Boy, some nice things have happened since I posted my last Blog. All real positive I may add. Here is a selection:

My Game

I started playing tennis when I emigrated to the United States 23 years ago and did what many beginners do: learned from a friend. My neighbor Konrad, a fellow German, took it upon himself to teach me and let me into his group of 5-6 senior men who played twice a week in the small Pennsylvania community of Downingtown, about 15-20 mile northeast of Philadelphia. Konrad was in his mid-fifties and a pure bread amateur. Never took a lesson, never played leagues, never got rated. Now that I'm involved in USTA leagues and ratings I can determine he was about a low 3.0 player with an underspin serve and a lot of slicing and dicing the ball. I call his level "Courtsmart Doubles" - he was able to hold his own with his buddies and went for a few beers with them after the match.

We played at Kerr Park, right in the vicinity of a factory producing corrugated cartons. When the wind changed, the sour smell of that corrugation process swept over the 4 courts and made us gag. But we didn't care and I was really lucky that those seniors didn't mind playing with a bloody beginner. What did I learn from Konrad? The rules of tennis and all his bad habits. Over the next 22 years I perfected those bad habits and added some of my own. Took some lessons and clinics every once in a while, which helped me improve to be able to play leagues at 3.5 and 4.0 levels. Lately I've had some success playing doubles with top-of level 4.0 men and low 4.5 men. Got my butt kicked mercilessly by a 5.0 and a 5.5 woman, though, which was to be expected.

Why do I see an improvement at the 4.0 level in the past few weeks? Because I have a new coach who is working on some things with me and plays with me in mixed doubles matches. As former teaching pro and almost Professional Tour player (Virginia Slims qualifyer) she has the most beautiful strokes you can imagine. Everything looks so smooth! It's disgusting!

The first thing she did was help me undo my (Konrad's) serve. It was so bad that I could not generate any power, double-faulted a lot and did not create a threat for my opponent(s). I love serve and volley, but rushing the net after a weak serve is just not a good idea. Agreed? Well, the 4+1 most important things she made me memorize about my new serve are:

1. Swing the racquet way over your back (like scratching your back)
2. Don't toss the ball too high (winds used to always devestate my serve)
3. Move your body forward (ready to move aggressively towards the net)
4. Rotate shoulder and follow through with the racquet, across your body (creates more power)
(and 5. Picture yourself as having a great serve, memorize what it feels when the ball goes booming into the opposing service box.)

During rallies and match play she gives me more ideas how to improve my game, such as knowing when to swing at a volley and when not to. Or to bend the knees lower. Or to communicate a lot with your partner. Or how to employ drop volleys. Or that the partner who is hanging back has to command the other one when to "switch" sides. Or when to add power and pace to your shots and when to slow it down. Or how proper stretching can save injury. My right knee is very grateful for that advice, haha.

I can tell you one thing, folks: It feels sooo good when you see a real improvement in your game. I can't wait for the next lesson. For the first time in my life I'm anxious to go on a court just to hit and practice serves, instead of playing matches all the time.

Pacific Life Open

What a great tournament this is. As the 5th largest tennis tournament in the world (after the 4 slams), located in the beautiful Indian Wells Tennis Garden, this is truly a Gem on the ATP and WTA Tours. What made it even more interesting for me was the fact that I worked at the Tennis Garden this year. How did this come about? Here it goes...

The USTA's Tri-Level leagues don't have a path (yet) to National Championships. So Tom Fey, Tennis Director at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, has taken it upon himself to organize a 3.5 / 4.0 / 4.5 Tri-Level Tournament for the Sections. After 9 USTA Sections in 2007, this year he had 12 Sections participating. It was a grand event. You may ask now: What made this a Grand Event? Here's what I came up with:

The format: Having 3 different rating levels on one team is interesting and exciting to watch. The teams were all top-of-level, mostly Section Winners. We saw some good tennis!

The camaraderie: Where else have you seen a team of two male 4.5 players ask where their ladies 3.5 play, so they can watch? Think about this and let it sink in, folks.

The venue: Being at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is excitement enough. In my opinion they have the best courts in all of Southern California. This excitement is being magnified by the Pacific Life Open circus like atmosphere, thousands of spectators, free tickets to see many games in the big stadium, the vendors.

The celebrities: Two 4.0 teams were sent to court 14 to play their Tri-Level match. During warm-up Rafael Nadal and his trainer bumped them because he erroneously thought he had that court booked. They had to play the match on court 13, right next to him and told us all excited about it when they reported the scores. Ah, tennis, it's the little things that make us tennis players happy, isn't it?

For me running around with a grounds pass, free tickets, and access to the Player Lounge and Restaurant was a great perk for 3 days of fun work, yep! I look forward to next year, for sure.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot: Guess who won the Tri-Level Championship for the second year in a row? Yep, you guessed it: Southern California! Way to go, SoCal teams!

Flex Leagues have arrived

An exciting new USTA program is currently being introduced: Flex Leagues. http://ustaflex.com/
The web site says: "USTA Flex Leagues are designed with your busy schedule in mind. You make the schedule. You set the time. You play when it's convenient for you. Flex Leagues provide all the thrills of league tennis, built around your busy lifestyle. With Flex
Leagues, you can control everything-with the possible exception of your opponent's down-the-line forehand."

I think that concept has a future that's bright and exciting. And here in San Diego it's our very own Melissa Magat at Active who's organizing a Leage in the Sorrento Mesa area. I've signed up already. Have you? Maybe we can play...

That's it for today. Don't forget: Every day is a good day to play tennis!

Wow, hats off to Jimmy and Melissa (and her friend Lauren, who ran the drills) for organizing a nice little tennis clinic for beginners last Thursday. And every feedback so far emphasized the FUN those new players had, and the desire for more social tennis. Hey, it can't get any better than that, folks. And as soon as those players realize that tennis is a sport that can be competitive or just social, or both (it's up to the individual), and that you can play the sport until you are super senior level or beyond, a whole new world of fun is opening up for them.

My suggestion: Start a mentoring program where experienced players mentor a beginner.

I have a few words of wisdom for all of you. But not from me, of course, rather from people who made a name in tennis and know (or knew) what they were talking about. Go ahead and smile when you see players like Suzanne Lenglen and the seemingly yesteryear but obvious advice she gave. But this woman really knew what she was talking about. I'll quote from WIKIPEDIA:

Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (24 May 1899 - 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles from 1914 through 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine (the divine one) by the French press.

Here it goes:

Your feet are the point from which the footwork is done. You must be easy upon them. Do not allow them to hold the ground flatly, for then movement in any direction will not be instant - never run too fast, run with short steps.
Suzanne Lenglen (The Right Set)
31 Grand Slam titles 1914-1926

A good player never misses easy ones. Remember that if you do miss a simple shot you should have made, you are giving your opponent two points. The difference between plus one and minus one.
Bill Tilden (Big Bill Tilden)
24 Grand Slam titles 1913-1935

Your game is only as good as your second serve.
John Newcomb (Ken Rosewall: Twenty Years at the Top)
17 Grand Slam titles 1953-1974

There's always more to learn in this game, no matter how long you've been playing.
Roy Emerson (The Tennis Lover's Book of Wisdom)
28 Grand Slam titles 1960-1971

A tennis match is a thousand little sprints.
Biorn Borg
11 Grand Slam titles 1974-1981

You must come on the court with five game plans and be prepared to use all of them.
John McEnroe (Winning Tennis)
17 Grand Slam titles 1977-1992

In a match, visualize the times you were on the practice court in the same situation. Remove all the other elements. Then hit the ball the way you did in practice when there wasn't any pressure.
Chris Evert (Tennis)
21 Grand Slam titles 1974-1986

It boils down to watching the ball and executing.
Andre Agassi
8 Grand Slam titles 1992-2003

Sometimes you must make errors in order to make progress.
Justine Henin
7 Grand Slam titles 2003-2007

And finally I want to repeat a word of wisdom from my good friend and teacher Vic Braden, spoken when he visited us at Active.com in San Diego:
I've never seen a tennis player bend his knees too low!

I had the pleasure to work with a USTA staff member at the 2.5 Nationals on Thursday. Boy, if you've never been to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, you've missed out. These are easily the most beautiful tennis courts I have ever seen. I know, La Costa Resort & Spa is nice, Rancho Valencia Resort is even nicer with all the citrus trees and the beautifully landscaped facility. But the courts at the Tennis Garden are just perfect. They are newly surfaced, it seems, and large, many with stadium seating attached. Too bad they only have 21 courts, so they can only accommodate the 2.5's and the 4.5 seniors. For the bigger National events (3.0's, 3.5's, 4.0's) a facility needs at least 25 courts because of the sheer number of players.

Tennis is the only sport I know where people come together like this, for several days of competition in a team. All friendly and social, ready for playing during the day and partying in the evening. The women are all dressed in the latest tennis fashion, most teams with team colors or identical outfits. Even the men, who nomally couldn't care less what they look like on court, are beginning to come dressed in some uniform fashion. Bravo!

The level of tennis is a expected, only teams with players at the top of their level can come to the Nationals, and many are a little above 2.5. All in all a great event, very well organized by the USTA. It left me with a feeling that being part of this tennis community is worth it. I am looking forward to Oct. 18-21, when I'll be working the tournament desk at the 4.5 Senior Nationals. The quality of tennis should be outstanding!

Come out to the desert that weekend, if you have time. You won't regret it. Maybe we can set up some tennis together?

I was reading the September issue of the AZTEC Tennis Reporter newsletter (San Diego State Tennis coverage), which has an interesting debate on the pros and cons of recruiting foreign players into collegiate tennis teams. Born and raised in Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1985, I can relay to this issue and tend to be more a pro guy. One of the many reasons for me: Foreign tennis players leave some funny quotes behind and I thought starting off the week on a humorous note with some quotes from foreign players may be an excellent idea. Sorry for the language in Thomas Muster's quote, but I personally think it's hilarious!

Quotes:

An otherwise happily married couple may turn a mixed doubles game into a scene from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(Rod Laver)

Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row!
(Vitas Gerulaitis on finally beating Jimmy Connors)

Boyfriends have to understand my needs. I shower four times a day.
(Anna Kournikova)

The trouble with me is that every match I play against five opponents: umpire, crowd, ball boys, court and myself.
(Goran Ivanisevic)

I won't be watching the women's final, that's for sure. I'm not into women's tennis anymore.
(Leyton Hewitt after his separation from Kim Cliisters)

I really am tired a little bit of making comebacks.
(Marat Safin)

I was thinking that if I hit his nuts, maybe he would serve like a woman.
(Thomas Muster on Greg Rusedski)

I lost because the draw was fixed.
(Jelena Dokic at the 2001 Australian Open)

On the coin toss Martina said: Do you want me to break your serve first or hold? The umpire looked shocked. But we just both cracked up.
(Lindsay Davenport on a match she played with Martina Hingis)

But one of my all time favorite quotes comes from an American player, Bobby Riggs. Years ago, while I was working in the aerial photography/digital imaging field, I was commissioned to create all the displays for the Bobby Riggs Tennis Museum at the Bobby Riggs Tennis Club in Cardiff. The biggest job was to make larger-than-life size images of the most important players in Bobby's life, mount them on display board and hang them on the walls of the museum. I recall those players to be Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, Margaret Court, Pancho Segura and Billie Jean King. That's when I started to become a BR fan and collector of his memoribilia.

BJK was the subject of his famous quote, which goes like this:

"I'll put Billie Jean King and all the other Women's Libbers back where they belong - in the kitchen and the bedroom."

In tennis terms, I'm a so-called Club Player. What does that mean? I belong to an organization (San Diego Tennis Network), play evening tennis during the week, daytime tennis during the weekends. I usually play one USTA league a year, some World Team Tennis, and - if I feel confident enough - one or two tournaments. My level of play is intermediate to advanced, so on good days I can hold my own in a 4.5 doubles match, on bad days I am too slow for a 3.5 senior ladies match. My health status is relatively good, overcame the familiar tennis elbow (ask me if you want to know how), and avoided knee surgery by using a $29 velcro brace, which works wonders for me. Never had shoulder surgery, always think I could lose a few pounds. You know, the usual stuff for a middle aged tennis junkie.

Why am I telling you this? Because I got humbled a few days ago playing an invitational Up-Down warm-up for the US open Wheelchair Championships on Monday. Up-down (or One-up / One-down, as they often call it) means an able bodied player and a wheelchair player play doubles against a similar team. The rules are the same as regular doubles, except that the Wheelchair player always gets two bounces. And boy, are they able to use that rule and give you powerful returns and very smart lobs. I was floored by the level of tennis these athletes displayed, and those weren't even the top seeded players.

Why did I feel humbled? Here I was with my $150 racquet, $75 shoes, and $40 shirt and shorts, looking at players who, in addition to the same equipment and outfit, have to shell out $4-5000 just to get on the court. That's what the low-end wheelchairs cost. Plus maybe an extra chair for carrying the tennis bag. Many of those chairs have to be rigged in order to accommodate special handicaps and enable these guys (and gals) to play. One man had somewhat deformed hands and needed to tape the racquet onto his wrist. This guy had some of the most wicked and effective lobs I have ever seen. All players need to be strapped in to stabilize their bodies and feet, and all need to develop a suitable serving technicque, mostly with one arm, since the other arm often had to keep the wheelchair from moving during the serving motion.

I felt really bad putting on my knee brace. All my little pains were gone, because I heard no complaints whatsoever from any of the wheelchair players about their situation. They were coming out to play and show us how well they can hit that yellow ball. That was an eye-opening afternoon for me. I made many friends playing with 4 different wheelchair players, and promised them to come back towards the end of the week to watch some more.

Wanna try playing Up-Down tennis one day? Let me know and I'll organize some matches one day. Being on the Board of the local USTA District, the San Diego District Tennis Association, I have great connections to secure courts and players for such an event.

If you've never seen WheelchairTennis players in action, go to the Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma this weekend, and watch the best of the best from many different countries compete at the 28th US Open USTA National Wheelchair Championships (http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=55305)

Oh yes, you probably want to know how I did in the Up-Down events on Monday? Pretty good, except for the fact that twice I was confronted with the same 5.5 woman as the opposite able bodied player. And you know what a 5.5 female player does with a 4.0 man? Everything she wants to! She took charge and effectively prevented me from hitting too much to the wheelchair player. I had my hands full just getting to her shots, she didn't even have to play to my partner too much. I didn't really care, to be honest. Learned my lesson and had a great time. That's what tennis is all about.

Btw, just so you league players out there know: A wheelchair player can join any USTA league if he/she wants to. As long as you give them the ramp to roll onto the court, or help them carry them down the steps, and let them have their two bounces, they're happy.

My good friend Vic Braden (http://www.vicbraden.com/) just turned 78 when he visited the last Acura Classic Women's Tennis Tournament at La Costa in Carlsbad. As one of the greatest tennis teachers in this country, Vic is known for good advice that improves any player's game quickly. A few years ago I organized a full day clinic with Vic for 50 tennis players at the beautiful Rancho Valencia Resort in Rancho Santa Fe. Vic and 7 Pros organized drills and clinics for all players, and Vic video-taped each player's forehand, backhand, volley and serve. As the organizer I didn't participate in the clinics but had the pleasure of watching Vic as he went through the video footage with each player and gave them the appropriate advice for areas where their strokes needed improvement. And you know what? I got a BIG kick out of sitting there and listening to Vic, who had the same advice for every player! Regardless of age, size, or ability of players, his advice for EVERYONE was "Always remember: play low to high". Amazing, don't you think? He broke each player's stroke down to the lowest common denominator: Your arm/racquet movement has to go from low to high in order for the ball to clear the net. It made so much sense and was so funny to listen to at the same time.

One year earlier I had organized a major tennis fundraiser at La Costa Resort & Spa with the profits going to a battered women's shelter in San Diego North County. Vic was our Keynote Speaker at the Dinner that night, and he delighted the audience with funny tidbits about tennis players, especially his contemporaries like Bobby Riggs (Bobby won a mixed doubles game against Vic and a very good female player while he was tied with a chain to an Elephant!). Needless to say, Bobby, who was 55 at the time, won quite a bit of cash from that bet. Vic's funniest story that night was his experience coming from the National Super Senior Championships somewhere in Georgia if I remember right. He reported watching a match between a 90 year old man and his 94 year old opponent. The 90 year old was in better shape and kept running the older player from corner to corner. Finally the 94 year old player stopped and had to take a break, shouting across the court "Oh, to be 90 again..."

What does age mean in tennis? Last night we saw James Blake almost lose to a 35 year old Fabrice Santoro. Way to go, Fabrice, too bad you cramped up so badly. Don't get me wrong, I'm a James Blake fan. But I looove to support the underdog, especially when he's closer to my age, haha.

We have seen some great players who won big titles late in life. How about Big Bill Tilden, who won Wimbledon at age 37 in 1930? Or Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors who won titles at age 33? None of those former world class players can top Martina Ntratilova, of course. In 2003, she won her last Mixed Doubles title at the Australian Open AND at Wimbledon at age 46!

I know my game has improved with age. I play smarter, try to exploit my oppenent's weaknesses while saving energy. The better I play, the more fun I have. And the more fun I have, the better I play! I love tennis!

TENNIS QUOTE OF THE DAY

*"Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical" The same is true of tennis, only more so. Criswell Freeman, quoting Yogi Berra. The Tennis Lovers Book of Wisdom