Category Archives: health

5 Quick Tips for Reaching and Maintaining Peak Performance

benefits, health, strategy

While the following tips can be used for tennis or any other other sport. They also apply to our daily life and work no matter what we are involved in.

To reach maximum performance you will need to follow these steps:

Develop a grand vision. A vision that will pull you to get up every day and work toward that fulfillment. In tennis for example, you would have as your grand vision to be number one on your local league or be in the top 3 of your high school tennis team within the next 12 months. The vision you design will drive you to create specific goals and activities that you will work on daily. Without the proper vision you will not have the excitement you need to get up early every morning and get to work!

A professional businessman running up the stairs with the text inspiration determination innovation excellence passion vision with a bright white background - concept design vector illustration art

Have abundant energy and strong health. Let’s face it without health we cannot do much! In tennis we must maintain a healthy and injury free body in order to practice and play matches at a high level. To succeed in everyday in life we need the energy and vitality to last us a full day of strenuous work. We must eat healthy, exercise daily and most import, get enough quality sleep. Recharge your batteries completely for the next day!

Green Healthy Living Apple Illustration on white background.

Attitude plays a huge part in reaching and maintaining peak levels of performance. You must develop a champion’s attitude. A champion’s attitude means that you will find a way to win or get things done. You will stay the course when difficulties arise. In tennis and in sports in general you will sometimes find that the momentum will swing from your opponent to you and back and forth. With the proper unwavering positive attitude and training you will find away to turn the match around.

Motivational Saying positive thoughts lead to many things happening and leading to great things

Habits and rituals play an important role in gradually making your process of reaching peak performance almost automatic. The habits you create will get you into the proper mindset. Some of the basic essential habits that need to be established for success in tennis are proper focused training, pre-match routines, healthy diet, and a champion’s mindset. For success in life we also need the proper healthy diet, effective exercise routines and time alone or in nature to to reach proper emotional balance.

Business man pointing the text: Motivation is What Gets you Started Habit Is What Keeps You Going

Finally, you must be surrounded by the right people or as I say the proper emotional network- It can’t be all work and no play. You need to also achieve a balance in your life, and a part of that balance is making sure you have a strong network of family and friends around you. Having healthy and loving relationships will increase not only your success but also your happiness. Spend time with your loved ones and make sure you take care of these relationships. In tennis you also need to have the people around you that will help you excel and give you the right advice. Whether it is friends or parents or even a coach, having the right supporting individuals around you is huge!

Hands of young people close up on sunny nature background

Although these 5 steps look simple of the surface, the challenge becomes to maintain consistency in these steps, day in and day out. I would really enjoy you sharing your experiences with me. Look forward to hearing from you!

Are you Playing Present Tennis ?

health, mental, strategy

If you’ve been playing tennis or around sports for a while you’ve probably familiar with the phrase “play in the moment” and if you really understood what that meant then you should be playing a lot better tennis today. If you are not playing better then this post will certainly provide you with enlightening information.

Playing in the moment means that you play your best, without effort, hitting your best shots practically every time. It is attune to playing “in the zone” as we refer to it sometimes, a state we sometimes reach but for very brief moments.

I like to refer to these moments of perfect play as playing “present tennis”. However, a lot of us do not really get what this means or maybe do understand but don’t know exactly how to play in the moment or how to reach this state. A lot of books have been written on the subject, including one of my favorites being  THE INNER GAME OF TENNIS, which you can see here. However, I think this blog will benefit you in understanding some key basic steps which will guide you to reach a state of being where you can effectively play “present tennis” to improve your game. Let’s go over the steps:

1. Watch the ball on every point all the way past impact. Yes the key here will be on every point and past impact. Have you watched the pros do this? You already have a sense of the dimensions and angles of the tennis court so when you hit the ball your focus should stay on the ball until after you strike it and only then should you look up to admire your shot. Trust me, your shot will go where you are aiming for, just watch the ball. Here’s a sample of what you should strive for. Watch the maestro Roger Federer at work.

2. Let go of the result of the last point. When you win a point it is fairly easy to move on and focus on the next one. However, losing a point you should have won is tough to put behind you, I know. The key to your success as a player will be how well you can develop the skill to forget about the last point and stay focused on the next one.

3. Trust yourself. You need to be able to trust that the practice you have put in will get you through the match and that you will be able to consistently hit your shots. Of course for this to happen you will need to have put in the time on the practice court. If you practice diligently and are satisfied with your results then this step should come easily with time.

4. Go with the flow. The game of tennis like life has many ebb and flows during a match. You cannot play your best when you are stressed out. You will have great moments and you will also go through some where things are not working out your way. But as you learn to go with the flow and to get centered and trust yourself more, you will begin to experience more of these moments where you are playing some of your best tennis. Stay patient.

Every time you practice, be conscious about these steps and in time this will become automatic. The key is consistent practice.

Now, let me give a couple of additional secret ingredients that will get you playing “present tennis” faster. These are meditation and yoga. Two disciplines which are more similar than you imagine.

meditation

Meditation is a powerful practice which will help you calm down quickly, get centered, and stay focused on the present moment. Get into the habit of meditating at least for 10 minutes every day. Remember that if you can’t stay still for 5 minutes then you definitely need to meditate for 10 minutes daily.

Yoga practice incorporates slow, deep rhythmic breathing which relaxes the body and mind enabling you to also get centered, focused and also stay in the present moment. Get into a local gym that offers yoga or if you don’t have the time for that then at least download a basic yoga app on your phone and start this practice tomorrow!

The combination of yoga and meditation will help you reduce and eventually almost eliminate the internal chatter that seems to come up inside us at the worse times during a match. Quiet the mind and watch yourself play some of your best tennis!

Thanks for reading!

How Yoga Can Boost Your Tennis Game

benefits, flexibility, health, mental

Yoga for tennis – a no brainer right! Yeah!

Well I bet most of the tennis players reading this do not practice yoga regularly. I know because I see it first hand every week at the tennis club I where I play and with almost every one I play against. Eventually the conversation with my peers arrives at the topic of getting older, getting injured more often and slowing down but that’s where I interject and tell them it doesn’t have to happen that fast…have they considered practicing yoga to boost their tennis game? Answer: uhh no. Well if you also answered no then read on and get a really good idea of what yoga can do for your game.

Stretched

About 6 months ago I finally decided to start practicing yoga on a daily basis. Believe me when I tell you that it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my body.  You see I’ve had my share of injuries throughout the years as I’ve not only played tennis but also practiced soccer and even did numerous triathlons – I’ve suffered through pulled calf muscles, back strain, quad strain, etc – and I’ve been quite upset at myself because I knew these could have been avoided if I had taken stretching and yoga more seriously.

So what prompted me to finally decide to give yoga a serious try?

Well, a couple of years ago I suffered a partial tear in my left meniscus and I needed to have surgery to repair it. The recovery took several months and afterwards I still felt a little pain specially after playing on a hard court. I was aware that yoga had been used by athletes to recover from a knee injury but I never took it seriously. Only after suffering through the pain for several more months did I decide to look at yoga in more detail.

I didn’t have the time to attend a full class in the morning or evening, so I did the next best thing and downloaded  an app on my android phone and started practicing yoga on a daily basis. By the way, the apps these days keep on getting better and better! Well, in time I started to see the wonderful benefits that practicing yoga daily can bring. You see, yoga not only helped increase my flexibility but it also assisted in reducing the pain I felt in my knee. As I strengthened the muscles around my knee, the pain gradually diminished. This was my primary goal and I accomplished it.

However I also found other amazing  benefits which actually became my favorite part about yoga. The first side benefit received was learning to slow my breathing and to breath deeply. This has helped me recover faster from a high heart rate after playing a long point. Deep slow breathing also improved my mental focus. As I worked on slowing down my breathing between points I was forced to concentrate on the next point and the strategy that I was going to use.

Now that you understand the benefits, what poses should you do? Well, when I decided to look more seriously at yoga, I looked at the best possible poses specifically related to tennis and these are the most recommended poses that I found:

  • tree pose – helps strengthen your thighs, calves, ankles and back. It can also increase the flexibility of your hips and groin. Your balance and concentration can also be improved with constant practice.
  • triangle pose – this exercise builds up strength in the lower back and upper legs while you remove tension from the lower and upper back, the hips and the hamstrings through both the twist and the stretching. The exercise is good for your sense of coordination and sense of balance.
  • warrior II pose – strengthens your legs, back, shoulders, and arms, building stamina. It opens your hips and chest, and improves balance.
  • spinal twist – one of the few basic poses that rotates the spine. Most bend the spinal column either backward or forward, but to become truly flexible it must be twisted laterally as well. The movement also tones the spinal nerves and ligaments, and improves digestion.
  • chair pose – strengthens the lower back and the legs and by doing so,  creates more space in the chest and belly.

planting roots

Incorporate these poses into your regular fitness program and the most important part, of course, is for you to be consistent. You will be pleasantly surprised at how yoga can help transform your game.  Remember that while yoga is improving your flexibility, it is also increasing your strength and balance and even your focus. Practicing yoga will train your brain to relax during a match!

Here’s a quick list of all the positives that yoga practice can bring:

  • Increased flexibility
  • Improved balance
  • Stronger core muscles
  • Increased leg strength
  • More stamina
  • Restored and revitalized energy
  • Injury prevention
  • Improved full-body coordination
  • Symmetry and balance on both sides of the body
  • Improved mental focus

It doesn’t matter how old you are. Even if you are in your teens or twenties, getting into the daily routine of practicing yoga will provide great sports and overall health benefits. Follow a routine that you can do every day for at least 15-20 minutes or even develop your own routine. As I mentioned before, with today’s smartphones it is extremely easy to download an app which will lead you through a complete routine.

From experience I believe the best time for running though your routine is early in the morning as it will energize you and get your day started  with a great burst of energy. I also recommend that you have a shorter routine that you can follow right before you play your match AND right after you finish your match. This routine can be a short 5-10 minute routine which will warm up and stretch your body before you go into your hitting warm up full speed. The yoga routine after your match will help you cool down the muscles properly and it will assist in improving even more your flexibility.

Enjoy your yoga routine!

NAMASTE!

Namaste!

 

 

The Sport for A Lifetime!

benefits, health, mental

Is getting kids to play tennis from a young age such a good idea? Well as you will soon see, it not only is a great idea but it could be one of the best things you can do for your kids! For all of us that already play tennis there is not much convincing that has to be done to get us to acknowledge the benefits that tennis has in our daily lives. Most of us play tennis to stay in shape and that’s fine. ( Although I would argue that as we get older it would help if we actually get in shape to play tennis to avoid injuries. )

Serving for the match

However few of us are really aware of all the benefits that tennis can provide. Sure there are the basic health and fitness advantages but there’s a lot more. I started thinking about this at least 6 years ago when I began to teach tennis to my 3 children when they were 5-7 years old. I knew that getting them outside was my first priority as I did not want them inside on the computer all day or watching endless episodes of Sponge Bob. So the physical benefits are obvious but I also began seeing that tennis was going to improve their motor skills, their concentration and their work habit!

Without realizing it, I had stumbled to some of the reasons that people today consider tennis the “sport for a lifetime”. I thought it would be interesting to see where experts stood today on this topic and thus decided to do a little research. Well, what I found out surprised me in a very positive way!

The results of my research actually led me to conclude that not only was I right but I was amazed to see how many other benefits there were to getting kids to play in a regular program. True, one of those benefits is that they might be incredibly talented and grow up to be a great professional player. That would be great but most parents are not thinking about that, they just want to keep their kids healthy, active and busy!

Of all the benefits I found I’m going to mention my top 10 here but I encourage you to visit  the articles I mention at the end which include at least 20-30 more reason of why everyone should play tennis.

Freeze - Right there!

My Top 10 Benefits of Playing Tennis Regularly (specially for kids!)

1. Provides aerobic fitness by burning fat, improves cardiovascular fitness and assists in maintaining higher energy levels.

2.. Develops fine motor control by use of touch shots like angled volleys, drop shots and lobs.

3.  Assist in bone strength and density by strengthening bones of young players and helping prevent osteoporosis in older ones.

4.. Improve immune system through its conditioning effects, which promote overall health, fitness and resistance to disease.

5. Improves hand-eye coordination because you constantly judge the timing between the oncoming ball and the proper contact point.

6. Assists in developing a work ethic and discipline because improvement through lessons or practice reinforces the value of hard work.

8. Promotes the accepting of responsibility by practicing skills and checking your equipment before a match, and by making accurate line calls during a match.

9. Helps control stress effectively because the physical, mental and emotional stress of tennis will force you to increase your capacity for dealing with stress.

10. Promotes the learning of problem solving since tennis is a sport based on angles, geometry and physics.

Again, all of these are amazing benefits that we sometimes take for granted because we don’t realize that we are receiving so much from the sport. No excuses now! Get busy and find a local program to join! But don’t forget the number 1 reason for being out there as always…and that is to have fun!

Supporting articles:

http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Game/Sport-Science/114688_Health_Benefits_of_Tennis_Why_Play_Tennis/

http://www.itftennis.com/scienceandmedicine/health/tennis-children.aspx

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Tennis

http://www.10andundertennis.com/parents/resources/healthier-kids/

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/exercise/tennis.aspx

photos by: Frédéric de Villamil & Sudhamshu