King Rafa inaugurates Nadal Tennis School in India

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal arrived in India late on Saturday night and inaugurated the Nadal Tennis School at the Anantapur Sports Village in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. The tennis star quietly slipped in to the country unnoticed. The Spaniard was supposed to be in India for three days but had to cut short his trip after missing a flight and spent only a day at his newly-inaugurated academy set up in collaboration with Fundacion Vincente Ferrer (FVF), the Spanish arm of the Rural Development Trust (RDT), an Anantapur-based NGO.

He arrived in Bangalore late on Saturday night and drove down to Anantapur. The center court was inaugurated at 9.30am following which he interacted with a few children from the school and played tennis with them.

District collector of Anantapur Dr B Janardhan Reddy told DNA, “I had a chance meeting with him as I was close to the stadium and I even got to hit a few balls with him.”

The academy currently has three clay courts while plans are on to expand the place. He was accompanied by his mother Ana Maria Parera. Rafa will return home and get some much needed rest before the season-ending London Masters starting November 21.

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Shop Around: Serving up everything tennis

With league play 11 months out of the year, tennis is big in Columbia. But until Thursday, the Midlands did not have a dedicated tennis shop.

Eric Burke opened a branch of his Hardcore Tennis shop at 2901 Devine St. between Simply Savory and Cantina 76.

Burke sells tennis equipment and clothing, including Sergio Tacchini and Tail, out of the 600-square-foot building and offers services such as same-day racquet stringing and equipment outfitting from experienced tennis players.
if Burke opened Hardcore Tennis in Atlanta 11 years ago and said he has been providing equipment to Columbia's Rockbridge Club for four years. He decided to open a new store in Columbia to meet the needs of an underserved market, he said.

Racquet Selection Made Simple

Well, as simple as possible considering the ridiculous amount of frames that have glutted the market.

The first thing I would suggest is, determine how much you want to spend. Because the racquet companies dump the latest and greatest technologies every year, there are tons of excellent frames available at very low prices. The only reason to spend 180.00 or more on a frame is if you must have a current or "in line" model.
For example the Babolat Pure Storm GT is $179.00. The previous model, the Pure Storm is $129.00. Only very experienced, advanced players would detect any noticeable differences between the two frames. There are many frames at even lower prices.

Frames are generally divided into 3 catagories:

Game Improvement/Power: These frames are usually oversized 107 square inches or more, very light, very stiff, and head heavy. They also have very wide beams. They can also be up to 29" long but the normal length has come down in recent years.

Tweeners: These frames are usually mid plus 95-102 square inches and between 10 and 11 ounces. They are also more flexible and control oriented than power frames.

Players/Control: These frames are for advanced players. With head sizes between 90-100 square inches, a weight of 11.5 ounces or more, a head light balance, and thin flexible beams, these racquets do not offer much in the way of power. The players that use these racquets can provide the power.

There are seemingly an unlimited amount of racquet technologies that transform mere racquets into magic light saber wand things. Go to the various racquet company websites and read what the idea is behind the different technologies. P.S. Don't believe everything you read.

Try a frame that you think is right in your range and one that is on either side of that range. You may be surprised by what you actually end up choosing as your racquet.

You should use the heaviest racquet that you can handle. A heavier frame is more stable; dampens more shock.

This is all general information. No matter what a racquet company or a coach tells you, nothing matters except how the racquet feels in your hand or hands. You are the only one that will be playing playoff matches and finals with it.

Good Luck!

Eric Burke
www.hardcoretennis.net