Archive for March, 2007

In men’s semifinals action, Andy Murray of Scotland battles Novak Djokovic of Serbia, both 19 years old and improving steadily. Djokovic beat Murray in the Indian Wells semifinals, but Murray’s talents are considerable.

Also promising is the second men’s semifinal, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia versus Guillermo Cañas of Argentina. Having fought the world’s top player and dominated him twice in a row, Cañas is obviously on fire right now, but Ljubicic holds seven career titles (including a victory over Murray at Doha in February).

Amazing tennis matches still to come in balmy Key Biscayne…

Playing for the fourth consecutive day due to the luck of the draw, Serena Williams beat Shahar Peer to make it to the finals in Key Biscayne (7-6 (4), 6-1). If this woman continues her current pace, imagine the world records she might set. She began this year ranked in the 80s, mind you. And Peer is no lightweight, she moonlights as a corporal in the Israeli Army at nineteen years old! Williams takes on longtime rival Justine Henin. Henin fought her way to the finals at Key Biscayne for the first time, trouncing Anna Chakvetadze (6-2, 6-3).

Yes, Guillermo Cañas has done it again! In an epic match, Cañas upset world number one and top seed Roger Federer for the second time this month yesterday (7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-6 (5)). Two weeks ago, Cañas beat Federer at Indian Wells, abruptly ending Federer’s infamous winning streak. This second win proves conclusively that his victory at Indian Wells was no fluke. The Argentine has just recently rejoined the tour, he had been suspended for 15 months on doping charges. Next Cañas faces Spain’s Tommy Robredo, here’s hoping for a fascinating match.

Sharapova fans had some hope after Maria beat Venus Williams in third round play of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. But sister Serena Williams made short work of Sharapova in the quarterfinal round, crushing the top seed in two quick sets (6-1, 6-1). Williams is seeded 13th; if she goes all the way this will be her fourth Key Biscayne title. Sharapova has yet to win a tournament this year.

And in men’s action right now in Key Biscayne, Cañas is kicking Federer’s (rhymes with Cañas) again as well. Cañas fought to win a tough first game 7-6. This may turn out to be the season for competitive men’s tennis, stay tuned.

In the event that you ignored our previous advice on preventing tennis elbow, here are ways to find relief. Most cases of tennis elbow can be treated at home with the classic PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression, and elevation) treatment regimen.

Protection
Protect the elbow from further injury by avoiding aggressive use of the joint.

Rest
Similar to protection, but this part is intended as an instruction to go easy on your elbow with some stretching. You never want to cease all activity with an injured muscle or joint area.

Ice
Apply to the elbow as soon as possible. You can buy resusable ice packs that strap on for ease of use. Also, an effective ice treatment is massage by rolling a frozen bottle of water over the affected area.

Compression
By wrapping the area with an elastic bandage, you can reduce swelling.

Elevation
If you can keep the elbow above heart level, this will also reduce swelling.

If a combination of PRICE and over-the-counter pain relievers aren’t doing the job, speak to your doctor to learn about the possibility of physical therapy or even surgery. About 1 in 10 people with tennis elbow need surgical care.

Source: Tennis Elbow, Mayo Clinic website

Special thanks to guest editor Tim Roth for today’s column. Go to atomstozebras.com to explore more of Tim’s scientific work.

As mentioned in the post What is Tennis Elbow?, the most important step that you can take to avoid tennis elbow is to use proper technique on the court. Use your whole arm and body with each stroke while keeping your wrist rigid. Also, consider using a lower string tension because less force will travel from the point of ball impact to your arm.

Another good preventative measure is strength training especially if you live in a colder climate and there are no indoor facilities nearby to keep your tennis skills up during the winter months.

Finally, be sure to warm up properly. This advice is so simple, but extremely effective at preventing injuries during any kind of physical activity.

Source: Tennis Elbow, Mayo Clinic website

Special thanks to guest editor Tim Roth for today’s column. Visit atomstozebras.com to learn more about science.

Spring is here and everyone is anxious to get out on the court. Be careful not to overdo it or you may become fatigued and contract tennis elbow. Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a condition that begins with microscopic tears in an inner elbow muscle known as the epicondylus lateralis humeri (ELH). While most cases involve temporary inflammation, painful permanent damage can occur.

The leading causes of tennis elbow are incorrect technique and lack of forearm strength. If you don’t use your forearm muscles due to fatigue or technique, you rely too much on the muscles in your elbow.

Symptoms of tennis elbow range from mild pain that vanishes shortly after a match to sharp pain when shaking hands in the days following your match. One simple test for tennis elbow is to wiggle the middle finger on the same side as the painful elbow. This finger movement uses the extensor digitorum muscle which connects to the ELH muscle. Any painful sensation is an indicator that you may be suffering from tennis elbow.

Tune in tomorrow to learn more about tennis elbow and how you can go about preventing it.

Source: Tennis Elbow, Mayo Clinic website

Special thanks to guest editor Tim Roth for today’s column. Delve into his world of science at atomstozebras.com

French tennis star Amelie Mauresmo is out of commission for at least a month because of an emergency appendectomy. Ranked fourth in the world, Mauresmo was hospitalized in Paris due to a severe stomach ache for a few days before a sonogram detected that her appendix required removal. She was forced to withdraw from the Sony Ericsson Open being held in Key Biscayne, Florida but hopes to be well in time for the clay court season.

The operation went well and all that’s left for me is to wait patiently. The surgeon advised me to walk a bit but not to do anything else. I will doubtless need a good month to get all my physical capacities back.”
– Amelie Mauresmo

All of us at Wicked Backhand wish Amelie a quick and complete recovery, Roland Garros would not be the same without you!

Every tennis player knows when they hit the sweet spot on their racquet, the shot just feels good. Racquet manufacturers design their rackets to maximize the sweet spot, but what’s the explanation for the sweet spot?

Like a guitar string, the strings on tennis vibrate when struck. Depending on how tight the racquet is strung, the frequency of this vibration ranges from 100 Hz (Hz stands for Hertz which is measure of times/second) to 200 Hz. The more tightly a racquet is strung, the higher the frequency will be.

Because a racquet is a semi-uniform beam, there are locations along the tennis racquet were the vibration/energy transferred to the racquet and your hand varies. Below is a diagram showing significant locations on a racquet.

CM (Center of Mass)
While you obviously don’t want to hit the ball here, it determines the location of the sweet spot.

Dead spot:
When serving, this is good spot to hit near because the energy from the moving racquet is entirely given to the ball. On the flip side, if you try to return a fast serve near this point, all of the energy of the ball is transferred to the racquet and no energy is transferred back to the ball. Therefore there is no bounce.

Node:
This is the point where no vibration is felt. This means that almost all of the energy of the ball strike will be gone by the time it reaches your hand.

COP (Center of Percussion):
This is spot where the force of the ball strike is balancing with your force applied to parts of your hand and you don’t feel a jolt in your forearm. When the ball hits the tip, more force is applied to the bottom of your hand then top. When the ball hits the throat of the racquet, more force is applied to upper part of the hand.

Best Bounce Area:
This is the area where the racquet returns most of the energy of your opponents shot. This great energy return comes at a price, because you might feel a lot of vibrational shock especially if you are at the business end of a Andy Roddick serve. He holds the record for fastest serve in professional tennis — 154 miles per hour!!

For an even more technical explanation and futher reading, check out a physics web site created by University of Sydney physics professor and tennis fan Rod Cross. The illustration of the racquet used in this article is courtesy of Cross’ site.

Special thanks to guest editor Tim Roth for today’s column. Read more of his fascinating scientific insights at atomstozebras.com

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia upset second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Indian Wells final Saturday to win her first title in five years (6-3, 6-4). Hantuchova was seeded 14th, which happened to be the number of unforced errors she made that day. She will rise to number 12 in the world rankings today.

There’s something special about this place. I love it…I was just so confident from the first point, and I didn’t really think about the score. I just went out there and tried to play my game and really just enjoyed every moment on the court. Maybe this time I was much more confident, because I had so many matches this week already behind me already. Mentally, I was just not going to let it go, and I was ready to take whatever it takes to get through this one today.”
– Daniela Hantuchova

In the men’s finals at Indian Wells, Spaniard Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in just two sets on Sunday (6-2, 7-5). This was his first win since Roland Garros last June. For a record 86 consecutive weeks, Nadal has been ranked No. 2 in the world.

It was a very great week for me, a very, very important week. I have (gone) eight months without any title, but I came back with a big one. Sometimes you’re a little luckier, a little bit more confident. But, well, I wasn’t a disaster in those eight months.”
– Rafael Nadal