Two Year Ranking System on ATP Tour Discussed

This article is an interesting discussion of what would happen if Rafa Nadal got his way and we switched to a 2-year accumulation of points instead of the current system in men’s pro tennis that uses a 1-year system.  The most amazing change:  Nadal would still be #1 in the world despite Djokovic’s dominance over the last year!!!

Tennis Resolution for 2012:

Make ONE of my shots significantly better by practicing it for 500 hits / month outside of regular matches, either with a pro, on the ball machine, or against the wall (serves can be practiced alone on a court).  There is no substitute for time on the court.  Focus on one shot and then focus on a particular aspect of that shot.

For example, concentrate on getting more spin on your forehand.  Do not worry about hitting it in, after all, that is not the goal you’ve set in this example.  Do that relentlessly and over the months you will see it improve slowly in your matches and eventually, the ball will start falling in with more spin.  Remember, you cannot improve if you do not accept that initially you will be terrible at it.  Just keep going.  Keep track of how many balls you hit every month, and total that at the end of 2012.  You should have hit at least 6000 practice shots on that one shot and will hopefully see a difference.  If not, go see your pro and find out if you are practicing it correctly, then get back to work in 2013!

Great Marina City Club Tennis Holiday Party 2011!

Mcc Tennis Holiday Party

The Marina City Club Tennis Holiday Party was held on December 2nd in the Galaxy Room. Over fifty members attended this fun event. We traded tennis tales from the year gone by. Everyone enjoyed a wonderful buffet provided by the Restaurant and the room was beautiful. Throughout the month of November, Gene accepted award nominations in four categories. Many good candidates were nominated for all categories, but here are the victors:
Diane Nathan won the women’s “Are we talkin’ or playin’ award.
Alan Koshkin won the men’s “are we talkin’ or playin’ award.
Diane Lerner won the women’s Most Fashionable award.
Lamont Cosby won the men’s Most Fashionable award.
Barbara Osborn won the Sportsmanship award.
Vicki Miceli won the Most Improved award.
Congratulations to all our award winners and to everyone who participated in the wonderful sport of tennis at this amazing club. The Tennis Holiday Party and all our events are only successful because members of our club participate. So, make a New Year’s resolution to play more tennis and enter more of our club events! See you in 2012!

Dr. Allen Fox at Marina City Club

 

The famous sports psychologist, Dr. Allen Fox, gave a seminar and book signing for the tennis players of mcc on November 30, 2011 from 6-8pm in the Galaxy Room.  This event had great attendance with almost 40 people coming out to hear what Dr. Fox had to say about handling your emotions on the tennis court.  Dr. Fox signed copies of his latest book, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match.

Dr. Fox raised three primary concerns tennis players have from the mental side of tennis:  choking, anger, and tanking.

Anger turns out to be the easiest one to control.  A player must tell himself before he starts that nothing that happens on that court will make him angry, and he will usually succeed in controlling that emotion.

Choking is virtually incurable, but accepting that everyone, even the best players on earth, choke, makes it easier to accept in yourself.  Accepting that you are not a bad person because you choked will make you less likely to do so in the future, but will certainly not eliminate this common and persistent problem.  Also, realize that just because you choked once, does not mean that you will choke every time.  There will be more opportunities if you keep trying to win.

Finally, tanking, or giving up, is difficult to control.  Tanking relieves stress by taking you mentally out of the match, but a cost-benefit analysis reveals that rationally this is an unhealthy choice.  Once you realize that the benefits of trying outweigh the momentary relief of stress, the player may make the choice to “gut it out.”

Many more insights came from this talk and from reading Dr. Fox’s excellent book.  If you would like a copy, Gene has several copies left for sale at the tennis desk for $20 each.  They make great gifts to the tennis players in your life this holiday season!

Fed Wins Big- Guaranteed #1 Spot in Semis of Barclay’s World Tour Finals 2011

Roger Federer put a hurtin’ on Rafa Nadal 6-3, 6-0 in their round robin match at the ATP Barclay’s World Tour Finals (Masters) 2011. With that convincing win, Federer was guaranteed a berth in the semifinals whether he wins or loses tomorrow against Mardy Fish (6am pst Tennis Channel). In the semis, he will face the #2 player from Group A, which is still undecided. David Ferrer leads that group with two convincing wins over Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Djokovic suffered only his fifth loss of the season today versus the tenacious Spaniard 6-3, 6-1.

Dynamic Stretching for Tennis this Winter

The weather’s getting cold, so make sure you warm up before your matches during the winter months.  Pre-match warm-up should consist of dynamic stretching, some light jogging around the court (3 laps is ideal), and some footwork exercises so you are ready to move from point one.  Arm circles, trunk rotations, and knee bends are just some of the excellent dynamic stretches you can do.  For a visual on these exercises, check out Gene’s latest video on youtube called, “5 Dynamic Stretches for Tennis.”  See you on the courts!

Marina City Club’s Annual Palm Desert Trip 2011

Dinner at The Nest

November 11-13, 2011 marked another trip to the beautiful Shadow Mountain Resort in Palm Desert for the Marina City Club faithful. Friday was beautiful, with casual doubles played by members and the pro, Gene, in the late afternoon in balmy desert weather under clear skies. Saturday morning, the skies opened and kept the courts wet all day, preventing us from playing a much-anticipated match with Ironwood Country Club. Members went to movies, casinos, The Living Desert, and relaxed by shopping. Saturday night was a wonderful four-course dinner at The Nest, a desert hot-spot, with live music and dancing. Eighteen members attended the dinner and a wonderful time was had by all.
On Sunday morning, we played mixed doubles against Shadow Mountain and our team won all but on match. It was a beautiful day and everyone was thrilled to get some tennis in, before returning to Marina Del Rey that afternoon. Although the weather did not cooperate completely, we had another memorable trip to the desert with friends.

Dinner at The Nest

Federer wins Paris!

In the last 1000 level atp tournament of the year, Federer finally left his mark, winning the Paris Indoors with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Amazingly, despite Tsonga being French and playing the Paris, the crowd showed great support for the ever-popular Swiss legend as he won this title for the first time in his illustrious career. It is Fed’s 69th professional title and he topped the 800-win mark for his career earlier this week.

Fed Impresses at Swiss Indoors Basel

Federer returned to his winning ways, ousting Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-3 in the finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel.  The 21-year-old Japanese sensation who took out Novak Djokovic in the semis to face a solid Federer in the final and move to No. 24 in the world, the highest ranking ever by a Japanese male tennis player.  Federer secured his spot in the London Masters months ago, but this year had only one title in Qatar, back in January, so this hometown victory brought tears to the great player’s eyes.  Congrats to both athletes for making their countries proud.  Nadal did not play and Andy Murray pulled out of Basel with an injury.

Andy Murray Wows in Japan Open Final

Andy Murray looked like he was on his way to a 14th loss to world no. 2, Rafael Nadal as he dropped the first set of the 2011 Japan Open final, 6-3.  However, Murray decided to hang in there and force the future hall of famer, Nadal to close out the match, rather than giving up.  His tenacity and emotional stability allowed Murray to play two outstanding sets and defeat Nadal, 6-2, 6-0 in the final two sets, including a three break third set in which Murray only lost 4 points.  That’s right, 4 points against Rafa.  Murray has set a goal of finishing this year ahead of all-time great, Roger Federer at no. 3 in the rankings and with play like this, that goal seems reachable.