I'm trying out a new service called Fiverr. You can offer anything you want to people for the low, low price of $5. Sort of like the Dollar Store, but online and $5. So I decided to take a test drive with something for the What's All The Racquet readership.
So...for $5 I will analyze your tennis stroke.
Send me a video of your tennis stroke and I'll send you back a written analysis and pointers on how to fix it. One stroke per $5. I've been playing tennis for the last 31 years, competitively through college, and have been an instructor for both kids and adults.
TennisPuzzles.com Launches Free Online Games with Australian Open Theme
Tennis fans who can't get enough of the Australian Open action now can visit TennisPuzzles.com to play tournament-themed crossword, word search and wordoku* puzzles. The website features three puzzles that include clues about the season's first major, which is being played in Melbourne Jan. 19-Feb. 1.
TennisPuzzles.com offers free interactive games, which can be printed for offline play. The website offer fans a cool way to stay mentally sharp, learn tennis history and have "tennis fun off the court!" It launched in May 2008, and featured themed puzzles for the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
"Tennis is a mind game and so are these Australian Open-themed puzzles," says editor Liza Horan. "The sport draws thinking types who love a bit of competition and fans can time their puzzle-solving abilities to compete against themselves or friends. TennisPuzzles.com offers fun off the court and also teaches tennis history."
Ace Authentic isn't a new company, although admittedly I didn't know about them - their collectors' cards have been around for years. In 2008 they put out special line for Roland Garros was developed. Each box of officially licensed French Open cards contained one original card signed by the player. And cards containing a piece of an actual jersey (right) worn by a player were randomly scattered in boxes sold at retail.
I sure wish I could've added this to the Holiday Gift Guide, it surely would have made young tennis players very happy.
FYI, they're working toward similar deals with the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
Tencap Tennis isn't entirely new, but it is newly reincarnated. The company refined its system to provide dynamic, accurate player ratings on the Internet and added web-based software to manage players and tournaments. As someone who continues to be a bit confused by the point rating system, it seems like a good idea.
"After more than 10 years of testing thousands of tennis players on the Tencap Rating System, we have now combined it with our unique and innovative technologies to provide tennis organizers with the ultimate player-management tool," CEO Steve Timperley says. While recreational players can use their "Tencap" rating to find like players or play on a handicapping basis with those of other skill levels, facilities and programs can use it to manage players and events. The latest group to sign on with Tencap is the Prince Plugged In junior development program. The system can adjust a player's rating based on match and practice results.
TennisPoint.com Launches All-in-One Site for Tennis Teams and Players
TennisPoint.com today announced the launch of its site - TennisPoint.com - a comprehensive set of tools for managing tennis teams, matches, players and stats. Seeking to simplify the chore of managing recreational and competitive players and teams across a range of sites and leagues, TennisPoint.com has positioned itself as a central location from which a team captain or player could manage all aspects of their game.
TennisPoint.com Founder and CEO Jeremy Bruck says, "As a player, I've always thought it was difficult and inconvenient to try to keep up with my match results, locations and schedules online - especially since each league has its own website with a unique login, user interface, rules, etc.. We created TennisPoint.com to bring everything together in one place. And we've built all kinds of tools to make it easy, fast and fun for captains, players and coaches to manage all aspects of the game."
"Each league (USTA, ALTA & Flex) also has its own set of rules, - which players can play which line in a given match, for example. TennisPoint.com incorporates appropriate league rules for each team and league, thereby helping the coach and the players 'get it right' the first time."
Ease-of-use tools include ALTA sandbagging rules for fast, valid lineups, easy tracking of player availability, imported divisional stats for USTA and ALTA, simplified team creation, easy communication between players and captains, integrated Google maps for away matches, picture and video upload for registered players, and more.
Registration and use of TennisPoint.com is currently free.
We've all seen the US Open Series ads with the big blue bus and our favorite players talking about "the greatest road trip in sports." This year, the USTA planned on expanding on this theme with ads on the bus with Justin Gimelstob playing the heel to top pros in funny skits. Well, Gimelstob became a heel in real life with offensive comments, so the USTA needed to either fix or pull all these great ads. Enter Johnny Mac, who stepped in to save the day.
There's a new James Bond novel, commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate, called Devil May Care. Why the heck do we care on a tennis blog? Because James Bond plays a tennis match in the book.
So we finally can find out:
Does James Bond play with a one- or two-handed backhand?
How does he spend his change-overs?
What's his favorite post-match quencher?
In the book he plays on Court 2 in the Bois de Boulogne on red clay (near Roland Garros). I can't wait to read it - they play with wooden racquets and white Slazenger balls. Classic!
TennisPuzzles.com Launches with French Open Crossword, Word Search & Sudoku
A fun idea to test your stretch your brain muscles and test your tennis trivia knowledge - Tenniswire Network has lauched TennisPuzzles.com, where you can play tennis-themed crosswords, word searches and wordoku (which is sudoku with words). And since it's French Open time, you'll find tournament-themed clues in the puzzles.
Check out this Kia ad. If you're a sci-fi geek you'll notice the Voltron references big time. Apparently Kia is recalling it's ad for containing some innappropriate content. I don't see it. The content is weird but I don't see it as inappropriate. Then again I suppose Nadal shoving his foot up the a#$ of a mini Nadal midget while transforming into a anime style super robot was a little over the top...
The French Open starts today (may have already kicked off), here are my picks:
Women: Jelena Jankovic
Men: Roger Federer (yes, you read it right I said Roger Federer...I believe the bear has been poked one too many times, and with the new coach he's still the best player in the world)
50 Great Things you Never Knew you Could do with Tennis Balls
Back on March 29, we posted about how tennis balls may be able to help your laundry endeavors (Tennis Balls can help your clothes dryer work better). But did you also know you could keep gnats and flies away from you by covering a tennis ball in Vaseline, use them to make pencil/mail/phone holder, or donate them to nursing homes for use on walkers? Life Hackery actually lists 50 great things you can do with tennis balls, check it out.
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Why the heck do we care on a tennis blog? Because James Bond plays a tennis match in the book. 
