Tennis Players Are Not Athletes!!! Are You Kidding Me?

Here I am sitting in a sports bar last night watching a football game and next to me were two men who were deep into a conversation about which are the better athletes, football, basketball, or baseball players? After about fifteen minutes of eavesdropping on their conversation and hearing the same old arguments… NBA players can’t take the contact that is associated with the NFL and no NFL player can play 60+ nights a season like the NBA does… Enough was enough, I had to throw out the comment for argument sake, what about professional tennis players? Shouldn't they be considered?

One guy looked at me like I was a freak and the other guy started to laugh. I saw this reaction as an invitation to get my point across. My first comment, tell me what your NBA and NFL players are doing in the off-season. Instantly they went into weight training, and endurance training, and hill work. As I started to laugh, the two men said what are tennis players doing in the off season? My point exactly, there isn't an off season for tennis players! At this point I had the two guys quiet and listening. Unlike football and basketball, the pro tennis player is playing in four major slams and starting in February and wrapping up in September. Not to mention the indoor season that follows the US Open and the other tournaments leading up to the slams so that they can stay on top of their games. I went on to talk about the 5+ hour match between Roger and Andy this past year at Wimbledon and made reference that most players in a NFL game are only seeing on average about 60-70 plays per game which might translates into roughly 10 minutes of actual playing time. Let’s go back and visit that endurance comment again please!

After about 30 minutes of conversation back and fourth, I had convinced the two guys of my point of view. I’m not saying that professional tennis players are better athletes than those players in the NBA and NFL, but I’m saying that they are world class athletes and should be given the recognition that they deserve. Too often I believe that tennis players are over looked as world class athletes when in fact they are some of the best!

Tracy Lynch
Wholesale Accounts Manager
Lee Tennis Court Products

Musings on Andre Agassi's Admissions

I was wondering at first if Agassi’s admissions were just to sell his book but after watching the interview I feel differently. It can’t be easy for him to deal with his demons. I admire the fact the he admitted to many of the things in his past. It takes a lot of courage and strength especially when you are in the public eye. It was very interesting for me personally to hear the story of the drug use as well as him wearing a wig. If his intentions were to sell his book…. It worked for me!! I am curious to learn more about his life. I fully intend on purchasing a copy.

Rebecca Thompson
Inside Sales Rep
Lee Tennis Court Products

Building a Clay Court - Learning First Hand

These are exciting times for Lee Tennis! We are installing a HydroCourt at our manufacturing facility and we are doing the work ourselves. In fact the surface went down Friday and the tapes will go down today.

One of the reasons for installing the court is to be able to test new products and new technology. This court will be a learning laboratory for us for everything from maintenance equipment to irrigation systems. We have very generous clubs in Charlottesville, VA that have aided us with our testing on many occasions but this can be burdensome for them and inefficient for us trying to monitor things from a distance. Now we can test and make adjustments at any time quickly and efficiently.

We also used this experience so associates could learn first-hand how our products are used by tennis court builders, tennis court owners, teaching professionals, maintenance professionals and tennis players. We believe that this will lead to innovations in our practices and products that will make the experience of building and owning a clay court simpler and more rewarding for everyone involved.

Lastly, this court will provide a platform for our associates to learn more about the game of tennis. Tennis has such a large impact in the health and well-being of people of all ages and backgrounds. It brings tremendous joy, good health, treasured friendships and character to individuals' lives. We want to have a piece of that internally to help us become better students of and advocates for the game.

For pictures of the court at various stages of construction visit our Facebook page - Lee Tennis. It can be accessed directly from www.playtheclay.com.