Got into Providence, RI at midnight and drove thru fog and rain to New Port – got in about 1:30 am.

Got up early to go to the International Hall of Fame.  It is awesome- walking down the street in New Port and suddenly there is a green canopy that tells you – YOU ARE HERE.  Turn left and you face the famous grass court and horseshoe area viewing area established in 1881.

I walk thru the entrance and by the pristine grass court wet with the morning dew to the entrance to the actual Hall of Fame.  Of course I have to go thru the shop and buy about $100 worth of Hall of Fame merchandise that I cannot live without.  I also join the Hall of Fame as a member for $50 – so I can go thru the museum whenever I want (once ever 3 years when I get up here again).

The museum is up the wooden stairs with carpet on the steps announcing where you are.  It is an incredible experience to see all those inducted into the Hall of Fame (Agassi is the next to be inducted).  They have amazing artifacts about tennis from the beginning of tennis time – racquets, old time clothes, trophies, pretty much everything in the world of tennis. There is sections that honor all the great players individually, by each major tournament and Davis Cup championship.  Just to see it all is a day long adventure into tennis history.  I took about a million pictures.

I attended a 4 hour course on Tennis Business Management for Directors of Tennis, had a cup of clam chowder on the deck overlooking the grass court and museum and admired the old tennis buildings and thought about the history of tennis played here.  The last time I was here, Karen and Kam were with me.  Kam hit on the grass courts (age 5 I think) and wished they were here again today with me.

Two more education courses to attend today.  One on strategy and one on continuing to grow professionally thru continuing education by two great speakers.  There was a party after at the “Court Tennis” center where they had a demonstration of the original “court tennis” played.  It is indoors, with tiny long racquets and a balls that bounce very little and are served off a sidewall and overhanging roof.  This is how Henry the VIII played the game and was watched by all.  Amazing game with a combination of squash, indoor tennis and rules???  Got some great pictures I will have to post later.

Tomorrow – I get to visit down town and take pictures of incredibly beautiful old homes and say “Wow” lots of time to myself.  I love history – one of my 3 majors in college. I speak at 3 tomorrow and have an hour and a half time slot to present the 50 Best Tips.  I will attend 5 other presentations to continue my education as well.

Tennis – what an amazing game it is….

Thanks to all of you,

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional
408-892-3806 cell
www.kendeharttennis.com

• The Psychology of a Winner: Improving Your Practice They say practice makes perfect. I say "perfect practice makes perfect.” Practice is just the first thing you have to keep in mind when you're aiming for that win on the court. This begs the question then on how do you improve your practice? Look to the four tips below......
• SJSRC Annual Wooden Racquet Tennis Social /caption]Each year, around the 4th of July and Wimbledon, SJSRC Director of Tennis Ken DeHart goes into his storage and pulls out a selection of wooden tennis racquets from his collection of over 2,000 old tennis racquets, gathers up some interesting books on the history of tennis, orders some white......
• A Handful of Strategy… [/caption] When you are involved in a match and need help deciding what to do, look to your hand for the answer.  Make a fist and then follow these simple directions: P = In Play Stick up the thumb - the most important part of the hand which stands for......
• GPTA Keynote Speaker I was invited to speak at the Georgia Professional Tennis Association's winter meeting at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Atlanta, Georgia. The club is the home of the famous golfer, Bobby Jones. They have a trophy room with all his trophies, pictures and memorabilia. There is even a statue of......
• Ladies Finals from Australia [/caption] I got up at 3:30 am here in Charleston, SC to see THE match from down under.  My roommate was asleep, they wouldn't let me access the TV in the bar - afraid I would drink them dry I guess.  Little did they know I don't drink.  I went......

• Tennis Glossary Continued Here is a continuation of the tennis glossary of terms that we have been working on for some time now. Sidespin - Sidespin is imparted to a ball by drawing the strings of the racket along the ball horizontally as the ball makes contact, this creates a spin around the......
• ATP World Tour: Robby Ginepri The $519,000 ATP World Tour 250 in Indianapolis, United States of America, running from the 19th of July, 2009 until the 26th of July, 2009 on hard court surfaces. More information can be obtained through http://www.atpworldtour.com. Results for Sunday, the 26th of July, 2009: Singles Final, R Ginepri of the......
• Personal Finance Startups, Eyeglasses, Football, and Links! It's time to empty out the recycle bin of trash in my mind again. It's overflowing this week, so I'll just dig in. Personal Finance Startups - I've got a quick call with a personal finance startup that I think is interesting in a couple of hours this morning. If......
• Buying Tennis Apparel Tips The amount of time that you decide to spend on tennis apparel is really going to depend on whether you are a male or a female. For men in general, apparel is absolutely the last thing on anyone's minds, but for women, tennis apparel is an important subject and might......
• Personal Finance Links (and on being NFL perfect) Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin said a week ago that he'd trade his Hall of Fame inclusion and his 3 Super Bowl rings for a perfect season. Earlier this past Sunday, he went into more detail on his reasoning, which many found curious. Irving said that there have been......

Tennis Ball and Grape Balloons.

Playing in Serbia on the red clay, Americans John Isner and Sam Querry showed heart and where American tennis still has a great crop of young players coming along.

In their first ever Davis Cup appearance, John and Sam lost their first matches as USA players.  That had to be nervous time – can you imagine playing for your country in front of thousands of cheering fans applauding every error you make and every shot the opponent makes?

Day 2 is the Bryan Brothers vs Serbia – oops, only Bob Brian (Mike had gotten food poisoning) and John Isner playing the top doubles player in the world for Serbia, Zimonjic and singles specialist Tipsarevic.  The Americans manage to pull out an incredible win.  At set point in the tie breaker, Isner is passed on set point at the net – Zimonjic had raised his hand and called Bob Brian’s serve “out.”  The umpire declared a let for distraction and the Americans somehow manage to win that point and the tie breaker and the match later on.

Day 3 Isner and #2 in the world, Djokovic – in Serbia, thousands of exuberant fans and on red clay.  John plays well in the first set but gets broken late in the first set to go down 0-1. 2nd set, John comes back to win, 3rd set, Djokovic wins and in a tie breaker, John wins the 4th set.  Djokovic is penalize a point in the tie breaker for hitting a ball into the stands.  This is his second violation and John gets a free point to go up 3-1 in the breaker.  John holds serve after a tight tie breaker to force a 5th set.

5th set Isner – now in his 10th hour of Davis Cup competition in the last 3 days and all in matches that count is broken early in the set.  The crowd goes wild.  John stays competitive throughout the set and goes on to SAVE 5 MATCH POINTS, before netting a forehand from the ad court on return of serve.

Awesome play from John Isner who played 4 years at Georgia, won the NCAA Singles Championships before going out out on the tour.  Way to go John…  He had lost to Sam Querry last week in Memphis in the finals and then teamed with Sam to win the doubles – he and Sam are a double threat in singles and doubles.

John showed so much composure and guts in this match against the crowd and the #2 ranked and 3rd best clay court player in the world behind Federer and Nadal.  John and Sam love to play tennis and will be a part of Davis Cup for many years to come as well as the ATP Tour.  This should be a super summer for both of these tall (6 ft 9″ and 6 ft 6″) American players.

We may have lost this week but we certainly have seen we have a couple of winners in John Isner, Sam Querry – not to mention the best doubles team in the world – the 30 yr old Bryan Brothers who will soon become the team with all the worlds doubles records by the time they think of retiring.

Thanks Americans, we are proud of you,
Ken DeHart

Photo Credits: Camino Z

• Winning in Practice, pt 1 "Practicing to win requires rehearsing the tactical situations you will encounter and selecting the correct appropriate response for that situation until you can execute these responses in the heat of match play" ...Ken DeHart Playing the Score Practice your singles and doubles match with altered scoring situations: Start all games......
• Ken DeHart Presents “Strategy and Tactics of Tennis” at Missouri Valley USPTA USPTA Master Professional, Ken DeHart was the kick-off speaker at the 2009 Missouri Valley USPTA Conference at the Homestead Country Club in Kansas City, Missouri. Ken presented a 4 hour continuing education course on Strategy and Tactics to more than 80 tennis teaching professionals and high school coaches attending......
• Andy Roddick loses to 6'6 Croatian in 5 sets but stands just as tall. [/caption] Andy's match was a sports psych's dream.  Andy played a deliberate style early in the match but the 20 year old opponent is very smooth and athletic with a dream backhand.  It appeared early on that Andy was not serving his best.  He had been well around the......
• This will be my last update from Aussie Land... [/caption] Today was another great day and we finally had sunshine - yeah... I took the tram to Rod Laver and was able to get in straight away. Met with the Tennis Australia group that ran the Australian Coaches Conference and thanked them for making it such a great experience.......
• Aussie Land and Tennis Update #4 It is wet here and I have not had a chance to use my sunscreen in 7 days..... Cool, windy and wet - am I in San Jose??? Dan Santorum and I walked in the mist, wind and chill down Russell Street to Findley St and off to Rod......

• China Open and Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships This week in tennis featured one tournament for the women and two tournaments for the men, with all tournaments featuring plenty of big names and upsets. The women played in the China Open, while the men played in China Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. The China Open......
• Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. This week in tennis featured the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. This men’s tournament was joined by the two women’s tournaments of the Mercury Insurance Open (San Diego, California) and the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open (Copenhagen, Denmark). The Men’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic featured plenty of big names,......
• Sam Querrey Wins the Morgan Keenan Championship Sam Querrey defeated John Isner on Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee, to win the Morgan Keenan Championship, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3. That's an impressive win for a player who just 4 months ago thought an accident may have ended his tennis career. In October, Querrey fell on a glass coffee......
• Andalucia Tennis Experience, Family Circle Cup, US Men’s Clay Court Championship, and Grand Prix Hassan II This week in tennis featured multiple tournaments for both the men and the women. The women met up in the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain and the Family Circle Cup, held in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The men competed in both the US Men’s Clay Court Championship, held......
• Nadal, Roddick Advance at Sony Ericsson Open Rafael Nadal, the number 2 tennis player in the world, came away from the third-round of play at the Sony Ericsson Open victorious over David Nalbandian in a hard-won 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-2. He's made it to the final after 10 months without a tournament win. He's seeded 4th in......

A Terrible Splendor

“A Terrible Splendor”
by Marshall Jon Fisher

Review by Ken DeHart

This is one of my favorite tennis books of all time for 3 reasons!!!   Here’s why:

1. A great history of tennis and the world in the 1920′s-60′s including World War I and II
2. Amazing “inside” story line about several of the world’s greatest players and their personal stories
3. It makes us aware that tennis in the 20′s & 30′s was huge in American sports.  Tilden made over 1 million dollars during the depression and drew over 30,000 people to watch his matches – try that on for size….

“A Terrible Splendor chronicles the importance Davis Cup played in the world (it was one of the premier events and drew mass attention, participation and sponsors) of tennis.  It follows the lives of Bill Tilden who dominated tennis for over 30 years and the great match – Don Budge vs Baron Gottfried von Cramm in the Wimbledon match in 1937.  You will understand why it was one of the greatest tennis 5 set matches in the history of tennis – well before Nadal and Federer.  One player was playing for his life with Hitler and his Gestapo’s watch his every move, on and off the court.  The other, Don Budge played for the pride of his country.

Marshall does a great job of drawing us into this 1937 Wimbledon match as it is process of being played. Then he sets the storyline that allows us to understand the players, what was happening in the world, the tennis world and why this match had world wide implications.

I have over 2,000 tennis books in my collection and this is one of the top 5 – must read books if you love history, tennis and the story behind the scene.  Pick it up and you can’t put it down.  You will understand how tennis was one of the top 2 sports in the US during this time.  These three incredible players will earn your respect and admiration.

• Davis Cup Report [/caption] Playing in Serbia on the red clay, Americans John Isner and Sam Querry showed heart and where American tennis still has a great crop of young players coming along. In their first ever Davis Cup appearance, John and Sam lost their first matches as USA players.  That had to......
• Defeating “The Two Opponents” before you defeat; “The Player on the Other Side of the Net” [/caption]You have seen the draw, met your opponent and walked to the court to begin the battle.  However, when you warm up to begin the match, you must first defeat two opponents before you can even begin to win the match against - the player on the other side of......
• Tribute to a Hall of Fame Teacher: Dennis Van der Meer Early in my career as a tennis teaching professional, I was living in Nashville, Tennessee and teaching tennis at the Sequoia Swim & Tennis Club. A friend of mine, Thay Butchee, the Director of Tennis at the Belle Meade Country Club talked me into driving to Sarasota, Florida to participate......
• Andy Roddick loses to 6'6 Croatian in 5 sets but stands just as tall. [/caption] Andy's match was a sports psych's dream.  Andy played a deliberate style early in the match but the 20 year old opponent is very smooth and athletic with a dream backhand.  It appeared early on that Andy was not serving his best.  He had been well around the......
• Aussie Land and Tennis Update #4 It is wet here and I have not had a chance to use my sunscreen in 7 days..... Cool, windy and wet - am I in San Jose??? Dan Santorum and I walked in the mist, wind and chill down Russell Street to Findley St and off to Rod......

• 5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Tennis Game While many people are under the impression that learning tennis is nearly impossible, there are actually quite a few incredibly easy tips that can drastically improve your game. While these tips may not turn you into a star over night or land you at Wimbledon, they will help solid players......
• Golf Etiquette 101 Courtesy and Common Sense in Golf 1 - Golf is a sport that is difficult enough without there being any distractions. When somebody is playing a stroke, you need to stand behind them and slightly toward the right so you are out of their eye-line so they can focus on......
• Book Review: The Tennis Drill Book By Tina Hoskins One of the most important steps of becoming a good tennis player is practicing your drills, over and over again, until it becomes second nature. There are numerous methods that are promoted for different drills, and dozens of books on the subject. We were ready for more of the same......
• Mobs, Messiahs & Markets: Book Review The publishers of Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets: Surviving the Public Spectacle in Finance and Politics, were kind enough to send me a free copy to review. I'm glad they did. It was an excellent read, similar in some respects to one of my all-time favorite investment books: Extraordinary Popular Delusions......
• Tennis Glossary pt6 Error - This is a shot that did not manage to make it across the net, or that landed out of the court, and this will result in a loss of the point. Face - This is the racquet's flat area, one that is formed by way of the strings......