Getting the Most Out of Your Retired Court Shoes

With a struggling economy of the past four years, many tennis players are apt to use their court shoes longer than they would have before. It’s only natural that would happen, since many people squeeze as much use out of a product as they can in an effort to get the most for their money.

However, at some point squeezing out value is no longer an option. When shoes are worn past a certain point, they become either ineffective or unsafe for playing tennis. This does not mean that you cannot continue to get more use out of these shoes for something else. There are some creative ways you can use tennis shoes when they are no longer suited for playing tennis.

If court shoes are worn out for playing tennis, they are likely pretty much worn out for any other athletic application, but this is true with new tennis shoes. Using them for basketball might work, but the playing surface for that sport is usually a polished maple wood floor with a different traction than asphalt, clay or grass. Most team sports played on grass or dirt require some form of spikes or cleats anyway.

As casual footwear, retired court shoes are a good option as long as they are reasonably comfortable and you don’t need the same traction that you do for tennis.

You can also use them for doing some types of messy household work, but again, you have to be careful. Court shoes can protect your feet while doing tasks like gardening or mowing the lawn, and you don’t have to worry about getting them dirty if you are painting. But if you have to work with heavy objects or rocky areas, work boots, especially with steel toes, may be preferable. Soles that stick to tennis courts may not work on wet floors where you would need a non-slip tread.

If all else fails, you can donate retired shoes to charitable organizations that give them to the homeless. You might not personally be able to squeeze the extra value out of your retired court shoes that you had hoped to, but a grateful person who has fallen on hard times will.

Classic Moments: Abuse of Tennis Racquets

The sport of tennis has many memories of fine competitive moments. Andy Murray’s recent U.S. Open championship match win over Novak Djokovic is a great example of two players giving 100% and fighting exhaustion until a winner emerges. What the sport never recognizes, and never will, are the entertaining moments where tennis racquets get a death sentence from a frustrated player. What would the sport be like if there were judges on standby to rate the form and style of racquet destruction just as there are judges who rate gymnastics, diving or figure skating? It depends on your point of view.

In terms of form and efficiency, few, if any tennis racquet smashing tirades can top the abuse Roger Federer gave his racquet after losing a point at the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami against Djokovic. Immediately after his shot hit the net, Federer reduced his racquet to a shadow of its former self with a definitive slam into the hard court surface. It was a fast, yet humane way to finish off a racquet that failed to deliver.

No one can match Marcos Baghdatis if quantity is a criterion. At the 2012 Australian Open, he destroyed four racquets in rapid succession. What was entertaining about the prolonged tirade is how Baghdatis waited for an attendant to take away each destroyed racquet before starting on another. The manufacturer of his racquets, Technifibre, stated that they had dropped their sponsorship of Baghdatis the month before.

Although Baghdatis’ moment was entertaining, Andy Roddick’s outburst at the 2011 Madrid  Open was a classic. After his shot hit the net, his tennis racquet had no chance, even with the softer clay surface. As Roddick went to get a replacement, he asked the umpire if he had been given a warning. The umpire said that he had not, but if the behavior continued, he would. Roddick responded with two more whacks of the damaged instrument against the chair where he kept his spare equipment.

Many of us who aspired to be elite professional tennis players like the Federers, Djokovices and Nadals of the world received a dose of reality about our limitations at an early age. We learned what a day job is and to hold on to it. Adding to the frustration of not making it as a pro tennis player and being paid millions to play the sport is that we also do not have the luxury of breaking our racquets out of frustration. Just as we live vicariously through a superstar’s greatest moments as a competitor and skilled athlete, our budgets reduce us to also living vicariously through those times they take it out on their racquets. In both instances we say to ourselves, “I wish I could do that.”

Making a Rally Master Backboard Part of Your Players’ Training

Tennis is a sport that does not make it as easy to practice by yourself. Golf players can work on their drives and putts alone; distance runners can put in the mileage with no assistance and even basketball players, who play a team sport, can practice shooting and handling the ball without other people around. In tennis it is difficult to practice by yourself without a ball machine or a backboard, and not just any backboard will do. You owe it to your players to install a quality backboard like Rally Master.

Anyone could ‘jury-rig’ a backboard; you could hit against the garage wall or the side of a stone building and either paint or tape a net-high line to simulate a net and start practicing. The old adage about practice making perfect is not accurate, however. If you do not practice in a productive manner, you may fail to learn properly, or worse learn bad habits. It is probably better to say that perfect practice makes perfect and if you are going to benefit from training with a backboard, use one designed for the task like Rally Master’s backboards are.

Studies of tennis mechanics comparing backboard sessions to game conditions have shown that a flat backboard perpendicular to the ground is not the best simulation of game conditions–a sloped wall is better. Rally Master makes backboards with a 15° slope. You buy them as multiple 4′ x 10′ panels that you assemble together. Two beginner level players can workout with a 16′ x 10′ configuration of panels assembled together. Since these backboards are designed to be struck by tennis balls, they will outlast any garage door or plywood contraption used as a backboard. Players can also enjoy aerobic benefits, provided they workout for a long enough time and at a high enough intensity.

No one should take the value of training with a backboard from a reputable company like Rally Master for granted. By paying a little extra, you allow players who train with this equipment to train in a productive and beneficial manner and avoid practicing bad habits.

Why Tennis Bags are Great for Commuting to Work

I have commuted to work using mass transit for a while. One of the problems I have had is  finding the right bag to do the job. I have tried briefcases, duffle bags, laptop bags and backpacks, but nothing worked right. It wasn’t until I started looking at tennis bags that I was able to find the best solution.

My commuting is not typical in the sense that I do not go to the same office each workday. Instead, I work a lot out of the home and go to the office of whatever client I am meeting with that day. I travel by bus, train or trolley, depending on which mode will get me to my destination the fastest. My laptop is my tool of trade and goes with me wherever I do.

I used to use a briefcase for taking my laptop and paperwork. Usually these do the job, and if I commuted by car it would be my preferred choice. But because a mass transit commute to some sites takes much longer than a drive, I often have to eat breakfast or lunch along the way. It’s difficult to carry a drink and food and still carry a briefcase or duffle bag. I opted for a regular backpack, thinking that I could carry all my stuff in the backpack while carrying food and drink in my free hands.

A couple of problems came up with the backpacks, though. It would have been nice to put the food and drink in the bag as well. On some commutes, I may have to transfer three times to get to my destination. This means everything has to be packed up, so I can easily move from train to bus to trolley or any combination of the three. The other problem is that I cannot afford to have liquids or food get on my laptop. If that happened it could be game over for me.

The solution I came up with was inspired by watching Wimbledon. I saw how a couple of players pulled water bottles out of their tennis bags during breaks and had an epiphany: I could do the same thing with my commuter bag. The bags that tennis players use can accommodate water bottles and I could pack my laptop and books to read in the moisture and heat resistant linings meant for the racquets. Food could be put in a plastic zip lock bag in another compartment. This protected my laptop and books from potentially damaging food and drinks. I could use a backpack or multi-racquet bag, because both can strap to your back.

Sometimes the best solution comes from unconventional sources. I’ll never be mistaken for a tennis champion, but the idea to use a tennis bag for commuting was definitely a winner.

Why Plantar Fasciitis Meant Giving Up My Favorite New Balance Tennis Shoes

You never know how well you have it until your feet throb in pain so badly that you can take your heart rate by counting the pulses of pain while watching the clock. A few weeks ago, I had completed a three mile walk and felt strong. It was the farthest I walked since surgery for a torn meniscus in the right knee. The regimen started slowly after Doc gave the green light for weight-bearing exercise. The half-mile walk around the neighborhood on a mostly flat street grew into the latest out-and-back course a little over three miles with a steep hill that I descended going out and ascended coming back. Since I was on a budget, the only shoes suitable for walking were my favorite pair of New Balance tennis shoes I had not worn in a year.

I had played in the shoes for about two weeks before the meniscus tear. Of all the shoes I had, these were in the best condition, so I thought they would be OK for walking. I thought wrong. The day after the hilly three-mile walk, I woke up with the sensation that I had been stabbed in the bottom of both feet. There was a lot of tightness right around the heel. Just walking to the shower was excruciating and since both feet were like this, I couldn’t even hop on one good foot.

The strange thing about it was that after a while, my feet loosened up and were relatively pain free. I had not taken any ibuprofen or iced anything down, so what happened? This process repeated for the next three mornings before I talked to a couple of friends I worked out with about this strange tightness and pain that seemed to go away after an hour each morning.

To one friend, this sounded all too familiar; he thought I had plantar fasciitis. The plantar fascia is a connective tissue that connects the ball of your foot to the heel and supports the arch. As you might imagine, it gets quite a workout with all your weight on top of it. When it becomes inflamed, you have plantar fasciitis. My friend had also gone through the phenomenon of feeling pain that seemed to go away after an hour or so.

Doc referred me to a podiatrist friend who confirmed that I had plantar fasciitis. He cited a number of factors as possible causes: my weight, my increase in mileage with the walks and the New Balance tennis shoes I wore for walking.

First, he said no weight-bearing workouts for the next two weeks to give my plantar fasciae some rest. He then recommended some over the counter arch supports that you could get at any pharmacy.

Secondly, I was to continue working out to lose weight, but to mix some non-weight bearing exercise into the mix. Swimming, water running with a floatation belt and the bike machine allowed me to resume working out without killing my feet.

Finally, he said to ditch the tennis shoes. I was going to walk only once or twice a week instead of the five times per week I did before, so I should use shoes suited for walking or running that I could wear the arch supports with. If I was going to play tennis, I also needed to get new tennis shoes that had a good mix of stability and cushioning that would also accommodate the supports. As it turns out, I could get New Balance shoes for tennis (albeit a different model) and walking. They are one of the few vendors that provide shoes in different widths and I was a long-time customer.

When you take the time to think about how much abuse your plantar fasciae take, it’s a wonder they have lasted as long as they have. One of the consequences of leaving plantar fasciitis untreated is the development of painful bone spurs. As your plantar fasciae get overworked and tighten, one way your body compensates is with the growth of bone in the heel area to reduce the stretching of the plantar fascia. Many people have some spur growth in this area, but when it becomes excessive, the result is painful to the touch; never mind putting weight on it.

While the whole experience of plantar fasciitis was an interesting education, I would have preferred some pain-free ignorance. Fortunately, with this injury, addressing the problems early prevented any serious long-term damage to my feet. The only loss was that I had to toss the previous New Balance tennis shoes. I was bothered at the abuse my shoe budget took, but glad something other than my feet was feeling the pain.

Carrying Tennis Bags on an Airliner: Safest Option is to Check It

Bringing your tennis racquets with you when traveling by air used to be something you took for granted. Most players packed their racquets in tennis bags and carried them on board without a worry. Not so anymore. After 9/11 luggage regulations became much more restrictive; that was to be expected. What wasn’t expected was that the limits would affect tennis racquets. Furthermore, airline imposed size limits have all but made it impossible to bring your racquets on board. There is also some ambiguity as to whether or not TSA prohibits tennis racquets on board. After examining all this information, the only conclusion you can come to is that the best way to travel by air with your racquets is to put them in checked luggage.

A look at several online forums on the subject suggests that you may be able to carry racquets on board, but you are at the mercy of airline personnel when doing so. Other information shows that if the letter of the law is followed with regards to airline baggage policies, no tennis bags would be allowed on board.

A glance at three major U.S. based carriers, United, Delta and American shows that carry on baggage must not exceed 45 linear inches. Linear inches are calculated by adding the three dimensions of the bag together. A bag that is 20″ x 8″ x 9″ would be 37 linear inches and compliant with the regulation.

Not only are you limited to the 45 linear inches, you are also limited to how those inches can be distributed. The limits prohibit any bag outside the dimensions 22 inches long; 14 inches wide and 9 inches high. Our aforementioned 37 linear inch bag is still compliant with both the 45 linear inch limit and the dimensions limit. A bag that was 25 inches long; 10 inches wide and 9 inches high is a total of 44 linear inches and complies with the first rule; but the 25 inch length violates the dimensions limits. A 27 inch racquet itself is already in violation of the dimensions limits, never mind six of them in a tennis bag.

One of the sources air travelers are advised to check as far as transportation compliance goes is the TSA website. A visit of their website sends mixed signals. A blog entry on the TSA blog from March 2012 states that tennis racquets are prohibited as carry on items, but a PDF file says they are ok for carry on. A webpage is silent with regards to tennis racquets. On that same page, you can enter an item description to see if that item is restricted. This takes you to a popup window that says that anything that can be used as a bludgeon is prohibited in the cabin, but it’s not clear if they consider a tennis racquet a bludgeon, and they go on to state that items that are not generally prohibited could still be inspected further and that “The final decision rests with TSA on whether to allow any items on the plane.”

In spite of claims in online forums that you can bring tennis racquets in carry on luggage, the safest bet seems to be to put them in checked luggage.Be sure to pack your racquets so that they are insulated from impact as much as possible.

Most tennis bags probably do not comply with airline policies for baggage dimension limits and the TSA is no help in stating clearly whether you are allowed to bring racquets on board or not. Arguing with the TSA that a PDF file on their website says there are no prohibitions on racquets is a losing proposition at best and it’s risky to count on airline personnel to bend the rules.

Using Babolat Tennis Bags for Something Other Than Their Intended Purpose

Show of hands here. How many of you have used your Babolat tennis bag for something other than carrying racquets and tennis gear? I thought so. Quite a few of you have. The best thing about these bags is that the engineering that makes them a great tennis bag also makes them good for other purposes. These bags are very serviceable as general purpose bags. All you need is a little creativity when it comes to lugging your stuff around.

The silver thermal linings that protect racquets from hot days also protect my takeout from the Thai restaurant from cooling off before I get home. It’s great for storing cold drinks and cold food. All the liner really amounts to is a heat insulator,  protecting whatever is stored inside from the surrounding temperature. This keeps hot items hot and cold items cold for as long as possible. Not as good as a cooler or some other food containers, but for one person, it works in a pinch.

For mothers, bags can be very useful whenever you go somewhere and have to take the kids with you. You can keep a lot of toys, diapers and other gear that you’ll often need to manage your kids when running errands or going to the beach. The straps on many Babolat bags that allow you to carry tennis racquets in the bag like a backpack, also work in situations where you need your hands free to pick up a tired toddler, feed the meter or find the car keys.

Although it may not look professional, it can be used as a briefcase. It may be unorthodox, but if you don’t have a briefcase, you can use this bag to carry some paperwork. It can also carry many small laptops and tablet devices. Not the first choice for impressing a Fortune 500 exec, but you can keep items organized until the Attaché 5000 Deluxe you have on back order from Staples arrives.

I’ve used my tennis bag many times as a laundry bag. It’s meant to carry clean and dirty tennis clothes, so why not use it to carry clean and dirty regular clothes?

You do not have to limit yourself to a bag’s original intended purpose to enjoy its functionality. The engineering that Babolat puts in to making a tennis bag protect tennis equipment also makes it a useful bag for non-tennis purposes. Linings that protect racquets also protect food, paperwork, toys and other items. Today’s economics dictate that we all be resourceful. One of the best ways to do that is to be creative about using what we already have.

When the Tennis Pro Says to Lock the Tennis Ball Mower Up, You’d Better Listen

Sometimes the only way to learn a lesson is to learn it the hard way. Like the time I was 15 and had a summer job working at the neighborhood tennis club. It was a pretty good job, much better than flipping burgers or mowing lawns in 100° weather, but I had a tough boss; Ray, the club pro. When he said to do something, you better do it, or learn your lesson the hard way. One of the biggest lessons I learned was to always lock the tennis ball mower up when closing up the place.

The complex had six courts and the lobby was being renovated at the time. The workers doing the renovation would come in and do their work after hours. Since their work only affected the lobby, nothing they did disrupted anyone or prevented them from using any of the courts. Everything pretty much went on business as usual, and except for some sheets of plastic taped over the walls and a couple of areas that were roped off, nothing was different.

When I closed up shop on a Friday, I was going to go out with friends for the evening as most teenagers do. In my haste to get ready for the evening, I not only did not lock up the ball machine, I left the keys to the storage room on the counter. It was on the back of my mind, but I was not worried too much, since I had locked the main door to the club from the inside and all I had to do was pull it shut. Ray had his own keys, so I figured he would be able to get in.

Anyone who knows construction workers knows that they like to drink from time to time. Ray didn’t have a problem with these guys doing it as long as it didn’t get out of hand. One of the workers that night decided to test those limits. He had a few too many and developed an ornery streak. When he saw that the tennis ball mower and over 2,000 practice balls were not locked up, he decided to have a little fun.

At 6:30 the next morning I was roused out of bed by my father. He was upset and told me I had a phone call. After I said hello, the voice on the line said in the manner not unlike a drill sergeant, “GET OVER HERE AND CLEAN UP THIS MESS! THERE’S TENNIS BALLS ALL OVER THE PLACE AND WE’RE OPENING UP AT NINE!” I was in deep trouble and if I wanted to have spending money and not get grounded for a month, I had better get to the club ASAP.

It was seven when I arrived. There were tennis balls scattered all over the courts. The tennis ball mower was locked up and the keys that I left on the counter had been locked inside the storage room. Ray had his own keys and could have opened the storage room to let me use the mower to pick up all the loose balls. The whole ordeal would have been over in less than a half-hour, but he wanted to teach me a lesson.

“Here’s a bucket,” he said handing me a plastic paint bucket like the ones you find at Home Depot. “The only reason I’m letting you use it is that I have to open up at nine. You are going to  pick up all these loose balls and put them in the bucket. Every time you fill the bucket, you’ll dump the balls into the carts. If I catch you using the mower or taking the carts out of this room, you’re fired.” He then opened the storage room so I would have access to the carts.

“I don’t care how many times you have to go back and forth. I want this place cleaned up by 8:45. Get moving!”

The work was a lot like the ‘educational sprints’, ‘suicides’ or ‘rat races’ that coaches would have you do. Luckily I was in pretty good shape at age 15 and was able to get the job done in time, because if I had to do it now at my age, I’d die. Two things never happened after that morning. The construction worker with the drinking problem never worked for that contractor again and I never forgot to lock the tennis ball mower for the night.

How Well Did the Wilson BLX do in the French Open? It Depends

If you are a ‘glass is half full’ person, the Wilson BLX fared pretty well in this year’s French Open. Several players who wield the latest tennis racket technology from Wilson played deep into the tournament. On the other hand, if you are of the ‘glass is half empty’ mindset, the BLX hit a ceiling, unable to make it to either the finals in men’s or women’s singles. The perspective may also depend on whether or not you do PR for Wilson Sports.

No singles player wielding a BLX racket made it past the semifinals. The one who advanced the farthest was Roger Federer, who uses Wilson’s Pro Staff SIX.ONE 90 BLX racket. He lost in the seminfinals to top ranked player, Novak Djokovic. As for the women, Petra Kitova, who uses the Steam 100 BLX, lost in the semifinals to eventual champion, Maria Sharapova. This matchup drew a lot of fan interest since it was a rematch of the 2011 Wimbledon final, which Kitova won 6-3, 6-4.

As to whether or not these Wilson BLX rackets fared well depends on your perspective. From a more global standpoint, Federer and Kitova are the elite of the elite when compared to all who play tennis and played well to advance as far as they did. If your mindset is that no one remembers who got second place, then these performances are disappointing. The fourth round exit of Viktoria Azarenka, who uses the Wilson Juice 100 BLX, would seem to bolster that argument.

But is it really fair to put too much weight on the racket itself? Rafael Nadal dominates the French Open so much that the only way to make it fair would be to force him to use a frying pan as a racket. Federer has had a Hall of Fame career and is still someone you have to beat to win a major. Kitova may be on her way to a successful career as well. These all suggest that it’s more about the player than it is about the racket.

If you do PR work for Wilson, you don’t think that way. You want athletes who use their rackets like Federer, Azarenka or Kitova to play well, because it is great advertising for the brand. In reality, these players use a racket that feels comfortable and behaves the way they want it to. They probably could play well with any number of rackets, it’s just that they go with their preference.

Not Much Showboating in Tennis Compared to Other Sports—Is It Because the Opponent Has a Tennis Racquet?

One of the things that makes tennis stand out as a spectator sport is that there is still some semblance of decorum. You will see players celebrate when they win a match, but there’s not a lot of trash talking, chest thumping or dancing. In a tennis match, you would never see something as blatant as the time Terrell Owens pulled out a Sharpie out of a goalpost pad to autograph a ball and give it to a fan as a souvenir—in the middle of a game. I remember listening to the Jim Rome Show when Rome interviewed hockey star Chris Chelios. Rome asked Chelios why there wasn’t as much showboating in hockey. Chelios replied, “Maybe it’s because we all have sticks.” Unlike hockey, I don’t think tennis players are subdued in their celebration because their opponent has a tennis racquet; I think it’s because they respect the traditions of the sport.

This respect can only be good. Although many athletes deny it, they are role models whether they want to be or not. When children watch competitive sports and get interested in them, one of the first things they do is imitate what they observe. They want to be like the athletes they admire. If they see an athlete showboating, arguing with officials or getting into fights, they’re going to do the same thing. After all, if I should copy Joe Tennis Star’s groundstroke, shouldn’t I also copy him when he argues with the umpires and slams his racquet after a close call?

Professional athletes, tennis players included, have an obligation to the sport to leave a positive legacy to future athletes. They can teach by example how the game should be played and inspire everyone with their greatness. In a negative way they can also teach bad habits that have nothing to do with being a strong competitor. Tennis, while it has its share of players who misbehave on the court, has done a pretty good job of policing its players’ behavior. Hopefully no one will ever misbehave so badly that they find themselves on the business end of a tennis racquet to the head.