CMF's Sports Club

[Toronto.gal]

tennis & many sports are probably still ok.....

I wanted to comment on this last night, but was too tired after practising my 'sweet spot' for 2 hours last night [or maybe it was the 'dead spot', ie: corner of the racquet].

Tennis is played differently today because of the racquets.

- The frame of racquets for all sports was traditionally made of laminated wood and the strings of animal intestine known as catgut.
- Most rackets are now made of composite materials including carbon fibre, fiberglass, metals such as titanium alloys or ceramics.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racquet

In the Björn Borg era for example, traditional wooden racquets were used, however, the so called modern racquets, are not only made of reinforced plastic materials, but are also lighter, albeit less flexible & larger/longer in head length/width.

As a result of the above, the game is also radically different. For example, in the past, strokes were less powerful and matches were much more enjoyable than today's, which are full of aces and unreturnable strokes [I rather see a limit to the number of aces a player can have]. One year I saw one of the Williams sisters play here in the finals in Toronto, and the match lasted under 1 hour, hence less enjoyable & I wanted my money back! Big difference if you were to compare such power with the grace of say, Chris Evert/Martina Hingis/Gabriella Sabatini/Stefan Edberg/Roger Federer & even that of the more powerful Steffi Graf/Monica Seles/Pete Sampras.

No doubt that new training & technology have played a part in the way tennis has changed; now, power [and as a result more injuries], rules more than anything else, except for the talented few that possess it all, like the incomparable Swiss master!

Classic racquets produced classic swings:
Modern racquets:

Can you label all the parts of a racquet?


A racquet that blends nature with carbon to offer the ultimate in comfort
http://www.imaginetennis.com/blog/eq...-envy-2483.htm

[Cal]

I am looking forward to watching the Olympics later this month. Hoping to see Usain Bolt register a sub 9.5 in the 100m.

I know he got 2nd in the Jamaican finals (which means their relay team should dominate), but we all know these guys don't go all out all of the time either.

He ran an 9.58, 3 years ago, and ran a 9.69 at the last Olympics....but he didn't even run the whole 100m. This may be his last chance to really make his mark on history.

[Toronto.gal]

it never crossed my mind to actually put any blame on my parents (even though my post may have came accross like that).

Yes, your words had made it sound as though you may have been encouraged a bit more aggressively than perhaps you had wanted to be and/or had been ready for. As well, for various reasons, certain countries [potentially where you came from], do tend to push children a bit more than would be the case in NA; China/Russia come immediately to mind.

rookie: naturally it's not always about parental pressure, but there are many such parents that do disrupt/destroy their childrens physical/mental development by pushing them into potential fame/money & living through them. What do you think motivates parents to enter their 3 and 4 year old girls into child beauty pageants & why are there so many such pageants? No, it's not a sport, but the motivation is not that different.

Cal: counting the days!

[Causalien]

I am still not able to get back to the sport casually after my body is obviously too old for the abuses. Am I alone here? Or do you guys get these flash backs of your prime that interrupts your enjoyment and make you feel how shallow what you are doing now is?

[Dibs]

I recently discovered that my student status gives me free squash court time. I never liked tennis because its outdoors and you always have to run after balls. Squash on the other hand is great!

[Toronto.gal]

I played squash regularly while in university.

Tennis can be played indoors as well you know, in fact, I played it indoors while in uni as well. But I do play more in the summer than in the winter.

Table tennis/ping-pong is another sport I so enjoy!

"Since 1988, table tennis has been an Olympic sport, with several event categories. In particular, from 1988 until 2004, these were: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008 the doubles have been replaced by the team events."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_t...ummer_Olympics

I would like to hear what is the favourite sport [s] of other sports aficionados here. Can you guess mine?

And least favourite, and why?

[Spudd]

To watch... I love the Olympics. I like the variety of events. If I had to pick just one event, gosh... I don't think I can do it.

To participate in... cycling.

[Homerhomer]

I run, cycle but on very recreational basis.

I wish I could do more but my knees give in very easily when you have a high impact sport like tennis, played frisbee couple of weeks ago and paid for it dearly afterwards.

Haven't played table tennis and it was one of my favourite sports growing up, should get back to it, and should start swimming again since we have pool literrally 5 minutes walk from our house.

To watch nhl, other mostly if it's high calibre event like soccer championship or olympics.

[donald]

Any golfers out there?I know some see it as more of a game(however,hand/eye cordination/driving your hips/legs ect-has physical aspects to it)reasons i like golf.
-your playing against yourself/course-individual sport-can play team games thou(but your always exposed)
-the mental/mind aspect(plotting shots-course mangement
-the golf course itself-nature....nice to de-stress,some beautiful courses out there.
-great excuse to get out and have a few beers with buddies(the male bonding)*my married friend's get a easier free pass*lol
-Good game to be fimilar with-asset in the business/work world-networking/tournments/charity-major + (it's always the go to sport)
-lots of way to play with $$-always makes it better-skins game/striaght-up stroke play/left,right,best ball ect ect
-constant improvement-you can never master or reach a level-always trying to get better.

Tv sports-love watching nfl(sunday football)always.[i like watching/catching any playoff's in the major 4 ie:mlb,nhl,nfl,nba.

[Toronto.gal]

Spudd: you're right, I also have 2 favourite categories: participating and watching, ie: tennis & diving!

Homerhomer: I have a problem with one of my knees, but surprisingly enough, I'm able to play tennis without much difficulty or pain, so try it, the impact is not as strong as you think, not for amateur play anyway.

Donald: sorry, but for me, golf is a boring sport to watch, although I have great admiration for the players, and can't for the life of me understand how they can be so precise with the ball with the distances involved.

Many sports I find boring, but simply for the reason that I don't know the rules, although I do enjoy watching curling for example, even when I have no idea about the rules.

So, who is going to win Tour de France's stage 11?

Another 9 stages to go, what a long tournament, covering an insane distance of 3,497 kilometres!