September 28, 2006 - 11:15pm

Roger Federer Hitting in Slow Motion

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Wow. If you love tennis, then this is something truly beautiful to watch. Here's a compilation of extreme slow motion clips of Roger Federer pounding the ball courtesy of YouTube. You can see the seams of the ball perfectly, and for the life of me, it seems that the Great Swiss can as well. I've always thought that maybe the whole "eyes on the ball" thing was kind of an afterthought. You know what I mean: locking your head and view on to the spot where the ball just was, but not actually being able to see the impact. This makes me a believer. He can see it.

September 26, 2006 - 8:00am

Yoga for Great Tennis DVD by Anastasia Dorahova

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Core srength. We've talked about it before, so we hope you'll recall how important we feel it is to great stroke production. An efficient way to build core stength is through the ancient practice of yoga. The concepts of yoga combine poses, breath control and meditation to build muscle and provide stress relief. Anastasia Dorahova is an expereinced yoga instructor and an avid tennis player, so her Yoga for Great Tennis DVD is a great workout for tennis-specific yoga. Plus, learning to still your mind during crucial points on the court sounds pretty good to us.

September 12, 2006 - 11:43am

Apple iPod nano

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Yes, iPod nano does tennis. The newly updated and multi-colored MP3 player will provide you the inspirational tunes to fire you up on the way to the match, like NBC's Wimbledon theme music, Australian star Pat Cash's band The Wild Colonial Boys, and Scandal featuring John McEnroe's wife Patty Smyth. But I think there's more. My friend the Fanatic has practice sessions accompanied by his iPod and portable speakers that keep his energy up and teach him not to be distracted. And there's plenty of audio tennis instructional CDs you could burn that help improve your backhand on the morning commute. A whole other aspect is the numerous tennis podcasts like Tennis Live , Radio Tennis and the Tennis Podcast that let you keep up with tennis news and commentary anywhere, anytime, and are available free through iTunes. And finally, with the Nike + iPod integration, and the addition of the Marware Universal adapter on your tennis shoes, you theoretically could keep track of how many calories are burned during your singles match.

May 8, 2006 - 8:00am

Bosu Balance Trainer

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This thing is crazy. It's called a Bosu Balance Trainer and it's kind of a hybrid between a physioball and a wobble board. The idea behind this type of training device is that you do normal exercises like squats and lunges, but you stand on this unstable surface, which forces you to constantly correct to keep your balance. It really works all your muscles, but particularly your core muscles. Combine this with a good medicine ball and you'll see major improvements in your core stability and strength. That translates into more power in your swing.

May 4, 2006 - 8:00am

Shape Your Self by Martina Navratilova

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Oh, great, I thought, another celebrity fitness book. Then I remembered that this was the lady that racked up 58 Grand Slam titles (20 of them a little old tournament called Wimbledon) while completely re-inventing herself and the game of tennis, and oh, yeah, she's almost 50 and she isn't done yet. So, I got off my fat ass and bought Shape Your Self : My 6-Step Diet and Fitness Plan to Achieve the Best Shape of Your Life and I'm honestly impressed. Martina is funny and offers a lot of simple accessible exercises and information. There's a eating plan and a bunch of recipes as well. The nutrition information leans heavily towards raw organic foods and juices, which I've been learning to enjoy recently anyway. The tennis stuff is worth the read regardless.

May 1, 2006 - 9:19pm

First Place Core Medicine Ball

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Fitness buffs have finally discovered what tennis players have known for ages: the stronger your core, the better you play. The core muscles are those in your abdominal and lower back area. The muscles work together to transfer power from your lower legs, through your torso and into your arms. So, it's a strong core that allows you to rip a forehand from an open-stance. Of course, core conditioning is all the rage these days, but a pretty old-school piece of equipment can get you there fast: a medicine ball. The First Place Core Medicine Balls are really durable and have handles that enable you to expand the number of exercises you can do. Get the 8 lb. version and throw it against the wall and catch it for a great core workout.

March 5, 2006 - 5:12pm

Bushnell Velocity Speed Gun

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Come on, you know you wonder how fast you can serve. When Upabreak was attending the 2005 US Open, they had a little cage where they timed your serve. I was the oldest person in line by about 25 years. And let's further say that the little punks were aided by what was obviously a faulty machine. Just give me a year with my new Bushnell Velocity Speed Gun. This thing is about the size of a hairdryer, solidly made, and easy to use. The expensive ones may be a little more accurate. Who cares? This thing looks cooler and is way cheaper. $88? Split it with your buddies.