Rafael Nadal did it again. He dethroned Roger Federer once again, this time in the Australian Open last weekend. I cringe whenever I recall the match. Federer made a lot of mistakes and they contributed a lot to Nadal's victory. On the last set, with Nadal leading at 5-2, I was seriously hoping that Federer would turn the tables and catch up to become the champion. But alas, Nadal was persistent and Federer crumbled.
I felt like crying together with Federer. I have nothing against Rafa. He's another one of my favorite players in lawn tennis, and I'm glad that it was he who took over the World Number 1 title (instead of some egoistic bigmouth like Andy Murray). But in choosing between him and Federer, I'm all for Roger Federer!
They broke my heart, especially when Federer cried in the end. To the greatest player of all time: It's killing me, too!
Showing posts with label lawn tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lawn tennis. Show all posts
Lawn Tennis: Warming Up
I hit the tennis courts early Monday morning in an effort to get my body back into shape after feeling my body bogging down a bit. It was a perfect morning for the exercise --- not too hot, not too cold.. The kind of temperature where you feel like working your body out is a comfortable thing to do. It kind of feels like stretching your body when you wake up in the morning to get out of a relaxing sleep and get into gear.
I hadn't played in quite a long time. I think it might have been more than a year already before I went out to the courts that Monday morning. I had to go to work that evening, so it was imperative to me that I don't tire my body out with the exercise.
Sadly, I was too excited in holding a tennis ball and racket again that I pounded on the wall with some shots immediately. I failed to do the proper thing: warm up before going into the game or practice. And now, two days later, my body is still stiff and aching. My right arm feels like it's carrying steel, and I walk like a board.
So get this and get this right: warm up before playing!
Warming Up
There are only three steps in warming up your body before playing. The main purpose is to get your body charged slowly for the game or practice. The warm-up is all about conditioning your body for the heavy physical activity ahead.
1. Walking, light jogging, and moving your arms and legs a bit... You can move your arms around in a circular motion, or shake them a little, as you walk around the court. Your legs will be slowly conditioned when you start walking. Then you pace it up a little by some light jogging. Then if you want, then you can do some side-jumping.
What I do is walk a little for a while, then start jogging after two or three rounds of walking around the tennis court. Then after two rounds of jogging, I would include some side jumps in my next two rounds of light jogging. I do the side jumps whenever I reach the serving areas of the court.
2. Stretching... after the walking and the jogging, it's time to stretch your muscles. The general order of stretching is to start from rotating your head to stretching your legs. But I would usually start from my legs because I feel like moving it a little bit more after the jog.
When stretching, don't push your body so hard. One of the mistakes I made when stretching before games is to stretch my muscles hard enough to feel some pain. But this isn't the real way to go. Stretching your muscles is all about getting them to be flexible with your movements later on. This means that comfort should be present. We can say that the purpose of stretching is to relax your muscles and get used to your body enduring the whacks in the game later on.
3. Doing some lawn tennis moves... Of course, this is imperative. You should also have your body familiarize itself with specific movements in the game. What I do in lawn tennis is to practice my forehand and backhand shots (without the ball). This includes fixing my pose, with one feet in front, the body in position, and getting that forehand and backhand curve right.
Do this step as many times as you like, until you get the movements in your system. Eventually, your body and muscles will be well-charged for the practice ahead.
I hadn't played in quite a long time. I think it might have been more than a year already before I went out to the courts that Monday morning. I had to go to work that evening, so it was imperative to me that I don't tire my body out with the exercise.
Sadly, I was too excited in holding a tennis ball and racket again that I pounded on the wall with some shots immediately. I failed to do the proper thing: warm up before going into the game or practice. And now, two days later, my body is still stiff and aching. My right arm feels like it's carrying steel, and I walk like a board.So get this and get this right: warm up before playing!
Warming Up
There are only three steps in warming up your body before playing. The main purpose is to get your body charged slowly for the game or practice. The warm-up is all about conditioning your body for the heavy physical activity ahead.
1. Walking, light jogging, and moving your arms and legs a bit... You can move your arms around in a circular motion, or shake them a little, as you walk around the court. Your legs will be slowly conditioned when you start walking. Then you pace it up a little by some light jogging. Then if you want, then you can do some side-jumping.
What I do is walk a little for a while, then start jogging after two or three rounds of walking around the tennis court. Then after two rounds of jogging, I would include some side jumps in my next two rounds of light jogging. I do the side jumps whenever I reach the serving areas of the court.
2. Stretching... after the walking and the jogging, it's time to stretch your muscles. The general order of stretching is to start from rotating your head to stretching your legs. But I would usually start from my legs because I feel like moving it a little bit more after the jog.When stretching, don't push your body so hard. One of the mistakes I made when stretching before games is to stretch my muscles hard enough to feel some pain. But this isn't the real way to go. Stretching your muscles is all about getting them to be flexible with your movements later on. This means that comfort should be present. We can say that the purpose of stretching is to relax your muscles and get used to your body enduring the whacks in the game later on.
3. Doing some lawn tennis moves... Of course, this is imperative. You should also have your body familiarize itself with specific movements in the game. What I do in lawn tennis is to practice my forehand and backhand shots (without the ball). This includes fixing my pose, with one feet in front, the body in position, and getting that forehand and backhand curve right.
Do this step as many times as you like, until you get the movements in your system. Eventually, your body and muscles will be well-charged for the practice ahead.
Federer Is Being Beaten Down Too Much
Is it just me or does it feel like the media is biting his head off with the loss?
I mean, yes, Federer lost, and he and Rafa gave the longest and greatest Wimbledon battle ever that Rafa winning made the Spaniard a godlike player. But does the press have to shove it to Federer's face? It's obvious he's going to feel bad about it, but they're like sharks circling for any ungraceful reaction from the Swiss champion.
From Mail Online:
Federer was dignified on the court and apparently desolate when he got off it and his longer-term reaction to the events of Sunday night will be fascinating to observe.
The keyword here is "fascinating." They're sharks. Sharks!
It also feels like they're shoving Federer harder than necessary. It's like one loss is greater than his five wins.
Nadal Beats Federer in Wimbledon 2008!
Nadal wins Wimbledon! Wow! And after winning the French Open, too. This guy's on a roll, winning the French Open and Wimbledon back to back.
World no. 2 finally put an end to Roger Federer's reign. Federer was set on winning Wimbledon for the sixth time. The Spaniard was at the top of his game, though, and Federer made one too many errors.
It was the longest Wimbledon mens final ever, and I honestly didn't care who would win. Both are great and respected champions, and just to see them at the finals battling it out is enough for me.
From Wimbledon.org:
World no. 2 finally put an end to Roger Federer's reign. Federer was set on winning Wimbledon for the sixth time. The Spaniard was at the top of his game, though, and Federer made one too many errors.
It was the longest Wimbledon mens final ever, and I honestly didn't care who would win. Both are great and respected champions, and just to see them at the finals battling it out is enough for me.
From Wimbledon.org:
Wimbledon has a new king. Rafael Nadal dethroned Roger Federer after a five-year reign by winning the longest-ever Wimbledon men's final.The consistently heartstopping 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 classic began at 2.35pm and thanks to a couple of breaks for rain (surely necessary for the spectators to catch their breath), it ended at 9.15pm with the 22-year-old from Mallorca dropping to the ground with his arms outstretched in celebration.Watching the four hours and 48 minutes on-court action, from the vantage point of the royal box, was Centre Court legend Bjorn Borg. Nadal had matched the Swede's fantastic feat of winning the Grand Slams of Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and had also prevented Federer surpassing the five titles in a row he collected between 1976 and 1980.
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