Author: Steven Kaplan

  • Tennis Hacks: Keep Warm and Dress for Outdoor Success

    The calendar may say "Spring," but the thermometer says "Winter" and the wind chill says "Brrr!" You don't have to suffer and waste valuable energy shivering. Save your movement for the match by dressing wisely. Wear wool or synthetics instead of cotton. When cotton gets wet, it has negative thermal properties. Wear a mesh vapor layer. "Craft" and Under Armor" both make…

  • iPhoney Behavior

    Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, taking a page from the Academy Awards, tried to take a "selfie" during their exhibition match last night during the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden. Fail!  How come these guys can't master how to use a cellphone on the court? Well perhaps they just don't spend much time with their…

  • Reflections on the Australian Open

    While switching channels between NFL playoff football and the Australian Open, I could not help but notice the difference in the production value of each broadcast. The NFL telecast is polished like a Broadway show. Their graphic technology is cutting-edge, and the announcers are polished journalists, likeable, interactive, knowledgeable and aware of when to let the action speak for itself. No one would expect…

  • The Internet of Things

    The $399 Babolat Play Pure Drive was showcased at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. This racket features tiny sensors embedded in the handle to measure swing consistency, power, spin and just about everything else that happens between the racket and ball. This information is instantly sent over a Bluetooth…

  • Martina the Great

    Martina Navratilova spoke at the United Nations on Tuesday and urged the International Olympic Committee "to take their heads out of the sand" and do more to support the rights of gay athletes. This talk of part of International Human Rights Day and is on the heels of the upcoming 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia which has…

  • Plastic Trophy Kids

    I felt a little cheated by the highly anticipated HBO Sports special, "Trophy Kids," that premiered Dec. 4th as part of HBO's "State of Play" series. "Trophy Kids" explores the relationship between parents and children in junior tennis, golf, football and basketball. While it's an important topic, Executive Producer Peter Berg's adult subjects were a little too obsessive to be mainstream representatives of the…

  • Tennis Elbow

    Newsday.com just published an article entitled "Get to Know 11 Home Remedies for Tennis Elbow," and it is likely advice that you already know like "ice the area," take aspirin," "use compression," and "rest." Tennis elbow or "Epicondylitis" is a painful condition that can cause pain, swelling and movement limitation on the outside, "lateral" or inside "medial"…