Tennis is back! Interest in Wimbledon was very high, and the marketing types are wondering if Venus and Serena Williams can have the sort of impact on tennis' popularity that Tiger Woods has had on golf. Either way, tennis remains a great family sport. Tennis anyone?
For fast access to tennis news, I like Excite's straight-forward, low-graphics approach. While many of the other tennis news sites were cluttered with non-tennis links, Excite's tennis headlines, scores, rankings and features are easy to find and easy to access. In addition to current events, you'll also find stats and historical data. Did you know that Billie Jean King's first Wimbledon title was in 1966 and her last was in 1975? Or that Pete Sampras' year-to-date earnings of $1.4 million places him behind Gustavo Kuerten (of Brazil) in tennis winnings this year?
Tennis.com easily lives up to its name as a premier online tennis destination. You get the usual mix of news, scores and television schedules, but my favorites clicks are the educational ones listed under Instruction and Fitness. Under Instruction, you'll find tips ("Whether it's a high school match, weekend grudge match or professional match, there's one value that helps win matches: Patience.") and a huge collection of FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions.) Another helpful resource is the tennis camp locater. Enter your locale and your age range (junior, adult, senior, or family) to retrieve a listing of programs near you.
From Ace ("A valid serve that is not reached by the opponent. The server wins the point immediately.") to WTC ("Women's Tennis Council. As of 1995, the WTC was renamed as the WTA TOUR Council."), Tennisopedia defines 105 tennis terms. Another fun click is the Tennis PC Stuff, which has goodies such as tennis screen savers, tennis wallpaper, tennis icons and tennis sound effects.
"Ever wish you could study the strokes of the pros? To see for yourself exactly how they hit the ball and what you might learn? Now the TennisONE ProStrokes Gallery makes this possible for the first time. Not just one photo sequence but a complete gallery of all the shots featuring many of the world's top players, filmed in digital video by TennisONE CEO, John Yandell, using multiple camera angles." Featured players include Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and Anna Kournikova.
Oscar Wegner ("the most recognizable tennis instruction expert in the world, outside the USA") hosted a tennis show on ESPN from 1997 to 1999. At his Web site, in addition to promotions for his book and video series, you'll find thirty-two instructional video tennis tips from that television series. Among the topics covered are Volley Practice, Natural Footwork, Racket Angle and Topspin. To get directly to the video clips (and avoid the long-winded front page) click on the large rectangular button titled "Play like the Pros" which is just below the heading.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
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