Archive for May, 2008
May 29th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Singapore has excellent tennis centres and coaching facilities. Learning tennis in Singapore is easy. I found that tennis lessons or tennis coaching can be arranged from the following entities:
1.Private Tennis Lessons
There are various levels of tennis qualifications offered by the Singapore Tennis Association (STA). Go for someone with at least a Level 1 qualification. Most would charge a basic fee of $50 per hour, excluding court booking fees, if needed. There are group classes as well, usually, not more than 3 persons. Try looking for at least 3 of your fellow friends who wish to learn to play tennis and get an individual tennis coach. It will save you some money while still being properly trained.
2.Group Tennis Lessons
Group tennis classes are found at the various public tennis centres. These classes are for both children and adults. The benefits of such group classes are that they tend to be cheaper. However, the class size tends to be larger and therefore, you may not pick up the skill as fast as you would have wished. It would be better to have a combination of group and private individual lessons. You will get the best of both worlds, playing with others and also being coached more effectively.
3.School Tennis CCA
Tennis is a CCA for some primary and secondary schools. Again, the class size tends to be quite big but it is a good and fun way to learn your tennis amongst your peers. It is also subsidized and is therefore, cheaper. Some schools make CCA compulsory and therefore, if tennis is something you child likes, make tennis his or her CCA then.
4.Tennis Sections and Clubs
Unfortunately, there are not many purely tennis clubs in Singapore. However, there are many country clubs with tennis sections. Tennis sections are a good way to start improving your tennis once you are able to play fairly well. Nothing beats playing more and more against someone of your level or higher.
5.Tennis Academies
Unlike the more established tennis playing nations, we do not really have a successful and quality tennis academy. Tennis is not even featured in the South East Asian games for Singapore. Hence, tennis is not one of those preferred sport which is earmarked for further development unlike its sister sport of table tennis. However, one can always head north to Malaysia or Thailand where they have various tennis camps which cater to all levels of play. It is an intensive and highly effective way of improving your tennis as you do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe tennis for a few days!
As an avid tennis player, I had my fair share of experiences in trying to find out which are the best ways to learn tennis in Singapore. I hope this article will provide some guidance for all would-be tennis players! If you find this article useful and would really wish to learn tennis, please check this out http://www.1sports.asia/
Happy Learning & Playing!
May 20th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
I am currently a college tennis player and looking to make my next move in to the Professional ranks. I have been playing tennis for quite some time and feel like I know enough about tennis when I say investing in a string machine is well worth it. If you are like me who plays every day for a couple of hours then there is no question the next thing you need to do is purchase a string machine. Yes they can be quite expensive initially but you will see in a quick period of time that it will pay for it self.
Now if you are more of a social tennis player who plays a couple of times a day here are some reasons still to invest in a string machine. Well first it really isn’t that difficult to learn how to string. Almost every racket is designed in the same way and by learning on one racket you will be able to string many other types. Well this leads me in to my next point. As I told you earlier that a string machine will save you money as well as paying for itself in the long run, but by putting it to good use you can make a bunch of money just by having one. You see many people pay for their rackets to be strung and the price is normally around 15-20 dollars. Now if you belong to a club or tennis group right there is access to people who need their own rackets strung.
Once you learn how to string a racket it really only takes about 20-25 minutes per racket. That isn’t a lot of time when talking about instant ability to play with your racket newly strung. How many times have you been caught ready to go play but your rackets are at the sporting goods store and they have told you it won’t be ready for another day? It just becomes a hassle. If you want to take control of your own game then make a small investment with a string machine.
I recommend getting a manual crank machine. There are electric machines out there but they seem to be slower and higher maintenance. It just is safer and more efficient to go with a manual crank. I have had a prince ektelon for 8 years now and it hasn’t had any problems. I have made tons of money from it and it has saved me much hassle and money. I again recommend it you want to keep your tennis going and take control then purchase a string machine.
Visit The LGE Tennis Site to search for all the best new and used string machines
My Tennis Blog
May 16th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Tennis is considered the beautiful game around the world. It is a sport that not only requires athleticism and fitness, but also mental toughness to succeed. In addition, strategy is a big part of the sport. All the players at the top are fit and very capable, but not everyone is perfect in developing and executing strategies to beat other top tennis players in the world.
Tennis has a great tradition in the United States. The U.S. has won the legendary Davis Cup more than any country in the world. In addition, the United States is the home of Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras and many other champions in the recent years. But tennis does not get enough attention in the United States these days. Davis Cup gets minimal coverage on TV, and the coverage of major tournaments such as the Masters Series has been significantly less than previous years. So why is it that a tennis rich country such as the U.S. does not pay enough attention to the “beautiful game.”
Tennis fans in the U.S. have been spoiled by the wealth of titles won by U.S. players in the past decade. The days of Agassi, Sampras, Courier, and Chang are extraordinary, and it would be unreasonable to expect the current crop of players to emulate what has been done by the legends of the past. The U.S. fans are patriotic and they tend to pay attention to sports that Americans are dominating. Players from Europe currently dominate tennis, and that is why the media does not cover tennis as well as they should.
The American tennis is used to having stars dominating the sports. And that could be the reason the youth programs have been slightly neglected. Not only the U.S. players are no factor on the red clay, they are also losing their edge on the hard courts. The USTA is currently working hard to develop new talent that can not only challenge on faster courts but also on the red clay. But that will not be happening overnight.
The U.S tennis still has many young up and comers that will challenge for titles in the upcoming years. They may not win a double-digit number of major tournaments, but they will be challenging for top honors. In the meantime, the USTA will have the chance to identify and develop the talent that the U.S. viewers are used to see lifting Grand Slams one after another. Only then, tennis will receive the respect that it deserves in the U.S.
Find, discuss, and share the latest tennis news and developments on TripleMatchPoint Social Tennis Community.
May 12th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
The internet is regarded as a teacher by many people today. Such is its importance in their lives. They even use the internet to gain knowledge about sports. But, do you think one can learn tennis online? Can it be considered a worthwhile exercise or is it merely a waste of precious resources? Is learning tennis in this way really worth your efforts? Is it not better to hire a coach instead.
However, with this in mind there are occasions when the internet can help you improve your skills even if they cannot teach you everything that you need to know. One way the net can help you is to mention the names of books which provide information to help you enhance your style of playing. Whatever skill you may wish to improve, you will find ample suggestions presented about ways to improve in books found online. This can be extremely beneficial when in combination with the guidelines provided by your instructor.
While learning tennis online we should see to it that the data includes terminology, scoring and also the rules of the game. After learning the common routine facets of the game online, you can use your time with an instructor fruitfully by actually playing. Learn the vocabulary part of the game from the internet in your own time and you won’t have to pay the instructor for helping you with it.
One of the biggest parts of learning tennis online will be your mental approach to the game. If you look around online, there are thousands of books that are designed to help you turn yourself into a mental monster. Learn to avoid diversions of any kind and patiently pursue an overall improvement of your skills. Your mental preparation for playing good tennis can be developed by looking into the ample suggestions available on the net for this purpose only. You can only learn to improve your tennis skills on the internet but not to actually play the game. Many people simply fail to understand that a computer has its own powers but a human instructor better fits the bill in teaching tennis. A computer cannot correct your movements and demonstrate the actual positions for your best performance. Hence you can realize the importance of having a real instructor for being successful. But you must remember that the internet can be of great help in you tennis learning process when accompanied by a good trainer.
How to improve depends on learning exactly what you are doing and using the available tools to your best advantage. More interesting tips in http://learning-to-play-tennis.blogspot.com
If you are interested in find more free information about tennis please visit http://learning-to-play-tennis.blogspot.com
May 3rd, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Every tennis fan is of late asking themselves this question after viewing Fedex’ performance in the first eight months of the 2008 ATP tennis calendar. True, he had reached the finals of two grand slams in this period – the French Open and Wimbledon – before losing both matches to world no.2 Rafael Nadal -but, Federer’s overall showing in the tourneys in the earlier half of the year, and post Wimbledon, raises serious questions on the world no.1’s (world no.2 in the next two weeks probably) game and fitness. Roger suddenly appears to have lost his confidence, and his movements on the court slowing down considerably that even lowly ranked players, whom Roger had dispatched so easily few months back, are able to beat him with ease. It appears that the weight of his reputation, coupled with the anxiety of losing, is heavily burdening his mind/game. Recent loses have not helped the matter either.
Maybe Roger needs a bit of rest, and time to reassess his game plan. In fact, he himself had admitted that he need to sit back and take a look at his game. But a tighter ATP tour calendar means he would be able to do that only after the US Open at the earliest.
Come August 18, and Federer will lose his world no.1 ranking for the first time in the last 237 weeks to Rafael Nadal. But, he is definitely capable of making a comeback. However, in order to do that, he needs to play far better than at present, and of course with a clear mind that is not burdened by the monster he himself had created in the last 4 years. Let’s hope that Fedex will bounce back to the player he had been 10 months back.
Prasanth S
http://tennisblogs.blogspot.com/