Coaching Tips From Nigel Bentley

Sept. 4, 2000

The "Serving Notice" tennis column is back. Welcome to the 2000 summer tennis season! Energy is the currency of life. While you are getting rich on the tennis courts this summer, "Serving Notice" will again provide an assortment of information on strategy, stroke production, answer questions from readers and offer opinions.

To kick off the season, this week's column looks at some recent studies that show tennis is a winner for the body and mind and is sport on the rise.

Can tennis help you live a longer, healthier and happier life? Apparently so, according to research circulating throughout the medical and tennis communities. Several studies are trumpeting the sport's health and fitness benefits, as well as the social, emotional and psychological advantages it gives to the people who play. Here are just six of the great benefits of tennis that researchers have found.

1. TENNIS IS GOOD FOR THE TICKER. Dr. Ralph Paffenbarger led a 20- year longevity study of more than 10,000 Harvard alumni. He and his team found that middle-aged men who participated in moderately vigorous sports activities (such as tennis) three hours per week cut their risk of death from coronary heart disease by 41% (Source: New England Journal of Medicine)

2. TENNIS DEVELOPS POSITIVE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS. Tennis players had the highest scores in sociability, spontaneity, creativity, competitiveness, adventurousness, mental focus and assertiveness when compared to golfers, runners, weightlifters, inline skaters and downhill skiers. (source: Jim Gavin, Ph.D. Concordia University, author of 'The Exercise Habit")

3. TENNIS IS GOOD FOR THE MIND. Dr. Joan Finn and Southern California State University researchers compared the psychological states of 200 senior tennis players to a control group. They found that the tennis players scored higher in vigor, optimism and self-esteem and lower in anger, depression, confusion, anxiety and tension.

4. TENNIS HELPS YOU KEEP YOUR FIGURE. Competitive tennis burns more calories than does moderate aerobics, moderate inline skating, weightlifting, walking, baseball, golfing and many other popular activities, reports LGE Performance System in Orlando. And a recent issue of Health magazine reported that a 150-pound person burns more calories per hour playing tennis (420) than he or she does through normal levels of volleyball, swimming, canoeing, hiking, softball and golf.

5. "I PLAY TENNIS, THERFORE I THINK." Since tennis requires alertness and tactical thinking, it may generate new connections between nerves in the brain, reported scientists at the University if Illinois. (Source: LGE Performance Systems)

6. TENNIS KEEPS YOUR BODY MOVING AND YOUR HEART PUMPING. Tennis is an aerobic and anaerobic activity. The heart rate stays elevated when players are moving on the court, and intense bursts of energy followed by rest helps muscles use oxygen efficiently. Players improve their cardiovascular fitness, leg strength, balance, speed, agility, eye-hand coordination and other fitness areas.

Tennis had been a sport in decline hitting a low of participation in 1994. However the recent figures indicate that tennis has rebounded strongly and is a hot sport again. Tennis clubs across the country are busier than ever. More and more kids are getting into tennis, so junior programming is way up in attendance. The buzz at recent United States Professional Tennis Association and Intercollegiate Tennis Association conventions was incredibly upbeat. The 1999 US Open television ratings were up over 100% from 1998. Bob Beads Sales Representative from Wilson Racket's sports comments that in 1999 racket and ball sales had encouraging increases. In fact, in 1999 tennis was the only sport in the United States that showed an increase in growth.

So get involved with your local tennis club or town recreation department and enjoy this sport of a lifetime.

(Serving Notice acknowledges Oncourt-offcourt www.oncourtoffcourt.com for some the printed information above)

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