Be your own court Trainer 0 digg

Even a minor injury like a blister can be a major problem on the court. But keeping a few basic first-aid supplies in your racquet bag and knowing how to treat some typical on-court injuries will keep you in the game, or at least get you back on court quickly. Here’s a look at some familiar scenarios, and how to treat them a.s.a.p., with advice from Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg, M.D., editor of Wilderness Medicine magazine and an avid tennis player

The injury: BlisterHow to treat it: “The sooner you can catch a blister, the better chance you have to prevent it from turning into a three-weeklong annoyance,” says Van Tilburg, who works at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital Mountain Clinic in Oregon. If the blister develops while you’re playing and you don’t want to stop, cover it with a thin layer of first-aid tape (Band-Aids probably won’t stay in place during play and thick material can bunch up and cause friction that can lead to more blisters). If the blister is on your hand, you might have to wrap the tape around your wrist to keep it in place.

“Never pop a blister,” Van Tilburg says. The fluid inside has immune cells that help with healing, he explains, so opening the blister slows that process. You also risk introducing bacteria that could lead to infection. If the bubble bursts on its own, clean it as described in the following section on scrapes and cuts. For the next few days, leave the blister exposed to air as much as possible. If the blister is on your foot and you need to wear shoes, cover it with a piece of moleskin or a special blister bandage like GlacierGel Blister and Burn Dressings, which are waterproof bandages that have a layer of cooling gel. And while you may have heard that duct tape can be used as a blister bandage, Van Tilburg advises against this remedy because the tape isn’t hypoallergenic and could ultimately cause more irritation than the blister itself.

The injury: Scrape or cut
How to treat it: On a scrape, squirt a solution of baby shampoo mixed with water, making sure to rinse out any debris. “We use baby shampoo in the ER because it doesn’t sting and does a good job of cleaning
surface wounds,” Van Tilburg says. Next, add a layer of antibiotic ointment and, if the scrape is bleeding, cover it with a bandage or a piece of sterile gauze and first-aid tape.

For a cut, stop the bleeding by placing clean gauze or a cloth over the wound and applying direct pressure. If the bleeding won’t stop, the cut may need to be closed with stitches or a type of “super glue” that seals cuts. If the bleeding has stopped, treat the cut as you would an abrasion, but use a sterile saline solution to clean it since there’s more risk of infection with a deeper cut. Then cover it with a butterfly bandage or gauze and first-aid tape. After you’re done playing, leave the wound open to speed healing. Even surface wounds can get infected, so if the area becomes red, warm to the touch, and swollen after 24 to 72 hours, see your doctor because you might need antibiotics. Slather the area with sunscreen when you’re outside for two to three months after. “Scrapes scar really easily,” Van Tilburg says. “Using sunscreen diligently will prevent a permanent reminder.”

The injury: Sprained ankle, knee or wrist

How to treat it: Break open an ice pack and hold it on the injured joint for 10–15 minutes. Next, wrap the injured area in an ACE bandage, making the bandage snug, but not so tight that it cuts off circulation. Finally, elevate your leg or arm so it’s above your heart for another 15 minutes. (The acronym for these four steps is RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.) If there is significant swelling, if you heard a pop or crack, or you cannot move the joint normally after 15 minutes of rest, see a physician within 24 hours since you may have a more severe injury. “If you ignore a minor fracture it can become major, possibly even requiring surgery,” Van Tilburg says..

A New Footwork Manifesto 0 digg

How many times have you heard the following phrases: “don’t give any ground”; “always move forward for the ball”; “don’t hit off your back foot”? In the United States, “hug the baseline” and “take the ball on the rise” have become self-evident truths; to play well, you must play it this way.

This is a myth. If you want proof, look at the pro game. The world’s best players frequently hit the ball while leaning backward, not into the court, or while retreating from the baseline. The pros don’t do this because of nerves or bad technique, but out of necessity. As Rafael Nadal, who might have the best feet in the world, explained when a reporter asked him why he spent so much time well behind the baseline against Fernando in the Australian Open semifinals, “Did you see the speed of the ball or not?”

Nadal points out a simple fact about footwork in today’s modern, baseline-oriented game: You can’t fight the ball. If it’s coming slowly, move in and take the offensive. But if it’s coming quickly, you need to adjust. Imagine you’re standing in the middle of a circle, ready to react to the ball from 4 feet behind the baseline. You have four obvious choices—forward, left, right or back—along with all the directions in between. In other words, footwork is a 360-degree skill. It requires reading the ball immediately and taking the most efficient path to the ball. This is what I’m teaching students right now as the USTA’s director of coaching for elite player development, because it’s essential for players to learn these skills as early as possible. Here are four pointers and a drill that will help you dramatically improve your footwork.

1. Take pride in defense
If someone throws a hard punch at your nose, should you step forward and absorb the full force of the blow, or lean back, minimize the impact and throw your own punch? The answer is obvious, yet too few people apply the principle to tennis. If someone drills a ball close to the baseline, don’t try to cut the ball off at a sharp angle. Move back diagonally, make sure you’re balanced, and try to get the ball back deep. As much as we think of Roger Federer as the ultimate offensive player, his defense and positioning are what allow him so many opportunities to hit offensive shots. Tennis is a game of errors, even for the pros; if you make fewer of them than your opponent, you’ll win more often than you’ll lose. That said, let me emphasize that “defense” and “pushing” are not the same thing. Playing defense doesn’t mean being passive.

2. Think balance, not weight transfer
If you can arrive at the ball early enough to step into your shots, by all means do it. But at some point, you’re going to have to hit a ball off your back foot, with a slightly more open stance than you would like, or with your feet farther apart than you want. No one adjusts his movement like this better than Andy Murray. Fortunately, changing your technique on the fly is easier than ever today, thanks to lighter racquets that have larger sweet spots and better stability. The key to success on a shot like this is maintaining your balance. Keep your center of gravity low as you move and don’t slump your shoulders or bend over at the waist.

3. Use large steps if needed
It’s generally good advice to take many small steps, rather than a few large ones, when approaching the ball. But follow it only when it’s practical to do so. Sometimes you have no choice but to take a big step, as Jelena Jankovic does here, and put the best swing you can on the ball. If you have to run a long distance, it’s OK to take bigger strides at first, and if you have time, shorten them as you near the ball so you can be more precise with your positioning. Many times, I find that players take too many steps when only a few are needed. This causes just as many problems—bad timing, weak strokes, errors—as taking too few steps. You want to move decisively (see the ball, react to the ball) and economically.

4. Find your own middle
You’ve been told to return to the middle of the court after every shot. It’s better to learn where your neutral position is and return there. For most, neutral means favoring the forehand side; righties would stand 2 to 3 feet to the left of the center hash mark, like Andre does here. Others prefer to hit more backhands. Either way, move to a spot that allows you to use your weapon as often as possible. If your strokes are equally strong on both sides, but you move better to the right or left, leave more room on your faster side. Footwork isn’t just about moving to the ball. It involves orienting the court in a way that forces your opponent to place the ball where you would prefer to hit it. Use your positioning on the court to influence where your opponent hits the ball. If you simply go back to the middle after every shot and ignore your strengths, you’ll put yourself at a disadvantage.

Drill: Scramble
I run this drill with our USTA players. Stand facing the net behind the baseline in the ready position. Your practice partner should stand a few feet in front of you, facing you. When your partner tosses a ball—either to your backhand or forehand, and at varying depths—run after it and hit your normal stroke. From this close range, a partner can force you to hit many shots in a few seconds, and also make you move in various directions. As you improve, ask your partner to speed up the drill and toss balls to more difficult spots on the court. It won’t be long before you find yourself reacting to the ball more quickly and making better decisions.

Pick the right doubles partner 0 digg

It used to be said that the best doubles team in the world was John McEnroe and anybody else. While we can’t all play alongside a ringer, we do have some say in our selection of a partner, and that’s the first step toward playing good doubles. I feel that the best doubles sidekick is one who complements you. For example, if you’re an extrovert, try to find a more introverted partner. Or vice versa. Your differences in personality will even out your moods on the court and prevent you from getting too excited or too withdrawn. But this doesn’t just apply to your personalities. Combining players with different playing styles—for example, a steady player with a flashier one, or a right-hander with a lefthander— also works well.

Target your Heart Rate.

To get the most out of a cardio workout, you need to get your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. However you keep your heart rate elevated—by running, doing intervals on an elliptical machine, on taking a spinning class—the American Heart Association recommends that you do “moderately intense aerobic exercise” for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.




So how do you know if your workout is moderately intense? Calculate your target heart rate zone and work to stay in the middle of that zone while you’re doing your cardio.

Here’s how you do it: According to the American Heart Association, a person’s target heart rate is 60–80 percent of his or her maximum heart rate. To find your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. So, take a 35-year-old, for example. His or her maximum heart rate is 220 minus 35, so 185 beats per minute (bpm). That’s the maximum rate he should reach while exerting himself. The target heart rate zone, or where he should try to keep his heart rate for the most safe and effective cardio workout, is 60–85 percent of the maximum, so 111–157 bpm.

A heart rate monitor is the most convenient way to keep track of where your heart rate is during a workout. But you can also do it the old-fashioned way by checking your pulse. Just count how many times your heart beats in 10 seconds at your wrist or neck and multiply that number by 6 to get your beats per minute. That way you can tell whether you need to pick up your intensity, dial it back, or stay right where you are.

Rafael Nadal's Backhand 0 digg

1. CoreNadal’s bulging biceps and calf muscles get the most attention, but it’s his midsection that makes all his strokes, and especially this stretched-out, open-stance backhand on clay, so phenomenal. Any other player attempting to hit a ball this far from his body, with such a wide stance, would lunge forward and lose most of his power.Nadal has excellent posture, balance and overall body control. Few players have enough strength in their abs to hit such an offensive shot from such a defensive position.


2. ShouldersEven though he’s facing the net and stretched to his limit, Nadal turns his shoulders and uncoils into the shot. This is a key point for club players: The open-stance backhand isn’t a license to do away with a standard shoulder turn. Without it, you can’t hit an effective shot.


3. HandsThough he plays left-handed, Nadal is naturally a righty, so it’s no surprise that his right hand does much of the work on this shot. When you try your next two-hander, pay attention to your off hand. It can give you more control and power to drive the ball. Don’t let it just go along for the ride.


4. FeetNadal slides into this stroke and stops at the perfect time. Many club players either can’t slide on clay, or, if they can, they slide too far; Nadal has perfected the art. He comes to a stop, transfers his weight into the shot, and then his trailing leg slides along to the ready position without sending him any farther from the center of the court. He might look rugged and violent out there, but, as this image shows, Nadal moves economically and precisely. On clay, no one does it better.


5. ThighsDo you cringe when your pro tells you to get down lower for your shots? Nadal shows how it’s done. He has enough flex in his knees to sit in a chair. His center of gravity is low and he pushes through the shot from the ground up.

Stop Thinking About Winning 0 digg

Wouldn't it be grand if there were a special world where every player won every match? In this tennis fantasyland, scores would be meaningless since every player would be crowned champion. If this is what you seek, hit the snooze button one more time. When you wake up and smell the Starbucks again, you'll remember that every player eventually loses except the tournament winner. In fact, without the risk of losing, your dream would be so boring it would keep you asleep! The challenge and uncertainty in tennis provides much of the thrill and an obsession with winning only hastens defeat.

Too much emphasis is wrongly placed on winning. This does not mean not wanting to win far from it. That is why we play sports. But remember that there is also an opponent and that the most control we really ever have in a match over outcome is 50%. 50% is just as good as zero since there is never more than half control.

When NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner gave Joe Torre the ultimatum, “win against Cleveland or you are out,” media scurried to cover the “bad boss” element. I made the point that saying “win or you are fired” is the same as saying “flap your arms and fly or you are fired!” Nobody can control winning, but everybody can control performance, and that is where the focus needs to remain.

Task-involved athletes focus on performance and display high intrinsic motivation, produce maximal effort, and persist longer across a variety of situations. Players emphasizing performance goals (e.g., higher percentage of first serves) over outcome goals (e. g., winning) retain more attention for the immediate task at hand. Getting wrapped up in thoughts about outcome only leads to distraction, anxiety, and pressure.

What you really want is to be sincerely fascinated with the many dimensions of performance. Staying excited about performance keeps you firmly in the present and guards against the loss of self-confidence that could occur when the next Rafael Nadal  rolls into your upcoming tournament.

Take a few seconds to recall the best performance of your life. You may not remember the details well because you were so completely absorbed in the moment. Expending energy dwelling on past mistakes or possible outcomes would have only spoiled this peak experience. Your focus on performance that day was admirable and winning took care of itself. This is where you want to be every match.

One way to remain focused on performance is to set short-term goals. These should include daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Start by investing in a small notebook or computer blog site which should be used to keep track of goals, achievements and comments. A rule of thumb is to set goals that you can achieve about 55% of the time. If you are reaching your goals more than 65% of the time set greater challenges. If you achieve your goals less than 45% of the time set them easier.

Make sure that your performance goals are specific, challenging, and realistic. Here are some examples of viable performance goals in tennis:

1. Increase your net approaches by 10 each set.
2. Increase your first service percentage from 55% to 70%.
3. Replace every on-court negative self-statement with a positive comment.
4. Lob the ball at least 50% of the time when in serious trouble.
5. Reduce your unforced errors by 5 per set.

Remember to set mental as well as physical performance goals. Self-knowledge is the key to setting intelligent goals. As you notice improvements in performance, don't be surprised if your opponents begin losing a little more often.

So stop flapping your arms to fly. Your best chance of flying is to focus first on performing.