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Spring 2006 $3.00 value to OTA members www.tennisontario.com Health Canadian Postal Agreement No. 40710521 ONTARIO TENNIS ∙ Spring 2006 1 2 SPRING 2006 ∙ ONTARIO TENNIS Spring 2006 Features CONTENTS Departments 4 EDITOR’S LETTER 6 TENNIS IS GOOD VIC BRADEN 8 PLAYER PROFILE 12 Gaby's European Adventure HUMOUR 14 Tennis Plus PLAYER PROFILE 15 Chloe Powell THE PHILPOTT FUND SPORT SCIENCE 10 16 Plyometrics for Tennis COACH PROFILE 20 Andrea Rabzak OPINION 22 The Coach's Role HISTORY 24 Doug Philpott TENNIS ABROAD 26 British Grass Court Tennis INSTRUCTION 28 First In! BOOK REVIEW 28 The Book of Realms by Doug Ing FIT FOR TENNIS OTA NEWS 18 30 ONTARIO TENNIS ∙ Spring 2006 3 Editor’s Letter Health Words by Pam Olley According to the World Health Organization, health is "A state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Editorial Board When we seek to maintain our health we can choose to focus on the causes and treatments James Boyce, Flora Karsai, Pam Olley, Sharon Martineau, for diseases or we can focus on maintaining a positive attitude and doing what feels right in Rosti Brankovsky terms of generating a strong sense of all round well-being. Editor Pam Olley ParticipACTION, founded in 1971, was extremely successful in achieving its goal of [email protected] increased national awareness of the health and social benefits of an active lifestyle. Since that boost to the fitness industry, we have seen a variety of exercise fads as the fitness industry Contributing Editors Simon Bartram, Jay Neill, Flora Karsai, has sought to reinvent itself. This has been necessary because, over time, all these forms Lawrie Strong, Sharon Martineau, Boris of exercise become monotonous, and do not fulfil the mental and social aspects of health. Bajin Despite this, statistics show that the fitness industry has been booming, while participation Designer in all sports has been relatively static, even though many sports provide a more complete Ivan Ha fitness experience. Most sports provide the social context of a team or a club. Sports sharpen the mind through competition and the need for tactical thought. They also develop the skill- Photo Editor Jag Gundu related fitness elements of agility, reaction time, coordination, speed and power. Advertising Information I'm always amazed at how many tennis fanatics there are. They may have been playing Flora Karsai (416) 514-1102 [email protected] for five, ten, twenty, forty or even more years and yet they retain an intense passion for the sport and the desire to play better. Tennis has not needed to reinvent itself because, despite OTA Club Membership Information having simple rules, there is a huge variety in terms of the possibilities of playing within Jay Neill (416) 514-1103 [email protected] those rules. Tennis exercises the body, the mind and has always been the epitome of a social sport. Add to this the fact that tennis can be played from close to the cradle to the grave and Ontario Tennis Association keep peoples' interest for that long, you must come to the conclusion that tennis is as close to President Keith Porter a perfect sport as you can find. However, few of us view tennis alone as a vehicle to promote health and fitness. Executive Director James Boyce Getting one's game to the point where playing becomes an integral part of a healthy lifestyle 1 SHOREHAM DRIVE, SUITE 200 requires an investment of time and a commitment to stay with the game until a certain level TORONTO, ON M3N 3A7 of skill has been developed and the individual has the confidence to find their own playing TELEPHONE (416) 514-1100 group. U.S. statistics show that on average only 18% of beginner tennis players stay with the FAX (416) 514-1112 E-MAIL: [email protected] game, however, when beginners have enrolled in a program run by a tennis professional, WWW.TENNISONTARIO.COM 54% stay with the game. The same research found that only 13% of non-tennis players are aware of tennis programs for beginners. Clearly, high quality beginner programs are needed Ontario Tennis is published three times per year by the Ontario Tennis Association. It is Canada’s to help people over the initial hump of learning to play; but good programming in itself isn't longest-running tennis publication. enough, these programs need to be marketed and promoted too. — published since 1970. The Ontario Tennis Association is a proud Promoting the sport of tennis is an important role for the tennis associations and it has member of Tennis Canada and acknowledges been a high priority of the OTA for the past 10 years. However, the associations can only the support of the Ontario Ministry of Health play a supporting role to the many clubs, communities and individuals who run tennis Promotion. programming at a local level. We've been working hard to demonstrate the health and This magazine is produced to highlight the other benefits of tennis, as well as the advantages of membership in a tennis club and the people, events and information that foster the association, but perhaps we haven't got the fitness and health message out as well as we continued interest and development of tennis at all levels in Ontario. should have. And maybe we've missed out on one of the most compelling reasons for playing tennis: it keeps you looking and feeling young. The views expressed in Ontario Tennis are not necessarily those of the Ontario Tennis Association unless stated. Recently Harrison Ford , aged 63, was asked what he did to keep himself in such good shape for his movie roles. He replied that all he does is play tennis. If the testimonial of this box (Copyright 2006 by the Ontario Tennis office draw isn't enough to convince you, check out any senior tennis tournament and you'll Association) be amazed at the youthful looking participants especially in the super senior ranks of the Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales over 60s - you'll never be able to guess their age. Have we in fact found the elixir of youth Agreement No. 40710521 and is it tennis? 4 SPRING 2006 ∙ ONTARIO TENNIS Tennis is Good GOOD FOR YOUR HEART By Pam Olley The Heart and Stroke Foundation recom- mends thirty to sixty minutes of moderate aerobic activity daily to keep your heart and lungs healthy. Aerobic exercise requires lower intensity Samantha Ardenfriend and April Herrmann help with heart monitors activities performed for longer periods of time at a fairly even pace. Jogging, running Jim Baugh after the session and explained zone between 65% and 85% of the maxi- and cycling are aerobic activities. Your that I wanted to put together an article on mum rate of 220 minus your age. To figure heart rate is elevated and remains at that Cardio Tennis for Ontario Tennis maga- out your range you can check it on the level for a period of time. zine. Jim could not have been more actively Cardio Tennis chart or your heart monitor Tennis is normally classified as an supportive. His commitment and energy will calculate it for you. anaerobic exercise because it requires for this program spoke volumes about his Cardio Tennis was launched in the that you work at high intensity for short passion for tennis, the growth of the game U.S.A. in the Spring of 2005 and the results periods of time. Your heart rate goes up and this program, which he believes will in the first year are extremely encouraging. during a point and then drops between make a difference both in tennis participa- In a poll of sites that had run Cardio Tennis points. Anaerobic exercise increases mus- tion and the perception of tennis as part of for 3 months or more, 61% reported they cle strength and the capacity to generate a healthy lifestyle. will be expanding their programs and 93% short bursts of speed. Both aerobic and While in Sarasota for a week this winter reported they would continue their pro- anaerobic exercises are needed to develop I found out that a Cardio Tennis program grams. Of the Cardio Tennis participants, all round physical fitness. was being delivered locally and decided 92% thought they would continue with Last summer, Jim Baugh, President of to try it. I was met by two dynamic young Cardio Tennis, 85% found it to be more fun the Tennis Industry Association and a ladies, Samantha Ardenfriend, who is an than their normal fitness routine, 80% felt Director on the USTA Board, spoke at a experienced Cardio Tennis leader and it was a better workout than just playing symposium organized by Tennis Canada. April Herrmann, who was a pro at the club tennis and 60% felt that Cardio Tennis was He talked about what the USTA is doing to and was helping out with the program. We a better workout than their normal fitness encourage more people to play tennis and put on our heart monitors, programmed routine. The participants also gave the use described a new program called Cardio them for our age and weight and took to of music and heart monitors a high rating Tennis. Cardio Tennis combines conven- the courts. With music as motivation to where they were used. tional fitness theory and tennis drills to keep our feet moving and Samantha's ver- Some clubs in Ontario have already produce an interesting and fun aerobic bal encouragement we started with warm started delivering Cardio Tennis programs work out, with the side benefit of improv- up tennis drills to get our heart rate into and others are working on using the prin- ing your tennis skills.