Top Tennis Fixation Posts Ever!

It's the end of year and I thought this was a good time to go back over ALL of the Tennis Fixation posts (not just those from 2011) and to pick out a few that I think would be great to see again. These are the posts that are my all-time favorite favorite TF posts. Some of them received a lot of comments (which means you guys like them too). Some of them give useful tennis tips that can vastly improve your game and match play. And a few of them, well, I just like them for some vague reason (good enough excuse for putting them on the list).

So here they are - what I consider to be the Top Tennis Fixation Posts Ever! They come from all three years worth of TF posts and I can promise you, they're all worth revisiting if you want to improve your tennis game! To view one of these in its entirety, just click on the title and you'll be linked to the post.

* Are You The Tennis Partner No One Wants To Play With? - a quick overview of the "bad" partners we all dread and how to deal with them, I love this one because I spent so much time coming up with the names of these terrible partners - like "Bossy Betty" and "Negative Nora"

* Why Are You Losing To Weaker Opponents? - some great tips for dealing with this horrible situation that we've all been in

* Really Easy Doubles Strategies - these are strategies that you can successfully use in every doubles match you play

* One Minute To Better Tennis - when nothing seems to be going your way in a match, here are a few tips that take no more than a minute and can vastly improve your game

* Quick Tennis Tip: Time To Restring - no matter how great of a player you are, worn strings can ruin your game, this tip tells you how to know when to change those strings

* Tennis Team Party & Gifts: "Perfect Serve" Cookies - well, this cookie-in-a-jar I made for my tennis team was just too cute to not look at again, especially since these cookies were guaranteed to give you a perfect serve

* Keeping A Personal Cheat Sheet - everyone should have a "cheat sheet" full of personalized tips and strategies to look over before a match, here's how to put one together

* A New Tennis Racquet: Part 6 - I Finally Buy A Racquet! - this post links you to the whole series I posted on how to select a new racquet that's just right for you

* The Rubberband Vibration Dampener - this is one of the most popular posts on Tennis Fixation, it gives you the instructions for putting a rubberband vibration dampener on your racquet so you'll look just as cool as Andre Agassi

* Let's Get Real - How Many Calories Can I Burn Playing Tennis? - another popular post, my in-depth "scientific" analysis of the true calorie burn that can be achieved in singles and in doubles

* Eenie, Meenie, Miney - Tennis Coach! - tells you how to select a coach and is part of a series (with links) on how to get the most from your tennis lessons

* 10 Quick And Easy Fixes For The Lazy Player - not that you or I are lazy, but here's some easy ways to improve your game with minimal effort




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Merry Christmas From Tennis Fixation!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Tennis Fixation!

Now that Christmas is officially here, it's time to relax and enjoy the holiday with your family and friends. If you're in a part of the world where the weather is semi-good, maybe you can even get out and play a little tennis! If not, just enjoy your down time because, before you know it, you'll be back on the courts.

And I hope you'll check in often with Tennis Fixation. I have lots of big plans for this coming year. All part of the my scheme to help you and me play better tennis, look better doing it, and feel better physically while winning match after match!

Again, Merry Christmas! and Happy Holidays! from Tennis Fixation!




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Happy Hanukkah From Tennis Fixation!

Happy First Day of Hanukkah!

While today is the first day of Hanukkah, the celebration of this holiday officially started last night. And my family is definitely celebrating. I have already given a new tennis racquet to my child who "officially" plays tennis. And other fitness-related stuff is on the way for the rest of the family. In other words - they're getting into shape whether they like it or not!

So Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to everyone in Tennis Fixation land! Enjoy this special time with friends and family!








© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Free Tennis Tips With USPTA's iPhone App!

I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my tennis game that are not only fun to use and easy to understand, but are absolutely free. And here's the latest one I've found - the United States Professional Tennis Association's Tennis Tips app for the iPhone and iPad.

I just downloaded this today so I've barely had time to work my way through it but I can already tell, there is lots and lots of good stuff here. Since it's coming from the USPTA, the world's largest and oldest association of tennis-teaching professionals, the incredible content should be no surprise.

The tips cover anything and everything related to tennis - fitness, drills, specific shots, singles, doubles, tactics, strategy. Here's a screen shot showing a quick sample of the tennis tips you can choose from:

Not only are there plenty of tips, but many of them include short videos demonstrating drills or shots, making the instruction that much easier to understand. Just to give you an idea, here's a screen shot from the "snake drill" video, a drill designed to improve your approach shot and finishing volley skills:

The videos are narrated by USPTA pros so you get the idea of what you're supposed to be doing very quickly.

I can see myself cruising around all of the tips in this app while waiting around to play a match. Or actually while I'm waiting to do anything (doctor's office, restaurant, driver's license renewal). And I hope you're noticing the early morning time on those screen shots above - I'm ALWAYS thinking about tennis.

Consider this my early Christmas gift to you - the USPTA Tennis Tips app, totally free courtesy of Tennis Fixation (and the USPTA, of course). You can find it by searching for "tennis tips" in the App Store.




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Tennis Party 2011: Year Of The Mudslide

I had a wonderful time hosting my tennis team holiday party this past week. It's always nice to see everyone in non-tennis gear. Well, maybe not so nice. I made the huge social faux pas of admitting to someone that I didn't recognize her without her sunglasses and visor. I mean literally didn't recognize her - I had to ask her what her name was. Yikes!

Anyway, the big surprise turned out to be that the highlight of the party was the "signature drink" I served - Mudslides! I really didn't think anyone but me would drink these things because, frankly, they are kind of sickly sweet. But everyone loved them and wiped out my entire Mudslide ingredient supply - a sure sign of drink success. So here is the recipe for this very easy to make, very delicious drink.

TENNIS TEAM MUDSLIDES

3 parts Bailey's Irish Cream
1 part Kahlua

Mix Bailey's and Kahlua together. Serve over ice.

That's it! Very easy. I served this by mixing 3 cups Bailey's and 1 cup Kahlua in a large glass pitcher. And then served in pretty glass cups over ice. Here's the photo proof:

The little white tent card tells what the drink is and how to drink it. Cute, right?

Anyway, just wanted to give you the heads up - serve this drink at your next tennis team get-together and perhaps you'll be rewarded with playing a higher line or an earlier time slot at the next team match!




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved

Anna Kournikova Is On And Now Off "The Biggest Loser"

I don't know if you are a fan of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" but my family definitely is. My 11-year-old, my husband and I are addicted to this show. I don't know if that's a good thing but isn't the first step towards recovery admitting that we have this problem?

Anyway, I keep meaning to post about one of the new trainers in Season 12 - Anna Kournikova! If you remember, last season, she appeared on the show to put the contestants through a round of Cardio Tennis. I posted about that here - Anna Kournikova Takes Cardio Tennis To The Biggest Losers. This season, they brought her back as a full-fledged trainer! I think the idea was for her to try and replace the apparently irreplaceable Jillian Michaels. I say irreplaceable because even though Season 12 isn't finished, it has already been announced that Anna will not be returning for Season 13.

At first, I was skeptical of Anna's ability to train anybody to do anything, let alone help these incredibly obese people through the emotional miasma of their weight loss. I mean let's get serious - Anna Kournikova has never been overweight in her life. She has more in common with a super model than with a fatty. But over the course of the season, she really seemed to get into the concept of the show - providing these people with both physical fitness training as well as psychological guidance. I thought she ultimately did a great job and was a nice contrast to the other two male trainers. And I liked that she worked tennis into her training program every chance she got.

Apparently, however, the show was not "the right fit" for her and so she won't be returning next season. Too bad - now we'll have to meet some new female (I'm sure) trainer who won't be a good substitute for Anna or for Jillian. Oh well.

My family and I will miss you Anna and I'm sure a lot of other viewers will too. Good luck finding something to do as lucrative as "The Biggest Loser." I'm pretty sure its not World Team Tennis.




© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved