POWERFUL LEGS FOR TENNIS

Leg strength is so important in tennis, this caveat is not to be underestimated! Look at the professionals, watch their matches, and really look to see where the power comes from ~ the legs!

courtesy WTA @ Brisbane 2014

Take a good look at Serena Williams, she is a powerhouse, and at the age of 32, height 5 feet nine inches, weight circa 155 pounds, looks and plays better than ever. No wonder this fully trained tennis player is World Number 1! 

Sure, we see upper body strength, but what fuels the upper body is the lower extremity.  Pure physics, if nothing else.  Notice also that Serena wears some sort of ankle support, and it looks like tape underneath. She knows well the importance of powerful legs, and the support thereof begins at the foot and ankle.  

Like a racehorse, Serena supports her body from the ground up. No detail is left unturned, and her immaculate attention to detail shows in her game play as well.  All the moving parts begin to take shape and form, coming together to create a champion.

Next, go back to this picture, as it evokes total tennis chi. 

Regard how her weight is leaning on her left side.  Her weight is on her left foot, her left shoulder is leaning in with a fist pump, her right side leaning to the left as well while gently holding her tennis racquet for balance with her right hand (see my post on SOFT HANDS FOR TENNIS for more on how to hold a racquet gently for power and finesse).  

Here, Serena acknowledges the importance of side to side body dominance. Her weight will shift depending on how she decides to hit the ball. Watch professional tennis, and you will see what I am talking about.  Look at the ground shots, the best players will hit from the outside leg, harder at first to balance but with practice, this effort gives you extra time to make the shot, plus rob your opponent of their time, thus forcing errors.

Naturally, your core and upper body, shoulders, arms and hands, eyes, neck support and mental attitude ALL come into play in tennis as well, but again, the total power initiates from the legs.

You have heard of the "kinetic chain?" This term comes into play especially with the serve, but its principle applies to ground strokes as well.  Again, the power coming from the legs, to uncoil and spring the rest of the body into action, for a winner or that coveted ace.  Click here for a great link discussing the biomechanics of the kinetic chain in tennis. 

There are also multiple YouTube videos on kinetic chain, here's a good one~

To see the power in action, here's a video of Serena Williams and opponent Vika Azarenka in the final 8 minutes of their very close Brisbane International match, watch how each player moves her weight and uncoils on her serve, commentary in Spanish~

Homework:

Get the legs going, focus on the leaning in from one outside leg to another, and you have a chance playing against worthy tough opponents.

AND, for a tanned look in winter, I love Kate Somerville tanning towelettes, even color, lasts for 5 days, not orange but brings out your natural tone, paraben free!

Somerville360 Face Self Tanning Pads-12 pack

THE SPLIT STEP IN TENNIS

You have heard of the split step before, but what is it, really? In tennis, it is a short little hop, a bunny hop, if you will, that lasts for only a second, and prepares you for an incoming shot.  Sounds easy, right?

The split step is probably one of the most misunderstood tools in the game of tennis.  Watch the pros. Especially Li Na.  So much of tennis success is footwork.  

Li Na shows us that to get her focus accurate, and for perfect precision in hitting the ball early precisely to her target, she splits as her opponent is hitting the ball, then hits her return in kind.  Sometimes she will split her feet wide apart, hence the "split," and then push off to get to a ball. Other times the split is subtle, watch for it, it is still there if ever so slightly. That is it!  That is what it takes, but HOW doe she do it?  

Take a look at this Youtube, and analyze closely, especially the second and third sets.

Li Na is in  the  blue on the right, from a match against Ana Ivanovic in Toronto 2013. At the start of the video her back is to us, and you can observe directly her timing, her focus, her footwork. This focus and determination is what wins points, games and matches.  Li Na won Toronto at 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).  

Ana fought well, she had a nice split step too, but not enough to keep her balance for the duration of a three set match, albeit one that goes to a tiebreaker.I think Li Na was behind a lot because early on, her split step timing was off.  Li Na chose to stay in the match, working on her timing, her shot production, and even down 1-4 in the third set, she held on, believed in her shots, her timing improved, and she took the set and match. 

Moral of the story~ no need to choke, just focus on your best shots, hang in there!

Take a good look at Li Na. She must have very strong ankles! One exercise that I do is while doing any mundane chore, is to stand on my toes, and even do slight knee bends. Do this while doing the dishes,  any housework in general, blowdrying your hair, while waiting in line somewhere, even at your desk (writing a blog, perhaps?).  Strong ankles will help immensely in guarding your footwork. 

Click the image below to get the itinerary of a full day's workout, Training Day Starring Li Na~

by Brook Larmer, The New York Times

Working out is key, there are no easy short cuts.  I was reading in the May/June 2013 issue of Tennis Magazine a feature Chrissie's View from Chris Evert, who mentioned that Martina Navratilova became strong on court through her mental resolve to be the fittest woman on the tennis circuit of her time. 

To be the fittest (or the fairest of them all), I truly think mastering the split step will get you there.  Because, along with the split step, I have learned that controlled breathing goes right along with this mastery.  Try to coordinate the breathing, the ball tracking, the split step, the push off from the legs to get to the ball, and you have a lot going on!!

Nota bene~ So much in tennis is about timing, and the split step is your ultimate weapon in gaining time for yourself and robbing time from your opponent. This robbing of time will upset the balance of your opponent and force errors on their part.  Try it and see.

So, right now, get on the balls of your feet, right now, and hop!  Do it again!!  Hop this time with your feet split apart, that is all that the 'split' in the split step means, and now hop again!!!  In fact, I am going out for a run, easy and best way to burn calories, stay on the balls of the feet and imagine split stepping in a match, plus enjoy some sunshine and get some natural Vitamin D besides.

Get hopping!

SPRING TENNIS!

updated March 12, 2014

I am so excited for Spring tennis!  I am playing singles for two teams, one a 3.0 USTA singles line 1 team, the other at USTA 3.5 level. This is a goal I have aspired to for a very long time, and finally I am here, after a lot of physical work and ongoing training. 

Nothing worthwhile comes easily! At the age of 58 and finally getting my act together, so to speak,I have been preparing as best as possible for  healthy competition. 

Here today I am sharing current mindset for a best spring tennis season regarding fitness, nutrition, mindset, and equipment~

Fitness:  I am what you would call a 'lazy' athlete. There are so many times I make excuses not to work out, I am too tired, too busy, simply not in the mood, the excuse list goes on and on.  BUT, I will not stand for the silly excuses, so what to do? 

(A) If you can, it is best to join a group, whether in a gym or in a tennis club.  Simply by having a schedule to get you someplace to work out WILL get you there!  And, the peer group is so important to keep you on track. We all wind up helping each other, which becomes another set of rules entirely, one from silly procrastination and excuses to a better way of life where people help people. 

(B) Lift weights- this keeps the fat burning even while you are at rest!  YES, the best workout is not working out at all, so for the 'lazy' athlete, lift some weights, then kick back the next day and relax while your body does the work simply by being in muscle stress mode! You can lift weights anywhere, get creative!

(C) While your muscles are in recovery, take a day off and watch tennis tapes, anything to keep you in the tennis mentality. You can also do tummy tucks while driving a car, tighten your abs, legs, glutes while you sit, and indeed you are still working out even while at rest.  

(D) Keep it simple, go for a walk, and power walk anywhere anytime, even while making dinner stretch those arms to reach in a cabinet, work out whatever you are doing!  The take away here is that increase your awareness of what you do each second of the day, and see the value in your physical motions, you work out much more than you think!  So relax and appreciate your fitness all for improving your tennis (then, be sure to schedule that workout or tennis clinic when you can, NO EXCUSES!).

Nutrition:  Wow, is it hard to stick to a plan, or what? At my age in my late 50's, nutrition is key for optimal health.  Each year gets trickier, so to keep the telomeres strong and in shape, I am aspiring to a gluten free diet, with some exceptions.  The exceptions are when I am in a public venue and gluten free is not possible.  Then, instead, while at home I will resume the better diet.  No big deal, I have my cake and eat it too! But tiny bites, please.  

As much as coffee is a mainstay in my diet, I have discovered I actually have an allergy to it (it gives me the jitters, nausea, headaches from withdrawal, loss of focus), so I only allow myself one cup of coffee (delicious coffee!) once a week, that's it. In fact I have given up for Lent this year all forms of coffee, decaffeinated and regular. 

In its place, I thoroughly enjoy tea. In fact, I have pleasantly discovered that by drinking about 6 to 8 cups of tea day, yes, from morning through evening you CAN ingest 8 cups, that my teeth and gums are in great condition! Truly!  

 For spring tennis, I have opted to follow a Novak Djokovic plan, which is gluten free.  At one time Novak had difficulty breathing on court, and according to the Chinese, the intestines are directly linked to the lungs, so be good to your gut!

courtesy of Getty Images

If you want some Novak Djokovic gluten free recipes, I thoroughly recommend his '14 day gluten free plan for physical and mental excellence' found in his book Serve to Win, that you can find at Amazon. 

Mindset:  Another tough hurdle to overcome, and you thought being an athlete was easy?  I have the highest regard for these oh so very disciplined folk! Once you get the physical and nutrition understood and at an even keel, focus on your mind.  Your mind is a physical component to your being as well, being fed and anesthetized at will according to your nutrient intake and brain stimuli. 

Then, your thoughts emerge.  Do you not think that a healthy mind is a snapshot of your physiology?  Sounds pretty basic to me. Fix the body through exercise and nutrition and a healthy mind will emerge. Understand your own personal limitations, address them, and through this acknowledgement you will be one step closer a fitter you, ready to embrace your sport, whether tennis, running, weightlifting, pilates, yoga, ice skating, any physical discipline that requires effort.

Equipment: Really know your strengths and limitations, you will have to experiment with discovering what your capabilities are, but stick with your plan and you will be rewarded! I have had issues with tennis racquet weight and balance, and its impact on my stroke production and physical awareness. 

If you have a favorite racquet, get the strings re-strung, get a new grip on that racquet! A fresh outlook will do wonders for your game, newness is good!  It breaks old habits.  And a new grip is not expensive, about $5.00. Since I play singles tennis, I opted for a lighter weight Head Instinct racquet which has been out on the market for two years now. I have the Head Instinct MP from a few years ago which I also love, but it is too heavy for my singles game, it will be reserved as my doubles racquet, or when I cannot warm up properly and need to keep the ball in the lines.  Both tennis racquets will be my mainstay for many years to come, so an initial investment is worth the long haul.

Spring tennis, we tennis warriors wait all year long for this magical season. Nothing better than to wake up early, hear the birds tweeting and chirping to greet the day, and suit up for an early morning match.  And my recovery? Keep playing tennis!  

Tennis aficionados, have a wonderful spring season!!

PILATES REFORMER

updated March 5, 2015 

If you are serious to get in shape and fortunate to belong to a gym or have access to a Pilates reformer, do it! If you cannot get to a gym, invest in a yoga mat and get stretching! 

RIGHT NOW try to cut back in areas such as i) your finances that could subsidize access to a gym, ii) your nutrition to help your gym investment work better for you, and iii) work on simplifying and de-cluttering your life: ALL to help yourself now and for a long time to come.

I have been working on the reformer machine in group training, with an instructor, and after four months I have seen such a difference in my core and spinal column stability. A personal huge feat for me, and I still have a long way to go, as a weak middle and back have been a nemesis for me for way too long. Plus, a few less meals and more focused nutrition intake has helped me sharpen my mind and keep the purse lean as well.

My weight is 2 pounds less, and my actual form has become more balanced and strong. I definitely need more work, however, but finally a good start will pay later dividends. So much of this is sticking with it. A nice addition to this ongoing transformation is my tennis serve~ it is stronger and I now have the physical capability to win more points and hopefully games for my partners and team players.  These are tough women I am up against, so any edge has great value.

Pilates can be done as mat exercises, or on a reformer machine, which by now you know is my personal preference.

Herebelow is an informative, realistic article from Daily Mail UK, take heed that without proper instruction, injuries can occur.

courtesy Getty images

Some history~

Pilates is actually the surname of Joseph H. Pilates, born 1883 in Monchengladbach, Germany, and lived to the age of 83.  Already a public figure as a professional boxer, he was nonetheless incarcerated in WW I in England, and vowed his inmates would emerge stronger than when they entered, through implementation of his Contrology method. Not a one suffered the ravages of the 1918 flu pandemic, suggesting that the Pilates method has true merit. Personally, I have not been sick this winter, usually getting something here and there. Pilates eventually came to America, married Clara whom he met on the ship's voyage to The Promised Land, and opened an exercise studio in New York City, where he spent his lifetime professing his love and craft for physical fitness. 

Joseph Pilates at the age of 57 and 82

One of his students was the famous dancer and instructor Martha Graham, 11th in descent from American Puritan Myles Standish, and Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree.

Martha Graham

So much is in the b-r-e-a-t-h-i-n-g.  Take a breathe, a deep breathe. And expel the used up oxygen slowly. Yoga is like this too, but Pilates is more body building focused.

Reformer is awkward at first, but you will adjust!

I am sure some of the red carpet beauties partake in this exercise. I have read Gwyneth Paltrow does, and after having had two children and at the age of 38 in this shot, she looks marvelous!

March 2015 update: Gwyneth is now partnering with Juice Beauty!  Look for new, exciting promotions, all organic, of course! Keeping in shape inside and out!

at the  Oscars

FOR THOSE WE LOVE

February is a month for hearts and loves.  For EVERYONE we love in fact. It is important to hold dear to our hearts the important people in our lives, those who have given us love for the sake of giving, for nothing in return except maybe a thank you and a smile for recognition of their love.

Still in winter, the other evening I finally had the chance to sit down and casually flip through a magazine.  Our lives get so hectic, I really had not had this simple luxury for quite some time, so I relished the moment, while balancing a huge March issue of Harper's Bazaar with Drew Barrymore on the cover~

 Harper's Bazaar March 2013

I am admiring the fashions, the advertisements, the content and overall having a good time, thinking this is a really heavy magazine, I'll have to browse through it several times, not just in one sitting!

Going from back to front, as is my usual norm of page browsing, I consider the Lancome ads,  look for Ted Baker (lots of Ralph Lauren!) and suddenly get to the front.

Then, an image struck me like never before.  I see the visage of a beautiful, inquisitive woman who is peering outside of the pages and who is a very close likeness of my dear mother-in-law, Carol. The hair is different, but everything else spoke of her, her beauty, her high cheeks and pointed chin, perfect straight nose, fair skin, soft brown eyes, peaked thin brow, cupid bow lips.  Even the coloring, she loved pink, and came into fruition as a woman in the 1960s, hence the black and white check dress that speaks to her generation of 1960s pop and London craze~

Harper's Bazaar March 2013

Carol loved Harper's Bazaar, and if I showed it to her she would modestly say I was so silly to think the woman on the cover looks like her, but give that flowing mane a Vidal Sassoon chiseled chin length cut, give her flashing black hair, and presto! There is my beloved Carol as I knew her.  The woman I would go to professional tennis matches with (we had front row seats and saw Rod Laver play, it was difficult for him to keep his eyes off her!), the one who could whistle a tune like a little bird, with vibrato, the one who gave me her beautiful son, and we became fast friends as she could never give him up. Why lose a son? Gain a daughter, instead! This was an intelligent, strong, loving person, whose beauty from the inside manifested outwardly, the mission of this site. 

Carol was a fit beauty before her time, she taught me so much, and was the only mother out there who wanted me to date her son ( that's another, slightly complicated story!).  We first met at a high school graduation,  and much later it turns out we both remarked how much we liked one another, "Ronnie, you should take Connie out!" and I was thinking, "Wow, she's really nice, I hope I see her again!" Well, I saw her for 29 more years, we all become older, she did change as the mind failed her after a while, and so on, but the important take away here is that we remain the same people as to who we are, our own identities do stay intact.  Along this journey we have to get through the rougher, transitional times of life, and then, we are given the gift to grow even stronger and discover even deeper meaning in our lives. Carol gave me that gift for which I am very grateful.

This visage on the front cover it turns out is also of Drew Barrymore, another March issue, who as front view looks very different from our Carol, yet this one three quarter angle speaks directly to who my mother-in-law not only was, but still is. I am just as pleasantly surprised to be writing this post as it was for me to be struck so unawares of the beauty on that front cover that encompasses one of the important "those" whom we love. 

Stay well and stay true, and many thanks to Drew for two great covers!

FIT BEAUTY SURVIVAL

Survival is key, how to keep our beauty and find our proper balance? Help those around you and work on empathy, each and every day.  Not so easy at times! It is difficult to put ourselves in another's shoes, we each have our own unique experiences, but we can help one another to the extent possible and hopefully these words will prove encouraging.

Diana

No matter the situation, it is so important to stay strong mentally and physically.  If your body is strong, it does help keep the mind resilient especially in times of stress. In the good times, do prepare for the unexpected.  Think of the Roman goddess Diana the Huntress, stay steady, keep your balance!!

When stuck in a tough spot, as a hurricane for instance, nerves can run frazzled, so it is recommended to discipline thyself and maintain tight control of your emotions. Consider that those around you are different than you are and have varying levels of understanding and experience, and appreciate the little things around you.

I grew up in the country, with storms and week long power outages, and you learn to use the daylight to its utmost, and sleep in many layers with shoes on to keep the cold from getting the better of you. It's kind of fun this camping out, it is temporary and remember that as such.

And yes, we girls like to maintain ourselves even in the toughest of times, so wear those eyeglasses and show off a high ponytail.  Lots of time to floss, so have pretty teeth!  No water?  Maybe you have some mouthwash to use.  Put  on a great lipstick, and you are done!

So much is attitude. Truly. Imagine how you want to go through a certain situation. Yes, we will feel pain, disappointment, abandonment on certain levels, acknowledge these very real feelings, but then also know that the situation IS temporary and you will get through it.  There WILL be a brighter day. There IS an endpoint, many times we simply cannot see it. 

Meanwhile, remember your priorities to help others and appreciate what you DO have. 

A few little adjustments in thinking can go a long way in helping yourself and those around you. ♡

SEEKING BEAUTY IN ALL WE DO

Hi!!  Beauty in all that we do, easy or no?  It's looking for the little things in life that makes us whole.  The macro will resolve itself, but it is in the small tasks that we define in one another.  Take for example, the sky.  

It is blue, it is up there, and negating any catastrophic unforeseen event, the sky will be there tomorrow, too. Next, consider the clouds, how they effect the sun, our faces, our plans.  Now, another factor has set in to the given, and now let the games begin! That extra variable creates change, and it is in the management of that change is what defines what comes next.  Flexibility and being able to read a situation correctly for optimum performance is the ideal, and reachable with practice. 

 A trained eye, combined with experience, can lead to beauty in all we do.  It is in dealing with the unexpected and working with the tools that we have is what will assist us in gaining ground in our endeavors.  Keeping that good attitude and not blaming yourself or others is best. After all, when being critical, do we ever really have a pretty face??  Consider certain times when you were unhappy with a certain experience and conveyed those thoughts to another, was your face relaxed and body at ease during the exchange? I doubt it.  

Certainly stand your ground, but be sure to maintain composure all the while, look for that hidden kernel of truth, that small piece of information that can help you overcome whatever may be, so that in the future you are better prepared for a similar situation. You have now helped yourself and those around you, and perhaps frustrated a few others who are motivated to suppress you, but they will not win.  Not when you know that you will gain through knowledge and composure and creating learning curve for yourself.  

Find that little piece that is or is not working for you, look hard to identify it, and make it bigger than life, than the sky, to expose and embrace a weakness for strength. This approach builds beauty and will have a cumulative (or should I say cumulus?) effect, try it!  Have a great day!