Equipment

Vote on ROG in USTA NorCal Section

1
1 month ago
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I recently read the following letter from coach Bill Patton addressed to the Board of Directors of USTA NorCal before their May 15 vote on whether to expand ROG competition to 12-and-under players:

Dear NorCal Board of Directors,

I have been coaching for 25 years, have 200+ continuing education units with USPTA, and completed coursework and a thesis in Education. I am running the first ever NIKE Tennis Camps that use compression Tennis Balls. I have used compression balls since 1999.

The mandate that all 12 under players must play in a certain format with regression equipment is misguided and heavy handed, for many reasons, but please allow me to cite my top 7 reasons: 1. There is a wide variability of the playability and quality of More >

The ParentingAces 2012 Holiday Gift Guide

4
6 months ago
in ,

Whichever holiday (or holidays, in our case!) you celebrate this winter, I thought I would offer up a few suggestions for some tennis-related gifts for your junior player. If you have more ideas to add to the list, please put them in the Comments box below!

  • For the Agassi fan, you can’t do any better than a piece of original jewelry from Nick Zimmer who created the famous Trinity earring and pendant gifted to Andre by Nick Bollettieri and his former wife. The pieces come in gold and silver (or a mixture of the two) and start right around $100. Click here to go to Nick’s website, LoveMyMetal.com.
  • Brad Gilbert’s Tennis Nation store has all sorts of tennis equipment and fun accessories, too. One of my favorites is a wireless tennis ball More >

New Strings, New Racquet or Both?

0
9 months ago
in

For the past few years, my son has been playing with the Babolat Aero Pro Drive Plus racquet, the one that looks like Rafa’s only a half-inch longer.  He’s been stringing his racquets with RPM Blast string, and, until very recently, was happy with his tennis equipment.

Since he first started using this particular racquet and string, my son has grown about 8 inches in height and put on more than 25 pounds, most of it in the last year.  Needless to say, that growth has necessitated making some changes in the way he trains, the way he moves around the court, the way he constructs and plays points, and the way he adjusts his body to be in the proper position to make his shots.  And, recently, he noticed that he seems to be “shanking” balls More >

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