Rousseau Solves the Back to School Counundrum

I would as soon, said a wise man, that my pupil had spent his time in the tennis court as in this manner; for there his body at least would havegot exercise.– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The First Discourse The translation from my first semester of college read “court tennis” instead of just tennis. Court/Real/Royal Tennis existed…

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A Review of Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks

I am going to be doing some book reviews and wanted to start with something light. I recommend this book so long as a prospective reader likes at least one or two of the following: laughter, tennis, geopolotics, travel journals, cultural insights, and outrageous wagers. The sound quality is a little dodgy, but next time,…

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Can Tourna Grip Go Bad? Yes.

Tourna Grip or the various clones of it are used by players of nearly level. It was the first really good overwrap as far as I can tell. When my school was cleaning out some racquets from its intramural program, I saw this. The years were not kind to that grip. I don’t think all…

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Rafter Inspired Renaissance

Tennis racquets and strings have made hitting the ball easier for me. As a junior, I was at times too weak to hit a topspin one-handed backhand terribly often during a match. Even with a reasonably good underspin backhand, players quickly zeroed in on my backhand to get a predictable reply. Movement and conditioning seem…

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Poll Inspired by The Last Dance

ESPN’s The Last Dance may have caused me to technically violate my NO GOAT POSTS Pledge, but this is across sports and I don’t think many currently view Pete Sampras as the Men’s Tennis GOAT. He did finish 6 Years at #1, win 12 majors, win the ATP World Championships 5 times, and was part…

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Memories of the 1988 Men’s US Open

A new emphasis on videos for Tennis Abides.  We all miss tennis, but maybe some memories will make tennis seem not as far away. This court and color scheme were not in existence in 1988,  but it is a US Open photo.

Wimbledon Shutting Down: Not Unexpected

I know tennis fans love Wimbledon.  Still, I think the event made the wisest decision it could make today.  This pandemic has changed many things.  It will continue to do so.  Some day, and hopefully that day is in 2021, Wimbledon will be back, but for now, Wimbledon and other non-essential public events need to…

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Martina Navratilova Abides!

I was not going to post this until I had a column to go with it.  With all of the talks about most this or greatest that, if doubles and mixed doubles are considered Martina Navratilova is the most decorated tennis player ever.*  Getting a tweet from her was a thrill. Not at all…and with…

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