As much as I love tennis, there are some aspects to a tennis match that I truly hate. To the point where it is not fun to play any more, especially at tournament level. I suppose those things are not particular to tennis, as they mostly have to do with the human nature. But tennis…

When it comes to competing in tennis –and sports in general- there is one thing most people dread: losing. The fear of losing can be strong enough to stop you from competing altogether. I know it had been the case for me for several years, no matter the sport. A loss is of course painful…

A tennis pusher is a player whose general game mentality is on the defensive side. Although in the tennis community, identifying a pusher is pretty straightforward, in reality a pusher is hard to define. Tennis pushers usually focus on just keeping the ball in play and trying to elicit errors from their opponents. That “pushing…

What is mental toughness? Mental toughness is a term cited often in tennis and other sports, but also applies to life in general.  It is a term mostly used to describe a particular trait of a true champion. But it is also what often separates a talented individual from a world renowned personality. Sports psychology…

There are many different types of tennis court surfaces and clay courts are among the most common and most popular. Clay courts vary between red and green colored surfaces. They aren’t actually made of clay, because of the moisture the material tends to hold. Instead, they are made of a thick base of limestone-like materials…

Morning vs. evening work out is a dilemma for many sports and fitness enthusiasts. It has been solidly established over the years that I am not a morning person. From school to getting to work later , I had to drag myself –or have someone else drag me- out of bed. Practically on a daily…

There are four main tennis court surfaces today (with lots of variations in the real world). Clay courts are the slowest and most spin-friendly. Grass courts are the fastest and probably most high profile, due to their construction and maintenance cost (and Wimbledon of course).  Another relatively quick surface is the hard court, which doesn’t…

As much as I love tennis, more than any other sport I’ve tried, there are certain aspects to it that make it one of the most challenging to learn and stick to. I’m not just talking about the practical difficulties, such as the fact that it’s a quite expensive hobby. And I don’t just mean…

What’s not to love about tennis, right? But let’s take it from the top. The life of a professional athlete was something that always inspired me. Although most teens admire singers or actors –and I did have my occasional celebrity crush throughout puberty- , what really got me excited were the stories of personalities from…