I'm Working Out With Tennis Star Serena Williams

I was shopping in Wal-Mart recently and came across something I absolutely had to buy. The Serena Williams Workout Mix. I found it in the candle section (really) on one of those displays of soothing music to relax with where you can play samples of all of the music using their clever little sample player. And as soon as I saw it, I knew - I had to buy it.

Who knew Serena Williams was putting out workout mixes? I certainly did not and I actually try to keep up with this kind of stuff. But she is and lucky me, I found it.

So what exactly is the Serena Williams Workout Mix? It is one hour of non-stop music at 130 to 134 beats per minute. If you don't know anything about beats per minute, this speed would have you walking at a pretty good clip. The tracks are all remixes of songs that have been incredibly popular this past summer. In other words, if you keep up at all with Top 40-type pop hits, you'll recognize most of this stuff.

While I bought my Serena Williams Workout Mix at Wal-Mart, I found it a little cheaper on Amazon. Here's a link to the MP3 collection on Amazon if you're interested:




And - surprise, surprise - I also found the Serena Williams Workout Mix 2 with even more disco-ish remixes! Here's a link to that collection, also on Amazon:




Just FYI, if you purchase either of these MP3 collections through the above links, Tennis Fixation gets a small percentage of the purchase price. However, these CDs are available through a number of other sources, both on-line and in stores, so please feel free to buy them from wherever you'd like. But I can tell you - if you go check these out on Amazon, you get to listen to samples of each track and that can help you decide if you like the pace or the songs.

Here's my dream - doing Cardio Tennis with the Serena Williams mix playing in the background. I wonder if I could make that happen? I'll let you know.





© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved

When Your Tennis Lob Hits The Ceiling, Who Makes The Call?

I bet you're reading the title of this post and thinking, "Is that really a question?" Because that was my first reaction when I got this question from Tennis Fixation follower Wendy.

Wendy recently saw this post: When You Hit The Ceiling In Indoor Tennis. That post discusses exactly what happens when a lob hits the ceiling on an indoor tennis court. Specifically, it explains that the ceiling is a permanent fixture and, per Rule 13 of the USTA's Official Rules of Tennis, if a ball touches a permanent fixture before it hits the proper court (the opposing player's court), the player who hit the ball loses the point.

Now, while you would think it would be obvious whether or not a ball hits the ceiling, I can imagine a ball barely grazing the ceiling and there being a dispute. Look, I play in an indoor league on Fridays that is a very "competitive" league (and that is putting it nicely). Balls are often lobbed pretty high and I can see a dispute breaking out over whether or not a ball actually hit the ceiling.

As far as who makes the call in this situation, here is what I think:

While we know the outcome when a ball hits the ceiling (see the post cited above), the rules do not address the issue of who makes that call. So you have to go to The Code which governs the conduct of players in tennis matches.

This exact situation (hitting the ceiling) is not discussed. But I believe Paragraph 5 of the Code applies here. That paragraph states - 

 Player makes calls on own side of net. A player calls all shots landing on, or aimed at, the player's side of the court.

So if your opponent hits the lob, and it is obviously aimed at your side of the court, you get to make the call. And if your call is that the lob hit the ceiling, you win the point.

Thanks to Wendy for this great question. I really had to think about it. And now I'll be ready with the answer if it ever comes up in one of my own indoor matches.



© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved