Sports Then and Now

Your hand-eye coordination is an asset. Although it’s commonly associated with sports, there are benefits to hand-eye coordination that can be realized off the field. That said, sports can be among the best ways to get yours up to snuff. These five sports can greatly increase your hand-eye coordination.

Tennis

With tennis, it’s all on you to watch the ball and make sure you’re timing things just right. Make your swing too early or too late and lose a point. When you have proper control of your racket and keep your eyes focused, you can keep the ball in play for a very long time.

Basketball

The difference between sinking a basket and missing it can come down to being off by even a fraction of an inch. Professional players make it look easy, but they have become seasoned professionals through hours of practice that lets them figure out the exact right angle for getting the ball through the hoop. Start off by going to your local gym and working on your fundamentals, such as your aim and follow-through. As time goes on, you should have a much better percentage of baskets made.

Ever find yourself hearing people tell you that you take tennis far too seriously? There’s a good chance you’re only being told that because you do take tennis too seriously. Maybe you always think of your doubles partner whenever someone asks you about your partner. Or, when it comes to dressing for a party, you find your closet only full of tennis skirts. Maybe you also have a funny looking tan line that just never seems to go. But that’s okay. Because if you and everyone in your life think you take tennis too seriously, it just means you’re passionate.

Passion is what keeps you motivated. When you have an extreme passion for a sport, it’s highly likely that you will only get better at it. Passion is what keeps you going. It’s what drives you to commit to something – be it a sport, a job or even a relationship. When you have a passion for something, it means you care just enough to keep going and do even better.

Sometimes, though, passion can be conceived as an obsession. That’s okay, too. Because even though the two have different meanings, they essentially suggest the same thing; you care. If you care about a sport that you love, you should feel proud of yourself. It’s not every day that you find someone willing to commit so greatly to something. Most people actually find it hard to stay passionate about their jobs or their hobbies. Which is why being obsessed with tennis is not something you should find shameful. It should be something that makes you proud.

If you think you show signs of being obsessed with tennis, keep reading. This article is going to cover five major signs that you might be obsessed with tennis.

5 Signs You’re Obsessed with Tennis:

Sign Number 1: You love the smell of new tennis balls. While this might seem like regular behaviour for, let’s say, dogs – it’s considered a little stranger when an adult is addicted to the smell of new tennis balls. Tennis players have a very common trait – their love of the smell of new tennis balls. They can’t get enough of it! A tennis player will have purchased and played with hundreds of balls in their career, but despite that, they still aren’t sick of the new tennis ball smell. There’s nothing quite like getting in a whiff of that new ball smell when you get a new pack, is there? It may be a guilty pleasure, but don’t worry – all tennis players can relate.

If you are a professional tennis player at heart or you simply love hitting aces to get your daily cardio and stay physically fit, you may be toying with the idea of installing a tennis court on your property. One thing all homeowners need to get a court within their property bounds in uninhibited space. Once you have space, the rest of the feat is in the planning and the physical labor. Here’s what you should know before you start buying decor to make it look like you have Wimbledon in your backyard:

Start with the Zoning First

The very first thing that any property owner needs to do when planning to install a tennis court is to get approval by the city zoning officials or by the Homeowners Association. If you live in a neighborhood without an HOA, the first step would be to contact the city you reside in for information on zoning restrictions and how to apply for a permit.

If you live in a community where there is an HOA, you will need to review your bylaws first. These bylaws will clearly lay out restrictions and what is needed to get approval to build a tennis court. Since the zoning and permitting process can take a significant amount of time, it’s wise to start this early on with the city. Read the rest of this entry →

Tennis is full of shocking moments and memorable matches. With a full calendar of Open events and major tournaments this year, we can expect to see more madness before 2017 is over. Here is a look at some of my favorite moments in tennis history.

I like a good marathon match. Nothing beats the excitement of a tied game in which one competitor needs to win by two match points. With players so evenly matched, this format can lead to some interesting and time consuming tie-breakers.

Take the 2009 Wimbledon Grand Slam Final, in which Roger Federer played Andy Roddick for a whopping 4 hours and 17 minutes, then the longest men’s singles grand slam final in history. Federer eventually went on to win his 16^th grand slam title, but it was by no means easy.

If you thought it couldn’t get any more tiring than that, then just look at the Australian Open match between Hewitt and Baghdatis in 2008. The pair played from midnight until the following morning.

In the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, a match between Isner and Mahut took a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes to play over the course of three days. The match is considered the longest in history. Legendary! Frenchman Nicolas Mahut finally went on to win the match, but how the pair survived such an intense game is beyond me.

Tennis has had some fine marathon moments and epic showdowns, but it has also suffered from bad publicity at times due to the sporadic behaviors of professionals throwing tantrums. Read the rest of this entry →

Heading into the French Open, the second major of the season, most players prepare diligently for their final hurrah on clay. It remains as probably the least understood and least appreciated of the court surfaces players endure each year.

If the truth be told, players who learn to play on clay and who embrace the surface’s forgiving nature generally become better, more successful all-around players than those who learn the game on grass or hard courts.

The typical clay court player excels in patience by learning how to develop points as well as excellent defensive skills.

For a long time it seemed that some players segregated their careers by either avoiding clay altogether or by playing exclusively on the red dirt. But with the start of the Open Era and the necessity to play on multiple surfaces, some players built successful all-court games using clay court expertise as the foundation.

These male players achieved a top ten ATP ranking, a winning percentage in excess of 70 percent on clay throughout their careers—as well as double digit title wins on clay. Most also won at least one French Open, although not all.

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