How to choosing tennis shoes ?

Tennis shoes must be able to support your feet with all the stops and starts you have to make, and it must give you good support at the sides of your feet. Each surface has differing requirements, and all of us have different types of feet, all of which places different demands on your tennis shoes.

The first consideration is what type of feet you have, because that will determine how much cushioning you will need, and what and where you will need lateral support.

There are three basic foot types:

1. SUPINATED – here your wear is on the outside of the shoes

2. PRONATED – here your wear is on the inside around the ball of the foot, and this type of foot suffers the most with injuries from overuse.

3. IDEAL – here the wear is even.

Either get a fellow player to walk behind you to determine whether you are walking with your foot tilting inwards, or outwards, or not at all. Better still find yourself a well-qualified sports shoe person. You could also test yourself by wetting your feet and standing on a square of cardboard.

1. If there is a large are where the arch of your feet didn’t touch you are SUPINATED

2. If the whole of your foot is marked, looking like a rectangle with slight curves then you are OVERPRONATED

3. If your feet leaves an imprint that is a balance between the others then your foot is IDEAL

Confirm this self-diagnosis with a third party watching you walk, and the wear test on your current shoes.

THE FIT OF THE TENNIS SHOE is vital, and points to pay particular attention to are as follows.

1. You need about half an inch of space between your longest toe and the end of the tennis shoe.

2. The foot should be a comfortable fit without any stretching

3. The heel should not slip, although some movement is wanted.

Just remember your feet are different sizes, so pick your size according to the larger foot, and use an insole to balance up your smaller foot.
The most important thing in a tennis shoe is LATERAL SUPPORT because much of your running on a court is side to side, and there are dangers of turning your ankle. Good lateral support is necessary if you are heavy and if you are pronated.

Your tennis shoes will need a degree of CUSHIONING and SHOCK ABSORPTION.
This is especially true if you are a baseliner, and you play most of your tennis on hard courts. Pronated feet jar most easily.

The two most common cushioning you read about are EVA, which is lightweight, but not very durable, or stable, and PU[polyurethane] which is denser, better stability, but it is a lot heavier.

FLEXIBILITY is important, and tennis shoes must bend easily at the ball of the foot, however too much flexibility makes for a shoe that won’t be comfortable.

At the end of the day, comfort is important, and tennis shoes are no different to anything else, you tend to get what you pay for, and I know very few things of quality that are cheap!!

How to Play Tennis - The Basics ?

This article is going to talk about a number of things that go into playing tennis. It will focus on equipment, the various shots involved in the game, and the scoring, but it won't go into specifics on any particular topic.

Equipment

There are three things you need to play tennis: a tennis racket, some tennis balls, and a tennis court. A tennis racket is, of course, specifically designed for the sport. All rackets have approximately the same design: a handle (sometimes called a "grip") and an oval-shaped head with strings. A tennis ball is about two and a half inches in diameter and covered in felt. Typically, the inside of a ball is pressurized so that it bounces relatively high. Finally, a tennis court is 78 feet across and 27 feet wide (for singles) with two-inch white lines dividing the various areas of the court.

The Strokes

There are several basic strokes in tennis: the forehand, the backhand, and the serve. The forehand is hit with your dominant hand on the dominant side of your body. For example, if you are right handed, you would use that hand to hit a forehand on the right side of your body. The backhand is on your non-dominant side and hit with either one (your dominant arm, reaching across your body) or two hands. The serve starts the point and must be hit behind the baseline into a service box.

The Scoring

The scoring of a tennis match is very unique. You need to win four points to win a game and six games to win a set. Matches are typically best-out-of-three sets, but for major tournaments they are best-out-of-five sets. Both players start at 0 - 0. Let's say the server wins the first point. He is now up 15 - 0. If he wins the next point he is up 30 - 0, and if he wins the one after that he is up 40 - 0. So the first point you win gives you 15, the second 30, and the third 40. If both players make it to 40 (so 40 - 40), this situation is called deuce. From this spot, a player must win two consecutive points to win the game. If one player wins the first point, but the other player wins the next, they are back to deuce.

Tennis Tips
The rare shortcuts in the tennis game


There are two major ways of improving your game: tennis tips and lots of repetition. A lot of practice grooves your strokes and establishes a solid foundation from where you can move on.

But before, during and after this learning process you can apply various tennis tips which help you find a more effective, effortless ways of improvement.

You can make various little mistakes when learning or competing and at first you don't even notice the problem.

It's like a ship that changes its course for 1 degree. It doesn't show immediately but after a couple of hours of sailing there is a big difference where you end up.

So tennis tips are actually those little but very important »course modifiers«. That's why they are called tips and not encyclopedias. ;)

But remember – there is a great value hidden in these tips especially if you apply them for a longer period of time until they become subconscious.

Another very important issue that needs mentioning is the learning process. MOST of the learning and improvement takes time, effort, commitment and many repetitions. Our brain and body need many recurring informational packets before they fluidly adapt.

But – there are other ways. In some specific situations repetitions are not needed. What is needed is just a slight change of course and you will sail to your desired treasure island. These are the tennis tips.

There are many different tips – physical, technical, tactical and mental. Since TennisMindGame.com is dedicated to everything related to mental aspect of tennis and everything related to making your mind your best ally, all the tips on this site will be mostly mental ones.

Saturday, 6 February 2010

How to Choose the Right Tennis Shoe

By: Guy Starbuck

Tennis is a game which requires your complete concentration. A small deviance from your focus can throw the game completely out of gear. Ignorable distractions like a pinched toe or even an aching heel or ill-fitting shoes become the decisive factor in you making through the game. Such issues are completely avoidable if you just take a bit of time off and study what type of shoes is best for playing a good and comfortable game of tennis.

They say when you give peanuts, you get monkeys. When it is a question of buying tennis shoes, it is no different. There are a lot of average shoe manufacturers in the country who offer reasonably good tennis shoes at discounted price, but serious players usually would buy peace of mind by going for shoes made by some of the top sports shoe manufacturers. These top-end brands are not only comfortable and easy on the foot, but lasts long too. So you get full value for money spent. In case you are thinking of buying tennis shoes online, ensure that you get the very bet piece available or else, you might have to replace them after a few months and end up paying more money than was necessary in the first place!

If you are under the impression that styles and colors of tennis shoes have remained the same over the last 50 years, think again. Look around and you will find changing styles hitting the shoe stand nearly every day. For children there are bright colors; for women there are pink and white with purple shine and for boys and men, there is no end to colors and style. Tennis shoes are today made sleek, trim and stylish. Color combinations are made up of blue, green, black and many more. What you are going to buy would of course depend on your personal preference as well as your budget.

Tennis shoes are now being made with both choices and preferences of men and women. Every season, well-researched and improved designs, styles and colors are coming in to the market which enhances both style and ease of use.

In case you need specially-designed custom-made pair of tennis shoes that can also be done. There are plenty of shoe designers and artists who can help you make a unique pair which is meant just for you.

Comfort in wearing a pair is the main criteria for selecting a pair of tennis shoes. The shoe should neither be too loose or too tight and the design should be such that your feel has scope of free movement. Snug fit, is what you should be looking for when you select a particular design.

The truth of the matter however is that the style, color or design of your tennis shoes are not going to affect your game in the court, no matter what you choose, the ordinary pair of canvas tennis shoes or one of those designer labels which look glamorous. Though the sports gear never changes any game but it is also true that the right kind of tools can make you comfortable on court, which in turn makes you play hard and helps you remain on court for a longer period of time.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)