学网球之路

如打高尔夫, 羽毛球, 乒乓球等,
甚至根本不运动的人,  比较多使用电脑键盘和鼠标等,
同样会导致手腕,肘关节肌肉紧张,  长时间不能放松而
导致网球肘的,  在生活中并不是很少见.

我以前工作的计算机公司的经理不运动,  也得了网球肘,
我问他不打网球, 那来的网球肘,  他说医生告诉他的,
打不打网球, 都不重要,   只是这个病就叫网球肘.
在得网球肘的人里, 不打网球的, 多过打网球的.   
他是键盘使用太多了.

  毫无疑问, 如果他打网球, 即使改成Federer的技术动作,
用最arm friendly 的球拍和球线,   用最好的防护手段和治疗手段,
得网球肘都在劫难逃.  

正好在那时我也得了网球肘,  已经折腾了我一年多.
用了很轻的球拍(挥拍都痛)和很软的拍线,  用了针灸,理疗等等办法,

就差改技术动作了.
但还是 基本打不了网球.  

   听经理一说, 我恍然大悟. 我用电脑鼠标很多,
换成左手用鼠标, 很快就没事了.  

那时我就纳闷,  曾经最疯狂时, 我 一天打比赛5场,  10个小时以上,
双打半决赛,  决赛,  单打1/4,   半决赛,  决赛,
10个脚指甲都打成黑紫色了,  用的还是最stiff的 kevlar 拍线,
肘也没什么感觉, 而得网球肘时已经打得不怎么多了.

对于我和有些人, 打网球也就是压死骆驼的最后一根小干草.


From website:

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)

What is tennis elbow?

Tennis elbow is a painful elbow  disorder.

This term is misleading because

most people who have it did  not get it from playing tennis.

In fact, tennis elbow seldom has any  connection with fun and games.

here is the link:

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/tennis_elbow.html

学网球之路

Share with you a video :

great song, beautiful girl, and nice tennis

on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GspOnUS1Qg0



,

学网球之路

Hi all my dear friends,

do you know that "Tennis Elbow" probably is the most misleading term ?

"Because most people who have it did  not get it from playing tennis.

In fact, tennis elbow seldom has any  connection with fun and games."

here is the article on Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) :

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/tennis_elbow.html

So if you were bothered by tennis elbow, I think the first thing for you to do is you should make sure there are  no other factors except playing tennis,  because these factors may be the real cause or at least the main cause of  your tennis elbow, playing tennis is just the trigger or the final straw .

But if you really insist to blame playing tennis be  the reason for your tennis elbow,  then I would like to cooperate with you by going further to provide you the details to blame more accurately :

1.  racket;  I will talk much more at the end.

2.   string and tension ;  use soft synthetic gut string with lower tension  as I do for several players , it does help at different degree, but none  of them get completely free of tennis elbow .    I am sure you can even use natural gut if you totally blame the string and want  remove this factor at the maximum degree.

3.    shot technique;    improve the technique by removing pushing the ball  when racket and the ball contact,  the result will be much less impact  between racket and ball as well as much better shot.  
Actually  the main difference between pros and amateur players is that pros  hit ball more clean, so the shot has a lot of more power and control,   but amateur players have much more push when racket contact the ball.   So all the amateur players have much room to improve just by removing or  decreasing the push.  My tennis lesson is mainly focusing  and pretty  very successful on removing the push.  I always tell my students that if  they get tennis elbow because of playing tennis, then highly possible  that my lesson fails.
   
4.  too lazy:  

a. no proper warming up and cooling down;

b. no enough arm stretch ( for complete muscle relaxation, improving blood circulation to  remove bad stuff from elbow etc.) .  

c.  no enough muscle exercise with  weight to make the weak parts stronger in order to get more elbow joint balance etc..  

d.  no one critical habit : whenever  one point finishes or not hitting ball, switch to left hand holding  racket(if you use right hand ), so let right arm muscle get maximum rest  and relaxed  between two points.  Actually it is believed to be a very critical  factor for causing tennis elbow that the arm muscle can not get relaxed  enough for long time.  If you keep holding racket with right arm for the  whole game or the whole play time, the right arm muscle will keep  getting tight,  just no enough relax for too long.

Now I want to share with you what I have found about the racket factor for causing tennis elbow.


Since several friends have tennis elbow with using Nadal used racket model: Babolat AeroPro Drive GT,  so I have the question:  

Babolat AeroPro Drive Causes Tennis Elbow or Shoulder Problems?

I searched website, and this is what I found :

Posted by kazamzaa View Post

Anyone who owns one or uses one ( Babolat AeroPro Drive  ), can you please help me by answering these questions:

1. Is it a very stiff racket (even with the "Woofer System" and "Cortex" that is suppose to dampen shock)?

2. Anyone who has or suffered from tennis elbow or shoulder problems use this racket?

3. Will it cause tennis elbow or should problems?

4. Will stringing it with a soft multi or natural gut help at low tensions?

Thanks for any advice and help!

One player responded:

1. Is it a very stiff racket (even with the "Woofer System" and "Cortex" that is suppose to dampen shock)?

Yes. Out of all the racquets I owned, it was the harshest on the arm.

2. Anyone who has or suffered from tennis elbow or shoulder problems use this racket?

Yes. I did not have any arm problems when I started using the racquet, but I started having problems shortly after using it.

3. Will it cause tennis elbow or should problems?

Yes. It caused Golfer's elbow for me (pain from serve and forehand). I think it affected my shoulder also.

4. Will stringing it with a soft multi or natural gut help at low tensions?

Yes. I started with a poly/multi hybrid setup. I also experimented with  full poly at 35 pounds. It was almost bearable when I switched to a soft  multi but got much better when I switched racquets as well.

  
A professional player responded :


1. Is it a very stiff racket (even with the "Woofer System" and "Cortex" that is suppose to dampen shock)?
-Yes.

2. Anyone who has or suffered from tennis elbow or shoulder problems use this racket?
-It caused my Tennis Elbow.

3. Will it cause tennis elbow or should problems?
-Yes. And wrist problems too.     Nadal and Tsonga did have wrist problem too,  Coincident?

4. Will stringing it with a soft multi or natural gut help at low tensions?
-Yes. Natural gut on mid tensions stresses the elbow much less than  polys below tension range.  This racket would be overpowered if strung  with Natural Gut or Multifilament low (I've tried).

Because you have a history of Tennis Elbow I will repeat some known measures to avoid tennis elbow reoccuring:
-HL (head light ) racket.
-as heavy racket as you can handle. Babolat AeroPro Drive is light racket , 300g.
-racket's stiffness below 65.  Babolat AeroPro Drive is 69, which is very high.
But below 65 racket is only less than 10% of the rackets on market (see my search result  below).
-don't hold the racket too hard when hitting.   
( my comment: relaxed arm is the key for reaching fast racket swing in  order to create shot power,  which is also the key part taught in the  tennis drills for my students , but a lot of players simply just push the ball  when racket contacts ball, so arm has to be very tight for the push. )
-Natural Gut string.
-TheraBand FlexBar
-warm up before tennis i.e. 15-20 minutes of jogging.

(   but I don't think this one is any helpful since no many players can do  this as hobby besides playing tennis.  this player can do it because he  is a pro. it is totally fine for him that 15 - 20 minutes of jogging  become part of his work. )

on Tenniselbowracket.com website:

the top 10 list of arm-friendly racquets:

Racquet     RDC Flex     Strung Weight     Balance
Yonex EZone Ai 98 (click for more info) (submit your own comments)     61     11.3     -4HL
HEAD YT Graphene Prestige Pro (click for more info) (submit your own comments)     63     11.6     -6HL
PACIFIC X Feel Pro 95 (click for more info) (submit your own comments)     60     11.9     -5HL
Prince Tour Pro 98 (click for more info) (submit your own comments)     61     11.3     -4HL
Prince Tour 98 ESP (click for more info) (submit your own comments)     60     11.4     -12HL
Pro Kennex Kinetic KI5 315 (click for more info)     62     11.7     -6HL
Technifibre 2013 Tflight 315 16M LTD (click for more info)     60     11.7     -5HL
Volkl Power Bridge-10 Mid (93) (click for more info)     61     12.1     -8HL
Volkl Organix 10 325G (click for more info)     63     12.1     -7HL
WILSON 2014 Pro Staff 95S  (click for more info)     64     11.5     -7HL

( my comments:  for all the top 10 rackets:

stiffness is lower than 65,   weight is more than 11.2 oz, head light.

My son Andy now uses the Prince Graphite racket:   

stiffness 62,  weight is way more  than 11.2 oz (at lest 330 g), head light.

So I assume his racket can be listed as the top 11th arm-friendly  racquet,  at least it should be pretty safe for his arm.  

By the way,  most of the Prince Rackets stiffness is low than  65, so Prince Rackets seem the most friendly to players' elbow, but the  Company gets dead.  

*Finding a racquet that meets all of the criteria established above can  be quite a daunting task, since they represent such a small percentage  of the market and there are no companies that I know of that are geared  toward “arm-friendly” tennis equipment.


The racket characteristics affecting tennis elbow

The main characteristics that affect how “arm-friendly” your racquet is  include: balance, weight, beam profile, flex/stiffness and head size.  How these characteristics affect your arm are outlined below.

Balance:  The more head light the better. The balance rating typically  ranges from -15HL to +15HH with zero being perfectly balanced. Head  Light racquets cause more of the vibration to be absorbed by the handle  and less by your arm, while being much easier to control and maneuver at  the net.

Weight: A heavier racquet is better. Heavier racquets absorb more of the  vibration upon contact. They are more difficult to swing quickly but  you can compensate for this with a head light balance, particularly for  volleying at the net.

Beam Profile: A thinner beam profile is better. Thicker wide body racquet’s are usually very light and are stiffer.

Flex/Stiffness: A more flexible frame is better. A more flexible frame  absorbs more of the shock on contact. Flexible racquets tend to have  less power but more control, although they can be more powerful when  heavier. Flex is a measurement on the Babolat RDC scale of 0-100, with a  lower number meaning less stiffness, you should be looking for a  racquet with a stiffness measurement at 64 or less which includes less  than 10% of the modern racquets on the market.

Head Size: A smaller head size is better. The sweet spot does not get  larger with an over-sized head, and an over-sized head tends to cause  more off-center hits which causes more shock to your arm.

Racquet Length: A standard 27″ length is best. Longer racquets are more  difficult to maneuver and are made lighter to compensate, thereby  causing more shock to your arm.


I want to add one:

racket  grip.  the thicker grip is , for sure the better for arm relax or for  holding the racket less tight when racket contact the ball.

The last and the real most important :  

Good luck, God bless your arm,  my friend.

Michael.

学网球之路

How to hit clean and powerful tennis groundstroke shot?

1.  let the full, complete, fast racket swing hit the ball or whip the ball,  not push the ball,  push is simply the pollution to the clean shot;
2.  use the whole body, not just the arm, to make the racket swing,  the whole body is the healthy source of fast swing.
3.  use the very simple drills to reach and implement the above.
4.  view the example in the video:




on youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTodmy51_Xg

5.  but the most important:    good luck !

学网球之路

见证什么叫天赋

第一次教8岁男孩从单反手开始学起.

见证了什么叫天赋.


[youtube]weYeaY71mQQ[/youtube]



video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weYeaY71mQQ

学网球之路

很不一样的学员

也许是看了最近我的网球训练video 的缘故, 上周引来一些与以前很不一样的学员.
1.   Mcgill 大学的一位心理学老教授;

在看了我的网球训练视频后, 他给我发了email:

“Nice videos, and good players. They must have a great coach!
It would be fun to hit, get a lesson.  ”

看来花时间把训练视频做得好一点,  对推销自己还是有益和值得的.

第一次课他和我对打最多没有超过10个回合, 但第二次课就超过了50 个回合:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsMwprGEADU

很明显他要提高改进的地方还很多, 但象他这种年纪, 别说在那么快的球场打50 多个回合:


就是还能跑, 能做挥拍 swing  , 并把挥拍 swing 做得比较完全, 而不是象很多老年球员那样仅仅只是
push ball, 已经很不错了, 就象他在email 里说的:
“Thanks Michael.
I think I’ll keep playing.
The slow motion is particularly effective in showing my follow through,
which is not perfect but not too bad either.

T“


2.   又来了个在当地网球俱乐部训练的男孩,  
已开始参加魁省的比赛.  加上之前的,
和 Andy 一起已经可以搞一个4 人小组, 一起训练,一起
参加魁省的比赛.      

小孩的父亲给我发了个email:
"Dear Michael,

Thank you for the program.

I think, finally I've found a real coach for my son, and I am happy for that.
But it is pity, my son just begun another program in Sani club and I cannot cancel it until June next year.  So we go with you and Sani.   In June we will go farther with you.
在没有取消当地club program 的情况下, 还来参加我的训练, 确实
显示了对我的信任.


3.    遇到一个到目前为止, 最有挑战性的学员,  一个8岁的黑人男孩:  
交流有一定障碍,  注意力专注很差, 已无法上学, 只能由父母在家教.
当我试图和他交流时, 基本没什么反应.
当时直感到心灰意冷, 心里唯一能产生的念头就是:  没法教, 没法教.  
   
但多少被年轻父母的坚持, 不放弃,不离弃所影响,  也只好硬着头皮,
想了几个简单的用拍在地上推球, 滚球, 挡球, 停球等的练习让小孩做.

没想到的是, 小孩还越做越投入, 有时甚至露出很开心, 很高兴的表情, 基本没有停的练了一个多小时.   
小孩的父母显得也很激动, 连连对我说, 他们终于找到了能教他们小孩的教练.  当时听了的确有点惭愧.

The mother sent me an email that day:

“Thanks a lot for today!   I think he enjoyed it because he asked to go play tomorrow again.
So tennis caught his interest, I guess”.   

不少小孩的家长送小孩来学球, 都希望看到小孩能把网球打得很不错,
而这个小孩, 只要能坚持练习, 能通过打球, 提高基本的注意力专注和持久,  能正常地去学校上学,
他的父母亲就非常满足了.   和这个小孩的家长比, 感觉自己很幸运了.
  

学网球之路

Tennis legend Sampras' first tennis tip to his son :



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzPa2JeTyTE

学网球之路

可怜天下父母心.

男孩8岁, 智力障碍, 不能上正常学校.
上特殊学校, 情况变得更糟糕.
父母选择既工作又照顾教育小孩.

在网球课上, 作父亲的,  很认真地学习每一个练习,
以便回家继续带小孩练.
每次课弯腰捡球上千次.

第三次课小孩连续不停击球超过了20分钟.
注意力专注的持久有了明显的变化,
这给父母带来不小的振奋和信心.

学网球之路

Message from the kid's Mom after she saw the pictures:


"Awww that's very sweet,

Nice to see them in pictures))

My heart just melted))"

学网球之路

A little girl learns playing tennis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp3Db_jQCUM