Tennis Information

Looking After Your Tacky Table Tennis Rubbers
By Haggisv Van
One nice aspect of most Chinese style table tennis rubbers is their tacky or sticky surface, which is great for generating spin. The downside of this is that it attracts dust and dirt, which sticks to it making the rubber patchy and inconsistent. This guide offers some simple tips on how to keep you rubber clean and tacky, making it much better to play with, and prolonging the life of the rubber.

Firstly you need to either keep the plastic protection films that came with the rubber, or you need to buy/make some. There are some made specifically for table tennis rubber, or you can use sheets like those used in overhead transparencies. Just make sure there are no chemicals on there that could harm the rubber, and that it’s rigid enough so that it does not tear when you pull it off the rubber. You should cut it to the shape of your rubber, but slightly bigger.

Secondly you need a lint-free cloth or a sponge to clean the rubber with. There are some sponges specifically for table tennis, but other ones can be used as well. It needs to be soft & moist enough so that it does not scrape the surface of the rubber. The common kitchen sink sponges are often too abrasive, which can damage the delicate surface of the rubber very easily.

So how do you use these two things to look after the rubber? Well every time after you finish playing, you need to rub all the dust off the surface of the rubber. Use the sponge or cloth, damp with water, to completely clean the surface. Make sure cloth/sponge is damp enough not to scrape the surface of the rubber, but not too wet as to get the rubber soaking wet. Distilled water is the best, but I found filtered water or even tap water works ok. After cleaning wait for it to dry completely (important!). Then apply the plastic protection sheet (make sure they are clean too!), pushing it on firmly, and pushing out any big bubbles so that the plastic makes contact with the rubbers everywhere (very small bubbles will be to hard to get out, but this does not matter).

After you have applied the plastic protection sheets, put your bat away preferable inside a cover. Make sure it’s kept out of the sun or very hot areas as this can damage the rubber. Inside a cover is better too, so there is much less airflow, which keeps it fresh and reduces the chance of it drying out. Next time you play you can just pull the plastic sheet and you’re ready to play.

The simple procedure does not only protect the rubber and keep it tacky, but for many rubbers it will make it tackier over time.

NOTE: If you have not cleaned the rubber for a long time, you may need a proper rubber cleaner (like the special rubber cleaner foam sold in tins specifically for table tennis) to clean the surface. There are many other cleaners out there that people use, but the long-term effect of these is often unknown or not documented, so better safe than sorry. I believe it’s safer to use a proper table tennis cleaner as we can be confident that these will have no detrimental effect on the rubber.

Article Source: http://articlecrazy.com

Haggisv is a player and coach, who runs several table tennis websites and is an advisor for the online table tennis equipment store One of a Kind Trading. He also runs a table tennis forum and a table tennis review website.

Black Sisters Are Tennis Phenomenon
By Philip Nicosia
Black Americans have been prominent in basketball and boxing since time immemorial. What’s noteworthy in the past decade is that they have invaded other sports as well including golf and tennis which used to be dominated by the middle-class whites. And what’s praiseworthy, too, is that the Black Americans that have made a name for themselves in the world of tennis are not males but females and sisters.

We’re talking about none other than the Afro-American Williams sisters – Venus and Serena. Both ladies have proven that race is not a big issue in achieving their dreams in tennis. They are proud of being blacks and they will do anything to fulfill their goals of winning more tennis titles. In their several years of competing against white tennis players, Venus and Serena were able to establish their own style, self-confidence as well as their unique fashion sense. Even more boosting their confidence is the presence of their family members at most of their tournaments. For what they are and for what they have accomplished in their young life, the Williams sisters are indeed worthy of emulation not only by black women but by all people, in general.

Venus Williams is older by just a year than Serena. Both had earned the world number one rank in tennis with Venus having won five Grand Slam singles titles and Serena having won eight Grand Slam singles titles plus an Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles. Serena is said to be the best player of her time.

The sisters’ involvement in tennis is attributed to their father’s dream of having at least one daughter become a tennis superstar. It was also his way of letting them out of their neighborhood – the violent suburb of Compton in Los Angeles. Richard Williams had no regrets at all as her daughters never let him down. At a very young age of four and a half, Serena had already won her first tournament. Before she reached 10, she had won 46 of the 49 tournaments she entered. She even replaced Venus at one point as the number one ranked tennis player in the 12 and under category in California. At 14, she already became a professional player.

Venus, the older of the Williams sisters, also became professional at the age of 14. Together with Serena in 1999, they became the first sister team to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the 20th century at both the French Open and U.S. Open. The following year in 2000, the sisters won for the first time the Wimbledon doubles title. It was in the same year when Venus won the singles title at the Wimbledon and U.S. Open and two gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. It was in the year 2002 when Venus was declared the world’s top ranked player becoming the first African-American player to reach the spot since the tennis computer rankings started in 1975. She also placed 25th in the Tennis Magazine’s 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis era list. Apart from her career in tennis, Venus is also engaged in business and is actually the CEO of her interior design company “V Starr Interiors” in Florida.

Article Source: http://articlecrazy.com

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