How to Buy Tennis Shoes Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Tennis is all about balance. You have to maintain good balance when you swing. You have to strike a balance between power and control on your shots. Few people, however, think enough about the balance that has to exist between their feet and their shoes.

The truth is, it's critical that your footwear be properly matched to the anatomy of your feet and the surface you play on. Ill-fitting shoes can lead to blisters, ankle and knee pain, and loss of movement on the court. But when your shoes and feet are in sync, you'll feel good and play your best tennis.

What's Your Foot Type?

The first step in finding the right shoe is to figure out what type of foot you have. There are three basic foot types. While only a podiatrist can give you a fully accurate analysis of your foot type, you can evaluate yourself at home too.

The next time you step out of the shower, take a close look at the footprints your wet feet leave on the floor. If you see a crescent-shaped footprint with little or no impression made by your arch, you have a supinated foot. Supinators tend to wear out the outside part of the bottom of their shoes (the lateral side) before the medial (big toe) side. Supinators also tend to have wide feet and need to look for a shoe that provides extra room in the forefoot and toe box. They also need a shoe with extra cushioning to compensate for their high arches.

If your foot leaves a wet mark on the floor that's completely filled in, arch and all, you have a pronated foot. Pronators often have flat feet, and the medial portion of their shoe bottom wears down before the lateral part. People with this foot type often need extra support from their tennis shoes so a mid-cut model or a shoe with extra stability on the medial side is usually a wise choice.

If you're one of the few people who leave a wet footprint with a moderate amount of arch, you have a neutral foot. Consider yourself lucky-this is the most efficient and biomechanically versatile foot type. Players with neutral feet can play tennis in almost any shoe.

Understand the Design

You know your foot type. Next up is understanding the shoe's design so you can pick the one that will perform best for you. There are four parts of a tennis shoe you need to consider:

Upper: The top portion of the shoe, or the upper, is usually made of leather, synthetic leather, or a combination of materials. If you need extra support, look for lacing systems that thread into reinforcements going down the sides of the shoe; they'll provide added stability.
When you try a shoe on, be sure the upper is comfortable against the top of your foot and is not too tight. If you drag your toe when you serve, look for a durable toecap. And if you hit your forehand from an open stance (that is, with most of the front of your body facing the net), you'll benefit from additional material along the medial portion of the upper since that area often slides along the court and wears down faster as you play.

Insole: This is the portion of the shoe that your foot rests on, and it's the least technical part of the operation. If you've had foot problems and wear orthotics, check to see if the insole is removable. In most cases it will be, allowing you to replace a worn-out insole with an over-the-counter one that provides extra cushioning.

Midsole: The midsole is the section that lies between the shoe bottom and the insole. It's generally made from ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) foam or polyurethane (PU) and in many cases is supplemented by air or gel inserts. The midsole supplies a shoe's cushioning.

It can often be tough to tell when the midsole breaks down and ceases to perform, but as a rule of thumb, a two- or three-day-a-week player will wear out a midsole in five to six months. Frequent players and people who are extremely aggressive on the court will go through midsoles more quickly due to the pounding they give their shoes.

If your shoes don't feel as cushioned as they did when they were new, the midsole may be shot. You should consider buying a new pair.

Outsole: This is where the rubber meets the road. The outsole's design affects the traction you'll get on hard and clay courts.

Herringbone designs that form a tight, wave-like pattern perform best on clay, while outsoles with the most variation in the design (a little herringbone here, a wider groove there) give you the best traction on hard courts.

An outsole should also be durable enough to stand up to your style of game. If you play often or wear out shoes quickly, look for heavy-duty outsoles and try to get a pair with an outsole warranty; if they don't last, you can send them back to the manufacturer to get them replaced.

Heavy or Light?

How heavy should a pair of tennis shoes be? Well, light is nice, but heavy has its advantages, too.

The lighter your shoes, the faster you can zip around the court. So why are tennis shoes almost always heavier than running shoes? The stop-and-start demands of tennis require that shoes have ample cushioning, extra support, and more durable outsoles, all of which add weight.

In an effort to lighten up their shoes, manufacturers often use an hourglass-shaped outsole design for some models. But this may move the shoe's flex point toward the middle of the shoe, near your arch, rather than at the ball of the foot, where your foot naturally bends. (To test a shoe's flex point, hold it firmly around the heel in one hand and press the palm of your other hand against the sole at the toe end. Notice where the shoe bends. If it's back toward the arch, you could have problems with support and stability.)

Only you can decide how much weight you're willing to live with in the name of increased stability and durability. Consider owning two pairs of tennis shoes: a lighter game-day shoe and a heavier training shoe (this technique has been used by distance runners for years). If you practice in a heavier shoe and play your matches in a lighter shoe, you'll feel quicker in competition and you'll go through your shoes more slowly while you're at it.

The Bottom Line

When you get beyond fashion and examine the function of footwear, you'll wind up performing better on the court. What more could you ask of a tennis shoe?

Reprinted with permission of Tennis Magazine. For the entire article and more tips visit tennis.com

posted by Midwestsports.com @ 12:31 PM, ,

How to Buy a Racquet Monday, March 20, 2006

With so many racquets on the market, choosing one can be as intimidating as returning Andy Roddick's serve. Should you purchase an ultra-light racquet? Or is your game better suited to a heavier model? And what about all those high-tech features manufacturers love to talk about?

It sounds simple: You want to arm yourself with a brand-new racquet that will improve your winning percentage. But sometimes it's hard knowing just where to start. That's where this guide can help you.

Power or Control?

When buying a tennis racquet, the first thing you must decide is whether you want one that will provide you with power, control, or a blend of the two.

If you're a beginner, you should play with a tennis racquet that's light enough so it's easy to swing and powerful enough so it adds giddyup to your game. Our advice:

Go with a tennis racquet that weighs between 9 and 10 ounces, has an oversize head measuring at least 100 square inches (which will give you more power and improve your chances of making good contact with the ball), and has a beam width (the thickness of the frame) that's at least 25 millimeters thick. A "wide" beam makes the frame stiff and therefore more powerful.

If you're an advanced player and can generate your own juice on the court, it's a different story. You're looking for more control, and you can get it with a tennis racquet that's heavier (over 10.5 ounces) and has a smaller head and thinner beam.

If you're an intermediate, try a tennis racquet that offers a blend of power and control, falling between the heavy, thin-beamed control racquets and the lighter and bigger power sticks. "For most levels of play, you need a racquet that isn't too powerful and yet isn't all about control," says Bruce Levine, TENNIS Magazine's racquet advisor, "because power won't mean a thing if you can't keep the ball in the court, and all the control in the world does you no good if you can't get enough gas on your shots."

Pre-Strung or Premium?

When shopping for a racquet, you also have to decide whether you want a pre-strung model or a premium, or "performance," frame. Pre-strung racquets cost from $25 to around $100. Most premium frames are priced between $100 and $250 and feature the latest technology. With premium racquets, you usually need to buy string separately and have it installed in the frame.

And if you're buying for a child who's just getting into the game, check out junior racquets, which are pre-strung and sold in graduated lengths (21, 23, 25, and 26 inches). Most junior racquets cost under $50.

Traditional Length or Extra Long?

It wasn't too many years ago that every racquet was 27 inches long. Now, adult racquets come in lengths up to 28 inches (extra long). Everything else being equal, extra-long frames are more powerful than 27-inch models because the contact point is farther away from your body, resulting in greater momentum on your swing and more pop on your shots. The downside is that an extra-long racquet may not be as maneuverable as a 27-inch frame.

Head Heavy or Head Light?

A racquet's balance is either head heavy, head light, or even. To check a frame's balance, measure it lengthwise and balance it at its exact center. If the head dips down, the racquet is head heavy. If the handle dips down, it's head light.

Head-heavy racquets give you more power on ground strokes but are less maneuverable, which can be a problem when you're at the net. Players who like to rally from the baseline tend to prefer head-heavy frames.

Head-light racquets are easier to maneuver at net, but they won't deliver the power of head-heavy frames when you hit from the baseline. Serve-and-volleyers, all-court players, and advanced players who take full swings generally like head-light racquets.

Evenly balanced frames offer a blend of power from the baseline and maneuverability at the net. They usually appeal to all-court players.

Open or Dense String Pattern?

Another area to consider is the pattern of the strings. An open string pattern has bigger spaces between the strings and will help when you want to add spin because the strings will "bite" into the ball more deeply. For example, the more topspin you add to your shots, the harder you can hit the ball and still keep it in the court. An open pattern, for instance, could have 16 main and 20 cross strings.

A dense string pattern-for example, 18 mains and 20 crosses-will give you added control in directing your shots. To generate more topspin, though, you'll need to brush up on the ball more severely.

Reprinted by Midwest Tennis with permission of Tennis Magazine. For the entire article visit tennis.com

posted by Midwestsports.com @ 9:35 AM, ,