Federer is often mentioned as the best watcher of the ball onto the racquet in tennis. But you can’t be a good tennis player without watching the ball well – lots of other players do it well too.

Watching the ball is such an essential fundamental, but it is not really practiced. Normally the coach just says “Watch the ball!”

The simplest way to trick yourself into watching the ball is Timothy Gallwey’s bounce hit exercise. It’s super simple and it works really well. All you have to do is say “bounce” when the ball hits the ground, and say “hit” when your racquet hits the ball. You’ll probably notice your timing is a little off when you first start this exercise, but after a while you’ll notice more balls go in as your timing improves.

Here’s a super slow motion video of Almagro and his lovely one handed backhand from the 2010 French Open Quarter Final against Rafael Nadal. Straight arm at contact out in front of the body, and watching that ball all the way onto the racquet

As a tennis player, you spend a lot of time out in the sun. So it is a good idea to make sure you’re not doing something that will cause you health problems later in life.

There is a lot of information and disinformation about the effects of the sun and skin cancer and vitamin D. And it is now officially “Sun Protection Month” says the EPA or FDA or something.

I’ve done a lot of research on this topic. Of the many sources of information is Dr Mercola, at www.mercola.com. He is a source I trust highly. He has a large body of strong research and information worth looking at.

I’m not going to bore you with all the research I did.

What I will do is tell you that I have a Bachelors degree in Physics, so I am not unfamiliar with the scientific method, nor with how research can be skewed to prove anything you want. I also throw in some common sense with my scientific research – for example, if the sun is bad for us, how is it that there is no real record of skin cancer amongst indigenous people?

DISCLAIMER: I should put in a boring disclaimer to prevent being sued, so here it is. I am not a licensed doctor, so clearly I am an idiot and you shouldn’t trust anything I say. If you die from getting exposed to sun, that’s your problem. I am not giving medical advice, only a federally appointed agency could possibly know what is best for your health and you should leave it to them and the companies that give them money to tell you what is best for your health.

Ok, enough said. Not sure my lawyers will like that disclaimer, but lawyers are never really happy are they?

Rules for sun exposure.

1. Sun is good. Start out really slow (just a few minutes a day) and build up to 20 minutes of full sun a day. Keep the sun off your face, especially the eye area where the skin is thin and easily damaged.

2. Too much sun is bad. Too much sun is anything that makes you more than a little bit pink the day after. Big red sun burn is a big no-no.

3. UVB is good for you – it helps your body create Vitamin D which is increasingly being discovered to be a major player in MANY vital body functions, most especially the immune system. Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone, not a vitamin, and affects over 2000 genes in your body.

4. UVA is bad for you. The highest relative UVA radiation is found at the beginning and end of the day, and in cloudy weather. So getting sun exposure is best done when the sun is high in the sky and there are no clouds. Yes, I know. That’s the opposite of what you’ve been told. Also, sunlight passing through windows has almost only UVA, i.e. sun through windows is bad.

5. Sun creams are mostly bad for you. The only safe skin protection against the sun that I am completely comfortable using is micro-fine Zinc Dioxide. Titanium Dioxide is a close second. Clothing is of course a completely safe option. Oxybenzone and all the other chemicals usually found in sun creams do more damage than good. See this article – “Study: Many sun creams may be accelerating cancer”

6. Don’t use soap on your skin for 48 hours after exposure to the sun. It takes your body 48 hrs to metabolize Vitamin D

Summary: Everything the establishment tells you about sun exposure is wrong, except for the part about not getting a sun burn. Getting limited sun exposure and avoiding getting burned when the sun is at it’s peak has many health benefits.

Enjoy the sun, but don’t over do it!

See you on the court.

Paul

Check out my 15 milliseconds of fame in the paper…I’m in the top left.

Autographed copies available for (Dr Evil voice) one meeelllion dollars….

Local Tennis News - Yulee Fernandina

Tennis String News – I’ve been testing the Unique Big Hitter poly strings.

They’ve got rave reviews as being as good as or better than Luxilon, which is the most popular poly with the professionals.

I’ve got to agree! They’re great. Lots of pop, tons of spin, and good feel too. They’re not as hard as the Babolat Revenge and Hurricane Pro and most other stiff polys, which is good news for the shoulder and elbow.

Let me know if you want to give them a try.

As I’ve said in my lessons, when you approach the net you do 2 things.

1. Split step as your opponent hits the ball

2. Stamp your front foot and the racket down at the same time as you strike the ball

But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is a moving picture of Andy Roddick doing exactly what I told him.

I’ve put it on loop playback so you can visualize yourself doing it while watching.

I mentioned it in my article on tennis elbow, but as I get further through this 300 page book, I’m more and more amazed at how good this stuff is.

If you have any pains or weakness in muscles or joints, it’s worth your while to check this book out, or at least visit this site. The magic word is “Trigger Points”

I won’t go into the detail – it is all on the site above. I’ll just tell you that what happened to me today, and espouse that logic says if the treatment you’re having for your tennis elbow or golf elbow or plantar fascitis or turf toe or whatever is not producing results, then it obviously doesn’t understand the root cause of the problem. I’m all about fixing root causes, not killing the messenger (taking pain pills, steroids or anti-inflammatories)

Anyway, to cut to the chase. Tennis elbow is caused by inflammation of the tendons at the elbow right? WRONG! The painful elbow is most often a secondary effect, not a cause. Read the rest of this entry »

“Love your opponent, because without your opponent you couldn’t lose.” I’m not just talking about tennis….

Are you getting what you’re paying for in your tennis lesson?

For a beginner, or even an intermediate player, it is often difficult to know if you’re getting a ‘good’ tennis lesson or a ‘bad’ tennis lesson, and by the time you do know, it may be too late. There are so many different opinions and teaching styles that is difficult to tell up from down sometimes.

This article is an attempt at an objective measure of the value of your tennis lesson. Read the rest of this entry »

“Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness”. Your thoughts create your experience. Think “Tennis = health”

Whatever you think of the shot coming at you…you’re right! “Oh oh!”, “Difficult!”. Don’t judge, just observe and respond.

Exercise: When do you take your eye off the ball? Most amateur athletes blank out or blink when contacting the ball. Pros don’t. Do you?