case).

By the way, Wozniacki is wearing Stella McCartney for Adidas. This dusty pink look isn't what I'd put on a 19-year-old, but its very pretty and looks like something a designer would put out as tennis wear.





Photo: Rob Loud/usopen.org
© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

US Open Update: Oudin Stuns Sharapova!

Melanie Oudin is having an incredible run at the US Open. She already took out Elena Dementieva and today she knocked off Maria Sharapova! This kind of tennis is so fun to watch - seeing a 17-year-old having the absolute time of her life. She next comes up against Nadia Petrova and right now, I have to give the edge to Melanie. The New York crowd is behind her and she has absolutely nothing to lose. And I love those shoes! Good luck Melanie!






© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

Tennis Fashion Fix: Sharapova Looks Good at US Open

No one ever looks as hip as Maria Sharapova at the Slams. And that holds true for this year's US Open. Not only do I love this black, white and silver piece-y almost bondage dress, but notice the lack of visor. Sharapova has been a visor-wearing girl for a long time but, at least for now, she's going with the Nadal/Federer tie back. If it works for them, maybe it will work for her?








© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved

US Open Update: Nadal Gets A Haircut!

Well, thanks to my non-tennis-playing Mom for tipping me on this compelling story: Rafael Nadal gets a haircut for the US Open and, gasp, it looks a lot like Federer's! I actually think he looks pretty cute although the scruffy before look was not bad either. You can find more details (yes, more!) here: OMG! Rafa Nadal gets a haircut. My favorite part of this story is that my Mom told me about this. Maybe she IS reading my blog!




Photo: Getty Images
© Kim Selzman 2009
All Rights Reserved